April 2015 update

PAINTING/WordART

I got inspired to stamp wording on my koru.

I wanted to write something about GROWING

which the koru represents. I made up a batch of limey-

green paint and though you can read the wording

against the black it's really hard to define on the green.



So I overstamped using a warm yellow

You can read the text much easier now.

MIXED MEDIA Canvas

I also had a bit of fun adding paper, buttons

(heaps of them!) and text to a canvas.

It hangs in my kitchen where I see it often.

It reminds me to Hope, Love and Believe!

"Weaving With Others" WORKSHOP

I have missed the past two weaving workshops

but was pleased to be able to get to the latest one

in March. We had the opportunity to experiment

 with hand-painting tencel with Procion Dyes

We used cut-up plastic supermarket

bags to dye the tencel on. Gladwrap

works as well...



The dyes..we only made up small small

amounts of colour so as not to waste them.

The tencel was measured and tied in lengths and

then soaked in "gunk" to assist with absorption.



I had fun painting the sections and

watching the colours blend together.

On completion we each lay a length of gladwrap

over the dyed tencel and carefully rolled it up to

be stored for 2-3 days in a warm place (like a hot

water cupboard) to the colours would set.

I decided to experiement with some plain white

cotton fabric, painting small pieces with a brush.

Each piece gets sealed with gladwrap...

...and folded up to take home and

be put in the hot water cupboard.

With being away in Auckland for radiation

treatment last week I forgot to check

on the tencel and fabric pieces. I look forward

to seeing how they turn out and having a go

at weaving  with the rainbow-coloured tencel.

I've sold all 5 of my Soap 'n Salve Ketes

so I've picked up a variety of kiwiana fat 1/4's

(and got them wholesale whoop whoop!)

I would very much like to use my

own printed designs eventually. 

RESIST DYING

I experimented with resist dying

using PVA glue and a rubber stamp.

I tried the glue on my woodcut but it didn't

"take" so I tried pulling prints instead.

Above: first print was pulled using dry

paper then with a damp piece of paper.

I like the clarity and definition

in using damp paper.

Fabric, dyed green, and dry (above)

below, the fabric was the over-dyed

resist that didn't work but picked up

 the printing ink nicely when

moistened with water.

FORAGING: for SOAP/SALVES

My neighbour gave me a fallen kauri branch from her tree.

I must be the only person in Whangarei to get

 excited about foraged plants materials!! In between
resting (or attempting to) I've been keeping up with
the soap-making and also made another batch
of paper for labelling. I took another batch into
 Puti Puti Ra over the weekend as they'd all but run out.

INSPIRING THINGS

I've been reading this book,

found at our local library.

I like it so much I have purchased

 my own copy so I can make notes

and highlight relevant information.

Creativity is essential to me being joyful

that I know. Now to work on being

ACTIVELY CONFIDENT in what I do

and who I am as a creative being!



I found this mask while looking for something else.

I would like to explore this idea using my handmade

paper mask made when I was doing The Certificate.

I also am keen to make a body (torso) cast, maybe in

acknowledgement of my cancer journey. I'm looking

froward to being well enough to do these things.

I LOVE these adobe houses too.

(I'll come back with links to the website)

I'm really inspired by the curved shapes

(sort of Hundertwassery!)

I love the natural design, almost like a mushroom.

How awesome is this wall..I would LOVE

something like this in my house.

Love the organic style of this ceramic mirror.

See these has reinspired me to
get back into pottery again!
I want to attempt making leaf
dishes to sell with my soap.

TAPESTRY/WEAVING

The Whangarei Community Tapestry Project is 3/4's

completed. The 10th of April marked it's 2nd Birthday.

I've not had the opportunity to contribute with weaving

recently but still updating the Tapestry Blog and FaceBook

when I was able to for people to check the progress.

Some closer-up photos....

I have registered to attended a few classes at

 The Learning Connexion in June and looking

 forward to having some "me" time away.

I also want to talk about continuing my

art journey when I complete my diploma. 

