Commissioned Portrait

Commissioned Portrait

Maya, 2011

Maya and her mum Linda are regular customers in the shop I work in, Twenty Six

Maya is probably the cutest thing since Hello Kitty, with her trendy little outfits and quirky pink glasses!

Just a little bit before Christmas I agreed to do a portrait of her for her lovely Mummy Linda, which I presented to them both in the New Year, just in time for Maya's 4th birthday!

I worked from this photo, which was a favourite of Linda's.

I chose to do the portrait in pencil, as it is one of my favourite mediums for this kind of work.
For portraiture, I also enjoy working with charcoal and chalk pastels, but due to the photo being quite dark and contrasted, I decided pencil would be best to capture the soft features and finer details.

Here's a quick snap I took when I had finished

This is what the portrait looked like when it was mounted.

It was then set into a thick wooden bevelled style frame.

When I presented Linda with the piece, she was so thrilled and delighted, it made my day!

She exclaimed, "Oh my God. It's so her, it's brilliant."

I was delighted that I had achieved such a great likeness to Maya and that I had captured her character.

Linda later told me that she had it out on the table at Maya's

birthday party and that all of her guests were admiring it.

This was my first portrait in a little over a year, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

It made me remember why I love portraiture so much and I'm looking forward to the next one, which I already have lined up!

Will keep y'all posted :)

Knit & Stitch Show 2010

The Knit & Stitch Show,

RDS Dublin

I was asked to exhibit at the "Knit & Stitch" show in the RDS, Dublin in October 2010.

It was an amazing opportunity and a great couple of days!

If you didn't get a chance to see it, here's what my space looked like...

The fabulously named sign that hung over my space

I've always wanted to see my name in lights, but this will certainly do for now!!

My space was a corner unit, which initially put me at a disadvantage as I only had two walls to work with; whereas my colleagues had three.

I think it actually worked to my advantage as my layout fit perfectly into the space, and I felt it's openness made it more inviting; it seemed to draw in the crowd who were walking in my direction.

As I had to travel from Limerick to Dublin with a car choc-o-block of art & materials, I had no room for table or chairs, (like the ones from my exhibition in Galway, which can be viewed here)

I had to make do with this delightfully hideous one (pictured) that I rented at the venue.

View of wall #1

You may notice that the second piece in the "Goldilocks" series, "The Kiss: Goldie fell deeper and deeper in love," is missing. This is because it is currently on display in a gallery in York, along with two of my illustrations.

After New Designers, I had to dispose of my portfolio cradle due to luggage weight restrictions, so pictured in the bottom right corner is a makeshift one that I made from the frame of a laundry basket and some ribbon!

Close up of dress & the narrative symbols

I love the motifs drawn along the bottom of Goldie's dress as it tells the story in symbolic form.

I had the dress on display on a chair at my end of year exhibition, but felt it was possibly overlooked and needed more emphasis. So I decided to display it on the wall alongside the pieces, so as they are both narrating the story, but in different ways.

Wall #2

Here you can see the last two pieces in the series along with my hanging digital print samples / variations and my apron.

The newest additions to this body of work was the blouse I upcylced with my "Calorie Lace" to match the apron. Also, I took some samples out that I had hidden away in notebooks and hung them with some postcards along a 'girly' style washing line underneath the pieces.

View of the breakfast table

Here you can see a mock up of the three bear's breakfast table.

I had my postcards on display here, along with a new addition to this body of work: a plate of 'sweet treats.'

I had a little hand written note beside the plate during the exhibition, which read;

"Forget about the calories, have one on Goldie!"

This is also where my comment book was available for feedback; which I received a lot of, so a big thank you to all who took the time to sign it, I loved reading what you had to say.

It is very much appreciated and brought a smile to my face.

Close up of the porridge prints, apron & upcycled blouse

Close up of framed drawings on hanger:

Framed here you can see copies of illustrations from my sketch books and hanging from this is my "Porridge Bowl" print, in different colour ways & sizes.

