Self Portraits - finally in progress

I have been wanting to get to my blog for days now, but things just seem to be getting in the way. This is just a brief update to post some photos of my Self Portrait piece as it is in-progress.

I started on this work months ago and this is my first attempt at putting all the pieces together in a studio space and assessing how they are working.

Day 1

These pictures show the first stages of the work, which is one which involves allowing a particular process to occur in the gallery (if it gets that far). Above is the first day: a self portrait made from wet clay and an inkjet print.

Day 2

This image shows day 2, with the clay cracking and the print fading.

The work will be followed day by day to document the process it undergoes. Originally I intended to simply contrast the active process of the clay portrait with the stable, preservation of the waxed portrait (see here). Now I can see that documenting the entire process and perhaps binding it into a book would be a better option.

I have also done some digital photos of the clay process as you saw here.

Inkjet and mixed media tests: Part 1

For the past two weeks I have been working with the photos from my earlier post, Cycles. plus one other of the sea. These two images will be presented together as the first opening in the artists book, Cycles. I don't want to present them simply as inkjet reproductions of the photos because other images in the book will definitely include collages and mixed media.

Initially I experimented with a variety of different transfers onto different media including perspex (see left), Japanese kozo, mulberry and watercolour paper using Sheer Heaven transfers, Talbot and Pettit's methods of inkjet transfer and beeswax collage. I am not going to upload photos of everything here as some were dismal failures, but here are a couple.

On the left is a Pettit method transfer using sandwich paper onto natural Kozo paper. As you can see none of the yellow pigment has transfered, but I do like the textural effects. The lack of yellow lead me to try using this yellow mulberry paper with inclusions (below). I like the translucency of this but its just too yellow.

Initially I had the idea of making this book on perspex to accentuate the translucency of transfers. To do the transfer I used Jonathon Talbot's method and it worked well, except I just don't really like the look. This was the first transfer I tried with this photo and as I get used to the look it doesn't seem so bad, but I have decided to make the aesthetic of this book a lot more natural, in keeping with the theme of cycles in nature.

Coming up: my first experiments with Inkaid.

Topic #40 - Heart

With my love of anatomical drawings I couldn't miss the chance to join in this weeks Artwords challenge - Heart.

I made this book page some weeks ago, the first for a book with the working title "Preserve". The concept is an exploration of how we try to hold onto life, which is actually a slippery process, changing constantly and passing us by.

We live in our memories and struggle to extend our youth but change keeps happening in spite of our efforts.

If we could only accept this and live in the moment, things would be so much easier.

The paper is Rives BFK, hand-embossed for depth with a Sheer Heaven transfer, wax and oil paint.

A Painting A-Day: The Last Week

I am running a bit late with this update on my Painting-A-Day (downgraded to the much less catchy A Painting Every Second Day here) so in fairness given the time extension I have created more work - eight pieces in all. The lateness was caused by some health issues (migraines provoked by the sudden onset of summer heat here in Brisbane) and the fact that I spent the week working mostly with wax (good choice for hot weather, I hear you say!).

One thing I love about wax is that if you don't like what you've created, you can melt it down or scrape it back and hey presto! start again! The trouble is, this is a little like computers, they don't save you any time, but you can end up with a better end result - it just depends how much patience you have....I am also pretty new to using wax so there is a lot to learn - but after this I feel somewhat more confident...dipping and collage are going okay but painting, well I'm not a painter, so I've got a lot to learn.

The collage shows the works in the order they were finished, and includes two entries for Artwords and one for Illustration Friday. You can see the red paper-cut for IF in my other blog, Amanda-IF and I will do a separate post for the Artwords entry for this week - Memories.

The first piece is a page for my second artists book. You can see my first one here. It is still coming together, but is about the transience of the body. This is a Sheer Heaven transfer of the heart, encased in wax. The working title for the book is "Preserve". There is a LOT more work to be done on this, as this is the first page I've completed. I was pleased to test out my techniques though and find it came together quite well.

Next is a digital entry for last weeks Artwords, which I wasn't really satisfied with and did not end up posting. The prompt was "wind" and it's a digitally altered photo of the wind rustling the trees in our driveway in Melbourne. Looking back a week later, I actually think it captures the theme reasonably well.

Third is an attempt at a collage I've been thinking about which explores the cyclical nature of existence through the lunar cycle. I wasn't at all happy with the woman in this and re-did it, as you can see in the second last piece. This one feels more true to my aesthetic, but still needs work.

Next is my second wax box. You can see more detailed images of this on Flickr. This one is constructed entirely of Japanese lace paper. I plan to make a series of these boxes as part of my masters work so you'll be seeing more of them in future posts.

Next is a red wax collage using Sheer Heaven transfers and inlaid wax drawing. It started as an experimental page for Preserve but I doubt it will be used now. The final piece is an encaustic painting incorporating a little collage and it's my Artwords entry so you'll have to wait for the Artwords post to read about it.

The great thing about this month has been that I have created a lot, explored themes and techniques I've had in mind for literally months, and most pleasingly, been really well and energetic through it all. Now if I could just manage to sustain this level of output, I think I might have a chance of finishing my MFA....

So the plan for the next month is to get working on masters pieces. I have scheduled a visit to Melbourne for late March and I want to have plenty of samples to take down with me. Tomorrow will be a big planning day. Over all, a great start to the year.

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.