Art Inspiration - Klimt

 I continued to work on my art-inspired painting from Gustav Klimt. I was discouraged that the black marker pen showed through the white but knew I need to push through and not let that inhibit me. While working on the second piece a "light went on" and I opted to stencil over red (using an underturned McD's plastic drink container lid) and the hole was almost the perfect size. I choose to allow slight imperfection in my work and feel really proud of that fact!

I was sure I'd taken photos of my processes for this but unfortunately I didn't (I must have been too caught up in "the doing" of it!) I cut up pieces of sponge to create the desired shapes and randomly stamped them to create the patterns. I had planned to outline in black but was really worried I'd wreck it and be disappointed. This in itself annoys me that I am STILL caught up in fear of exploratory creativity.

 I was invited to go to the members-only opening of the Whangarei Quilt Show. As always, there was an amazing display of quilts and I restrained myself in only buying a $2 bundle of craft magazines. Lots of ideas which I will probably never have time to do unless I live to 150!

 Ricky and I continued to work on the wooden assemblage (planter box) for his Mum. He has become so much more confident and skilled in wood-working since we began which is great to see. 

 A book that was recommended to me by Catherine at TLC. I was talking with her (actually crying!) at my sadness to be finishing up my Diploma, Honours programme when I was down at the encaustic art workshop in April and she said this book was really helpful to her. I jumped on Fishpond and ordered it but yet to read it.

 My cat is so funny. She likes to sleep on things. I had covered Ricky's planter box with a tarp. Silly cat jumped up thinking she could curl up and sleep on top not realising it was an empty box frame! I couldn't help but grab my camera and take photos as she slowly descended like an elevator going down!

I love taking photos - it makes me happy :o)

Wellington - April 2018 Exhibitions

As it was Easter when I arrived TLC was closed until the Tuesday. On Sunday I took a walk along the Waterfront to Te Papa to see what exhibitions were on.

I was really pleased to discover there was the TOI ART exhibition for viewing, which is Te Papa's new art gallery featuring Michael Parekowhai, Pacific Sisters, and Lisa Walker, with new art by Tiffany Singh, Janet Lilo, Jeena Shin, BodyCartography Project, and Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi, alongside the national art collection.

 What interested me about this was with my involvement in the Waipu Wearable Art 'n Tartan two years ago. This is what the website had to say about The Pacific Sisters.

 The Pacific Sisters is a collective of Pacific and Māori fashion designers, artists, performers, and musicians that electrified 1990s Auckland. The group began on the fringes, but their ground-breaking style and performances brought the urban lives of a New Zealand–born Pacific generation into the mainstream spotlight.

The Pacific Sisters include ground-breaking artists Lisa Reihana, Rosanna Raymond, Ani O’Neill, Suzanne Tamaki, Selina Haami, Niwhai Tupaea, Henzart @ Henry Ah-Foo Taripo, Feeonaa Wall, and Jaunnie ‘Ilolahia.

They once described themselves as being like the Polynesian version of Andy Warhol’s factory – an ever-evolving collective of artists coming together to create art, music, fashion, and film.

“Our work is a reflection of the ‘spark’ we have had as Pacific Sisters – finding our connections to our Pacific stories, peoples, lands, each other,” Ani O’Neill says.“For me, Pacific Sisters is a safe space to push boundaries. We might seem a bit hardcore and serious to some, but we have a lot of fun – we like to laugh and play with words as well as frocks.”  Source: The Internet

 Tapa, made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree (Broussentia papyrifera), is found across the Pacific. In Fiji, it is known as masi and is made exclusively by women. Masi is made by stripping the bark from the plant, separating the inner bark, and beating it with a wooden mallet, usually on a wooden anvil. The method of decoration differs from place to place, and has changed over the years. The different kinds of masi include masi kesa (stencilled), masi kuvui (brown or smoked), seyavu (white or plain), and masi vakarerega (yellow). The different colours reflect a person's rank in society, with white or brown masi used by those of chiefly blood. The uses for masi are also very diverse.

 Filipe Tohi's work is based upon the ancient Pacific Island art form of lalava(lashing) that was used for joining and binding materials together. Meters of colored sennit(kafa) were wound and tied so as to create distinct geometric patterns that were a well-established part of daily life. 

