Eleflumps

Eleflump
by Jo Howell 2012

I thought that I would let you see what kind of processes I go through when creating the Eco Magazine for National Energy Action. I decided to create the Eleflump because one of the children had written a story about an energy efficient elephant and a ladybird.

Eleflump Pattern
by Jo Howell 2012

The Eleflump is made from a pair of old jeans that had a broken zip. I drew this simple elephant shape onto paper and cut around the template leaving a small gap for the seams. Using the space between his legs for the ears, (there should be two), and using old shirt buttons for the eyes, I stitched these into place before fitting the two sides together.

The life saving Singer
by Jo Howell 2012

I used a beautiful hand crank Singer sewing machine to sew the sides of the Eleflump together, inside out so most of the stitching is hidden inside. I left the back leg open so I could pull him right side through, and also so I could stuff him easily.

Recycling gone mad
by Jo Howell

I then used one of the many carrier bags that we keep in the house to carefully fill out the trunk and front leg. I added more carrier bags to fill out the rest of the Eleflump, then I simply stitched his back leg and trimmed down any unsightly loose threads.

A herd of Eleflumps
by Jo Howell

I had enough material from one pair of jeans to make 8 Eleflumps, an entire herd! I then use the character I have made and photograph it in different poses or situations, the photographs are then edited and stitched together digitally to create the page for the magazine. I believe creating the characters in this way gives them more life than what could be achieved through just drawing or painting techniques alone.

Creating the characters in this fashion has also led to some great "Make it yourself" pages, where in true Blue Peter fashion, the kids can actually make the characters themselves at home by recycling house hold items. Double win!

To check out my other work visit my website or facebook page!

Through the Pin-Hole...

The Pin Hole Camera half made
by Jo Howell

After a long while trying to remember the smell of the dark room I finally purchased some chemicals and began to have a play around. Where my studio is in Creative Cohesion there aren't really the proper conditions for creating a dark room, but when has that ever stopped me?

The finished camera
By Jo Howell

Late yesterday evening I came into the studio mixed up my developer, stop bath and fix to the correct temperatures, and set about to find out if it were feasible for me to try a new darkroom project. First I had to make the area as light tight as possible, there were some minor light leaks into the room but as far as I can tell nothing that would effect the print.

Photogram paper test
By Jo Howell

Then I had to figure out if the paper I still have left over from University (2008) would actually work. To do this I figured some quick simple photograms would suffice. I need to see if the paper was still reactive so I could then start testing it in the pin hole camera.

Luckily for me the paper was still absolutely fine, which has saved me outlaying another £80 for my tests. I did the photograms without an enlarger and simply used a hand held flash to expose the paper. The exposures are all over and the photograms are not the best, but the test run showed me several things:
Yes, I can create a functional dark room in Cohesion with a little more refinement.
Yes, the paper works.
Yes, the pin hole camera is light tight apart from the hole.

The tests
By Jo Howell

Now that I know these basic things I can seriously begin to sink my teeth into some more work, starting with figuring out the exposure times for the camera!

If you want to checkout more of my work visit my facebook page or look at my website.
Thanks for following!

A glass act...

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