I'm hanging in a gallery
As a semester ends, the Brisbane Institute of Art encourages students to hang their works in the gallery. It mightn't sound like a big deal ... but I'm pretty dang pleased to be able to say my work is hanging in a gallery.
So, OK it is being hung by push pins in the wall and my work is just one of number of students who are participating in the process and some of those students are so unbelievably talented ... but I'm still pleased.
The BIA exhibition runs from Friday June 23 through to June 28 @ 41 Grafton Street Windsor.
Yellows, oranges and reds
It is Autumn here.
Hooray.
Actually it is technically winter but we really don't get much of a winter; so when the leaves turn from green to gold it is worth celebrating. It will be a brief nod to a change in seasons. Perhaps of week of chilly weather and then the days will go back to their usual pace of getting warmer and more humid.
So, let's celebrate the brief moment. Bring on hearty soup and hot chocolates; bring on warm jumpers and toasty slippers; bring on the weather. We're ready for it.
In the midst of madness, I printed a leaf
As we hurtle towards the ends of the school semester (and what is always the end of the busiest term of the school year), it was so lovely to step outside the madness for a few hours and just enjoy making art.
I wasn't produced finished pieces and I wasn't working with a particular idea or outcome in mind. I was purely enjoying the process of experimenting and creating. I was screen printing; using a mask and also experimenting with photo emulsion. Yesterday, the immediacy of printing using masks and stencils was more inspiring that taking time to set up photo emulsion screens and images but I suspect that was just because I was happy to just experiment and enjoy the process of printing.
Drypoint flowers on the page
I keep coming back to drypoint as my favourite printing technique. I like the simplicity of the sketch and the ability to then add depth and texture with the ink. My little drypoint flowers could do with some colour but I was just wanting to see how it would print as a basic design.
I'm thinking a little bit of chine colle might be in order too ... I mean, how can you go wrong with a little bit of colourful collage highlighting the garden? Actually it would be interesting to print this in a number of different colour palettes and frame them alongside each other like a summer garden. Hmmm, yes now that would work.
Smile ... you're printed!
Quite a few weeks ago I spent some time carving lino ... faces and flowers and just general shapes. Such a very pleasant way to spent a lazy afternoon ... but until now the cut lino has just been stashed on my desk.
Pleasingly, I finally had a chance to do some printing yesterday. I used a clamp style press rather than the main printing press and I think it has printed better this way.
I am pleased with this face; she worked out better than I thought. It is only a small print but seeing her printed has given me the confidence to carve her again but perhaps on a bigger scale. I do so love creating faces ... more than nature images or abstracts.
Practice, practice and more practice
A composition book and a copic pen is all it takes to practice my handwriting ... oh, and the determination to carve out some time to practice. Simple really. And yet, time has a miraculous way of evaporating.
I have found if I leave the composition book near my workspace I am more likely to pick it up and do some writing (in between crossing things off from my to-do list).
The practicing itself is not onerous ... who can hate practicing something they love to do? Actually it doesn't feel like practice; more like moments of escape and relaxation. It is just the moment of pushing past the busy-ness and picking up the pen that can sometimes be a difficult choice.
More practice ... a green-theme this time:
Flowers in my garden
There are flowers in my garden. Not ordinary, everyday flowers. No, there are baby bean type flowers. My vegetable gardening has met with mixed success. The lettuce were a success. The broccoli and beetroot didn't do so well. Aphids attacked my wombok. However my beans are doing OK so far. I'm sure the cooler weather must help. Very little seems to thrive in super-hot and humid weather ... including people! Personally, I feel more alive and more engaged with the outside world as the weather cools off. (Cools off to 24C ... probably not cold for many people but a delightful drop in temperature for us).
Fingers crossed, c'mon beans, I know you can do it!
Give me baseball anytime
My kids play sport. They play for fun and fitness. The life skills they gain from playing sport are important. They have played in winning teams and losing teams. They have played lots of different sports as the seasons roll on. They've worn red uniforms, blue uniforms, green & gold uniforms. They've had seasons where the team has become great friends and I've witnessed seasons where they've had to learn to get on with teammates that are frustrating and misbehaved.
I hope they continue to play sport as they start to face up to balancing school, sport, jobs and other interests. If I'm honest though, I hope they keep playing baseball over any other option. It's my favourite sport.
I've cheered them on as they play football, rugby, AFL, and cricket. I've watched them earn belts in martial arts. But I still think watching them play baseball is the best. Watching them learn to catch, throw, bat, field has been fun. Watching them learn to work in a team and at the same time learn how their contribution matters has been great. Ultimately it will be their choice as to whether they continue to play sport and what sport that might be ... but, my vote will always be for baseball.
Why is there a beagle in the plant pot?
The weather is so lovely. Not hot, not cold, not humid ... basically just lovely. And so out into the garden we go. We had a friend help us build a new garden seat (with garden bed built in). We filled the garden bed with bromeliads and then Jasper (our beagle) filled our empty bromeliad pots with himself!
It is definitely a beagle trait ... why sit on the ground when there is a perfectly good plant pot to sit on?
Swirls and flowers and carving lines
My Introduction to Printmaking class is on hold for the school holidays. So, I am using the down-time to do some lino carving and drypoint etching in preparation for next term. Some of my ideas and sketches might work ... and I suspect some of the others won't be quite so successful. Still practicing carving is a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon (particularly as I listen to an audiobook at the same time).
I have also been mulling over some ideas for collagraphs. Collagraphs definitely need some preparation time (and drying time) so I should make a start on those plates this week; ready for printing when class resumes.