After I had decided to have the pieces as separate forms, I had to decide upon a composition. I knew that I wanted the pieces to be 3D from the wall, allowing the light to pass through the gaps in the pieces and create shadows. I decided to revert back to my original plan and base my composition upon my theme; melting. I wanted the pieces to look as though they were slowly melting down the wall. I feel I accomplished an original and well-informed piece. I am happy with the overall result and feel I have produced a confident piece which  is a logical conclusion to my research. 

These photos are of my composition for my final show. The image underneath shows the photographs of the different glue samples. I think the pictures look very effective and really reflect my idea of light and shadow. 

My initial idea for my final piece was to make some kind of installation by making a patchwork of the glue samples. However whilst I was making the first few samples I realised that they are quite beautiful in themselves as a lone piece. I used two different types of glue to see the different effects but have decided to use the two together. They have different surfaces. The standard PVA is very thin and has a matte rough texture, however the Marvin medium has a thick shiny surface. The combination of the two creates a nice contrast which is very interesting and means that each piece is unique. These pieces look very impressive when placed over a light and I took some lovely photos which I will present as part of my show. 

I saw Dale Chihuly's work at the V&A last year. My favourite piece was a coloured glass ceiling. The colours overlapped and cast beautiful coloured light and shadows over the floor. The light also shone through the gaps and created pattern like shadows on the floor. I love how the colours are layered up and will try this in my work.

So, back to my original idea. The reason for changing my idea was because I think I have exhausted the idea of melting Jelly Babies. They are no longer working on a practical level and I think I should look at substituting the Jelly Babies for a different material. The closest texture, weight and feel I can think of is PVA glue. Using glue instead would also eliminate the problem with the material being too sticky. If I placed the glue on plastic wallets it would peel off easily, meaning I could then shape it. The next problem I have is colouring the glue. I want to try and get the colours to match those of the Haribo Jelly Babies. I decided to use Brusho, as this will give an uneven colouring, giving the effect of my initial jelly sweet tests. I drew out stencils loosely following the lace patterns I had studied. I really like the outcome of this test, especially with the several different colours in one piece. I will make more of these.

So I have been using these new Jelly Babies, and they made me begin to think about the Jelly Baby as a singular object. I began to explore the idea of villages and scenes where a Jelly Baby is personified. I looked into well known scenes and places and looked at how I would create these images. I looked into personal features and personalities, but after doing my initial research, decided to revert back to my initial idea as I think it was much more exciting and original.

Haribo Jelly Babies

So I tried out using a different type of Jelly Babies. Not only are they cheaper, they have a nicer texture and melt a lot more effectively. I wanted to try and find a way to melt them away from a surface, so I could shape them into something. I melted the Jelly Babies onto wet plaster hoping it would peel off, but they just turned into a wet jelly substance. I really like the wet effect the sweets have when melted. The colours are a lot more vibrant and interesting and I much prefer this type. However, I had a new idea from using more than one type of Jelly Baby. I began to look at giving the Jelly Babies a kind of identity. Personifying them, maybe by looking at their clothes, colours, and hair etc. I wanted to create a kind of scene, using the Jelly Babies as people. I will explore this idea further.

My next experiment was with sandwiched Perspex sheets. I melted Jelly Babies onto a sheet of Perspex and then sandwiched another piece on top. This created a really nice speckled effect with the sweets. I took pictures of the samples when placed over a light and the colours look really effective. The light turns the sweets an orangy brown colour and looks almost jewel like when placed over light.

These images are of my Perspex Jelly Baby samples. I used the photocopier to print these pattern like images onto acetate. I really like the different tones and the overlapping of the images. However, they have printed quite dark and I think they would look much better printed in colour. I do think these pieces have potential. I really like the darker spaces where the acetate overlaps, and the pieces are very intresting.

So today I managed to get my hands on some mirrored Perspex. I really wanted to see what the reflections would look like if I melted the Jelly Babies directly onto the surface. The problem I found with using this material is that the surface bubbled and warped slightly when exposed to the blow torch for too long. I decided to cover some sections with really thick layers of the melted mix and cover some other areas with not that much - to see if you could see the reflections. However, 5 bags of Jelly Babies later and the whole sheet was covered. Although the colours are a bit too strong next to one another, I think the piece is quite successful. The colours have blended into each other to create sections of really nice contrast between the charred surface and the dull colour underneath. Teamed with the reflective surface underneath, I think it works really well. My only issue are the colours. I think if I continue on with this idea, I would chose a more limited colour pallet. This piece would be much more successful with some kind of other interest on top of the Jelly Babies and maybe in smaller sections as I think the surface is just too large and busy.

