'Sail Away' paintings

I have recently been playing with painting 'just for me'.
There is no specific exhibition/gallery/award coming up where these may head to. I'm enjoying the freedom of not working to a deadline or a purpose. I have only recently realised that I don't paint for myself often enough.
These are small, 20cm square paintings - reworked over older paintings. I am loving the negative spaces which I have painted in.
I have called them the 'Sail Away' series as the idea of peacefully drifting on the ocean, lake or calm waterway really appeals to me. Each painting has a little abstract sailing vessel suggested somewhere.

detail

Latest jewellery

Hi all,
It has been 6 months since my last post - slack, I know.
Sorry if this post is a bit of an overkill, making up for the last 6 months!!!
I have a new range of jewellery that I am exhibiting in Gary Myers Gallery, Maleny.
I am feature artist for the month of October - we had a fabulous opening on Saturday night, chatting to locals and others from far away about contemporary jewellery practice and art in general.
Some pieces are based on rio wire mesh with aluminium found bits and saw pierced shapes, others are based on perspex and acrylic sheet offcuts cut to shape and combined with other materials, and some are made from sublimation printed aluminium.
I am still working with the recycle/reuse/repurpose aesthetic and the wabi sabi philosophy.
Here are a few 'brooches'..., some of these can also be worn as neck pieces.

and here are a few neckpieces...

and earrings.

Recycling / Reworking

1. Lately I have been reworking old paintings. Recycling has a dual purpose - it saves me money and also gives me an interesting background to work on instead of the dreaded white canvas. A couple are worth blogging about, several are still 'works in progress'.
Today I came up with something I like.

detail of 'Drift Away'

This is part of a triptych which started out as the 3 individual paintings below:

.

I really liked the contrasts of tones, textures and lines, but there was no interest re sales, and being a triptych, it was a hassle to hang.

Yesterday I did myself proud by drilling into the timber stretchers and bolting the 3 of them together to form one painting (anything to do with nails, bolts and and big drills frightens me for some reason, but give me a 'dremel' drill and I am in 7th heaven).

I reworked the paintings and added some gold as I am also going through a bit of a 'gold phase'. This is the result. I love it even more now and I am tempted to keep it on my wall.

'Drift Away' 

300 x 900mm

2. Now to a totally different work....

I have been playing with painted/textured/dyed tissue papers and decided to do a simple work on a discarded canvas. This is what I ended up with. Gold features again.

'Gold Stripe #1'

500 x 400mm

I had the canvas on the deck with rocks weighing down the tissue covered mattboard and I love what the rocks add to the work - argh - now I want to make some rocks to glue to the work!!!!

3. Last month I submitted my entry into The SCAP art award - our Councils's major Art Event. They accept only 40 entries from all over Australia - I won't know it I have been accepted until the end of May. This was also painted over a previous painting.

'Journey'

900 x 1200mm

4. I was honoured to have one of my 'A Letter A Week' books featured on the front page of the February edition of the American books/calligraphy magazine - 'Bound and Lettered' - thanks to Fiona Dempster for curating this international project, exhibition and fabulous promotion.

My ALAW accordion fold book was based on photos I took on my travels to Europe and Morocco in 2011.

5. I am also honoured to be chosen to exhibit one of my small 'bojagi' fabric pieces in the upcoming Wangaratta Miniature Textiles Award.

'Walkabout'

300x 230mm

6. Another honour for me recently was having one of my artist's books chosen as a gift for our local councillor to take to the Tatebayashi Council in Japan for their 60 year celebrations. This book was exhibited in the local library last year on International Peace Day.

'On the Mountains'

25x10mm

Seeing my recent achievements listed like this gives me a bit more confidence - there are many times that I feel like I haven't been doing much.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog.

A 'measley' fabric book flies to the US

Hi all,

Yes, me again, ..... at long last.

A couple of years ago, my blogger/FB friend Jennifer Coyne Qudeen posted about some spotty rust dyed fabric she had made. She didn't like the 'measle' spots. I said I really liked them, so she generously sent me the whole piece of fabric - all the way to Oz-  for me to play with.

Of course I procrastinated for over a year, but eventually made some delicious cushion covers to go on my new couch. I didn't want to use up all the fabric as there is still a garment [or part there of] waiting in the wings, so I backed the cushions with some lovely earthy organic fabric I picked up on my last trip to Japan.

The story continues.....My friends Barry and Fiona were heading to New York for December, and catching up with Jennifer, so I got my act together and made a lovely fabric book for her as a 'thank you'.

The book started with various ways to enhance the spotty and circular designs,

  but time was against me, so a few other designs crept in...

 

and then some 'pages' were a delight just as they were....

Here is the completed book, pages stitched together and bound over satay sticks, then stitched through drilled driftwood with feature wooden beads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This lovey running stitch on black was part of the card Jennifer sent me with the fabric.

 

 

 

I keep all my gorgeous wabi sabi fabric scraps, so many of them became a cover for the book,

 

 

...which wrapped around making a lovely little book bundle.

 

...and last but not least, my cushion covers which I love SO much.

Thanks Jennifer, Barry and Fiona for facilitating these lovely connections. 

XXX