Friday, November 7, 2014

All done and dusted

The last month or so have been the most stupidly busy of my entire life, I think. Aside from the exhibition and the exegesis to go with for Uni, there was all the 'nearly the end of year' stuff that goes on with home and work. Very nearly lost the plot. Anyway, the Uni stuff is done with for now...just waiting on results and in the next couple of months I will be able to put the letters MSTA (Visual Arts) after my name. Last week I drove to Toowoomba to hand everything in on a record-breaking hot day - 36 degrees in Toowoomba and 42 through the Lockyer on the way back. Was a bit worried the tyres would start to melt or something. Anyway, to mark the end of it all, here's a video of the final installation, made by Alex Brown, one of my former art students.



Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Survived the install...just!

Definitely need some minions. My kingdom for an art space in Brissy that has a) adequate parking, especially for the installation process and b) no stairs. On reflection, all the spaces I have ever used here have had one or the other or both defects! Anyway, I survived, but am exhausted as are the two blokes I 'hired' with the truck (William and Liam). I have to thank them both for their hard work, because without them, the installation would never have come about. Below are some pics, starting with the entry door. Now all that remains to finish my masters is to have the work documented, assessed and for me to write up my exegesis. Easy peasy (not).






Monday, September 22, 2014

Tree 2

2nd tree off the production line. Car has now been rejected from the garage so that I can house the installation stuff prior to it happening. This gig could very easily drive me over the edge!






Sunday, September 14, 2014

Can't see the forest for the tree

So...head down tail up trying to manufacture my Enchanted Forest. Won't be doing much else in the next month or so aside from working and sleeping (occasionally). The first tree is now complete (don't worry, there are others in production) and here are some pictures of her. Hopefully they will get better as we go along! She is tall enough to look me in the eye, so to speak.






Thursday, August 14, 2014

Maquette

Nearly finished the maquette and starting to mildly panic about turning it into reality. I am remembering why I normally work in the miniature scale - not only is the studio not big enough to hold everything I am making for the installation, but I can't get a good look at the whole, so I am not sure if I have enough trees etc. Anyway, hopefully you will all come and see it and make your own decisions about it in October. Meanwhile, here are the latest photos of the maquette. I still have to make the major piece which will sit at the end of the trail, but I need to spend more time on making the actual work, now.






Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Next step

Have handed in my first semester assessment which was a project proposal for the installation. As I am working towards the actual thing, I am applying research to the maquette as much as possible. Most recently, I have added a model of the door to the forest, which references the forbidden chamber in fairy tales, as well as heralding the change between two worlds. I have also added mirror to the walls, which will reflect parts of the installation as well as changing spatial perception so that the viewer feels that the forest is far bigger and extends far further than it does. Little bit Tardis, little bit Narnia.



Sunday, May 25, 2014

Uni Project

Things have gone a bit quiet because I am trying to get into my project for my Masters. It will be an installation later in the year and will basically be an enchanted forest, with links to feminism in fairytale and folklore. Its exciting but daunting. Today I started making my first marquette, the first decision being about how to deal with the walls. At this stage, I am thinking a mural approach with a forest background. I painted the original, then played around with different colour variations. Not sure how I will proceed in terms of overall colour, but am feeling good that I've made a start on the making (been reading for months).





Saturday, May 10, 2014

International Teaching Artist Conference 2014

I am pretty excited to be attending this conference and also to have been accepted to present a 20 min Illustration of Practice. This conference is right up my street - art education to promote creativity in the broader community. Hopefully this will also be an opportunity to meet others who sing the same tune.


Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Moreton Bay Art Awards

Dropped off the two pieces for the MBRAA today. You have seen the sculpture before - Swan Lake, but the digital work is new, called Stairway to Heaven. The awards exhibition opens next Friday night and then continues for a week. If you want a look, it is on at the Pine Rivers Gallery at Strathpine.




Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Montville

Have just come back from a couple of days at Montville, just north of here on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Very relaxing and pleasant, although not quite as 'back to nature' as the Bunyas. I was surprised by the number of bird species around in the trees near our cabin, although to be fair, it was on the border of the Kondalilla National Park. Of course, a nocturnal encounter with a mother ring tail and her baby was the icing on the cake. Now, back to the real world.








Sunday, February 2, 2014

The Conceptual Age

I am reading a great book at the moment called A Whole new Mind by D. H. Pink. Basically, he is putting forward the idea that we are now in the Conceptual Age, no longer the Information Age, where success was mainly found in Left (brain) directed thinking. We still need that, of course, but we need to engage the right part of our brains in equal measure, something that has been largely missing in the Information Age. The future, he says, belongs to the Creators and Empathisers. Obviously, as an artist, good news for me. But also really important as an educator endeavouring to equip young people with what they need for their lives. This amounts to more support of the idea that the arts need to be fundamental in education: my mantra for some years now.
 
Interestingly, he cites a case in the UK where Yale medical students (rather well known for their left-brainedness) are required to study paintings at the British Art Museum because it teaches them to look for detail and consequently makes them better diagnosticians and more user friendly doctors. I so wish that here in Oz there could be less banging on by bureaucrats re education and some more actual research into what is happening globally. 
 
Anyhoo, this is the book. I'll probably share more as I read. My link below is to Amazon, but undoubtedly it is available in 'all good book stores' and possibly in your local library.
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594481717/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 

Saturday, January 25, 2014

A chair of my own

Have been feeling in a bit of a rut, lately, and over the Christmas break I indulged in a Boxing Day Sale purchase...MY chair. Its so cool to have MY chair. All I have to do if someone is sitting in it is arch my eyebrow a bit and presto...message received. I have always wanted a chair like this and long felt that I deserved MY chair as much as anyone else in the household! When I look at it, it makes me happy. No doubt it will become the seat of higher learning, of creativity, and of course the vegetative state. It is probably weird to be so attached to an inanimate object, but I really do love it. So far, Tildy doesn't, so I don't even have to worry about it growing a layer of cat fur!