I'm not sure if I have "what it takes" though....

Creative Mindfulness and H-Bombing

Two weeks ago yesterday I had surgery to remove a small cancerous tumor which thankfully hadn't spread to the lymph nodes so I won't need chemo but will need radiation treatment for 4-6 weeks in the future. It's been a bit of a stressful journey, one that has shocked me as you hear of stuff happening to others but don't think it'll ever happen to you. So where does that leave me? Thinking about how I'm going to live a more fulfilling and happy future...and be more positive!

Just before going into hospital I made the decision to sign up for the Creative Mindfulness Course through The School of Modern Psychology in Australia. This is an online course and each week there's a prompt with an activity that requires active "mindfulness and creativity"

I am hoping it's alright to do this in conjunction with my TLC programme and think (hope) it will benefit mentally and psychologically, based on what others are saying.

Here's what I've been working on the past couple of days as I've  been recuperating from my surgery. I can sit in bed and relax while, drawing, colouring and cutting which is nice.

 The first exercise was to TIP OUT and get rid of all the negativity and "junk"  that weighs us done and inhibits us from living happy and fulfilling lives. I wish it were that easy to just tip something out of your head! But I guess that's what being "mindful"  is all about. It's about noticing what is in one's head, recognizing it and disposing of anything that's not of use to you.  Of course, after tipping out, you need to FILL UP and replace what's been turfed with positive things. I've used water-colour pencils and a fine black pen.

 This could be a long journey as I tend to "take back"

 all the things that inhibit me without even realising it!

 And the "good" things?

I'm not sure WHY I can't hang on to those.....

Another activity we were asked to do was to ask ourselves how we can be more audacious? Darn..I've spelled AUDACIOUS wrong..... ugh!!!

 Oh well...what's done is done.

How silly of me to not check the spelling before writing it.

I do want to point out that I experimented with water-colour paints for the green background and after several attempts was happy with the results. Shame I couldn't spell though.

Lastly, I have been asked by someone of notoriety to H-Bomb their letterbox. 

They know of my health situation so giving me time to do it but I thought I'd better sharpen up my Hundertwasser skills and did a little doodling. As you can see by the wording I was not having a very positive day that day. But I'll keep on trying..... 

Home today...

I'm so excited to have a HOME day today.

Working outside the home is good but for me 

there's nothing more satisfying than being at home 

and getting things done there. My plans are to do

 some printmaking.I worked on a woodblock 

Thursday evening at the Quarry Art Centre's 

"Inky Fingers" Workshop

 and try some reduction printmaking.

I have this self-seeded fern growing next to my back 

door steps. While taking the woodcut photo I noticed 

some little fronds so took some photos of them too.

This one looks like a baby hanging
upside down (like an unborn fetus)

Oh and I was looking through a Mindfood magazine
I loaned from Jane Cunningham (the art journalling coach)
and came across an article about the inner artist.

 As I read I spotted a name I recognised...

 

I feel sort of special belonging to a group of like-
minded people. It's like being part of a family....
The "Learning Connexion Family"

I'm excited to announce that I have 

a new responsibility at work! I'm going

to be taking photos and uploading them on 

The Bach's FaceBook page and promoting

new and existing artists work. I think this will 

be really good for me and I hope to increase 

my confidence in approaching advertising 

outlets to promote creative people and artists 

(like myself!) as a vocation in life but also beneficial 

for the general well-being as a human being.

Over the weekend I made a start on the 

beach tapestry I'm doing for The Bach.

I've decided I'm a Visual learner/worker

and need a coloured picture to work

from so have being adding colour to the 

outline guide the artist has drawn up.

I'm thinking I'm also going to simplify it 

slightly as I believe there is too much detail. 

I also need to make some fabric "ketes" for 

my soap kits in preparation for sending to the 

Riversdale Art Exhibition. I feeling a little stressed

but trying to look at this as an opportunity to

 market myself a little more and trust that it'll all 

come together by next week!

