"The roads by which men arrive at their insights into celestial matters seem to me almost as worthy of wonder as those matters in themselves" Johannes Kepler
I've been giving the idea of thinking like a mapmaker some time lately - the middle of the night seems to suit this one. Not that I want to paint or make maps per se(nothing wrong with maps - they'reincredibly cool). Its a process I want to create - a process that acts as an overlay to the end results; and which interests me, like Kepler, almost as much as creating the art itself.
What do I mean by 'thinking like a cartographer'?
Well here goes.
For a start I want to impose a map making process that will influence my making and my thinking through the length of an artistic exploration - maybe a year. One that I haven't formalised before. I'm not sure yet just how different it will be to that which I already operate within or am bound by. But I want to see what richness or learning it may offer and how the work will be influenced by imposing some constraints over and above a subject or theme. Lets make it a bit more challenging, she says.
I said in my one of my last posts that there were things I took away from the 'Beyond Words' show in March. One of these things relates to the unspoken. The unknowable, or unacknowledged. Or just the unknown. Perhaps the areas we choose to leave deliberately empty. What we don't say.
Remember?
So I though it might be possible to describe spaces like these by implication. By stealth, or by mapping the territory that surrounds them; thereby defining them. I like the idea that these spaces will be different for different people - and the idea of creating variable experiences is growing on me. Interactivity. Allowing others to build meaning in the work, literally.
I did a bit of hunting and I found an interesting essay here by Nat Case titled 'Art is a Tool, Maps as Pictures'. Nat talks about the intersections between art and modern cartography - 'art' maps and 'mappy' art.
Then I talked to a friend about what making maps meant to him; about his Fine Arts Masters project which was based on map making and which included mapping emotional journeys,instances and interpretations of mapping. We also talked about his latest project in which he's exploring cartographic iconography and typologies within a graphics context as they define national identity, both for New Zealanders'as
individuals and of New Zealand as a global entity.
Here's some understanding I've come to -just some of the early thoughts I've had (that I want to expand on over time) about mapping. My thinking's certainly not comprehensive and it's definitely not based on deep knowledge! But here's the things that I've taken from the little exploration I've done so far.
I think they might make some interesting points that could support a process. I won't say steps - it doesn't seem at all linear to me so I'll bullet them.
• maps define boundaries(in a physical sense, so do supports like canvas or paper,and gallery spaces or viewing points) Metaphysically maps lay out where the edges of things are.(I like that. I need to know where boundaries are.)
• they describe relationships
• maps argue for things
• maps are political
• a map has or has not got a sense of authorship or voice, and it CAN lie
• maps can be functional (some thinking says a map must be functional to be good)
• maps are subjective interpretations which are in turn interpreted subjectively but which attempt to describe information objectively (sometimes)
• an instance can be a map (and so can a sensory experience - mapping to a memory for example)
• maps do not necessarily reside physically in space or time (woa!)
• maps can be wordless,directionless,wayfinding devices,internalised,remembered,
indelibly etched and imagined.
• maps sometimes have keys
What does that mean for a process?
It probably means I'll define elaborate or discard each of the characteristics I've described as being 'map-like' and look for ways to build them into a set of perameters to work within.
I'm thinking initially, there are some obviously simple responses like - use the whole space. Involve the space in the art and the art in the space. Allow the pieces to be built up like fragments in a non linear sense with some element of dimensionality to them - even if the work is still canvas or paper. perhaps it might mean they could be moved about and composed by individuals to narrate their own interpretations of provinces. Allowing multiple perspectives,simultaneous open ended stories.Perhaps with set boundaries like a limited colour palette.
Some thoughts...What could a key be? what about scale?
This looks like fun. Tell me what you think.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Thinking like a cartographer
I've been off line from my blog for a little bit - computer troubles mostly and Life intervening again- I left my job last week (happy/sad both and a brief experience that was full of rich learning) ... my horoscope at the beginning of the year described my career as a cross between I Claudius and The Sopranos thus far - what's with that? This blog's not intended for analysing so we'll leave it there. Suffice to say I feel at home in myself again today and I painted a new painting on the weekend that I think is OK)
It's my first day back in the studio - pulling together the threads of my illustration work again and knowing now how much that knits in with my art, both informing and feeding it.
