The Waipu Museum Art 'n Tartan Wearable Arts Awards 2016

The Waipu Museum Art 'n Tartan Wearable Arts 2016 has been an an amazing experience! Hours and hours of work and it's all over - for now. What a ride...I'm already thinking about the next one!  

We had an all afternoon rehearsal on the 16th and it was my first time seeing the majority of the performances. I; took my camera to get some photos on Thursday night when we had the Full Dress Rehearsal from 530 - 10:00pm. It was a long day but my first (and only opportunity) to see Katie, my model on stage. Sadly, I couldn't afford a ticket to the show so these are the only photos I have and they are not that great - sorry!

 Just before going on stage - and just before I fixed the leaves

 (they got bent over when people brushed up against her)

 A closeup of the limbs...

...and the roots.

 My beautiful model (and niece) Katie wearing the mask.

 Just after receiving my award for 

Most Outstanding First Time Entrant.

Katie waving at the photographer - Sarah, (my daughter)

I still can't believe I won an award!

Once I've recovered from the busy-ness of the past 3 days I'll write a bit more about my experience, the highs and lows and the things I'd do differently. My brain is being very naughty and telling me I could have done much better and that my design was silly and not very good. I know I'm really tired and in a few days time I will feel and think differently, but right now I'm not feeling very good...

Tapestry - the planning stage

So I started on my weaving and had only done a few inches

 when I decided I didn't like what I was doing. The yarn was all 

wrong - too similar, which I didn't really realise until I wove it.

So I unpicked what I'd done and experimenting

 with some different yarns and see how I go.

 I'm really inspired by reflections (as you may have worked out by my some of my photos) I'm not sure why but I'm sure there's some psychological reason behind why I like what inspires me!

Foggy misty morning on my way to work.

I would love to be able to weave reflections like this (below) one day..

I'll have to do lots of practice to build up my confidence in

 this  area. At least with a community project the design

 needs to be pretty simple and easy for inexperienced people, 

Below are some inspirational images I've found researching information and ideas for the  planning of my first panel. It's going to be a reflection of pre-European history so I want to include some Maori symbolism along with a waka and Mt Parihaka in the background. 

Above: this image shows Whangarei Heads in the background but has been a starting point for my design. 

I'm basing the colours of the weft yarns on the above two images. 

 The colours black, red and white feature strongly in Maori art. The colour red is a symbol of mana (prestige, power, status) and is therefore often used in the decoration of important items such as the buildings and structures around a marae (courtyard where formal greetings and discussions take place) and waka (canoes). 

I, however, want the panels to reflect historical era in colour so will use a contemporary/heritage range and leaning towards the left side of the above chart as the second panel will be based on sepia colours and I'd like there to be a bit of a flow between the two.

I also want to include some maori symbols.

The above represents family and growth and I think it's really

 appropriate for establishment of a tribal settlement.

On Friday 12th July I drove out to met Historian Mim Ringer who lives at Matapouri. I got terribly lost trying to find her place but after a trip back to the nearest dairy and a phone-call later I was on my way to visit with her. The views upon arriving were "to-die-for" - I was so glad I had my camera!

 

Mim's driveway - so beautiful and peaceful!

Be still my beating heart!!

 These photos are taken from her front deck.

 Her house was surrounded by trees filled with birds - tui and fantail. She said wood-pigeon also frequented the trees - how amazing to see them so close, in her case on the other side of a window!

We had a lovely chat and she was full of knowledge from her research over the years. She shared a little bit about her history, work and studies. Mim also shared that she had been involved in the panels which give a true historical narrative of the past that have been installed at The Town Basin. It's these panels I'll be incorporating into a Story Board to support each tapestry as it's worked on by the community (at The BACH Art Gallery) She also given me some names of reference books and a couple of people to contact regarding the Maori history and artwork.

On my way back home again...I would love to live in the bush!

One Day....maybe.

TIME: 15 hours

The First couple of weeks of July...

