exhibiting

I'm not quite sure where this week has gone. I've been very busy getting my studio ready for the Ruby Coast Arts Open Studios which are on this weekend. It'll be the first time "the public" have been in my studio, as its recently been renovated. This time last week we were eagerly anticipating the return of the hubby from his two week stint in Fiji. After picking him up from the airport on Saturday morning we went into town for lunch and a wander about.

It was a lovely day for looking up.

But we weren't there to look at the sky, but my paintings in the Spring Exhibition at the Suter Art Gallery.  This year I entered three paintings and they were hung together in the first gallery.

Pink Horizon, Kowhai and Capsules all in a row. (How I hate coming up with titles!)

I was also keen to go to an exhibition of paintings by Margaret Petchell  at The Bridge Street Collective. But it were closed (it was a long weekend so I might let them off). My favourite paintings of hers are the large budgie heads, and one was hanging in the window as a poster.

The exhibition ends tomorrow, so I'll just have to be satisfied with looking at her prints at Endemic World.

Driving home the sea was quite wild, but there were still lots of people at Tahunanui Beach.

Last night we went to the launch of the Ruby Coast Arts Festival in Mapua. There was a silent auction of postcard (A5 sized) artworks donated by various artists.  I was chuffed that my two paintings, imaginatively titled "Land" and "Sea" had a bit of lively bidding, and ended up being brought by a couple who have a local gallery.

I'll report on the how the Open Studios went next week, and share some photos of my studio while it's looking nice and tidy. Plus I'll finally get around to holding the 100 Days giveaway as that exhibition came down on Tuesday.  Have a lovely weekend.

100 on the wall

Day 100 of the 100 Days Project was on Saturday 14th September. It was with a bit of anticlimax that I finished my 100th Sharpie drawing. I was wanting to do something really amazing, but in the end inspiration was lacking so I drew seaweed, something I'd drawn before, so it didn't even feel very original!

With two other local ladies who did the project as well, we arranged to hold an exhibition at a local shop and gallery, The Old Post Office Store in Upper Moutere. This involved a bit of media release and interview with the local paper. Amazingly I'm managing to smile for the photographer as I was four days post-op and didn't feel like posing!

I drew on A5 card which came in pad form, and it was quite a task ripping them apart. 100 drawings did make a lovely big satisfying stack.

Here's my blurb (written in haste the night before, as usual - my least favourite task):

Sally: 100 days with a Sharpie

At the beginning of the project I started with the following brief:

“Every day for 100 days I'm going to draw with my Sharpie pen. I'll be drawing on a piece of A5 card so I can use collage, paint, whatever takes my fancy - as long as I use my black fine point Sharpie pen.”

And that’s what I did for 100 days. I soon found I didn’t need to use other materials, that a Sharpie pen was enough.

Procrastination is the evil twin of productivity. While doing the project I had no time for procrastination (well not if I wanted to sleep), so it didn’t get a chance to lurk each day. So the flipside was that productivity reigned.

What I found hardest was finding inspiration. I’d like to say it got easier over the 100 days, but I’m not sure that it did! Completing the project has given me a resource of images to use in my art practice, something I can turn to when inspiration is needed.

I also learnt to trust my instinct and not to be too self-critical. So here are my 100 drawings, which took 100 days and 7 Sharpie pens.

Enjoy.

 

We hung the exhibition on 25th September, and it will be up until 28th October.  Well 'hang' is hardly the right word, it was more of like "masking tape them up". I shuffled my drawings and taped them up in random order. The wall made it interesting, with light switches, battens and other features I couldn't get anal about the spacing, I just had to keep on sticking them up, and down.

That evening we held an exhibition opening, and I was delighted that two of my drawings sold then. I had never planned to hold an exhibition or sell them when I started the project, so it all felt a little weird. But I'm getting over it, plus the sales should cover the wine and food expenses!

My favourite from the 100 days is day 89. It's the only plein air and "self portrait" drawing I did. I drew it while waiting for the kids at a sports day in Motueka. I found the seedhead from the pohutakawa tree and was going to draw it, but saw the shadow of my hand holding it on the paper and drew that instead.

If you have a favourite let me know as I will be giving those that don't sell away at the end of the month to my faithful followers. Yes you will have to be faithful, and a follower (with Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin' or  Facebook), and because comments give me such a buzz, my regular commenters will get first dibs (well only if they want one!)

Here's the link to my Facebook page which has all 100 drawings in an album.

changing threads

Since the Mapua Makers Market (which was on 9 Feb) I've been beavering away on another deadline - my entries for this years Changing Threads National Contemporary Fibre Awards.  I have entered this award three times and been chosen twice, both with blanket wall hangings. As I blogged about last year here.