In the interim I've had some time to think and dream about where to next - so the technological black hole has been productive too.
Sometimes you have to sidle up to ideas; they show themselves out of the corner of your eye - hide in the recesses of your dreams, and then disappear when you look at them full on. Tricky things... you have to be so careful not to expose them too soon or they melt away.
So...
What if you treat ideas like a map maker and come at them obliquely from all angles?
By describing all the things something ISN'T, (like that great Michaelangelo quote/story 'I simply chipped away everything that wasn't David') or by defining the parameters of what it might be, could you not create a space for something to exist? - like using reference points or coordinates to point to the centre and define/describe it.
I'm thinking that this would be an interesting exersize in order to reach an unknown endpoint. I'm not sure if I'm making sense - I've read poems that do it - each stanza coming from a different viewpoint or idea, seemingly unrelated, collectively making the whole a story but never quite saying it overtly.For example Kathleen Graber in her book 'Correspondence' and Michael Ondaatje is a master of it.
I'd like to experiment with the idea, but first I'll need to define my tools. Hmmm... playtime !
It's my first day back in the studio - pulling together the threads of my illustration work again and knowing now how much that knits in with my art, both informing and feeding it.
In the interim I've had some time to think and dream about where to next - so the technological black hole has been productive too.
Sometimes you have to sidle up to ideas; they show themselves out of the corner of your eye - hide in the recesses of your dreams, and then disappear when you look at them full on. Tricky things... you have to be so careful not to expose them too soon or they melt away.
So...
What if you treat ideas like a map maker and come at them obliquely from all angles?
By describing all the things something ISN'T, (like that great Michaelangelo quote/story 'I simply chipped away everything that wasn't David') or by defining the parameters of what it might be, could you not create a space for something to exist? - like using reference points or coordinates to point to the centre and define/describe it.
I'm thinking that this would be an interesting exersize in order to reach an unknown endpoint. I'm not sure if I'm making sense - I've read poems that do it - each stanza coming from a different viewpoint or idea, seemingly unrelated, collectively making the whole a story but never quite saying it overtly.For example Kathleen Graber in her book 'Correspondence' and Michael Ondaatje is a master of it.
I'd like to experiment with the idea, but first I'll need to define my tools. Hmmm... playtime !
Monday, March 24, 2008
Lu and I at Red Gallery in Nelson
Here's a pic of the lovely Lucy and me at Red Gallery, at the opening of 'Flick of the Wrist' in February.
More things I'm thinking about
"We don't just think with our brains. We think with our bodies." Jürgen Steek
"It's not that the creative act and the critical act are simultaneous. It's more like you blurt something out and then analyze it." Robert Motherwell
"It may be that the deep necessity of art is the examination of self-deception." Robert Motherwell
"It's not that the creative act and the critical act are simultaneous. It's more like you blurt something out and then analyze it." Robert Motherwell
"It may be that the deep necessity of art is the examination of self-deception." Robert Motherwell
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Five minutes
To write some thoughts.
Things I want to remember and build on:
• Camouflage - how else do we hide? (disambiguation - what a cool word!)
• passages of light
• metaphors for movement and change
• independent of thought - what is that? - automatic?
• What else contains memory but chooses to obey?
Things I want to remember and build on:
• Camouflage - how else do we hide? (disambiguation - what a cool word!)
• passages of light
• metaphors for movement and change
• independent of thought - what is that? - automatic?
• What else contains memory but chooses to obey?
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Sunday Batucada drum day...
... End of the fun day.
We broke down the show today to the sounds of the Batucada drummers upstairs and now I'm chilling wearily to Eddie Vedder with the last of my single malt whiskey and a low key sense of completion.
What a cool week.
Yesterday was wonderfully wild - I did a floor talk for the folks from the Deaf Association, and their spirited interest was a total delight. Their CEO Rachel Noble has bought 'Words Emerge Like Birds' (the large key piece from the exhibition) for the national office in Auckland so everyone in the deaf community can enjoy it (and to me it's where it belongs - I'm SO pleased). It feels like the whole project was worth it for their total engagement, I couldn't have wished for a better response to my work.
