It's been a while since I last posted, but since my last post I have been busy writing up my PhD, and submitted my thesis just before Christmas, I have moved house, started a new job, and life has generally taken priority over my practice.  Now, as I await my viva, my mind turns back to new avenues of research and ideas for art, and I decided that it was time to dust off my blog and my twitter feed and start looking at all of the exciting things going on in the world outside of my own 45,000 words.  So as a late New Year's resolution, I shall set myself the challenge of updating this blog regularly.

A-Wakening was open to the public for four hours, during which we have received some very useful feedback and suggestions for further development of the work.  It was a great opportunity to use such a fantastic space, and sincere thanks to all the technical, front of house, and box office staff who made this immersive, environmental installation possible.

I have been continuing the series of photographs investigating patterns of light and shadow.  I have also been considering the texture and patterns within extreme close ups of coloured hair.

Today I have also been making changes to the animation which I am developing for A-Wakening.  The grid effect which I was using previously looked exactly how I wanted it to while editing but looked completely different after a test clip had been rendered.  This time, I am using the same colour to create a moving particle effect, to create the impression of small dots of light moving around the space.  These dots are deliberately  out of focus, to give the impression of dust particles or lighting flares, and to move quickly so that they cannot be perceived fully - contributing to the dreamlike quality of the work.

Today I was struck by the beauty of the patterns that the Christmas lights made on the wall, and decided to experiment with moving some of the lights around to create different balances of light and dark.

I have also been extending my series of images of shadows and light, this time taking photographs late at night.  The images needed quite a bit of post-production to make them light enough for the patterns to be clearly visible, but I like the grainy effect that this has created.

Yesterday, I took a little time to take some photographs, experimenting with the patterns which a colour-changing light made on the wall.  I really like all of the different combinations, they almost have a painterly quality to them.

I'm currently working on the animation that will be projected into my forthcoming installation/environment.  I'm taking the colours from my previous stages of development and looking at creating more uniform geometric shapes and visually pleasing arrangements of colour.

The Lull is now open.  I decided to make some final changes to the textures of some of the objects which I had created within the space - experimenting with the lighting and repetition options within the software to modify some of the default sets available through the viewer.  This has given me lots of ideas for creating works in Second Life in the future.

Over the last few days I have been embracing the possibilities of Second Life and allowing myself to work in a more appropriate way within the space.  The box-type 'rooms' are gone, as a way of ensuring that the space is as immersive as possible and that the transitions between spaces are more informal and seamless.