Monday (yesterday) was Art Journalling

 in the morning and we looked at a rather 

controversial topic - sex/ love making!

I can't say I was terribly comfortable but 

permitted myself to work with whatever came

 up for me and go-with-the-flow so to speak.

This morning while checking my emails etc 

I stumbled across an article by Colossal and was

fascinated by these embroidered landscapes 

and plants by Ana-Teresa Barboza

I love the textures, colours and how realistic this looks!

Oh well...keep forging ahead Julia.

You don't know what's around the corner...

4 hours - printmaking

3 hours - art journalling

2 hours - tapestry

4 hours - photography/photo-editing

and webdesign

Update - what I've been doing!

ART JOURNALLING:

I'm really enjoying the Art Journalling Workshops at 

The Quarry each monday from 9.30am to 12.30pm

 

 

 

I'm starting to feel  a lot more comfortable with
 my style and plan to continue the workshops
each Monday as and when I can. I'm finding it
"good therapy" in more ways than one.

PAPER-MAKING:

I was driving to work last weekend and spotted a 

broken (torn) branch on a pohutukawa tree. I'm 

really keen to experiment papermaking with other 

plant materials (especially NZ Natives) so on my way 

back home I stopped to remove some of the leaves.

  After stripping the leaves from the branches

I "cooked" it for several hours on my BBQ.

 It's now "rinsing" ...that is, the leaves are balled up like 

a plum pudding in a bucket of clean water. Every time I 

go outside I change the water until it relatively clearish.

Now for a fine day to make it into sheets of paper!

TAPESTRY:

 I've almost finished this but sadly have run 

out of (pale blue) wool. I'm not sure what to do now.

 I probably should take it along to work and ask Beverley

The Whangarei Community Tapestry Master. I've still 

got the flower stamens to do (in red) and sew in between

the warps where I've used a different coloured yarn.

I'll be glad when this is finished and plan to use it to

 make some cards to sell at The BACH.

Also, I have been commissioned to complete this 

tapestry, designed by Jackie Addenbrook the artist

 that designed the Whangarei Community Tapestry.

 I hope I do Jackie's design justice...

On completion I get to keep the loom!

I've already got ideas floating around in

 my head of what I'll do :o)

The wool...lots of lovely colours!
I've enlarged and printed off sections of the image
which I will colour using pencils or paint to match
 the yarns I've been given use. Here's a closeup
of what been done so far...

I'm going to work on it over the winter months
when I am at work at THE BACH.

TEXTILES:

I have been wanting to make something for the 

my entranceway for some time now. The wall space

 is long and narrow and I wanted it to hang from 

the wooden plaque I'd designed with the wording 

"Home Is Where The Heart Is" hand-written on it. 

 I drew a rough design and decided which

fabrics from my stash I wanted to use.

 Sadly, my house ended up crooked but 

didn't "chuck it away" ...just trimmed the back-

ground fabric to accommodate the annoyingly

frustrating (but once sewn on, stays on) lean-to effect!

This is the wooden plaque (excuse it's grubbiness!)

It was hanging a pre-printed hand-quilted picture

 panel previously.I'll take a photo of it once it is 

hanging up. Also I'm quite been on "having

 a go" making this into a painting.

EXHIBITIONS:

Lastly, I'm going to be exhibiting my soap in the

Riversdale Art Exhibition, Southland next month.

 I've yo-yo'ed back and forth whether or not to 

send stuff down but after talking with one of the 

BACH members, who does Hebel Sculpture

I've decided it's a great opportunity to show off 

my creative work. I plan to make some gift sets

 containing a soap, a handmade healing salve using 

local plant materials, a small piece of pumice stone 

and my handmade/hand-dyed cotton knitted flannels.

I need to trust that it'll be well reached and

 maybe provide a new outlet for sales for me!

NOW TO 

CALCULATE

 MY HOURS 

for my TLC mentor,

Keith Grinter .....

20 hours - art journaling/assemblage

30 hours - tapestry/textile