You know last time I felt it; and this week's been the same... this sense of privilege about being there and being part of the Thistle fabric for a short while.
You sit with your work in the quiet times, contemplating the completion and incompletion of it, (planning where to next and thinking about what the hell it is that viewers respond to) and you talk about it ad infinitum on request... And then you meet all these GREAT people.
In my Moleskine there's a page of addresses, websites and insights. Incredibly precious. Richard, if you're reading this, talking to you was great, I'd like to stay in touch - and Gill too, I'll be there tomorrow at your opening.
On Friday Peter McLeavey came in to see me. I hoped he would, but you know... mumble mumble (somebody slap me why don't you).
He sat and talked about painting from your heart (and listening to the murmur it -I didn't realise he operated so much on that level, and I'm glad; a consummate salesman who appeals to and operates from the heart - no wonder he's been so successful), of finding someone to represent you (or waiting for them to find you) who loves your work with the same passion you do, and of consolidating and doing the work over the next two years before showing again. I'm not sure I can manage that - but I know where he's coming from.
I think I'll always fight the need to paint versus the ability to draw, and the frustration of being less eloquent in one medium than I'd like, but I reckon it just means plenty of room to grow and lots to learn. A wealth of possibilities. Gad the potential of it's so exciting!
Only one regret - I didn't get anyone definite to photograph the opening night. Alan's translation was apparently something to behold as I read my speech. Six foot, built like a lock and standing behind me as I talked... I wish I could have seen.
OK, so now I'm off to bed and not much looking forward to a gear change tomorrow. Has anyone got any bright ideas for the reentry phase? - I'm totally crap at it !!
We broke down the show today to the sounds of the Batucada drummers upstairs and now I'm chilling wearily to Eddie Vedder with the last of my single malt whiskey and a low key sense of completion.
What a cool week.
Yesterday was wonderfully wild - I did a floor talk for the folks from the Deaf Association, and their spirited interest was a total delight. Their CEO Rachel Noble has bought 'Words Emerge Like Birds' (the large key piece from the exhibition) for the national office in Auckland so everyone in the deaf community can enjoy it (and to me it's where it belongs - I'm SO pleased). It feels like the whole project was worth it for their total engagement, I couldn't have wished for a better response to my work.
You know last time I felt it; and this week's been the same... this sense of privilege about being there and being part of the Thistle fabric for a short while.
You sit with your work in the quiet times, contemplating the completion and incompletion of it, (planning where to next and thinking about what the hell it is that viewers respond to) and you talk about it ad infinitum on request... And then you meet all these GREAT people.
In my Moleskine there's a page of addresses, websites and insights. Incredibly precious. Richard, if you're reading this, talking to you was great, I'd like to stay in touch - and Gill too, I'll be there tomorrow at your opening.
On Friday Peter McLeavey came in to see me. I hoped he would, but you know... mumble mumble (somebody slap me why don't you).
He sat and talked about painting from your heart (and listening to the murmur it -I didn't realise he operated so much on that level, and I'm glad; a consummate salesman who appeals to and operates from the heart - no wonder he's been so successful), of finding someone to represent you (or waiting for them to find you) who loves your work with the same passion you do, and of consolidating and doing the work over the next two years before showing again. I'm not sure I can manage that - but I know where he's coming from.
I think I'll always fight the need to paint versus the ability to draw, and the frustration of being less eloquent in one medium than I'd like, but I reckon it just means plenty of room to grow and lots to learn. A wealth of possibilities. Gad the potential of it's so exciting!
Only one regret - I didn't get anyone definite to photograph the opening night. Alan's translation was apparently something to behold as I read my speech. Six foot, built like a lock and standing behind me as I talked... I wish I could have seen.
OK, so now I'm off to bed and not much looking forward to a gear change tomorrow. Has anyone got any bright ideas for the reentry phase? - I'm totally crap at it !!
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Two more sleeps...
The title says it all. 'Beyond Words' opens on Monday night and I think I'm ready, a little flighty but ready. Despite losing the studio keys and creating a minor tornado in the looking... I really think I'm sorted now.
