Wellington Art Gallery Trail - Part 2

Heading down Willis Street in Wellington towards the Water Front...

..a mix a buildings: the old and the new..

..with the new dwarfing the old!

I found the Wellington City Art Gallery

...this building used to be the Library...

I sat on that bench there and ate my lunch

and people-watched for a bit...

and admired this sculpture suspended between the buildings

then I went and had a look around the City Gallery.

Unfortunately, they were between exhibitions so upstairs was cordoned off. 

The Kermadec Exhibition was very interesting though!

Onto the Academy of Fine Arts: Water Colours and Ceramics

What a GREAT display of amazing work!!

Shame I couldn't photograph any of it...but I'm really glad I got to see this!

Last, but not least...NZ Portrait Gallery

Here I saw a fabulous display of works inspired by children's artwork.

All so very inspiring! By this time it was about 4pm and I was feeling 

REALLY tired so headed on back to the Railway Station 

and got the next train back to Waikanae.

Time: 5 hours (19 October 2012)

Wellington Art Gallery Trail - Part 1

 It was recommended by other TLC students to visit a number of art galleries 

while visiting the Wellington Region. On the Friday I caught the train from
Waikanae into the city and with a list of gallery names written
on a piece of paper I jumped on the bus which took me up by Cuba Street. 

It was here I started my "Art Trail" ....

First up: MINERVA

Not an art gallery but a book shop with lots of art related books.

I almost bought a card here...

NEXT: FLOWERS MANUELA

...a beautiful smelling quaint but arty florist boutique.
It was well-worth stopping in here!

NEXT ON LIST: SOLANDER GALLERY

I couldn't fin it and ended up having to ask someone.

Turns out I was looking for it on the WRONG street! I needed Willis Street...

On the way to Willis Street I found MATCHBOX GALLERIES

...up the stairs...

 It definitely wasn't my "thing" ...interesting...and quirky, but a bit to retro for me!

I walked past this park...

 ...and noticed this rather odd structure...

I thought it was most interesting!

 Another amazing sculpture! I love the tui's that visit our Kowhai ...

Very appropriate given the nature of the building. Love it!

SO...where is that SOLANDER ART GALLERY??

 YAY..FOUND IT!

Basia Smolnicki, the TLC tutor for the weekend's print-making course,
 currently has her work exhibited here. With my basic knowledge
of print-making that I learned from her I was able to 

understand how she did some of her art work. I spent quite a while here 

looking at the work on display in folders and on the wall.

oh no..my computer has died!

My Computer has died ....I feel like a part of me has died too LOL!

 Isn't it terrible how reliant we become on technology?! 

Mr.13 thinks it's the motherboard and my dad has a spare one 

so hopefully we'll be up and running again by the weekend.

Researching Print-making

Today, I had plans to go into Wellington to check out some of the Art Galleries, but the weather is rather wet and wild so instead I am doing a little online researching of print-making facilities etc to look into visiting when I return to Whangaraei.

 

Basia, the tutor at TLC's print-making course over the weekend suggested I check out http://www.nzprintmakers.com/ and from there I have found there's Te Kowhai Print Trust right under my nose! I am very much looking forward to visiting and have signed up to receive their newsletters by email. It only costs $35 for annual membership so will look into doing that when I get back home.

 

There is also Wharepuke Art Studios in KeriKeri that might be worth making a trip up for, too. I have printed out some information about print-making terms so I can familiarise myself with them.

Researching Time : 2 hours (17 October, 2012)

Print-Making weekend course at TLC

Monday 14th October : currently, I am in Waikanae. I arrived here early Friday morning after travelling overnight on the bus. It was a good, but tiring journey so I spent most of my first day here resting and sleeping as you don't get much sleep on a bus! I am staying with my SIL and her beloved and so grateful for their hospitality. My BIL has been my faithful taxi-service, dropping me off at the railway station over the weekend so I could travel in to the city and then up to Taita for the print-making weekend course at The Learning Connexion. And he was waiting to pick me up at the end of a long day to bring me back to his home for a lovely hot meal, cooked by my SIL. What a blessing they both are!

The weekend's print-making course has has a wonderful experience. Overwhelming, inspiring, emotional and tiring...but all worth the journey! I learned a lot. About print making...just the basics which I'm still trying to understand (there's SO much to know..too much to absorb in a single weekend!) and about myself. Too be honest, I didn't cope very well and I feel disappointed in myself. Everyone around me seemed to have so much confidence and skill in what they were doing...me, I felt like I was floundering the whole time. Oh well....I guess, these things are different for everyone..and whose to say they didn't have those same feelings the first time they did a class?

So I have, to take home with me, some print templates I made, some embossed prints and some inked prints from the templates. I also have a small sheet of MDF to experiment with wood-cutting when I return...along with loads of ideas I got from observing what the other students where doing. I didn't take my camera so have no photos of the weekend's activities. It was a very wet and wild weekend, weatherise..though by the time I left to board the train home, the sun was out and the sky blue. Typical!

Tomorrow, and the rest of the week I plan on drawing, taking photos and hopefully visiting a few art galleries to inspire and stimulate my creativeness.

What is art??

Art is more than an idea;
It is a communication,
a shared emotion,

a confrontation,
the dance of a soul in exaltation,
the Spirits celebration.

It can be simple or complex,
comforting or controversial,
but you have to love what you do
Make, create, for your own hearts sake,
nothing feels like holding the result of your inspiration,
so live fully in all your senses,
bravely share your vision,
and give others the chance to share your light,
After all, what else did the Creator put us here for?

Progress Report

A chilly start to the day but looks like it'll be ok once it gets going. I had another late start to the day. I blame it on the clocks changing! It always takes me a few weeks to adjust.....I have a sewing lesson this afternoon with my adult student Alys and Miss 19  is working tonight so I'll be taxi for her. It's the school holidays here so I'm going to work on some more art projects this morning. My mentor is phoning me tomorrow to discuss my progress...I always feel anxious about this but she's always being really encouraging and gives positive feedback..so I shouldn't worry (should I Rachel?)

I've been researching (online) Relief Sculpture in Print Making for when I go down to TLC next week for the Weekend Block Print Making course. I have printed out some info and made a list of possible items to purchase and collect from around the house to take with me. will update with some more photos of my visual diary and this morning work later today....

Edited to update> I spent most of the day doing art...

"Self Portrait"  using watercolour pencils and black marker pen.
I like how this is turned out but disappointed with my tree painting I worked on in the afternoon...so will try doing it again tomorrow.

My Visual Dairy
Print-Making info

Time: 4 hours (4 October 2012)

More Colour Basics

Using complimentary colours: Purple and Yellow

Time: 4 hours (1st Oct 2012)