(Small - Baby bear, Medium - Momma Bear, Large - Poppa Bear)

Close up of hanging digitally printed illustration samples:

I wanted to show how my illustrations looked when transferred to fabric by a different medium, digital print, and accompanied with stitch.

I felt it was important to dig these out of my notebooks and put more emphasis on them, as this is the direction I'm hoping my next fairytale in the "Once Upon an Ever After" series, "Little Red" is going to go in.

Last but not least, the three bears made an appearance, it is Goldilocks after all!

That's all (for now), folks!

Official Facebook Page!

"Keelin Corscadden Designs" is now on Facebook

Here ye, here ye!

Attention please!

"Keelin Corscadden Designs" now has it's very own Facebook page.

After what feels like an eternity setting it all up, it is now officially live and running!

It can be viewed here

For those of you who Facebook more than blog, nows your chance to keep updated regularly with my current work / projects and shows.

Keep it real folks

End of Year Exhibition, GMIT, Galway

End of Year Exhibition, June 2010

(I know what you're thinking, very late posting Keelin, tut tut tut!)

Seen as I'm finally getting the hang of this, I've decided to (finally) post up some pictures from my end of year show in GMIT, Galway in June 2010.

Big thanks to all who attended, and if you didn't get a chance, here's a taste of what you missed...

The Tale of Goldilocks

(Minus the Porridge)

Piece 1: "A dark & handsome man cast his shadow over the world"

Piece 2: "The Kiss: Goldie fell deeper and deeper in love"

Piece 3: "Maybe you should lay off the porridge"

Piece 4: "These dubious claims began to circulate within her thoughts"

Piece 5: "And so she refused to eat"

Piece 6: "Then came that fateful morning when Goldie never woke up"

Breakfast table set with the three bears and Goldie's dress, which has motifs along the bottom narrating the tale.

Birds eye view of the breakfast table.

Each napkin has digitally printed imagery from my research & sketchbooks, then I added colour and detail to them through hand embroidery; a "domesticated handicraft."

Bringing the traditional women's "handicraft" back into a domestic environment.

Another view of the breakfast table and the rest of the room.

In the background you can see my calories hanging out to dry (!) and my dress and apron, which are both digitally printed with my porridge bowl designs.

A close up of my apron and dress;

both digitally printed with my porridge bowl designs.

Simply called, "Porridge Bowl" & "Pop Porridge"

Here you can see my notebook covers on the shelf.

Again I got these digitally printed with my designs.

Beside them are my business cards and postcards.

Opposite you can see jars of "calories"

And framed in the centre are copies of images from my sketch book, hanging from this is my "Porridge Bowl" print, in different colour ways & sizes

(Small - Baby bear, Medium - Momma Bear, Large - Poppa Bear)

Close up of framed copies of sketches from my research

To emphasize that it was a 'weighty' issue, I had an old style scales brought in for the show.

On one side I had a bad of porridge, and on the other a dress-maker's measuring tape.

The porridge symbolising food = weight, and the measuring tape symbolising body shape / size.

My work, along with some of my classmate's, was mentioned in this lovely blog by Pippablue, who "loves all things crafty."

The post can be viewed here

Now that I've finally got my online act in gear, keep tuned for lots of more posts, exhibition images and my current artistic projects / ideas :)

All images are copyright protected.

Copyright 2011, Keelin Corscadden, All Rights Reserved

For copies of my images / permission to use them, please contact me on: keelin_cor@hotmail.com

Work Experience @ Liquorish

Work Experience:

I did a week's work experience with London-based label, "Liquorish."

Liquorish is a hot new brand which can be purchased online @ http://www.liquorishonline.com/ and also in many boutiques throughout England & Ireland.

One of these being Topshop on Oxford

Street, London.

They also have a really cool and quirky blog, which you can find here -

http://liquorishonline.blogspot.com/

You might recognise them from "The Apprentice" with Alan Sugar, as they were one of the popular fashion brands that the teams were fighting over.

