Tuesday 17 December 2013

TRCreative - Prints for Sale!


The TRCreative Enterprise project was launched in 2011 when students at Thomas Rotherham College secured funding to set up their own business in order to raise funds for their Art Department and a local Charity. In the first year students created their own black and white Drypoint prints inspired by beautiful places in South Yorkshire, these were sold as Original prints, digital prints, postcards and notecards.

In 2012 students were inspired by portraiture and focussed their images on the people of South Yorkshire, this year students have again been inspired by the beautiful places in Yorkshire, but have interpreted them using Lino for the first time, and experimenting with colour. From Scarborough Lighthouse to the Cheesegrater building in Sheffield, the students have produced a wide range of images. Each student has donated their best print to the project and the original has been framed ready to buy.  We have also made an edition of 4 digital prints of each image which are signed by the students and available framed or unframed. This year’s logo was designed by Heather Ward, one of our current students.

This year we will be supporting the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, half of all profits from items sold will go towards the charity.

All the prints are now on display outside the Principal office and are available to buy, along with some other products;



Notecards and Postcards

2014 Calendar
 

Prices:

£25.00
Framed Original Prints
These are the original prints made by the students as A/P’s (Artists proofs) and are one offs
 
£15.00
Framed Digital Prints
These are digital reproductions of the original prints, printed onto cartridge paper and signed by the Artist.  They have been produced in an edition of 4 and are available framed
£5.00
Unframed Digital Prints
These are digital reproductions of the original prints, printed onto cartridge paper and signed by the Artist.  They have been produced in an edition of 4 and are available unframed
£4.50
A4 Wall Calendar
Featuring prints for each month of next year
£2.50
Desk Wall Calendar
Featuring prints for each month of next year
£1.50
Notecards
Pack of 5 notelets with various images
£1.00
Postcards
Pack of 5 postcards with various images

If you would like to buy something please email sarah.mellor@thomroth.ac.uk with the item you would like to buy and how you would like to pay. Payment can be made by cash or cheque either to the Art Department or direct to accounts.   If you would like a framed print please allow some time for this to be taken down.

The original framed prints (£25.00) are proving very popular, we have already sold the following (digital prints still available! (£15.00 framed, £5 unframed):

Lucas Edwards ‘Thomas Rotherham College’





Bronya Roberts ‘Cheesegrater’
 

Sophie Burton ‘Untitled'
 
Sian Smith ‘Sheffield City Hall’


 
 
If you have any questions or would like to purchase anything please email sarah.mellor@thomroth.ac.uk

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Where are they Now? - Joe Bradley


Guest blog post written by Joe Bradley, all images appear with his permission, thanks Joe!

Joe Bradley

University: University of Cambridge - Christ's College

 
Insurance: University of Sheffield

I left Thomas Rotherham in June 2013 and was lucky enough to be given an offer to read Architecture at The University of Cambridge starting in October.

The course at TRC is perfectly suited for the architecture degree down here in Cambridge, as the general majority all studied art in a traditional (not TRC) way, or even not at all! This means that through all of the coffee grains, plaster-covered clothes and years of being a 'skip-rat', we've been allowed to develop these skills that, to be fair, are nothing like I’ve seen in studio so far, and the tutors love it. One example is when we were asked to create concept model of our idea. Other students came in with foamboard models of small room-like structures. I came in with a piece that was a bicycle wheel (I skip hunted for that little gem), with a stool stuck through the spokes to represent the 'sudden jarring of movement'. The tutors here are really into the TRC way of thinking, and it's only until I got here that I realised how lucky TRC students are with the amount of different materials that are available and encouraged to be used.

Concept model that formed the start of project 2
 

Foamboard model of section of the Faculty of Architecture, Cambridge – 1:50


Foamboard and Kraftboard model, 1:50 – project 2

We still do weird and wacky concept models like at TRC, like this plaster cast I did


Final review table – project 2 (model based)
 The course is built up with 8 different classes, with 7 exams at the end. Usually we have one lecture in each class per week, which some lecturers decide to follow up with supervisions. These are little meetings of 4-5 students maximum, with the lecturer, where you have the opportunity to discuss things spoken about in the lecture. These supervisions are a really good thing if you're not someone who is particularly up for speaking in front of a full lecture room (me). So far, all the lecturers are really cool and are so interesting and willing to help if ever there are any queries you have. The main class is 'studio'. You don't have an exam in it, but you have to put a portfolio together at the end of the year to present the project work that you have done. 


