Chilling in the studio

It's so nice to be here tonight ! Watching as the sky turns midnight blue, I can see the lights coming on up at the University... Pigeons on my roof clattering about and clouds scudding past. It's hot so my window's popped and propped against the wall.
Just being here around my brushes and paper, my inspiration board and art books is replenishing.

Last week I went to life drawing with Bob and it was the best class I've ever been to - light, roomy and unpretentious. I took a whole bag of tools, intending to be loose - the scribblier the better. My favourite tools ended up being a rainbow coloured pencil and a fat sharpie pen (mmmm the smell!) I've promised myself to do it more this year (no, not sniff pens - life drawing!) That and go to more art shows and creative events.

I'm going to miss a cool Sleep/Wake seminar tomorrow night ( I'll be in Auckland for work - and stopping to catch the galleries and a couple of new friends - a good trade off ) - I booked it a while back at the Art Centre - it's part of a Fringe show that'll be on from the 30th Jan - 10th FEB check it out here

"Sleep/Wake blends dance, science and performance design to explore the world of the unconscious, revealing those things that lie dormant within us: hidden performances of the self - obsessions, ambitions, and dreams."

It sounds just the kind of thing I might love, that would inspire drawings or paintings (says the woman casting for her next focus). Never mind - I'll get to the Fringe performance instead. Anyone in Welly interested ? I booked 2 free places to the floor talk/seminar and it includes free food ! Call me - you can have my spaces.

Hey but there's good news - The show in March 'Beyond Words' has been moved ahead a couple of weeks to start on the 10th March. That means it's on during the international festival of the arts - which is a really cool coup ! I feel so lucky.
Ok here's a drawing from thursdays class sorry about the scan wiggle I got impatient ...

Resolutions schmesolutions!

Since it's a new year - I've been reviewing my resolutions from last year with a wry smile or two - yeah I made them, and yes I tried.
I didn't paint or draw as much outside as I'd have liked ... pity that (but the wind's a bit of a problem anyway).
Being hard on yourself comes with the territory I think - but I know I believe in myself more than a year ago, which is pretty positive, so I'm happy with what I aimed for mostly, and the rest's an ongoing project.

This year I want to apply for a residency somewhere other than Wellington - and preferrably overseas (though to be honest holing up to paint in the Far North wouldn't be all bad!) I'd like to experience the sense of 'otherness' that only comes from displacing yourself for a time, and I think I'd benefit from the challenge and the extension it would bring.

On that note, I went to a cool exhibition on my way home from the farm this summer, called 'The museum of inherent vice'.
(Inherent vice is an art historical/curatorial term to describe art objects with the potential to degrade or change over time).
Matt Couper had a residency at Tylee Cottage in Wanganui last year, as part of the Sarjeant Gallery's residency programme and his work is currently on show at the Sarjeant until the 10th of Feb.

I was impressed with both the scale of his paintings, and the diversity and complexity of his work. His symbolism is powerfully strange - and the image of Prometheus depicted as an artist, chained to the rock and painting with his hands and feet cut off and brushes strapped to his wrists has stayed with me a long time.

Mostly I connected with the wall of small tin ex-votos he made over the year, which describe his year as a resident, the struggle to stay focussed and be creative and to trust that what he was doing was valuable and 'good'. He made himself vulnerable - and I respect that. If you get a chance, go and see his work (or look at his website here).

Red red red show (Nah actually it's orange!)

More red ones

And still more

Busy as

Mark my words

Bein' pretty brushy lately

Happy New Year!

Most of these paintings came from a week of intensive work between Xmas and new Years Eve and Red Gallery in Nelson is showing this work on the 26th of February this year (yay!).
It's been interesting and fun revisiting the ideas; working from the original source material but trying to refine it - and even more interesting attempting to recapture the energy (I was such an angry and frustrated tart that week at Summer School!) that the original work has. I've uploaded the new works interspersed with the ones from Summer School so I can see how they work as a group - can you tell them apart?

I have to write a piece for the gallery to describe the show,here's what I've come up with - I hope it's not too wanky!

"These mixed media works are about breaking through barriers. They are an attempt to distance myself from my need for figuration in my artwork, or to offset it through the introduction of elements of chance.
I began to explore these ideas at Summer School in Wanganui in 2007 and I’ve continued to refine them and allow the insights to filter into my practice since then.

I want to generate energy in these works through contrasting the chance expression of a loaded brush or the simple eloquence of a swift moving calligraphic line with drawing and with deconstructed universal symbols for barriers, obstructions or impediments."

Its so hard describing your own stuff and trying to be honest - hey but naming the pieces...now that's a whole other kettle of fish!