 This year I've stepped away from wool and felt into the great unknown - environmental art! Tomorrow I drop my entry into the gallery on CD, so I've been taking photos and writing my artist statement and going slightly crazy. But hey even if I don't get one or two pieces selected at least I can share it with the my lovely readers on this blog.

The first piece I created is an installation, so is quite hard to photograph especially in my garage. It's titled "Coming Home to Roost", and my statement about it is:

This installation is constructed from some of the plastics that I have collected from the beach at Ruby Bay over the last 18 months. Some of the sources of this rubbish can easily be identified, such as the tags off fishing vessels or parking meter tickets, which have flown out of car windows. While these may look like paper they are in fact plastics, the recycling symbol on the back of the parking meter tickets identifies these as polypropylene.

It is hard to imagine the size of this problem. In the North Pacific Ocean there is what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an estimated 11 million tons (and growing) of floating plastic covering an area of nearly 5 million square miles of ocean, swirling in the Pacific Ocean between the coast of California and Hawaii.

Unlike organic debris, which biodegrades, plastics disintegrate into smaller and smaller pieces while still remaining a polymer. They never “vanish” so throughout the decay cycle different sized organisms are affected.

“Coming Home to Roost” is my response to this disaster that we cannot see. While I realise that the amount of rubbish that I pick up is so miniscule in the big picture, it may still help at the individual level. If one bird is saved by my actions that is better than walking past and leaving the rubbish to re-float in the next high tide, and go who knows where?

 

 In the centre of the shelter is a nest I made from fishing rope and twine. I made the top part first, and then added the mound, similar to what some sea birds build. This nest building led me onto using some of the large pile of twine and fishing line I've collected, and I made three vessels loosely based on a basket design. These are sewn together with salvaged fishing line which I had to untangle first.

The second entry is titled "Adrift".

These three vessels have been made using pieces of fishing net, twine and line that I have collected while walking along the beach at Ruby Bay. Originally the materials were used for fishing, and then discarded, cut loose or lost to become part of the garbage system that drifts with the ocean currents.

When fishing nets are left or lost by fishermen they are known as ‘ghost nets’ which drift about continuing to do what they were designed to; catching fish along with sea mammals, reptiles and birds.

By piecing together the fragments I have collected, I have made these vessels as a reminder of how fragile the marine environment is, and the need to care for it.

 

 

 

 

This morning when I went for my daily look at what's happening in the world according to Facebook, I came across Kirsty Elson's post with a link to this video. It's mindblowingly sad, and makes me feel like every little bit of plastic that I pick up off the beach is making a difference. Take the time to watch it, please.

deadlines

I definitely need deadlines to help get over the procrastination stage and into the productive stage. I've got two craft markets coming up in November, but before then I want to finish four paintings for the spring exhibition of the Nelson Suter Art Society, and I need to finish another work on paper for a new gallery.

So instead of knuckling down to it I made something that had been floating around in my head for a while. In my stash I had a couple of very small zips. I have loads of homemade felted wool. The buttons were no problem once I had located the storage bin loaded up with jars of buttons (another shameful secret of  mine!)

First came the fearsome gray cat, then the demented cerise rabbit.

I added a fluffy tail to the cerise rabbit. However, with hindsight it looks more like a hole than fluff, so I shall be removing the offending appendage!!

Due to the shortage of tiny zips at the op shops (and my ethos that I do not buy anything new to make anything) these will be a very limited product line for the upcoming markets. They do however make a change from my "normal" zippered pouches, two of which have already winged off to new homes (thanks to Facebook and a blog swap!)

So I need to spend some serious time in the studio next week. It's been hard to find time this week with orthodontic appointments (both of the kids), school sports trips, delivering art works, and trips to the post shop after a mammoth packing session. Yes I sold my first painting via my website!!! So soon one of my artworks titled "Forma 1" will be gracing a wall in Melbourne. The crazy thing is that postage across the Tasman is only a few dollars more expensive than across the Cook Strait to the North Island.

I have started some new paintings for the exhibition in October, I don't think the above one is quite finished yet.

So next week no more procrastination. As we are going on holiday the following week. It's the last week of  term, so while hubby is off to Australia for work we will go to Christchurch for a couple of days and stay with my sister. It will be the first time I've been to Christchurch since the earthquakes so I am trying to steel myself for the changes. Then we are off to Brisbane for 7 days, yipee!! If you're on instagram follow my adventures here.