I feel like a media slut (thanks Sarah so true!) this week - the PR arm is working overtime and the show publicity is being seen in the best possible places. I've done some online Q&A's - fun 'cause they make you think (what would YOU make with a stick, a piece of fabric and a piece of string?) and make you dream (if you had a million dollars to spend on your art what would YOU do?)
After the framing, eyeleting, DVD making and projecting, catering and bar service have each been sorted, there remains the ever sodding burden of pricing.
I've not met any artists who don't put themselves and their doubts to the test on this one. It's not easy. I've asked a number of people what they think and I've been reading up on it this afternoon.
One site here says ..."Any insights, enlightenments, sufferings, or inner pain you experience while creating art are your own business. Don't bill collectors for it. People in all professions have intense emotional experiences just like you, but you rarely see the prices of milk, plumbing, clothes, or other goods or services fluctuate wildly as a result."
Nice.
Or this lovely image from another site: " In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's image was either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington showed him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back, while others showed both legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based on how many people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms and legs are "limbs" therefore painting them would cost the buyer more. Hence the expression "Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg."
Great -that'd make my drawings priceless - they're all limbs and hands!
Here's another option - not much better, but funny. San Francisco painter/printmaker Abigail Linfert joked, "Sometimes I think I should do what professors reportedly do with term papers-throw them down some stairs. The ones at the top would be most expensive and the ones at the bottom would be cheapest."
Actually the rest of the advice on this site's not bad.
I tend to go with size, comparable work by comparably experienced artists (which relies on you knowing a few) and a theory of value to me.
What I call 'Jesse's offer'. It goes 'if I gave you $100 would you give me that painting or will you keep it? - Ok If I give you $150 etc ...' It works in combo with the size method (especially when you add framing costs into the mix too).
Bob's advice was to price affordably and build slowly and steadily throughout your career. He's done that, and now I can't afford one of his lovely paintings!
In the end after all that - I go with a hunch, I mean in your gut you DO know. You certainly know when you're being untrue.
Well, off to the wholesaler to buy scrummy food for the opening now.
I feel like a media slut (thanks Sarah so true!) this week - the PR arm is working overtime and the show publicity is being seen in the best possible places. I've done some online Q&A's - fun 'cause they make you think (what would YOU make with a stick, a piece of fabric and a piece of string?) and make you dream (if you had a million dollars to spend on your art what would YOU do?)
After the framing, eyeleting, DVD making and projecting, catering and bar service have each been sorted, there remains the ever sodding burden of pricing.
I've not met any artists who don't put themselves and their doubts to the test on this one. It's not easy. I've asked a number of people what they think and I've been reading up on it this afternoon.
One site here says ..."Any insights, enlightenments, sufferings, or inner pain you experience while creating art are your own business. Don't bill collectors for it. People in all professions have intense emotional experiences just like you, but you rarely see the prices of milk, plumbing, clothes, or other goods or services fluctuate wildly as a result."
Nice.
Or this lovely image from another site: " In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's image was either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington showed him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back, while others showed both legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based on how many people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms and legs are "limbs" therefore painting them would cost the buyer more. Hence the expression "Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg."
Great -that'd make my drawings priceless - they're all limbs and hands!
Here's another option - not much better, but funny. San Francisco painter/printmaker Abigail Linfert joked, "Sometimes I think I should do what professors reportedly do with term papers-throw them down some stairs. The ones at the top would be most expensive and the ones at the bottom would be cheapest."
Actually the rest of the advice on this site's not bad.
I tend to go with size, comparable work by comparably experienced artists (which relies on you knowing a few) and a theory of value to me.
What I call 'Jesse's offer'. It goes 'if I gave you $100 would you give me that painting or will you keep it? - Ok If I give you $150 etc ...' It works in combo with the size method (especially when you add framing costs into the mix too).
Bob's advice was to price affordably and build slowly and steadily throughout your career. He's done that, and now I can't afford one of his lovely paintings!
In the end after all that - I go with a hunch, I mean in your gut you DO know. You certainly know when you're being untrue.