These works by Lonnie Hutchinson's caught my eye too and was stunned to learn they were done using builders paper. They reminded me of the hand-cut "snowflakes" I made with folded paper as a child.

Colour affects me in different ways. As well as exciting and energising me, it calms and gives me a sense of peace and grounding. I really liked this display for this reason as the rainbow holds all the colour spectrum. I googled vertical lines and like this description of them...

The vertical suspension of the work  lifts the eye, mind, and spirit upward.  They convey strength, stability, and security.  They inspire awe and tend to diminish the significance of human scale. This is why historically churches have always used vertical lines- to lift your eyes heavenward.

[source: the internet]

 I was also fascinated by Helen Calder's artwork. She experiments with paint and ways of applying it to give different surfaces, to see how far she can push the medium. In an earlier group of paintings she poured paint on to panels and then off again to leave shallow relief surfaces. There was a particular day when she was in a hurry and left a panel still draining its surface on to plastic. When she came back the next morning there was a beautiful pooled paint form. It was a wonderful accident, and actually typifies what happens in her studio, a process that is a mix of control and accident.

Found this REALLY INSPIRING especially given my interest in doing the Advanced programme and challenge my fear of experimentation!)

Love the combination of craft and art - clever display of textiles.

This was quite mesmerizing to watch (random pages flipped over within the display - I'm now wishing I'd videoed it in action)

Work inspired by Colin McCahon's "Scared" paintings. While I'm not a huge fan of McCahon's work I do like his bold use of text - I guess that's why this one caught my eye as I was passing.

"The sign of our times - social media"

TLC STUDENT EXHIBITION

While I was staying in Wellington I learned there was a couple of TLC students exhibiting their work at a pub up Cuba Street.

 I found it a bit overwhelming but was glad I went - it was a good experience.

What caught my eye as you went into the bar and restaurant venue was the printed handmade paper light fittings and screens. Something I'm very keen to try doing myself (and hopefully before I complete my Honours Programme)

Art Exhibitions (viewing time) - 4 hours
Photography/editing/blogging - 10 hours

February 2018

Tapestry/Weaving

I continued to work on the community tapestry, weaving the "water" and talking to visitors who came into The Bach Artisans Gallery. We have lots of people who remember the first community tapestry and return to check on progress only to find it's finished, displayed elsewhere and a new one is on the go. I explain we completed the "Whangarei - Our Place" Tapestry in June 2016 and the current tapestry is the first of four, 2 metre wide panels that will show the changes to the Town Basin (which includes the shopping complex) over the past 200 years. This first panels represents and depicts Maori life in the early 1800's prior to the European settlement - so they are getting local history along with an explanation of the textile art process. 

(Above: showing the weaving around the whales)

I often stay after closing the shop to work on the tapestry, some evenings weaving until it's dark outside! That is the only way I can really concentrate on what I'm doing with no interruptions.

 I ended up undoing the area to the right of the whales tale as I realised I'd accidentally used the wrong blue. I'm learning that my mistakes are not failures, rather they are opportunities to acquire knowledge and understanding. I feel proud of myself that I can now say/believe this. Prior to TLC I would not have even understood the concept!

 Close up photo showing detail of my weaving changes.

Pottery

My latest venture has been a slab work ceramic boot. This is my test piece which ended up very squat as the printable pattern (from the internet) was for an infants bootie, Still, the principles would be the same and I learned the importance of drying the clay a little when doing slab-work (so it doesn't collapse) but not over-drying otherwise the clay cracks (which I did!) 

[Image Source: the internet]

Of course then I found myself on google and pinterest looking up boot/shoe making and trying to downaod photos on my cell phone camera to my computer.

Pit-Firing Weekend Worksohp - 24/25th Feb

The Firebirds (who are a group of locals who enjoy working/playing with the process of pottery and meet weekly on Wednesdays and/or Thursdays) held a pit-firing workshop last weekend Unfortunately, I got lost trying to find where the hosts, Rod and Wendy live so I missed seeing the loading of the pottery and I couldn't make it on Sunday to see the unveiling of the fired wares but learnt about the process all the same and would like to experiment with my own pit firing some stage in the future. 

