Decorex International 2011

Decorex International 2011

This is me!

Goodbye Hartlepool

It's time to say a fond and sad farewell to sunny Hartlepool and the college :-(. This week we took down the degree show and said our goodbyes. There were lots of hugs and tears, but lots of best wishes said. Cleveland college has been a brilliant place to spend the last 3 years and the staff have been very supportive and the family like atmosphere has certainly been in abundance.

My VERY last day there was yesterday, where the 14 students chosen for New Designers got together to organise work for the stand and sort out portfolios. It was a bit weird as it seemed that we were the only people in the building and the rest of the place felt like a ghost town. We had great fun though in our portfolio session, with Britain's got talent style selection process that was taken in good humour! I'll never be able to hear a buzzer again without thinking of Claire and Lyndon and their great delight at pressing the button! Next week on the stand is going to be hard-work and exhausting at times, but I'm sure there will be lots of fun too.

ARTS THREAD

ARTS THREAD - Tracy Bidwell - Textiles & Surface Design BA (Hons)

This is an online portfolio, that can be searched by people in the industry. It's great to have the opportunity to have my work on this as you never know what may come from it.

Today we took the degree show down, which was a little sad as that is it now, all finished and lots of sad goodbyes were said. Hopefully we'll all keep in touch via facebook and blogs and the odd reunion or two! Best of luck to everyone and hope some fab jobs are coming your way :-)

Degree Show - Twenty Eleven

After a frantic two days getting the show ready and a busy preview night the Twenty Eleven Degree show is open!The preview evening went well and lots of people came and everyone looked fabulous, although I still can't work out how some of you girls stay upright in those high heels!! Well done Tanya for wining first prize for your dissertation :-) I won second dissertation prize and now have a beautiful orchid sitting proudly in my window.

I would like to say a big thank you to my family and friends for coming to see the show (Susan & Lionel, Alan, Claire & Peter, Dad & Carolyn and Jane), it has been lovely to see you and I do really appreciate you travelling from far and wide to see what I've been up to for the last 3 years xxxx. I know some of you are still to come up and I hope you enjoy it too and thank you.

The images show my display, so you can have a sneak peek or a refresher or just a look. It's not all my project, but hopefully a good snapshot of what I've been working on for my Final Major Project. It's based on seeds, pollen and cells some through the microscope others just as you see them, but concentrating on the detail.

I will keep you up to date on my London trips and the exhibitions and any more information on the rug as I get it.

It's this week!

As in the words of my favourite programme as a child......"It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights. It's time to meet the people on the DEGREE SHOW tonight! It's time to put on make-up, it's time to dress up right. It's time to raise the curtain on the DEGREE SHOW tonight!"Ah just a few words altered there, but any guesses for which show it's from? Well it's not quite tonight, but it will be on Thursday the 9th, from 6-7 for VIP and 7-9pm for friends and family.

I hope people who come enjoy looking at all the work myself and fellow students have done this year and have a bit of fun too. So it's posh frocks, new shoes, hair done and best lippy at the ready, for the show we've been gearing up for, over the last year.

Fingers crossed that over the next few days that we have left for preparing the space and putting the work up go well. Although nerves maybe frayed I'm sure we will pull together and show the people out there what great new designers we all are!

See you there :-)

Tracy Bidwell Wins 2011 Natural Origins Student Rug Design Competition - GoodWeave UK

Tracy Bidwell Wins 2011 Natural Origins Student Rug Design Competition - GoodWeave UK I've had lots of people asking what my design looked like, so here it is. It was inspired by the cell structure in a clematis stem and I was influenced by designers such as Lucienne Day, Mary White and Angie Lewin. Also the fantastic research and inspiration at the John Lewis/Stead McAlpin design archive played a big role in my project. I think I've mentioned before that I loved the designs and optimistic flavour of the 1951 Festival of Britain.