Stuck...

Work in progress

Kozo, transfer, wax

28cm x 25cm x 2.5cm

This is a photo of the full sized version of this self portrait embedded in beeswax. Earlier incarnations can be seen in this post. I think this is finished now, although it will be presented either in a box or a box-type frame, but I need to make the other portrait that is part of the work before I can make a decision about that.

Making the second portrait will involve getting my hands into some clay and after all this time, I am really looking forward to that. I do enjoy the 2D work, but I really love getting stuck into "forming" something.

I have to admit that this portrait in wax seems to be a very accurate depiction of how I've felt this past few weeks. My health has been quite poor and my energy very low. I've had one day in the last seven where I was able to work and I managed to finish this piece which I started a more than a week earlier. I've paid for that day ever since to the extent that relatively small tasks, like bringing the washing leave me feeling shaky.

I often experience the same or similar recurring dreams. I must not be very good at taking the hints my subconscious is trying to give me. One involves needing to move house or move out of my studio at uni and having left all the packing to the last day. There is a massive amount to do and I am stuck moving in slow motion, as if the whole house is filled with treacle. It feels as if I dream this scenario over and over, all night long. In reality, I have no idea how long I actually spend dreaming, but I often wake exhausted, as if I actually have spent the whole night packing!

I find it interesting that despite the original concept for this work being quite different, I have managed to simultaneously create something so expressive of my subconscious feelings.

Exhibitions in Melbourne

While I was in Melbourne I managed to get to a few exhibitions. I was surprised and pleased to see the number of people I studied with who had shows while I was visiting - there is so much going on in Melbourne in the way of art. I made it to two shows by dear friends and I wanted to show you images of their work, but as I didn't take any photos in the gallery, I'll have to rely on their invite images. The posting order of images relates only to the order in which I saw the shows...


First I went to the State Library of Victoria to see the ANU Edition + Artist Book Studio exhibition titled "How I entered there I cannot truly say". This gorgeous triangle book on the left was my pick - triangle books are my favourite and with that succulent red section, well who could resist this beautiful piece.
There were some wonderful etchings but I was hugely disappointed that the books were displayed in cabinets. Where were the white gloves? A book is made to be held in your hands and the pages turned...and I told them so in my feedback sheet.



This invite is for an exhibition of beautiful works by Hannah Bertram, a talented artist who I met at RMIT. Hannah's work concerns the decorative, is often ephemeral, and frequently surprises. This installation consisted of a trail of everyday paper ephemera beautifully pierced with intricate patterns. The works extended along the wall, filling the entire length of the gallery like a chain of buddhist prayer flags. The contrast between the labour-intensive decoration and the incredibly mundane substrate is at times quite amusing.



In the same gallery as Hannah's work (Dianne Tanzer Gallery) I stumbled on a wonderful group show with quite a few Australian "name" artists including two of my favourites, Kris Coad (her work left) and Sebastian di Mauro (below). I know I saw this show advertised somewhere but I can't find any images of it online to show you so I have used some older works by these artists which are particular favourites of mine. Kris Coad works with the translucency of porcelain to create works with almost-hidden symbols that rely on light to be exposed.

Sebastian di Mauro is a wonderful artist from my home state, Queensland and this image shows the first work of his I ever saw. It was called Floccus and as you can see he created these wonderfully ambiguous huge sculptures of some soft material that looks like fluff from a clothes dryer or something. The forms really took on the feeling of being creatures that you just wanted to hug or stroke, but by the same token, in the semi-dark space, you couldn't be sure they might not turn on you suddenly! It is one of my all time favourite installations. The work in Melbourne continued to explore similar forms but in bronze and less than 30 cms in length.

The last show I saw was by another talented artist from the MFA program, Katie Roberts. Katie's work has focussed on the Yarra River, which twists and turns its way through Melbourne. She has used video previously and in this exhibition presents her second series of mixed media drawings which functions as documentation of the social and natural history of the river. With moody depictions of the city in the background, Katie has manipulated her materials to create what looks like a record of the very soil on the river banks. Indigenous imprints are overlaid by the European ways of thinking about and interacting with the river, creating a visually "sedimentary" historical record.

