Clupea harengus

 Last night I put up a new piece for my project called Clupea harengus, which is the Latin name for Atlantic Herring, the fish used.

 This is a shot of the fish with the text block explaining what the piece is about.

 I really like where it is, it's really clear to see from all around and the text is a good level for children to read.

 'Marine debris is any man-made object that enters the coastal or marine environment.  From the tiniest piece of plastic to giant fishing nets, ocean pollution causes many challenges for animals in the wild.  This is a shoal of Atlantic Herring, a fish known to mistake the tiny plastic pieces as dinner.  These plastics can suffocate them or lead animals to starvation as it makes them feel full.  We can reduce our marine debris in many ways.  Have a think.  What  could you do to keep our seas clean.'

I loved putting this piece together.  I began with researching which fish eat plastic, looking at online resources of conservation project results, facts and figures etc to find out a different variety of fish.  I chose Atlantic Herring because they are a well know fish, not too ugly (like some of the ones that came up!)  and most kids reading the text block would have heard of a Herring and would already be able to relate.

I started finding images online to copy from, but after talking the the tutors, the idea of going to the aquarium seemed like to good an opportunity to miss.  I now have a years free pass and have been twice this week!

Next I found out the correct sizes for a Herring and began to draw the fish out to the correct size.  I then used these drawings as templates for cutting and cut around 8 sheets of paper in one go to duplicate the same template, rather than cutting them out singularly.  These would be the fish I used to stick up.

Now for the home made wheat paste.  As you can see below, its a lovely end result, but it's cheap, biodegradable and it really works!

I've had an experiment with trying to figure out how I can make the wheat paste more exciting and more than just a cut out.  At the moment I am experimenting with ink, lino, pen and pencil and hopefully laser cutting.