Current GoMA exhibits

As I said before Christmas, I would do a couple of blogs about my latest visit to GoMA, so here is the first installment:

One of the installations I was really keen to see was the 'we miss you magic land' installation in the children's gallery. I wanted to see it, because I am thinking of an installation for my next exhibition and Pip and Pop (artists) seem to have an aesthetic not too dissimilar to mine. It certainly was the lolly-coloured fairy land I had envisaged, but overall I was quite disappointed. Perhaps that is because it was aimed at children, but there lives a child in all of us, and this exhibition failed to interest mine all that much. Perhaps again it was that the space was filled with children that stopped me from feeling immersed, but I somehow doubt that. I know this is terribly picky, but the exhibition included numerous little plastic animals, but they were all included as they were - straight out of the packet, which at times made them seem very out of place and incongruous. Given the effort it would have taken to do the sugar part of the exhibit, I would have thought a quick coat of metallic pink paint or something on the animals would have been worth it. Again, we (I) need to bear in mind that the exhibit was meant for children, but given the title, I would have liked it to say something...I don't know what, but it just seemed...well...decorative, pretty, an amazing attention to detail, but a wee bit pointless.

By contrast, I loved the installations by (clearly slightly bonkers - and I mean that in the nicest possible way) Japanese Artist Yayoi Kusama in the exhibition: Look Now, See Forever.  Her installations were completely immersive, possibly by virtue of her brilliant use of mirrors, saturated colour and dynamic forms, but I could feel the buzz in my head that happens when you know you are witnessing something important, even if it is just challenging your concept of reality. My favourites were Reach Up to the Universe, Dotted Pumpkin and Dots Obsession, both pictured below.

The artist freely admits her obsession with dots, a problem that has plagued her inner life since childhood. You get to join the obsession by participating in the interactive exhibition The Obliteration Room where you can add coloured dots to any part of what was once a white room. The room virtually hums with the vibration of colour and shape. Her video installation featuring the artist singing her own composition: Song of a Manhattan Suicide Addict is fascinating in a train-wreck kind of way and what prompted my original comment. She certainly sees life in a refreshingly 'dotty' way - should be more like her.

If you want to go to the gallery's website, I have put in a link on the side, and I will be back in a day or so to talk a bit more about the Gallery's fifth birthday exhibits.

Holidays

As soon as school was finished for me on the 7th of December, we hit the road for a week's break at Noosa. It was lovely and just what the doctor ordered, but of course time went by in a flash. Picks taken on the Noosa River and Lake Cootharaba below:

Then the MOTH and I spent another 3 nights away at Springbrook to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary. Also good for the soul to disappear into the rainforest and commune with its creatures for a while, even if it did include the odd leach. It was cool and damp and of course I could have stayed there forever, but now I am back in the real world. and it is full steam ahead till Christmas. I did come back with lots of ideas for art work, but not the time to implement any of them! On Tuesday, which was actually our anniversary, we went in to South Bank and took in a number of exhibitions at GoMA, including Matisse. All very good, but I will save that for the next few blogs.  For now, hope you have a great Christmas!

Springbrook:

Art and Soul and Continuum

Really chuffed to present the work of three women artists I worked with before going back to school: Karen McColm, Renuka Russell and Marie-Louise Fry. Today I went to a local library where their work is on display and it was a terribly moving experience to see the work I already knew (and the stories behind them) and new works that prove that they really are on the Art & Soul Continuum. Fantastic, ladies, well done. Your work looks wonderful and talking to the library people, apparently you have had many good comments.

Apologies for the poor quality photographs, the lighting was difficult and the camera wasn't great, but here is a work from each of these wonderful artists:

If you live locally, make sure you get into the Arana Hills Library to see them!

Artists I Admire

Going to scrap the page (tab above) cos I never get a chance to update it, but you might have noticed a list of contemporary (and a couple of not so) artists to the right which I update when I discover another artist that I particualarly like. Yesterday I discovered Emily Valentine through the NAVA website and I have put on a link. She is an Australian artist and she 'paints with feathers'. I have pinched one of her images to give you an idea of the lovely work she does. You can go to her site by clicking on the piccy too. Enjoy.

Mini worlds with a function

I know it has been a while, yet again. Can't tell you how ridiculously busy life has been. Anyway, I have been trying to make some smaller pieces lately that might have more commercial appeal. I have made some little paperweights and my favourites are some mini rock pools. I have also been trying my hand at some jewellery, with some of the examples below. They all involve resin, of course, and bits and pieces of other things. I am not sure if I'll make any more, but this has been a good distraction for me over the last few busy school months. I will be trying to put these on Etsy in the next few days.

Rock Pool paper weights:

Sample Jewellery:

2nd run at New York

My first attempt at exhibiting in New York and Broadway Gallery didn't quite work - the pieces were broken in transit. Then they came back to me in pieces. Now I am about to send new pieces over for an exhibition starting in mid October. One of them is a repaired and revamped version of one that went previously. The first version of Mother Earth was thus:

Sadly, she snapped off at the base of the stem on her trip OS. So I have reworked her and her creativity has extended somewhat. Now her 'earth' looks like this:

And a couple of close-ups:

To hopefully prevent any more injury to her, she is now also enclosed in a Perspex box. Bon Voyage (again) Mother Earth. Have a safe trip this time.

Spring has sprung

Friday week ago we had a 13 degree maximum, with a chilly wind that felt like it was coming off ice. One week later we had a max of 30 degrees. The signs of spring are definitely in the air, but I think that Spring will be short and we'll be pretty much summer from here on in.

Still it is good to be moving on from the winter doldrums - the freesias are poking their pretty little heads out and for once, thanks to all the earlier rain followed by a cold winter, they're looking pretty healthy. The brown honey-eaters have already fledged their little chicks and we have recently been visited by the elusive kingfisher. At school, the fairy martins have been allowed to finish construction of their nest above the men's toilet and furnished it with four cute little chicks that open their beaks wide and squawk at every glimpse of their parents who are run ragged all day bringing them food.

Life tends to start looking up at this time of the year in that perfect in-between-blue-sky-fragrant-breeze-weather. Soon we will be grumbling about the stinking heat and sweat dripping down our legs, but ain't it good to see the back of winter? On my birthday, William and I took a stroll along the waterfront at Redcliffe - just lovely. While we were there, parachuters dropped out of the sky in front of us. This has happened many times before but on this day, for the first time ever, I actually felt like I could see me possibly doing that one day - has to be a great sense of freedom. I am not an adrenalin junky in any way, so it is kind of odd, but I am left with the sound of the whooping of the passengers as they came down and, of course, the striking colours of the chutes.

Meanwhile, I have just turned a 'sample' project I did with the year 11s into a finished piece. Its called 'Inner Sanctum'. I am pretty happy with it. Pic below.