Linking up with lots of clever people at My Creative Space.

the frenzy - part 2 (and a giveaway)

Well I'm still having to paint up a storm. The trip away was not that successful, I didn't sell any paintings, only sold enough cards etc to cover the cost of the stand. I did get some good feedback on my new paintings, but also after staring at them for two days saw a few things that needed changing! So have made some changes, and still have 3 paintings to finish by Saturday, when I hang my solo exhibition "Forma Naturale".

detail of Naturale 1

 This painting was the first I started on and has probably seen the most changes. Take a look at it a month ago on this blog post. Since then it's been turned around and the trees are gone and are replaced by roots!

detail of Naturale 2

Molecular Landscape 2

If you are interested in seeing more of my paintings head over to my Facebook page where I'm having a giveaway of one of my circular oilstick paintings. To enter like my Facebook page.

Well I had better get down to the studio, after taking half a day to write my artist statement yesterday I'm a bit behind! Why is writing an artist statement so god damm hard?? But now I've done it feel that it is lending some direction in what I am doing. Although the hubby was a bit perplexed by it all! If you've interested here's a link to it.

painting frenzy

I'm in the middle of a very productive painting period. I don't think I've even finished so many paintings in such a short time (two weeks) and yet feel that I'm "on the right track" and "might be getting somewhere - finally"!! It's also the first session of painting I've done since we moved and having a dedicated studio helps so much. It's great to have more than one painting on the go, and to be able to pop down the hill after dinner and work away.

I have a deadline, well two actually, so hence the frenzy! This coming Friday we are heading down to Greymouth to Art in the Park a two day art exhibition/fair. It will be the first time that I have a stand there and am a wee bit nervous about it all! Then the following week I'm having a solo exhibition in Nelson. So if I have a successful time at Art in the Park I'll have a VERY busy week getting new work completed.

Here's some close ups of four finished pieces, further details can be found on my Facebook page or my website.

woolly exhibition

Last night was hanging for the joint exhibition "Past + Future" where I'm showing my textile/fibre art alongside my friend Lynn's gorgeous drawings on canvas. The exhibition is in a gallery called Momentum which is tucked away a bit on Church Street in Nelson. It's in Equilibrium which is a chiropractor, they also have yoga classes in the same space. Anyhow it's an amazing space, long with fresh white walls, polished concrete floors. Lynn hung her works on one side, and mine are on the other, which is a concrete wall, I think the woollen blankets work well against the industrial strength walls.

"Re-discovered" is the first piece, that is on the wall that you see when you first walk in. This is based on the actual map that Captain James Cook made of NZ in 1769, complete with errors! As my grandfather used to say "New Zealand was built on the back of the sheep", well I did it literally! It's hard to show the scale in the photo, but it is large, almost 2 metres wide. It was the first piece I ever did, needle felted wool onto the blanket, which I then made into a cloak for a wearable art costume, which won two awards!

This shows the other five pieces in the show.

 Here's "Clip Art" and "An Apple a Day" side by side. "Clip Art" was done in memory of my father who used to show sheep and would spend hours trimming them with a pair of hand shears. To dad a well presented ram was a piece of art! "An Apple a Day" is based on the signs that orchardists used to have when just about every orchardist used to sell fruit from the gate. So it's the older varieties from my childhood, I'm not that old but only two of these varieties are now grown commercially, Granny Smith and to a lesser extend Cox's Orange. An added twist is that it's an old hospital blanket that it's felted onto! All the blankets I use I've rescued from op shops, alot are in the "dog blanket" pile, so really were doomed, I love giving them a new lease of life and appreciate the holes and flaws for what they are.

Here's "Back to Home", "Lurking Discontent" and "Heather and Fern".
"Back to Home" is about emigration and playing on words that relate to it. I've been thinking alot about my ancestors that left the UK in the 1840-1880's and sailed away for 3-4 months to arrive in a "new" land. My great, great grandfather John Liddell Kelly was one such pioneer, and he was also a journalist and poet. I have a copy of the book of poems he published in 1902. "Lurking Discontent" is two lines from one of his sonnets;

"And yet I note, with lurking discontent;

The dark bush dwindles, the golden gorse spreads free."

How right he was, much of the native bush in NZ was felled or burnt to make way for farming, but the gorse brought by the settlers took hold and flourished and spread.  
"Heather and Fern" is his 'signature' poem, and is very moving. I've already posted here about this poem as used it in one of my art jars.

And here's Lynn and some of her lovely pieces, which are about emigration and belonging. She emigrated to NZ 6 years ago, and we met almost 2 years ago and hit it off straight away.