Missed that episode? Click here for a recap:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNZmdlVLG44&feature=player_embedded

Pictured: Liquorish's concession stand in Topshop, Oxford Street, London

First off, I met some really cool people;

Karl, who is a multi-talented, creative hearted individual, and uber inspiring! His blog can be viewed here - http://karlslater.blogspot.com/

(Might I add, it's much cooler than mine... apparently mine is the "nerd" of blogs!)

And the ever so lovely Maria, who did her degree in Textile Design & Fashion and had an amazing collection for her graduate show, which can be viewed here - http://ubdnetwork.com/projects/view/Marias-Project-80#a1

One of my favourite pieces was...

Love the shirt, tights and check out those shoes! (Which she customised herself!)

Nom, nom, nom :)

Karl & Maria are definitely ones to watch, so check them out! And remember, you heard it here first ;)

I also got to visit ASOS headquarters and I helped out with delivering clothes to Topshop for Liquorish's concession stand.

I also tried to help with the organization / coordination of the stand, but to be honest I don't

think I was very good at the visual merchandising - (I'll leave that to Karl!)

Another little project I got to do was updating the prices on their site as they were having a big sale (which should be checked out as there are plenty o' bargains to be found!)

I do love the business / organization side of things, (after all, organization is key!) but to be honest my heart still lies in design and other creative outlets.

I sat down one or two mornings to design dresses or tops, but all that was running through my mind was "I wonder what pattern fabric this will be."

Finding myself more obsessed with the design of the

pattern and fabric, I was delighted when asked to design a bow motif for one of their dresses.

It was going to be a sequinned bow, so I had to fill in the

detail of where the stitching and sequins would be and also where the beading would go.

Fast forward a couple hours drawing and......

... VOILA!

This design was then sent off to be sampled on one of their dresses for Topshop.

So, maybe one day, one of my creations will be hanging in Topshop... maybe!

So, my overall verdict?

Quite the experience indeed!

*UPDATE*

Have been offered the opportunity to work here full time and will be starting after my exhibition in the Knit & Stitch Show, RDS, Dublin.

Wish me luck!

Keelin Corscadden Exhibits @ The Cloth Shop, Limerick

First off, apologies for the severe lack of blogging, I am still trying to get my head around it!

My new years resolution is to get my butt in gear with this all this blogging malark; completely revamp my page while updating it on a regular basis.

I'm going to keep whoever is interested up to speed with my creative adventures!

So check back regularly for new posts :)

A lovely lady named Deirdre got in contact with me shortly after my Graduate Show.

She is just after opening a fabric shop in Limerick City Centre, named "The Cloth Shop" and told me she was interested in stocking my fabric!

*How exciting!*

Delighted I agreed and we decided to exhibit my work along with my fabrics in the shop for their official store opening, which looked a little like this...

New Designers 2010 - London baby!

They say that "home is where the heart is."
If that's the case, then my home is London!
I went over for 10 days to exhibit my work along with some classmates, and it made me remember why I had fallen in love with London in the first place!
Have you ever visited somewhere and just felt so at home?
Have you ever felt like, this is where I belong?
That's how I felt whilst trekking around on the tube, strolling around Camden and eating ice cream with friends underneath the London Eye.



New Designers was interesting, it was a real eye opener!
It made me realize exactly how small Galway/Ireland is, and I was blown away with all of the talent! It was definitely an experience, and I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to exhibit there.
New Designers gave me so much inspiration and being back in London gave me such a buzz; I felt like the whole experience completely rebooted my system!

In regards to my work and my ideas, I've always felt so restricted in Galway. Now after finishing college, the success of my Graduate show and the experience of New Designers, I feel like I no longer have to take shallow breaths - finally, I'm free to breathe as deeply as I wish!
After the last two/three weeks turn of events, I am really free of all ties and there is nothing holding me back anymore.

It's so refreshing!

The week following New Designers, I received an email off of an Art Gallery owner from York. She said some lovely things about my work, that it was "outstanding, eyecatching and beautiful" and she is interested in exhibiting and selling my work for me. How exciting!

What a perfect start to my first summer as a BA Hons Textiles graduate.