Inkjet and mixed media tests: Part 2

I have been reading the wonderful "Digital Art Studio" by Schminke et al. As the subtitle indicates, it explores techniques for combining inkjet printing with traditional art materials. I am searching for ways to incorporate my photos into my artwork and this book is a terrific source of technical know-how in this area. With the improvement in the archival qualities of inkjet print now available, there is no reason not to incorporate them into fine art projects.
A product they use in many of their works is InkAid. This is a brush-on medium which allows you to print on any surface which will pass through your printer without the loss of colour intensity or durability that is seen e.g. when inkjet prints are made on fine art papers. Sometimes the softer effect you can get by printing on say watercolour paper may be desirable, but at other times it is not. InkAid is the answer to this. BTW I have no affiliation with InkAid(!) I just think its a handy product.
It also allows you to print over collage or mixed media surfaces. This is the process that I have experimented with. I first printed a very low opacity version of my image onto watercolour paper to use as a positional guide. Then I added gesso and artists pencils to achieve a handworked texture. I then applied two thin coats of semi-gloss clear InkAid (my 1 litre bottle is going to go a long way!). When dry I ran the watercolour paper through my printer again, applying the image at 100% opacity this time. Here's the result - hopefully you can pick up some of the textural effects.

Next I thought I'd try a transfer as my initial layer rather than a low opacity print. I thought this would add more character and texture. Using Petitts method, I made my transfer of the sea over a print of the times. I love the rough effect at the edges but a lot of detail has been lost, as you can see (apart from the poor photo - sorry!)

Next I added gesso and artists pencils (below)

Finally I applied the InkAid and running through the printer to add the final layer. Unfortunately I wasn't happy with the result at all! As you can hopefully see from this detail shot (below), I lost the lovely rough edges (of course!) and the effect of the InkAid over the acrylic gel medium that I used for the transfer is quite plastic-y. It really doesn't work with the textural effects I was trying to achieve with the gesso. So... that isn't a process I will be bothering with again. Nevermind, you have to try these things to know.

A-Painting-A-Day: Taking Stock So Far

I'd love to be able to say that it was my intention all along to do a big end of month summary of this Painting-A-Day exercise - but the truth is I've been so caught up making art that I just haven't had a chance to update this blog.

The positive of this is that it means the month is going really well. There have been a few changes to the Painting-A-Day "rules" - when you're making it up as you're going along, this is not surprising! First of all, it doesn't have to be a painting. In fact it doesn't absolutely have to be 2-D, although I have tried to stick to this in the main. However, I think that all but 2 works do include paint! Secondly, the daily was never really realistic, unless I wanted to make all the works very spontaneous and quick. Instead I have gone for at least 4 per week and made it to 5 once. By taking it a little more slowly, I think I can get some good "starters" going, things I can return to and look at developing in the future. It also gives me a chance to try out a few different techniques I've thought of or read about in the past 12 months. So the collage above shows pictures of all the works created so far.

Week 1

The first week I made four works, two collages and two mixed media drawings. None of these really work but I did try out some new techniques, including sgraffito using wax pastels and Jonathon Talbot transfer technique which I've mentioned in earlier posts. I've been focussing on developing imagery that I may use in my masters work and there are lots of "bits" that I think I can work with here.

The big disappointment for me was the sgraffito. It's a technique I'm familiar with in ceramics, and while it worked, I just didn't really like the effect - but that may be due to the multicoloured surface I created - you can see it here. It just looks lazy and messy to me.

Week 2

This week was my most productive so far. I was still in an exploratory mood despite my dissatisfaction with the sgraffito, so I tried my hand at a variety of media and techniques. The theme for Illustration Friday was buzz and anyone who knows my work knows I have included a reference to whipper snippers in a past installation - I HATE THEM! So I quickly got the idea to do a Noel MeKenna-esque painting of a whipper snipper in suburbia. I have to say that this was the most fun I've had all month. I had planned to work in acrylics, but was scared off by my total lack of experience with this type of project, so I opted for aquarelles. From a distance I am actually reasonably happy with the result, despite my obvious compositional goof - just don't examine the surface too closely, please!

I also experimented with two ideas I've had for a while. One is using tissue paper to sculpt close-ups of the body, inspired somewhat by Brent Harris - this is harder than it looks, and this one is not really working, but I will experiment further. The second idea shows lots of potential and I am really excited about it. I used Japanese paper dipped in wax to construct a box. I'm really happy with the translucency and am thinking this may be a way for me to work in 3-D other than with clay.

I also managed to complete my "start" for the Library project on Flickr and finished off with a photoshopped work for Artwords, seen in the previous post "graffitti". Okay I know that photoshop is not paint, but it is 2-D and for this one I did experiment with something I've not done before, as you'll see if you check out the post.

