Another Friday another opening!

This afternoon it’s the Territory Craft Member’s show opening – the theme is outside the square, featuring painting, glass, and jewellery. There will be another members show later in the year for ceramics, textiles and fibre.

 

Because of the title – outside the square – I decided to work on something in a round format. One of the things I made was a round board book with gouache sketches on old dictionary pages.

 

USEFUL TIP!!! – I worked on a background of white gouache, and discovered that if I made a mistake I could easily lift it out with a wet brush, and then re-apply the white paint background and work over it again.

If you’re a regular to my blog, you will recognise some of the themes and compositions, which are inspired by my haiku from the first part of the year. I’ve taken copies of these and I’m planning to put together a little zine based on this. Which I’ll be putting in my etsy shop….in typical Kate style I opened my online shop a couple of months ago and didn’t tell anybody (til last week on flickr!) I’ve made my first sale which is thrilling (thankyou Lorna)  and hope to be adding something new to my shop every couple of weeks.

Wordstorm is coming!!

Wordstorm is Darwin's literary festival, it takes place every 2 years, and is coming up fast, the second weekend of May. I can't wait!! To co-incide with the festival there is an exhibition at DVAA of work inspired by a poem by Michael Giacometti, an Alice Springs poet. It's a very landscape poem, and I've never been down to that part of the country, I was stumped for a while until I decided to work in fabric. For a while I thought this was going to be a sculptural wall piece, stuffed a bit like the mermaids, but it ended up stretched on a frame like a painting. The exhibition opens this friday. Next weekend (5th May) is the seabreeze festival, which is always wonderful. And the dry season seems to have arrived, I'm wearing a jumper!!!

A Little Something For Poetry Month

It's poetry month in America, or anywhere in the world if you're on the internet.

Last weekend I caught part of a radio programme (Poetica on Radio National) which was favourite love poems chosen by all kinds of different people. It set me wondering what is my favourite love poem? There was something half remembered about a tablecloth!! So I went rummaging through my poetry books and re-discovered this - On The Table by Andrew Motion (please do hop across for a minute and read it).

I like that it's about love after being together in a couple for a long time. I like the conversational voice in the first verse as if he's trying to justify going out and making the rash purchase of a loud patterned tablecloth. And I can completely relate to being so attached to a piece of clothing - to it symbolising something personal - I had a painting skirt at Uni, and even 25 years later I constantly find myself buying red paisley anything, to replace the one that is long gone long ago worn out.

I'd love to hear about your favourite poem, or if you've been doing anything for poetry month.

Walking and singing

Ooops haven't been here for a while, life has been hectic for a few weeks. One of those busy things I've been doing that I haven't mentionned is that I've joined a choir - since January. It has been sneaking into my artwork, my second painting for the Don Whyte exhibition is called After Choir.

After our weekly rehearsal, I come out past a garden of ornamental long grass and tiny finches cling to the stalks. I've written two haiku about it.

Under a full moon
finches sleeping and swaying
on stalks of long grass.

Even though I know
to expect them, every week
the finches are a gift.

The woman in this painting doesn't look like me, but vaguely like one of the altos!

My sketchbook page from last time also has a link to choir. I've had some of the music we've been learning loaded on my I-pod. The drawing is of the moment when some of the music clicked for me, when I sent from learning the music to loving it, when I saw the tree like an upturned boat and burst into song as an Indian couple came round the corner!! (which reminds me of long ago living in London I used to listen to my Walkman and sing out loud late at night to scare off possible muggers!)

I came across this lovely post at Tinnie Girl blog about following your heart/your dream. Sometimes it's hard to identify what it is you need - I hadn't been in a choir for 25 years!!! I didn't realise how much I was missing music - lucky I've been feeling bored and thrashing around trying different things, and lucky the choir I stumbled on is the most welcoming.

Hope you've had a relaxing long weekend. Happy Easter.

The Pressure's On!!

I'm working on a couple of sewing projects and hadn't realised how long they would take, the pressure's on now that deadlines are looming. So here's a very quick sketchbook page and haiku, and hope to be back soon with a bit more to say!!
At the park trees are
the shape of an upturned boat
clouds a curled white wave.

Back on the horse!

Yesterday I had another go at my painting for the Don Whyte off-cuts show, and it's getting there at last! I'm hoping to do another canvas before the end of the month when the show goes up.

Here's a close up of the embroidery piece I'm working on, it's the first time I've done couching. Nat at smallest forest blog has a great post about couching, and is doing some wonderful work for a weekly stitch challenge...check it out!!!



Here is a great quote from a poetry book I'm reading -
'After my mother, a sceptical scientist, was dragged to her first poetry reading, she said, 'I see the point of poets now. They notice things.'' (52 ways of looking at a poem by Ruth Padel)
I think that goes for artists too!

Just a quick post as I need to get out in the garden and do some weeding before they take over the whole garden.
Have a great weekend.

On my table

I seem to have lots of bits and pieces in progress and not much to show at the moment! Today I've started on a sewn piece for an exhibition that's coming up in May - a piece of work based on a poem, the exhibition will co-incide with wordstorm the writers festival. Here's a shot of work in progress!

Last Friday I started on a painting for the Don Whyte Off cuts show - an exhibition that happens every year, I've talked about it before and love to take part, but I'm struggling with painting at the moment, the canvas has been painted over twice already (and neglected this morning). This is the sketch I'm working from, and the haiku/moment that inspired it.


Four magpie geese fly
overhead a rainbow gleams
no-one to tell 'look'.

One of my haiku has been shared over on the blog 'fluxustulip' by artist Carissa Krueger, many thanks to her for her interest in my work. I came across Carissa in an interview on the Sketchbook Challenge blog. Sometimes I think I'm more interested in the creative process than the finished product, and the sketchbook is like the secret cauldron of the creative process - interviews like this one with Carissa give a little peek into another artists processes, so interesting and inspiring!

Opening next Wednesday is a survey show of Craft from across the northern territory at the Chan gallery, I'm pretty chuffed to have 2 of my mermaid dolls included, and can't wait to see the exhibition, and hopefully get to some of the workshops - especially yarn bombing!