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...

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: working on my design

Since the beginning of the month I've been 

busy working on my Art 'n Tartan design.

 Shopping for supplies....

 

..and cutting out the tartan material.

My drawing of my concept and design!

My pots of fibres were all cooked, rinsed and ready to pulp

..which I do using an old secondhand insinkerator.

I made a new long mold and deckle...

 and was so happy to wake on Tuesday to clear sunny skies...

Measuring netting for the tree "skirt"..and my concrete

stepping stepping came in handy for weighting the edges.

The trampoline is the perfect support.

I scored a plastic front for $8 so I didn't

 need to embarrass my niece by casting 

the front of her torso!

 .I "made do" with what I had to create the desired shape.

..and got the bath ready with paper pulp (using warm

water I should add, as it was pretty chilly first thing!)

 It wasn't easy lifting out the deckle though and

 my back was pretty sore by the end of the day!

 I'm really happy with being able to make the

 longlengths of paper though. It made covering

 the torsos and skirts so much easier...

A fallen branch of Kauri leaves, from my neighbour..

 Flax, ginger and calla lily from the garden starts the

next batch of fibres for pulping/preparing more paper.

I've been at work (The Bach Art Gallery and Shop) 

over the Long Weekend but the paper is still drying

and can't do much until I make more paper.

Next on the list of things to do is adding wire

to shape the branches and root of my tree.

Time: 30 hours (31st May - 4th June)

Art 'n Tartan Wearable Arts: update

I've had to write a bit of a blurb for Art 'n Tartan Wearable Arts which briefly explained my concept behind my design and the materials I've used. This is what I wrote...

“Honouring my Scottish Roots – My Family Tree”

By Julia Prentice, first-time entrant

Section: Dressed to Kilt

My creation is in honour of my Scottish Ancestry and I have chosen to make a tree to represent family and the connection with life, history, strength and growth.

Trees are symbols of physical and spiritual nourishment and growth, transformation and liberation. They also represent stability, shelter, security, sustenance and fertility. All of which are essential in life.

My “tree-trunk” is handmade paper using flax, kauri leaves and banana palm (abaca) grown in my backyard. The leaves are made from tartan fabric which is similar to the Clan Davidson and Clan Cameron of my family ancestry.

~Size of item: 6ft high (max) by 3ft wide~

~o0o~

Plaster-casting 

My niece is going to me my model. I purchased a plastic half body (front) from Trade but still needed to take a plaster cast of Katie's back which i can work the paper pulp on to.

 Layering the plaster bandage...

 ...then applying plaster I'd pre-made and had
 "cooking" while I applied the bandage.

 Finally, another layer of plaster bandage.

It wasn't too long before it had "set" enough to carefully remove.

Ta-da! My first time plaster casting someone's torso.
 I've been the model when I've done plaster casting
 (at TLC campus October last year) so it was quite
different to be doing the casting this time.

Paper pulp Preparation

I've cooked up to large batches of plant fibres

There's a mixture of flax and banana palm in here.
My neighbour has a kauri tree in their back yard and had a
 branch drop the other day. She knows I use kauri for my soap
and paper-making so that branch will go in the next lot of pulp.

Inspirational ideas
I'm always on the hunt for visual inspiration. Here's a few images I found on the internet that I'm like and thinking about incorporating them into my design.

I love the laced-up effect and from a practical aspect think this will get around the issue of putting on the tree. I'll need to reinforce the edges for the eyelets and plan on using a binders tape for strength. 

 I'm looking at making a mask for my model to wear.
It'll be my place of starting/warming up before
commencing on the main trunk and branches.

I could incorporate my model's arm's as branches.

 or I could have roots/branches off my models arms

...or I could make a wrist cuff like this one.

 I definitely plan on extending roots
 from the base to the trunk...

and want the paper to resemble bark.

Now to work out my hours
 I've spent on this project to date..

Time: 7 hours (24th - 26th May)