Well, off to the wholesaler to buy scrummy food for the opening now.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Quick peek
Finally, here's 3 or 4 images of sections of the last of the big drawings for 'Words emerge like birds'. Too big for a single shot, I had to lay them on the floor to take the photos. Enjoy.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Flick of the Wrist
Back today from a whirlwind visit to Nelson yesterday - and straight into work this morning so I'm feeling a little skitzoid zoid zoid.
Last night was a bit of fun, I was glammed up and shining like a rhinestone from another place (always good for a girls confidence).
Seriously, the work looked great in the gallery... the environment suited it so well.
Framed up in cream deep concave frames, glassless and mountless; there was nothing between the painting and the viewer and people really responded positively to that.
As a body of work, it viewed as an integrated whole, (my fears that it wouldn't were just dumb) with the new works mixing in seamlessly and quieter work supporting the smokey more complex ones. I received copious amounts of feedback for the boldness of the colours, the textures and the bravery of the mark making.
I met some lovely people - and made some new friends (connections connections, life is rich and wonderful) and I forsee a few welcome studio visits from them in the near future.
And happily, I sold some. Well... 5!!
There weren't that many Nelsonians there - but one in 5 bought a painting, so those that were went home happy and enthusuiastic. The local Grenough Chardonnay was delicious... and I left this morning happy as a sand boy.
I'll process the feedback and think on where to next (if anywhere) for this work.
Meantime Peter McLeavey downstairs from me is previewing Bill Hammonds new works tonight - so I'm about to poke my nose in and soak him up - 4 metres of unstretched glorious canvas.
Wow ! I just had to edit this post - Bill Hammond has added caves ! Eagles in caves, flying with brains (or are they hearts?) in their beaks back to their eeyrie. The new images are a nice new turn. I like it. Such a privilege having him downstairs.
Last night was a bit of fun, I was glammed up and shining like a rhinestone from another place (always good for a girls confidence).
Seriously, the work looked great in the gallery... the environment suited it so well.
Framed up in cream deep concave frames, glassless and mountless; there was nothing between the painting and the viewer and people really responded positively to that.
As a body of work, it viewed as an integrated whole, (my fears that it wouldn't were just dumb) with the new works mixing in seamlessly and quieter work supporting the smokey more complex ones. I received copious amounts of feedback for the boldness of the colours, the textures and the bravery of the mark making.
I met some lovely people - and made some new friends (connections connections, life is rich and wonderful) and I forsee a few welcome studio visits from them in the near future.
And happily, I sold some. Well... 5!!
There weren't that many Nelsonians there - but one in 5 bought a painting, so those that were went home happy and enthusuiastic. The local Grenough Chardonnay was delicious... and I left this morning happy as a sand boy.
I'll process the feedback and think on where to next (if anywhere) for this work.
Meantime Peter McLeavey downstairs from me is previewing Bill Hammonds new works tonight - so I'm about to poke my nose in and soak him up - 4 metres of unstretched glorious canvas.
Wow ! I just had to edit this post - Bill Hammond has added caves ! Eagles in caves, flying with brains (or are they hearts?) in their beaks back to their eeyrie. The new images are a nice new turn. I like it. Such a privilege having him downstairs.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Pebble in my Shoe
I've been thinking some more about that last post - specifically the emphasis on 'imperfections' in that quote ... and it pisses me off ! What was I thinking ?!
Reflecting on it today, Misters Bayles and Orland have rather a negative and myopic way of looking at potential growth, don't you think? (I'll leave the post up though, it may work like a pebble in a shoe for me - she says with chagrin)
I think maybe the key is 'unresolved'.
Taped beside me on the wall next to my drawing is a positive list of things I want to explore further. Much better.
Reflecting on it today, Misters Bayles and Orland have rather a negative and myopic way of looking at potential growth, don't you think? (I'll leave the post up though, it may work like a pebble in a shoe for me - she says with chagrin)
I think maybe the key is 'unresolved'.
Taped beside me on the wall next to my drawing is a positive list of things I want to explore further. Much better.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Inspiration and dreams
”The seed of your next art work lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece. Such imperfections (or mistakes, if you’re feeling particularly depressed about them today) are your guides - valuable, reliable, objective, non-judgemental guides to matters you need to reconsider or develop further.” - David Bayles and Ted Orland.
