Minatures in progress

The exciting thing is that I'm painting!!
Partly inspired by selling some paintings at a craft fair - that's always encouraging.
Partly inspired by a tv documentary about Margaret Olley (1923-2011) - gorgeous footage of her holding a fistful of worn out brushes in one hand and scrubbing away at her painting with the other. One of the commentators/experts described how she painted with the piece of hardboard propped in her lap, in her lounge room surrounded by the clutter of still life subjects, that it was very domestic like embroidery! That idea of approaching it like embroidery really clicked for me, and makes it easier to get started.

I'm also spurred on by 2 group shows I'm working towards in September. One is of minatures, I've been working on some 4x4 inch canvas boards.

I'm especially pleased with this one.

The other exhibition is on the theme of fish - hopefully I'll have something to show you next week

Almost back...

Sorry for the unplanned break!!! It's been school holidays, we didn't go away, but lots of little excursions, lots of reading and a little bit of artwork. The kids have been hogging the computer...and my partner has run off with my camera since his broke down. Hopefully things will be returning to normal very soon!!
Best wishes to all.

Something about inspiration

I wanted to write something about getting inspiration. I've been thinking about it because I've been asked to take part in a group show with a theme that I'm not too sure about. I needed to work out if I could get 'inspired' about it.

I had a look at some quotes online about inspiration, and they seem to give contradictory advice! Some like Matisse are about being disciplined, showing up to do the work and inspiration will come...
'Don't wait for inspiration. It comes while one is working.' Henri Matisse
While other quotes suggest if you're not inspired you're not going to produce anything good...
'Painting without inspiration is like trying to drive a car with flat tyres.' Ron Elstad

I do like this quote -
'The longing to produce great inspirations didn't produce anything but more longing.' Sophie Kerr
Which seems to suggest that you should just start somewhere with some small idea, that the more you look for inspiration the more elusive it is!

It's not that there's been nothing inspiring in the last couple of weeks - last Saturday there was some wonderful African music and dance (and much more) at a multicultural celebration at a nearby park. In the audience was an African woman in a hair wrap that was like a regal head dress, next to her was a white woman wearing a headband with pink roses round it - such an amazing contrast.

On Friday while I watered the garden there was a rustling noise in the low palms, when I moved closer a pheasant coucal took off out of the palms and over the fence, making its amazing 'glug glug glug' call.

Yesterday I took the kids down to the beach for an hour and in the park there was a boy pulling a kite the shape of a bird behind him, while seagulls took off from the beach.

Any of these might turn into a drawing or painting or linoprint... but none of them suit the theme of the exhibition, and maybe that's what I'm really struggling with!!!

So here are my two new linoprints for cards that I mentionned last time. I'm getting ready for a craft fair at the end of July.
And here are a couple more inspiring quotes.  Wishing you a great week and happy holidays if you have them, the kids have just broken up for 4 weeks of glorious dry season holiday here!

'Beginning with audacity is a very great part of the art of painting.' Winston Churchill
'I am always doing things I can't do, that's how I get to do them.' Picasso
  'I do not want art for a few, any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.' William Morris

Using up the stash

Just a quick post to say hello!!

Once in a while I print a big batch of linoprints which I gradually use in cardmaking and other artmaking.

 I've just made these cards, and now I'm down to the bottom of my stash. I've been chiselling a couple of new linos and hopefully will get chance to print them this long weekend, and I'll post some pictures here soon.

After the excitement...the housework

I'm in a kind of lull between projects, after all the madness of getting things ready for various group shows and members shows, for the last rew months. Now I can stop and draw breath, and wonder about where to go next...not to mention change the sheets and mop the kitchen floor!!

Here's a shot of some voodoo dolls I made for 'the angry show' - the DVAA member's show which opened yesterday - I haven't been to see it yet. (I'll be putting more photos over on my flickr photostream).

I did get to the opening of 'Unique' at Territory Craft - an exhibition of work by Marita Albers, Ingrid Gersmanis and Karen Roberts. It's a wonderful show, quirky, colourful and bursting at the seams! There's heaps to enjoy!

I have just put together my second mini-zine. It's based on the round handmade book I made last month, of haiku and drawings, it's available at my etsy shop - along with my first zine from last year.

I'm still writing haiku, not everyday, which was my original challenge, but one or two a week if I'm lucky! Here are a couple of new ones.

On the luggage rack
a bag spilling celery
next to her grey head.

Opening the gate
a bird flies past my ear
I feel it's wing beat.

Hope you're having a relaxing weekend. Here it's cool and sunny, and there are flowers on my one surviving tomato plant - finger's crossed!!

More than a few words about Wordstorm

Last weekend was huge!!! I spent as much time as I could at wordstorm. A few times I've started on this blogpost, but it's hard to know where to start. It's like I've eaten a feast and I'm still savouring and digesting it.

So here goes... On Saturday I went to a panel called 'The Aesthetics of Poetry', which started off as a debate about performance poetry versus page poetry, got onto who cares as long as it's good poetry, then how do you define good poetry, the fact that poetry can be so bad it's actually good. A beautiful tangent where people talked about what got them into poetry, what made them fall in love with it or inspired them to want to write.

I saw Emilie Zoey Baker (one of the poets from the panel) perform at the Women of Letters Event in the afternoon. She and Clare Martin were the highlights for me. All the women of letters were very funny and entertaining, but those two left me with something more serious to think about.

On Sunday morning I went to a poetry workshop with Cathy Altmann, called 'you don't have to be a poet to write poetry'. I'm not at all a beginner poet, but I'm often stalled or floundering, a workshop can be a great kickstart. This one was held at the museum, in the maritime section, so that we could write about the boats. The idea was to write about the concrete thing, not feelings, to really pay attention to the thing and its details, and hopefully the feeling will be there underneath. It was a great workshop, just a pity that more people didn't take advangate of it - tho lucky for us who did and got heaps of attention!! (here's the proof of the pudding - I've been doing some writing this week, not boat poems but bus stop ones!) We got some great hand-outs with quotes from poets and poems, hopefully I can find a link to Missing the boat by Naomi Shibab-Nye - completely new to me- which I love.

All weekend there were readings under the trees at Civic Park (and an open air coffee shop!). I caught some of the poetry readings on Sunday afternoon - Kaye Aldenhoven and Virginia Jealous, Leni Shilton and Cathy Altmann - wonderful and I admit there were moments I was sitting there with tears running down my cheeks.

I would like to give a quick shout for Spineless Wonders Press - a new small independent publisher. I have treated myself to one of their books 'Small wonder - an anthology of prose poetry and microfiction'. I'l let you know how it is when I get to it. Check out their website, lots of interviews with writers and a novella competition...

I'd also like to mention Kim's Cubby - named in memory of NT childrens author Kim Caraher - there were readings, performances and activities for children all weekend. Thanks to Di Lucas for overseeing all this!! I led an activity of making a foam stamp to print on bookmarks. It was fun and the kids were great - 4 year olds in particular seemed to be so enthusiastic and pleased with their efforts where older children were embarrased to start drawing, and more critical of what they'd done.

So here's to living life like a 4 year old!! Hope you've had a great week. xxx

(Picture is of a bird box - my second piece for the outside the square exhibition which closes tomorrow)

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.