Your Documents Please - Travelling Exhibition

Over 250 artists participated in this fascinating exhibition of small artworks that function visually or conceptually as if identification documents. I heard about this many months ago, and here it is online to view. You can click on the artists name and view their document. Absolutely fascinating.

There's a link to the original artist prospectus (and the exhibition) here.

Title of one's memoir?

The above pages are from one of my journals - I always like to post a picture with each post, it vaguely relates to the topic!

Denise tagged me with the following assignment:
1. Write the title to your own memoir using SIX words.
2. Post it on your blog.
3. Link to the person that tagged you.
4. Tag 5 more blogs.

I've seen these 'tags' and never got involved...until now (though I won't "tag" others - feel free to participate though, those of you who visit my blog). But this is an interesting thought - what would your memoir be called? And, like Denise talked about, I could be flippant about this. I'm not thinking about this over time, but considering my use of "Dreamswork", and the Edgar Allen quote in the journal pages I'm using at the top of this blog, the title of my memoir relate to that and an experience several years ago. I remember that night thinking, as my car spun around after being hit head on by another car, that I wasn't real, I felt like a rag doll being flung around, and that it was all a dream. All that philosophy stuff - are we really here? In a more literal way, I have made a habit of remembering my dreams in the morning, writing them down, keeping notes as a resource for my writing and artwork - a source of creativity. Some people, and I'm one of them, believe we can to a degree set up what it is we are going to dream about before we go to sleep. And then, there is the concept of dreams as something to strive for in life. So I think my memoir, Denise, could be (not easy in 6 words)
Dreams are for creating and living.

Of course I've had a few other titles worked out, and have changed this blog post twice already!

Digitally altered drawings

This image is one of my life drawings, graphite pencil on white cartridge. It's an image I've used in a variety of media - paint and printmaking. Using the limited editing software I have at the moment, and my drawings, I'm tinkering with them to create new digital images.

Life Drawing 25.6.08

A few of the drawings from last night's group.

Success - what makes your heart leap?

Love? Money? Being known? Selling paintings? Was reading some art blogs and came across this by artist Michael Georges who says "Find the thing that makes your heart leap and keep your feet on the ground." Click the link and have a read.

Life Drawing 18.6.08

Life drawings this week...not all of them. Was rather tired after working that day, so wasn't at my best. All done on A2 white cartridge paper in pen. I was using a great calligraphy pen for the seated pose, and it ran smoothly over the paper - pity I couldn't capture the model well, he was very relaxed in the chair and it doesn't show in this drawing.

Old Rail - photograph

This is one of a series of photographs taken at the Waihi Railway Station. There are colour photos on my flickr page. I've been tinkering with the minimal photographic programmes I have on this computer, and created this black and white image of old carriages beside an old railway shed.

Mixed media

350gsm printmaking paper. Experimenting. Title of series: "Granite" #1 "About the Solitary", #2 "About the Wall", #3 "About a Strife in the Wood". This series is about thinking and based on an old book, "Granite" published 1909, written by John Trevena.

Work in progress

I've started painting the three small drawings I drew on canvas at last week's life drawing group. I'd used a grey French conte pencil, and have started painting in Atelier Interactives. I think they're going to take a while as I'm going to have many thin layers of paint, not sure at this point if I will use other media, or what I'll do for the background! My resident critic liked the light backgrounds, but I like the strong negative space. Who knows what it will be in the end!

Downunder Teenager

Ink sketch

Today I was working on the little canvases on which I drew the life model last week, starting painting them. Taking a break, I drew a couple of quick indian ink sketches from my music night journal drawings, and blocked in some of the areas with coloured ink. First, I'd tried drawing them from the book with a conte pencil but they just didn't have any energy, so I got out the black ink and brush and felt much happier with that. I'll do more of them (and see if I can get the hang of the guitar).

Life Drawing 11 June 2008

Black pen in A4 journal.

Life Drawing 4 June 2008

Our life drawing group is continuing even though we are no longer being funded through community education. Thanks to John Mulvay (the tutor, who is kindly lending his easels and boards and also his home for some of the sessions and arranging models) we're continuing to meet. I missed last week's group but saw the drawings of two artists and I think it's going to be an advantage to have a variety of venue as opposed to the classroom, with furniture, cushions and other paraphernalia around.

Last night we met in the studio of artist, Robyn Tucker. It was cosy and warm, and she had arranged a chaise with nice fabric draped over the end for the model to organise her poses around/on. At the end of the session I realised, though, that I had drawn only the model and nothing around her. So she does look a little like she's floating in space in some of the drawings. Must be because I missed last week, forgot about the whole composition. Which is why regular drawing is so important.

I can see in the photographs I must clean the camera! Most of the drawings are done on buff cartridge paper, some on white. I used either a French grey conte pencil or a red chalk pencil.

The three square drawings are done on 8" x 8" canvases - I'm going to paint these, maybe mixed media works.

The upside down drawing was done standing at the head of the model, so she was upside down in my view. I forgot to draw the chaise, so it looks rather weird!

Guardian - 13th collage for ICE 2008

I'd forgotten to take a photograph of this last collage before sending it for the exhibition/exchange. The recipient, American artist Jean Tock, kindly took a photograph of it and emailed it to me. The centrepiece of the collage is a photograph of mine that I named "Guardian", hence the name.