May 2008 - Now She Remembers
Aug 2008 - Project Red Balloon
Nov 2008 - B-Grade
Jan 2009 - This is Brunswick Arts
May 2009 - Show and Tell
Jun 2009 - The Impact Of Stones
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Reflections on Artist's Market and Art
I tend to get to Rose St early - say 9am (the market starts at 11am). At Rose St they allocate the spots and provide these great wooden boxes of different shapes and sizes to display your stuff on and they also have big sun umbrellas to offer shade to those who don't have a marquee. But if you want an umbrella and if you want good boxes to display your stuff you need to get there reasonably early. So I cart all my stuff from the car and start setting up my display - cards I have designed, sketch books I have covered with beautiful papers, prints carefully wrapped and labeled, and of course paintings. I usually have a range of small paintings which are affordable and easy to carry home from the markets. I do also like to bring at least one big painting - say 1m sq, just to give an indication of the breadth of my work. I don't expect to sell them at the market, as people don't really come to the market prepared to spend several hundred or even a thousand dollars on an art work! So they are really just for show. 
But even in regards to the smaller paintings or prints, people will often come back several times before they decide to buy something. I think it is a much harder thing to decide to purchase than a pair or earrings for the same price. My theory about that is that people feel like they can just throw a pair of earrings or a t-shirt into a box or leave it on a hanger and not wear it if they get tired of it... but art work people feel obliged to display - and would feel much more responsibility to take good care of or be respectful of it. It is somehow much harder psychologically to put an artwork in the hall cupboard when you are tired of it. Perhaps because it is not something people buy much of, perhaps because it has a certain aura or mystique... Also people have to consider a lot more immovable factors with art work than jewelery. For example the colours of walls in your house, the opinion of housemates or spouses, the size of the work in a certain space... it is all quite complicated. You can buy a pair of earrings knowing it will go with that particular outfit and you can wear them one a month or everyday - that's just what you do - they are supposed to be interchangeable and flexible. And if you decide you hate them you can chuck them out or give them away. It is much harder to do that with art work. So people are naturally cautious about making a purchase, even if it costs the same amount or less than other more wearable items at the market.
But when people do buy they are usually pretty sure they love it so I know it is going to a good home.
But even in regards to the smaller paintings or prints, people will often come back several times before they decide to buy something. I think it is a much harder thing to decide to purchase than a pair or earrings for the same price. My theory about that is that people feel like they can just throw a pair of earrings or a t-shirt into a box or leave it on a hanger and not wear it if they get tired of it... but art work people feel obliged to display - and would feel much more responsibility to take good care of or be respectful of it. It is somehow much harder psychologically to put an artwork in the hall cupboard when you are tired of it. Perhaps because it is not something people buy much of, perhaps because it has a certain aura or mystique... Also people have to consider a lot more immovable factors with art work than jewelery. For example the colours of walls in your house, the opinion of housemates or spouses, the size of the work in a certain space... it is all quite complicated. You can buy a pair of earrings knowing it will go with that particular outfit and you can wear them one a month or everyday - that's just what you do - they are supposed to be interchangeable and flexible. And if you decide you hate them you can chuck them out or give them away. It is much harder to do that with art work. So people are naturally cautious about making a purchase, even if it costs the same amount or less than other more wearable items at the market.But when people do buy they are usually pretty sure they love it so I know it is going to a good home.
Other stuff I'm thinking about
Rants, themes, brainstorming:
- the meaning of life
- Stones
- Depression
- Post Traumatic Shock/Stress
Artists and Shows
- Jenny Mitchell
- Rosalie Gascoigne
- Bangkok Thesis Show
- the meaning of life
- Stones
- Depression
- Post Traumatic Shock/Stress
Artists and Shows
- Jenny Mitchell
- Rosalie Gascoigne
- Bangkok Thesis Show
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Paintings So Far...
These are some of the paintings I have done so far. Some of these will be in the show coming up in May... and some wont as they have already found good homes. There is still more work in progress that will emerge from the studio in time for the show as well!
They are all painted using oil paint, and many of them are on fine quality linen. I tend to stretch my own canvasses as I enjoy the process and find it helps me to connect with the surface so that when it comes time to paint we are not strangers.
It can take between one week to one year to complete a painting. Depending on how stuck I get with it. Some just need to sit half-finished for extended lengths of time before I feel confident to work on it again. Funny how a solid mental block of several weeks or months duration can lift silently in the night and be gone next time you are in the studio.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
How did I get started on Elephants of all things?!?!?!
In 2006 I moved into a studio that was 'open plan'. This one was very open... It was basically a completely open warehouse, that is - I got one wall and my space was separated from other spaces simply by virtue of whatever furniture we happened to have... you know - desks, milk crates, piles of books, armchairs.
It was a great space, very cheap and had quite lovely light. As it was above a Buddhist centre I could imagine a whole lot of really great energy floating up to me from below. However the lack of walls and privacy was affecting my ability to work. I have always been quite sensitive and private about my work, especially when it is unfinished. So I was really struggling in this space.
It didn't help that the man in the space next to me was always there and hummed and sighed a lot when he worked. I spent as much of my energy while there struggling with myself over anxiety and inhibition as I did on thinking about the work... not a great way to be.
I was describing my dilemma to a friend and she asked a very pertinent question which I answered in what I thought was a flippant manner...
she asked: 'Did anything ever happen to you to make you so inhibited about working in front of other people?'
I said: 'Well there was that time when I was colouring in an elephant in a colouring book and got teased...'
she made me explain...
'Well, I guess I was about seven. We had gotten some free colouring books from some fast food place and were back home colouring in. I was going great guns on an elephant picture! I was shading and staying in the lines and taking so much care to get it right. I had soft gradations of tone and colour, a soft flush of pink in the ears... I finished it and was sooooo proud.