OHP revisited

So the earlier samples that I created, that haven't really got much build up of burnt sugar, have a really nice effect when placed over the OHP. I really wanted to further explore the potential of shadow and light. The colours from the inside of the sweet really shine through and this makes some really nice coloured shadows on the wall. I took photos from these shapes on the wall and I also tried photocopying them in black and white, and hopefully will be able to get on the colour copier soon. The drawings I took work well in smaller sections rather than a whole random composition. They are beginning to remind me of little biological samples. I might begin to play more on this idea.The only problem is the mass of black that doesn't really have any interesting features. However I like the tone in the coloured sections. 

Wine Gums & Midget Gems

So I have now experimented with about 4 different types of Jelly sweets. So far I have used Jelly Babies mainly but I wanted to see if I could find a sweet thats a bit more colourful when burnt. First I tried midget gems, these are really hard and I didn't think they'd work too well but they actually created a really nice effect. However, it was very difficult to spread the mixture around as it solidified so quickly after melting. The underneath of the sweets stayed in tact however the top layer when really black and crispy. I like the effect but the technique is not practical at all.  Then I tried out using wine gums, these had the complete opposite effect and melted really nicely with their colour still intact, however the mixture did not really go solid again, so just stayed as a wet sticky mess - the consistency of lemon curd. I created a small sample piece of each.
I still think Jelly Babies are definatly still the best materials to suit the effect I wantt.

Rich Walker

Rich Walker is an artist who works a lot with Texture. I came across his work on a blog I found whilst researching methods. He uses a build up of colour to create beautiful textured panels. This reminded me of previous sweet pieces I had experimented with. I will try building the colours up to create an interesting textured piece like the one in the image below. I will try dripping the sweets onto plastic to create a random stringy effect. 

Finally Dry!!

So the first pieces of work I created were part of an experiment I tried to see how the sweets react in different enviroments. I placed each sample in a different part of the house to see how they would react over time. The piece that reacted the best, was left on the window sill in clear view of the sun. The sweets have dried out over time, meaning that although the piece is not solid, it is now not sticky and therfore a much more practical material. 

These photos are of my more recent Perspex samples. I think these pieces are definatley more confident and informed than my earlier ones. I think I have the right balance of colour and texture. I have also tried using whole Jelly Babies to add more intrest than just a simple background. I really like the colours and think the blow torch is a great way of melting them. These are just a few examples of my more recent samples.

The Blow Torch

From all the different heat experiments I have done, my favourite is the blow torch. I placed a few Jelly Babies on a sheet of clear Perspex and melted them with the blow torch. I wanted to create an abstract piece of work that didn't really look like a Jelly Baby and that exposed the colours more clearly. The problem with using the blow torch is that the amount of concetrated heat means that the surface burns very quickly. I found however that if you mix up the Jelly Baby after it has been melted, the flesh underneath is still coloured and will come through the burnt layer on the top. I really like this effect and think that I could create a nice series of work using this technique presented on squares of Perspex.

I tried out melting the sweets in the wax pot. I really like how the wax dries over the Jelly Babies and dims the colour slightly. I like the samples, they are not as brightly coloured as I would like however they do peel off the Perspex which is a plus. I do like the effect however I think I could find a better way of using the Jelly Babies which are more aesthetically pleasing.

These pieces happened by accident when I left a sweet sample in the oven for too long. I really like the orange glow and bubbles in the mix. The pieces were very interesting and the colours were very pretty. They reminded me of fossil type rocks and I really like the shiny liquid like mixture on the bottom photograph. It was a shame that the pieces would not peel off the baking parchment I placed underneath. 

Exploring Properties

I found an artist named Sarah Graham who created photorealistic paintings of bags of sweets. Although her methods are completely different to mine, I really like the colours in her paintings and want to find a way to make the colours in my compositions more vivid. 


I also began to experiment with making the materials more practical. I tried putting one of the pieces in the fridge and the oven to see if I could make it solid. The fridge did not help at all, and the oven was too hot, and melted the composition into a crispy black mess. I might try mixing the sweet mix with PVA glue to see if I can make it solid. Below is a photograph of the piece in the fridge.

Although the sweets that were left in the oven did not turn out how I wanted them to, they made some intresting brown colours.

Final Major Project Has Begun!!

So it's the first week of FMP. Our final 10 week project of Foundation year. I began by exploring my idea for the project. I thought of the idea when browsing on an Art blog. The colours and textures of the sweets seemed like they would work well as a drawing material. First I decided to explore the properties of Jelly Babies by melting them in different ways. I wanted to use the substances as materials rather than just as sweets. I used the microwave, the oven, a frying pan, a heat press, a blow torch and the grill. Each method gave different results. It became apparent that I needed to find the amount of time they melted best at so as to keep the colours and prevent them from burning. Once I had worked this out, I was able to create a few different compositions with the colours which I think look really effective. I also took some really nice photographs. The only problem with the pieces is that they are very sticky and wont last. I need to find a way to make them less sticky, or solid.