This quote is so true. Today I'm thinking of the work I've made to date, what went well, what I've struggled to express, and where I want to take my work next this year.
Not just what I want to say... there are heaps of ideas around that, bubbling up all the time - but how BEST to express them and what path I want to take next.
I'm mentally reviewing the drawings and asking myself whether I've described the ideas well enough; if having two threads to this show 'Beyond Words' is fragmenting or distracting from the ideas I had originally, and if I should make ONE MORE large work and see if I can travel further with it.
I feel vulnerable about this work too - it's close to my heart and so it lays me bare a bit.
I've been thinking a bit about dreams recently - both kinds. Waking dreams, and sleeping dreams. I reread 'Longing' recently and I'm walking about with the mantle of it still over me. Such beautiful language - such brutal truth.
We each have a personal Patagonia - a place we imagine is our 'fresh start' we want to get to - as an artist it's the beginning of each new project.
I went to the Sleep Wake performance on the weekend. It was full of weird and wonderful imagery - dreamscapes made real in a minimalist setting with soft reduced colours for costumes and set, reminiscent of waking in the middle of the night and padding through a quiet house. I loved the images of water projected onto 3 surfaces... the swimmer sinking the depths and the huge heartbeat/white noise 'music' score that went with the frenetic nightmare dance piece.
It was inspiring. Why does dance excite me so much ? Something about muscles and taught sinews in motion, balance and counterbalance, the grace and daring of the dancer. Humans are just so beautiful in motion.
When I identify my next project - I'm sure you'll be the first to know.
This quote is so true. Today I'm thinking of the work I've made to date, what went well, what I've struggled to express, and where I want to take my work next this year.
Not just what I want to say... there are heaps of ideas around that, bubbling up all the time - but how BEST to express them and what path I want to take next.
I'm mentally reviewing the drawings and asking myself whether I've described the ideas well enough; if having two threads to this show 'Beyond Words' is fragmenting or distracting from the ideas I had originally, and if I should make ONE MORE large work and see if I can travel further with it.
I feel vulnerable about this work too - it's close to my heart and so it lays me bare a bit.
I've been thinking a bit about dreams recently - both kinds. Waking dreams, and sleeping dreams. I reread 'Longing' recently and I'm walking about with the mantle of it still over me. Such beautiful language - such brutal truth.
We each have a personal Patagonia - a place we imagine is our 'fresh start' we want to get to - as an artist it's the beginning of each new project.
I went to the Sleep Wake performance on the weekend. It was full of weird and wonderful imagery - dreamscapes made real in a minimalist setting with soft reduced colours for costumes and set, reminiscent of waking in the middle of the night and padding through a quiet house. I loved the images of water projected onto 3 surfaces... the swimmer sinking the depths and the huge heartbeat/white noise 'music' score that went with the frenetic nightmare dance piece.
It was inspiring. Why does dance excite me so much ? Something about muscles and taught sinews in motion, balance and counterbalance, the grace and daring of the dancer. Humans are just so beautiful in motion.
When I identify my next project - I'm sure you'll be the first to know.
Friday, February 08, 2008
minusland plus plus
Friday! Love it.
Not much to add this week, just that I've added two new blogs to the sidebar today - minusland and Mighty Mouse pronounced. Nice. Go check them out. It's nice to have you back Sam, and the other one's Vin's artwork, which is lovely to see all together.
I met some great creative folk today at Capital E, had a good conversation about what fires kids creativity and felt really energised by it. I'm looking forward to being in the studio this weekend.
Not much to add this week, just that I've added two new blogs to the sidebar today - minusland and Mighty Mouse pronounced. Nice. Go check them out. It's nice to have you back Sam, and the other one's Vin's artwork, which is lovely to see all together.
I met some great creative folk today at Capital E, had a good conversation about what fires kids creativity and felt really energised by it. I'm looking forward to being in the studio this weekend.
Monday, January 28, 2008
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 ...
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 ...
Saturday, January 12, 2008
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).
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).
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!
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!
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