I can't remember who it was, maybe one of my brothers, maybe one of the neighbours, but one of them laughed at me and said in the mocking, know-all way that kids use to devastate each other, 'Elephants don't have pink ears!'
I think I contested that and we got into a fight and so Mum came to adjudicate. She said, 'I don't think elephants do have pink ears, maybe you were thinking of rabbits.' (I might point out that real rabbits do not have pink ears any more than real elephants do). At which point i burst into tears and was inconsolable. Mum tried to make it better by saying nice things like, 'You can colour them in any way you want, it is a drawing and you can make them purple if you want to.' It was no use, I hadn't been trying to be creative - I had stayed in the lines and shaded beautifully in the name of perfection - not imagination!!!!'
My friend heard this story and said simply, 'I think you should paint elephants for a while - especially in this open plan studio space - and paint its damned ears pink, paint the whole thing pink!'
And so I did.
And from there I fell in love with them. I fell in love with painting them, I fell in love with what they started to represent and how pertinent the symbolism of them seemed to be for me. (There will be more on that later)
So now within my art practice I have been painting and thinking almost exclusively about elephants for over a year now. In that time I have been having stalls at the artist's markets and have found an abundance of fellow elephant enthusiasts out there.
It was a great space, very cheap and had quite lovely light. As it was above a Buddhist centre I could imagine a whole lot of really great energy floating up to me from below. However the lack of walls and privacy was affecting my ability to work. I have always been quite sensitive and private about my work, especially when it is unfinished. So I was really struggling in this space.
It didn't help that the man in the space next to me was always there and hummed and sighed a lot when he worked. I spent as much of my energy while there struggling with myself over anxiety and inhibition as I did on thinking about the work... not a great way to be.
I was describing my dilemma to a friend and she asked a very pertinent question which I answered in what I thought was a flippant manner...
she asked: 'Did anything ever happen to you to make you so inhibited about working in front of other people?'
I said: 'Well there was that time when I was colouring in an elephant in a colouring book and got teased...'
she made me explain...
'Well, I guess I was about seven. We had gotten some free colouring books from some fast food place and were back home colouring in. I was going great guns on an elephant picture! I was shading and staying in the lines and taking so much care to get it right. I had soft gradations of tone and colour, a soft flush of pink in the ears... I finished it and was sooooo proud.
I can't remember who it was, maybe one of my brothers, maybe one of the neighbours, but one of them laughed at me and said in the mocking, know-all way that kids use to devastate each other, 'Elephants don't have pink ears!'
I think I contested that and we got into a fight and so Mum came to adjudicate. She said, 'I don't think elephants do have pink ears, maybe you were thinking of rabbits.' (I might point out that real rabbits do not have pink ears any more than real elephants do). At which point i burst into tears and was inconsolable. Mum tried to make it better by saying nice things like, 'You can colour them in any way you want, it is a drawing and you can make them purple if you want to.' It was no use, I hadn't been trying to be creative - I had stayed in the lines and shaded beautifully in the name of perfection - not imagination!!!!'
My friend heard this story and said simply, 'I think you should paint elephants for a while - especially in this open plan studio space - and paint its damned ears pink, paint the whole thing pink!'
And so I did.
And from there I fell in love with them. I fell in love with painting them, I fell in love with what they started to represent and how pertinent the symbolism of them seemed to be for me. (There will be more on that later)
So now within my art practice I have been painting and thinking almost exclusively about elephants for over a year now. In that time I have been having stalls at the artist's markets and have found an abundance of fellow elephant enthusiasts out there.
Welcome
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to my Blog!
I have decided to keep a blog so I can share my thoughts and feelings as I journey along the winding path called life...
No really! I actually have! But more specifically, and hopefully less tritely, I will be talking about the journey along the hazardous and pot-holed (must be because not enough of our taxes go towards its upkeep) path of the creative life. I will be sharing thoughts and experiences that I have as I work on my art and will post images from the rough and unfinished to the glittering, paparazzi filled extravagance of the opening night.
I have quite exciting plans for the next year or so, and checking the blog can keep you up to date with all the fun and games afoot.
Firstly I have a show coming up in May at fortyfive downstairs (www.fortyfivedownstairs.com)
Then in November, if the gods of grants and scholarships are willing, I will be spending a month in Thailand volunteering in an elephant refuge and nature park. (www.elephantnaturefoundation.org)
This will (hopefully) give me plenty of insight and reference material on my current subject matter - elephants. Following this trip I will plan another bigger and better show in 2009, hopefully again with the beautiful crew at fortyfive downstairs.
So there will be an abundance of things to post blogs about... I hope you enjoy!
Welcome to my Blog!
I have decided to keep a blog so I can share my thoughts and feelings as I journey along the winding path called life...
No really! I actually have! But more specifically, and hopefully less tritely, I will be talking about the journey along the hazardous and pot-holed (must be because not enough of our taxes go towards its upkeep) path of the creative life. I will be sharing thoughts and experiences that I have as I work on my art and will post images from the rough and unfinished to the glittering, paparazzi filled extravagance of the opening night.
I have quite exciting plans for the next year or so, and checking the blog can keep you up to date with all the fun and games afoot.
Firstly I have a show coming up in May at fortyfive downstairs (www.fortyfivedownstairs.com)
Then in November, if the gods of grants and scholarships are willing, I will be spending a month in Thailand volunteering in an elephant refuge and nature park. (www.elephantnaturefoundation.org)
This will (hopefully) give me plenty of insight and reference material on my current subject matter - elephants. Following this trip I will plan another bigger and better show in 2009, hopefully again with the beautiful crew at fortyfive downstairs.
So there will be an abundance of things to post blogs about... I hope you enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)