March 2018

TEXTILES/WEAVING

I've finally completed weaving the "water" and now on to the beach/sand area. I enlarged the portion of the artwork so I could better follow the colours.

To make it easier to find the wool (colours) we wanted I spent an hour or so attaching a short piece of wool to each box and then organised all the boxes into their colour groups. It saved time when looking for a particular wool colour!

Textiles (weaving) 12 hours

Ordering and organising wool 2 hours

PLANNING/ORGANISING

I'm a bit ashamed as I only got around to filling out one of these weekly planners over March. I was preparing for my daughter's wedding in Tauranga on the 10 March, then after the wedding and returning home I was then focusing on getting  for my trip to Wellington. Excuses I know, but I am trying to discipline myself in writing done my goals and tasks for each day/week.

Planning/Organising 1 hour

  

TEACHING/ENCOURAGING OTHERS

Ricky and I worked on the rest of the crosses we'd started before Christmas. 

We also started another wooden assemblage for his Mum. Ricky's measuring, cutting, and screwing skills continue to improve with each project.

Mosaic work - 5 hours

3D Design/wooden assemblage - 5 hours

PRINTING IMAGES ON FABRIC USING INKJET PRINTER

I offered to make printed calico bags for a lady at work whose husband makes kauri puzzles. Along time ago I bought freezer paper with the intentions of printing on fabric with my printer so once I'd located that I cut out an A4 piece and ironed it on the back of a piece of calico. Care needs to be taken with cutting as any frayed edging can get caught in the printers' rollers.  Hans had a hand-drawn image which I scanned onto my laptop and edited it ready for printing. Unfortunately, despite my efforts to ensure clean cut edges, the fabric still jammed. I'm yet to retry printing it...

Textile printing 1 hour

3D DESIGN/SCULPTURE: WHALE TAIL

I've been itching for some time to do some carving and decided to sculpt a whale tail out of the piece of hebel. I find the process calming and soothing.

3D Sculpture 3 hours

PHOTOGRAPHY: 

I drove to Tauranga with my parents, who are 89 (Dad) and 80 (Mum)  for my daughter's wedding on the 10th of March. We stopped off at my Dad's sister's place for a cuppa and I snapped a few photos before we left as it may be the last time they see each. 

We stopped at Karangahake Gorge for lunch and I used the opportunity to capture some of the beautiful scenery on camera.

The day before the wedding we took a drive to Mt.Maunganui which is not far from Tauranga. We enjoyed a stroll along the beach-front which was only a stones-throw from the shops, cafes and apartments and the surf was spectacular and imposing! Here's a few of my photographs.

The morning of my daughter's wedding...

...it was a beautiful morning. While the bridal party was getting the hair an hair and makeup done, I snapped a few more photos.

The flowers...

...and the venue where the wedding and reception was being held was lovely!

Painting 4 hours

MORE PHOTOGRAPHY

 

 

 

Photography/editing 14 hours
Blogging 10 hours

CERAMICS

I continued to make soap dishes as they have been selling well. I also spent a couple of evenings glazing and looking on the internet for a boot pattern that I could use to make herb planters. I'm really keen to try pit firing now the weather has cooled down and have a stack of wood that I could use (hopefully before my Diploma concludes in May)

Ceramics: hand-building soap dishes 3 hours

hand-glazing bisque-fired pottery 3 hours

Internet research (design) 1 hour

I can't remember if it was a TLC student or someone else on Facebook but I came across the  YouTube video (below)  and I wanted to post it here on my blog so I could remember it for the future. Onta ware, Japan also spelled Onda, refers to a type of Japanese pottery produced in and around the village of Onta in Ōita Prefecture, Japan.  If I ever go Japan, I would definitely visit "Onta" 

The earth for the pottery is found in Onta in the mountains. It normally comes in the form of rocks and needs to be ground to a pulver. This is done by the usage of traditional water scoops or mills called kara-usu, which rely purely on the flow of the river. The wooden mills grind the earth into a powder, which is then washed and filtered multiple times to purify the material. It is then dried, sometimes over a large oven. 

The village is a tightly-knit community, with families of potters going back generations. The work such as the purification of the earth is done by women, while men are responsible for actually creating the wares. Pieces are never signed by an individual but only with the sign of the Onta village. This is to signify that the production of a single vessel was the combined work of the community, not just one person. 

Onta ware traditionally consists of utility vessels such as bowls, plates, and tea cups. The style is most often slipware.

l love the way they purify the mud (all by hand!) and the respect they have of the environment for generations to come. Amazing work, the connectivity and sustainability by not commercializing into industrial product which inspires me to view my soapmaking and papermaking in the same way.

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

Textiles/Tapestry - Major 3

The Whangarei Community Tapestry Project, supported by The BACH (Basin Arts and Crafts House) has provided a great opportunity for people to experience and appreciate the traditional art of weft weaving on a vertical loom here in Whangarei.

As the project is drawing to the end of its 3 year duration I have expressed interest in designing a second project which was presented to the (BACH) Committee for consideration at the last meeting. Two of the Committee members, our Chairperson, and one the BACH's founding members, took my propsal to the WDC for consideration. We hope to hear back soon if it's been accepted then I can get the ball rolling and apply for funding to purchase the needed materials . 

Time: 22 hours - researching historic information and photos at the library, researching costings/availibily of materials online, brainstorming, and drawing up of and presentation of the project proposal for the WDC for consideration.

(PS..Andrew, I will email you a copy of the Propsal)

Week 3...Resource 1: Drawing/Painting

I'm having issues. Big painting issues.

I "can't" do it. Or what I do try..I dislike.

I can't even show it...I'm too ashamed!

So back to drawing...

My neighbour, who is a print-maker/tutor/artist suggested I try drawing this hemp-twine apple

so I took a whole lot of photos and edited them to gray-scale ...

but I struggled with getting the tones and my head was doing too much thinking and criticizing so then I did some googling on painting techniques in the hope it would shed some light on what I'm not getting/doing wrong....argh. I'm so frustrated with myself! I'm thinking I'll do what THIS site suggests and do some tone blocks like I did for the first week's pencil toning blocks. Loosen up...free my head!

Drawing: 4 hours

Photography/photo editing: 1 hour

Internet Research (Painting): 1 hour