So - after my busy week/weekend leading up to judging I had to take involuntary rest. Yep, I'd pulled or hurt something in my upper back/shoulder/neck area and "pins and needles" or numbness during the day and a burning sensation in my arms at night has been my constant companion. I couldn't do much for a couple of weeks as a result which was a bit frustrating, and had to make a doctor's appointment and she has referred me to physio. 

During that time though I continued to think a lot about my design and what I could do to improve it.

I've decided to made "branched for my models arms. The one on the right is too narrow to insert my hand into so I'm remaking a pair using the foam sticks as templates. I've cooked up more plants materials and just need a fine day when I am not working to make up more paper.

My niece, who is my model for the Art 'n Tartan Show and I have driven to Waipu twice now for rehearsals. She is only "on stage" for 10-15 minutes but the trip takes over a half hour each way so I'm racking up some miles on my old car presently. 

TAPESTRY/WEAVING:

I made the paper! 

I look a bit dorky/stupid with my big cheesy grin but oh well...

Measuring out paper for the size - we're looking

 at four panels each 80 cm high and 200 cm wide.

The first will depict Maori life in the early 1800's

 and the next, early European settlement in the

 Town Basin around 1850-1900's.

 All warped up and ready to go.

PHOTOGRAPHY:

I've been out using my camera quite a bit. Taking photos always makes me feel happy!

Sunlight on a fallen leaf after rain

Clouds reflected in the gutter.

An interesting composition.

Misty mountain morning - Mt Parihaka, Whangarei

I'm going to use the mountain as part of the tapestry panels

and have been sketching compositions for the first panel

 ..just a few (of the many) photos I took of the (Hatea) river

Hours: 7 hours

Art n Tartan - Wearable Art

The week leading up to judging was spent making my costume for the Art n Tartan Wearable Arts. From dawn until dusk I was making paper, drying paper, shaping and gluing, fitting, sewing and stressing from time to time!

I brought more supplies. 

A big sponge and felting cloths which I found that 

the Countdown just down the road from me stocked.

Thankfully, the weather was good at the beginning

 of the week so I was able to make paper.

I hung the long sheets up on the line

...and lay the smaller ones on the trampoline.

This is what my cat did all day while I worked!

While at work and browsing a magazine I came across this image of tree roots. I was immediately inspired by what I was going too do and couldn't wait to get home to start work on my "tree roots"

Preparing the "roots" using foam tubing

I found at Arthur's Emporium For $1 

Hanging them to dry on my porch

Bringing them inside overnight

to continue the drying process.

Sewing tartan fabric onto the paper was really tricky!

I realised after drying all the "roots" they needed to

 be bent so spray-misted them all and placed them in

 a laundry basket to keep them in a curved shape.

Experimenting with taping wire to the paper 

then gluing more paper over the top.

It worked really well!

My dried "roots"...now I had to work out how to attach them.

One of my BIG stresses during the week was having difficulty couching (pronounced: cooching) or transferring the second batch of paper pulp to the felts. I nearly gave up as I was SO frustrated!
But I didn't..I pushed through  After taking a rest day (I think mid-week) I came to the conclusion it was to do with the flax/abaca ratio. The first batch had a good ratio of flax to abaca probably half and half. The second was mostly abaca and it was VERY difficult to couch.

After re-wetting it and adding equal quantity of pre-made sheets of flax paper (I had made for labeling my soap) and re-batching the pulp it worked perfectly, releasing easily from the mold so I could continue working on my design. I had the dehumidifier on constantly for 24 hours to dry it as it started raining and I was running out of time to use it!

After sewing the fabric leaves onto the florist wire and stitching around the borders using a buttonhole stitch. I folded the wire back on itself and twisted it so the florist tape had something to "grip" then covered the tape with paper.

PVA glue attached the paper to the stems

Rolling paper around the stem.

The leaves were then attached to the "branches"

My finished branches.

Tibby and music kept me company while I worked - all day Saturday

I worked on the roots ALL night and watched
 the sunrise on the Sunday (judging day),.
~o0o~

Hours: 60