Spheres one and two

October 9, 2012March 26, 2014 | Anna Cull

Anna Cull Nelson beach sphere1 — Nelson beach sphere one, 2012.

Anna Cull Nelson beach sphere2 — Nelson beach sphere two, 2012.

I’ve been messing about with the polar coordinates filter in Photoshop and getting some nice results. Some photos definitely work better than others but even the ‘failures’ are interesting. Quite a few people (and I’m one of them) use the filter to create weird little planets but I’m interested in seeing what else I can do with it.

This is the original photo before it was duplicated, flipped horizontally to create a mirror image, resized into a distorted square and transformed into spheres.

My thanks to Leanne Cole for posting a tutorial on the polar coordinates distortion filter.

Mime artist

August 13, 2012January 28, 2014 | Anna Cull

This is one of the mosaic sculptures at The Giant’s House in Akaroa. Artist Josie Martin has transformed her garden with sculptures and mosaics to create an exceptional and magical place. I took lots and lots of photos (as you can imagine) when we visited a few years ago, but this one is my favourite: a larger-than-life Marcel Marceau leaning on thin air.

Water Whirler

August 13, 2012January 28, 2014 | Anna Cull

This is New Zealand artist Len Lye’s Water Whirler in motion. The kinetic sculpture was built posthumously on its own pier in Wellington, 2006.

Kererū

August 13, 2012July 7, 2013 | Anna Cull

I haven’t posted many photographs lately (possibly because I haven’t taken many I really like), so I thought I’d remedy the situation by posting a selection of slightly older images.

This photograph was taken in Nelson several years ago using my (then) brand new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20. It may not be brilliant quality by today’s standards, but I still quite like this shot of a New Zealand native wood pigeon (kererū).

D&A Fairtrade Exhibition 2012

May 5, 2012July 7, 2013 | Anna Cull

There is currently an exhibition of Fairtrade coffee projects by Design and Arts College graphic design graduates at Addington Coffee Co-op in Christchurch. The exhibition marks Fairtrade Fortnight and will run from 5–20 May.

Student project: Fairtrade branding campaign – logo, in-store poster and coffee cups.

The idea behind my campaign is that Fairtrade Fortnight is a celebration of fair play. With this in mind, I decided to play with the word ‘fair’. The sun motif refers to a fair day while bright colours and cheerful flags suggest all the fun of the fair.

Self-portrait in felt

April 9, 2012July 7, 2013 | Anna Cull

Finger puppet self-portrait in New Regent Street, Christchurch, 2010.Student project – mixed media, drawing and photography. — Finger puppet self-portrait in New Regent Street, Christchurch, 2010.
Student project – mixed media, drawing and photography.

A fun, three-day project.

I have always loved the Spanish Mission style architecture of New Regent Street. The pastel green, yellow and blue façades are like the icing on the cake of central Christchurch. The street was opened on 1st April 1932. Happy 80th birthday, New Regent Street.

The street suffered some damage during Canterbury’s recent earthquakes but has survived remarkably well. It is, however, in the city’s no-go Red Zone. There are plans to restore the street and to try and reopen it by Christmas 2012.