Pit firing is the original method for “baking” clay.  It dates backover 3,000 years ago.  This process is done typically in a hole in the ground, or a pit, pots are placed in the pit and burned.  Pit firing is an atmospheric process all of the colors and patterns are derived from the process and what is consume in the fire.  Items that are burned will turn to vapor and will swirl around the pieces in the pit.  If the pieces are hot enough to have their pores open the colored vapor will enter the pore and stay there, if not pot will not have color besides black, gray, or white. 

Art Inspiration

Sketches of my idea for a pottery number series (Hundertwasser-inspired). Following on from my previous exploration of artist inspiration of Hundertwasser and Klimt's style of work I did more research and reading.  I found some images on the internet of Klimts' paintings close-up.

I want to use his style as a springboard to pursue my own 

THANK YOU GIFT

I received a Thank you card from the PACIFICA Whangarei Branch. They said my soap was very well received and liked. Also in the bag was a piece of hand-stamped fabric and a cheque for payment.

Tapestry Projects: an update

My Creative Work Experience Memorandum of Understanding form for The Bach "Town Basin History" Community Tapestry Project. Heather Carthew is the current Chairperson for The Bach, did the artwork for the project and was more than happy to fill in the MOU for me. 

 I warped a small loom to do a sample measurement to determine how much wool we might need 

 An 8 metre skein covers a 3.5 inches area over 8 epi.  So I have estimated we will need 800 skeins to complete one panel.

These are the colour wool samples we'll be selecting the yarns from and I'm happy to have once again the responsibility of choosing them. I've been making a list to place an order soon as we have started work on the hem.

 I spent three or four hours one Saturday afternoon working on the hem which, I've been told gets woven in this way to make it a stronger hem and eliminate the need for sewing up slits.

THE COMMUNITY TAPESTRY STORYBOARD
We are finalising the details of the story - I forwarded all my information files after returning from the Weaving Workshop with Maximo Laura to Glenda who is working on the end product. She has eliminated a lot of my research to condense the storyboard ((I gave her way too much info!) into a brief historical explanation.

With all the (unforseen) issues with the community project, I decided  (and turn frustrations into creative energy!) I would work on a design inspired by an image I stumbled across on the internet but which reminds me of the view one gets coming over the brow of the Brynderwyn's (I'll have to search my images to find a photo I took)

I altered the image by turning it into portrait.

 I then printed a couple of copies to trace the shapes for enlarging the scale for weaving cartoon.

This handmade loom was a gift from Naoko's husband. 

It is A3 size so I enlarge the cartoon to fit.

For some time now, I've had the urge to paint. It took me a whole afternoon to achieve this and by the end of the day I was really tired and had a nasty headache. I used a combination of brush and my fingers to blend the hues.

Some of the yarns I have that will make up the colour palette.

Tapestry hours: 

Community Project: weaving hem 4 hours

Story board: compiling information 3 hours

Wool Weft: discussing/choosing colours and

estimating amounts/cost etc - 2 hours

Designing "Landscape" Tapestry (small start) line drawing 

and an A3 enlargement/warping loom 6 hours 

Painting landscape 5 hours

Trip to Helena Bay Gallery and Cafe

 On Tuesday the 4th I went for a drive out to Helena Bay Gallery with my sister who's up visiting from Christchurch. I've been wanting to visit for many months but it hadn't ever quite work out to go.

 We arrived late morning just as it rained but had a wander around the gardens anyway and admired the pottery and sculptural work.

These carved birds were half wood half metal..a clever mix of mediums. I love the upcycling of found metal objects too.

 Not the easiest to see but this owl caught my eye and reminded my of my Nana who passed away 17 years ago on the 5th July - she collected all things owl.

  After looking around inside the gallery we went to the cafe for lunch.

 

The view was breath-taking!

 After a very satisfying meal and time of gazing out to sea we decided to take a drive down to Teal Bay before heading back to Whangarei.

 The water was wonderfully wild and exhilarating!

I collected kelp as we walked along the bay and snapped (LOADS!) of photos of the waves. It was very therapeutic and pleasant as the sun was out at this stage.

 

..and my favourite photo is the next one :) 

Gallery Visit/Beach Photography - 5 hours