A shot of the architecture family after a formal dinner in St. John’s
 The studio section is a lot of work and does take up loads of time, but it's definitely the most rewarding of any of my work. You are given a brief, slowly fed information, and 4 weeks later, you have a final proposal of an architectural development. It moves very quickly so you have to be motivated, but the feeling you do get in your final review of the project, when recognised architects are praising your ideas, is amazing. Also, reviews tend to lead to a BIG night out after, which gives way to some good stories getting thrown about in studio.

 Before I got to uni, I was dead set on being an architect, but now I’ve seen the possibilities of where this degree could take me, it’s opened my eyes to things like architectural photography and architectural historians amongst other careers. This said, I still really want to be an architect.

 I was really nervous and apprehensive about going to uni. I thought "wow, I did it! This is amazing!", but then I thought of all the stereotypes that came with Cambridge. Once I got there, it took me all of about 10 minutes to realise that people are just people no matter of their background or history, and to be honest, people love the Northern vibes. If you’re ever thinking of applying for Cambridge, please do not hesitate for the reasons I did. I wish I had somebody to tell me that all of the ‘everybody wears a suit 24/7’, ‘caviar for breakfast, dinner and tea’ and ‘forget mates, it’s all about work now’ were all rubbish. I’ve had a laugh every second of my first term, and there’s not been a day go by where I haven’t looked round and been amazed by at least one thing, whether it be the history of a building I’m in, having a pint with Jesse Jackson or walking into the toilets and talking to Tim Vine in the next urinal while absolutely off my face. It is truly amazing, don’t turn down the opportunity of Cambridge if it’s ever a possibility. Apply, you never know.
 

Yes. 

A steady pint with Tim Vine
As for architecture, I think it’s a really good course if you have a lot of interests. I have so far read up on art, history and maths, but then sociology, psychology, geography, psychogeography (nope, I didn’t know either), philosophy, economics, biology, chemistry, engineering, English, basically everything. It has such a broad spectrum, which means it can never get stagnant, because there’s so much that can be thought about. If you are seriously considering architecture, pursue it.



Christmas dinner with the boys at Christ’s

Tuesday 10 December 2013

Face Exhibition - Hollie Turner

Hollie Turner is one of our current A2 Art Students who over the summer was involved with ROAR over the summer, here she tells us what she got up to:
 
Face Exhibition

ROAR is based in Rotherham Town Centre, and was set up to create a thriving art community in Rotherham. They’re based in Westgate Chambers and have exhibition space as well as artists’ studios. Everyone there is really friendly, and willing to help you with anything you want to do within the arts industry.

I worked there for a week, seeing the day to day running of the place and the groups who use the space within it. I created a booklet for volunteers who were completing creative workshops, as well as designing email templates for ROAR. Also, I helped with a ‘Rotherham Walkabout’ in town centre, where we created a small pyramid installation outside of the imperial buildings. For this I worked with local artist Nick Summerbell, who then showed me the work he has exhibited in Rotherham Library.

During the summer I contacted artists from the local area, some of whom where members of ROAR, to ask them to exhibit work in a portraiture exhibition I was curating. This exhibition featured traditional and more experimental portraiture, in ROAR’s ‘Buzz’ gallery. This ran from the 18th September to the 8th of October. I also took this opportunity to exhibit some of my own work alongside artists work. This experience was really great, as it allowed me to get fully involved in my own project, as I wrote the proposal for the exhibition, contacted the artists and organised where the work should be hung. This gave me real experience of curating as a career path I am interested in pursuing in the future, and was really valuable to me as well as thoroughly enjoyable!

Communicating with artists from the local area showed me how much there is happening in and around Rotherham, and is something that I’d recommend anyone to get involved in. As I previously said, everyone is more than willing to help and everyone offered me advise about the future and my own art work, including Edwin Wraith, who is an artist based in the local area, who helped me with my drawing technique when I did some quick sketches of him while he was there.

 

Where are they now? Josh Holbrook - Graphic Communication 2012

Josh studied Graphic Communication from 2010 - 2012 at Thomas Rotherham College.  His unit 4 portfolio can be seen on the ArtHive here. Thanks for the post Josh!
 
During my time at Thomas Rotherham college, I did Graphic Communication. After finishing College I went straight into University where I am doing my MArt of Games Design, and this is at Sheffield Hallam University.

The Graphics course prepared me for it as there is a lot of self-lead work, and independent tasks to do, as there isn't enough lecture time to do everything in University time, which is true for all courses, and we also use Photoshop a lot and there is a lot of drawing, which I spent most of my time doing at College.

My specific career aspiration is to be a Games Designer, and if the opportunity arises, I will go to America into large Games Studios.