Week 3

All right, now we are in the home straight! Week 3.

This week I became almost totally wrapped up in the Library project. I started work on the start that Alex Itin from Brooklyn had sent me. I have to admit that it's been sitting here for 2 weeks and I've been looking at it, coming up with ideas, but terrified of actually making a mark. After all, this is another artist's work I'm about to work on. Eventually I bit the bullet and was able to find some images that I thought suited perfectly, including this map of the world from 1581 in the shape of a flower! (Alex's start included a butterfly with the words "Korea, China, Vietnam, Japan" on its wings.) You can see the completed collaboration on Alex's blog. I also polished off a book page Alex had included, a la the Humument.

By this stage I was really rolling on the collages and dieing to incorporate some of my anatomy imagery. I started a new book cover with the intention of posting it to the Library for collaboration, but was having so much fun that I ended up just continuing on with it myself!

I finished last week with a failed experiment. I had this idea to try a Jonathon Talbot transfer onto Japanese lace paper. Technically, it did work, but the effect is not what I had hoped. Not sure now what I hoped! Well, yes I am. I'm looking to express impermanence, but not in an old moth-eaten document kind-of-way, like this. I'm interested in change, transition. Hence the butterflies, life-cycles and so on. I think the faded effect of the transfer says more about this.

Well that brings us up to date. I am hoping the remaining 7 days will be just as productive. I think I should try to use this last week to experiment some more - then next month I can start to develop some of these ideas. I have booked my first trip to Melbourne to see my supervisor, Kevin White, in March. By then I need to have some solid progress to share.

Topic #34 - Begin

Begin=End=Begin

When I checked this week's challenge at Artwords I couldn't believe how well it fits with the art I am currently making. I have started off my month of daily paintings/collage/2D work quite well - it's the fourth of January and I am working on my third work. I have slightly altered the goal to allow for "mishaps" and am aiming for 5 works per week - I think this should be achievable and create enough focus without stressing me out.

The works have been focusing on the theme of transcience and impermanence which is the topic of my MFA. I've been collecting imagery for months now and am working with the cyclical nature of life. I have chosen two ways of depicting this: using butterflies and life-cycles and the lunar cycle.

This work incorporates a modification of Jonathon Talbot's transfer method using gloss gel medium, acrylic, wax pastel, Pitt's artists pens, sgraffito and collage. I must confess to a little digital jiggery-pokery...I wasn't happy with the composition of the original so I scanned it into Photoshop and "reorganised" the layout.

I learnt two valuable things from this work. First Talbot's method is really excellent for my purposes and secondly, I need to look at the sizing of my components. I am tending to make them medium sized - when they either need to be bigger, and fill the canvas more, or smaller. The re-working in PS basically consisted of adjusting the sizes of the different images.

I have titled my entry for Artwords "Begin=End=Begin" in recognition of the fact that beginnings are always associated with endings. To wipe the slate clean and start afresh, you have to let some things go if you going to have room for anything new. Sometimes these endings may be small and easy, and sometimes they can be massive and trigger a grief reaction. But to invert the proposition, any ending is also a beginning. We may grieve for the end of something we treasured, but at the same time we are being offered a new beginning. And a beginning should always be seen as an opportunity - so seize the day! Carpe Diem!

Agoraphobia

This is the first week I've taken part in Illustration Friday. It's a massively popular online gallery with weekly challenges. Apparently 200+ people participate - so I figgered I better be in it...

This week the topic is phobia. Agoraphobia has had a significant effect on my whole family. Although only one member has agoraphobia, everyone is impacted. It has taken us a long time to accept how genuine it is but if you have any doubts, you just have to look at how it destroys a person's life. If you could just "get a grip" and overcome it, you would - nobody would live like that if they had a choice.

While you're here take a look at how other people have interpreted phobia on IF, there are some fantastic artists involved. I'm on the look out for lots of spiders...

Topic #20 - Confession

This is my entry for Confession at Artwords. It is only a sketch really but I didn't want to miss the deadline again this week. I plan to keep working on it, just to enhance some of the background. If I end up changing it significantly, I'll post the improvements!

Sometimes I think confessing can be quite selfish. It can operate to make the confessor feel better, to cleanse the soul, but only leaves the confessee feeling totally betrayed. Some sins are better left unknown, unsaid. And if that means you have to learn to live with your guilt, then that is just how it is. In a sense, by confessing, you may just end up wronging the person twice. It's not always better to know the truth.