Design Studio 1: Before Studio Session

A: CREATIVE WORK AT HIGH SCHOOL

This painting was done in February 2009. This is my favourite painting because the use of heavy brushstrokes and volumetric, impasto paint technique has allowed me to be more expressive and makes the emotion of the object more lively. I was very influenced by the scientific analysis of colour and light by Monet's painting experiments. The passionate, thick, directional brushstrokes in the work of Van Gogh inspired me to attempt my own interpretation which would hopefully achieve a combination of these two masters. The subject matter was a topic of interest for me in general and I had intended this painting to be the first of a series which would span the life of a human. I chose this style as I wanted to explore the human condition and the character of humanity so my painting essentially had to display an archetype for each age group.

I have also included another painting that I completed for this series of elderly woman who looks like she could belong to some ethnic tribe which reflects my interest in nature.

B: A GREAT PIECE OF ARCHITECTURE

Steel House by Robert Bruno in Lubbock, Texas USA looks like the sort of house that architects only dream about. It is a fantasy of a 110 tons of steel plates that took over 23 years to construct together. The house is perched on the edge of the cliff, as if a strange organic UFO had landed and remained to watch over the surrounding countryside, or a partially extended telescope. I like the way that the steel has naturally rusted over time, making it change and grow as if it were alive. The house is asymmetrical and seemingly chaotic which ironically contrasts to the enormous amount of meticulous planning and assemblage involved in its creation. I really like the way this house is not just a building but it is primarily a sculpture, a piece of art. Therefore, it is not merely functional but also aesthetic which for me means that the building takes on a spiritual quality. This house is so quirky and unique that sometime its exterior and interior look a little bit futuristic. The segmentation of the surfaces is continued in the extensive glass work, and on the inside the glass work includes rich colours such as red and blue, preventing the house from becoming to sterile. The colour in the glass and the undulating sinuous curves in the interior avert the inhabitant's mind from making associations of the material with its common industrial usage. I like how this architect has taken a common material, steel, and reinterpreted its meaning by placing It in a new context and using an innovative production method. When I saw this house, I was immediately reminded of the beautiful, organic Art Nouveau architectural style of Antonio Gaudi.

C: AN ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH OF SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

This is a photo taken on my recent trip to China at a place called Butterfly Lake. During summer time, butterflies like to visit this lake as they are attracted to the beautiful, variable colours reflected under the sunlight. This photo captures the amazing, iridescent colours on the lake's beguiling surface and the lake's deceptive depth. I like the juxtaposition of the old decaying leaves that have fallen onto the surface which seem to connect with the new leaves on the top tree branches, creating an impossible visual cycle of life, this being the only way that the old leaves may ever 'touch' the new born leaves.

People visit this lake as a tourist destination because it is famous for its incredible depth and crystal clear water that makes it difficult for the human eye to accurately judge its depth. It is these two aspects that create a natural visual phenomenon that reminds me of an under painting technique (the depth of the lake) where the reflection on top is the final work.