Stress bag

Yeah, I am a real 'stress bag'. I remember in my early 20's, a clairvoyant said to me 'why do you get stressed?' Derrrrrhhhh - like asking me 'Why do you breathe?', so over the years I have tried different strategies including meditaion, massage, pills, self help books - you name it..... About 15 years ago I created a  special series of mixed media fibre based works. I called them 'Put your Problems in a Box'.....[and send them out to the universe or to sea, etc]. It worked for a while. Here are some of the results.



I now accept the fact that I am a stress bag and see it as part of the passion I have for life, my principles, my art and my friends and family. I still get 'stressed' and all too frequently have to suffer the consequences. I feel that putting my problems in a box no longer works for me - the issues are still out there in the ether, so I have a new strategy.

A few days ago I wrote some of my issues on some eucalyptus leaves then added them to my rapidly decaying 'Gumleaf Garland' which was part of the 'Sculpture on the Edge' exhibition last June. It has been hanging over the rail on my deck for 9 months, through all that rain, and has become home to all manner of strange creatures. I love the way it is breaking down - the creatures [some sort of worm and spider judging by the soil droppings and the web structures] are doing a wonderful job. It never ceases to amaze me how Mother Nature takes care of all things. I am allowing her to take my problems and decompose them back to the essential elements to be used as energy in another form, another time, and another place.

Gumleaf Garland in the garden exhibition.

Gumleaf garland today

...and with my 'problem' leaves added.

I think the idea of the Buddhist prayer flags has morphed into my wabisabi consciousness.

DIGITAL DESIGN WORKSHOPS

All images have been manipulated from the top left image- a photo of beautiful flowers from the tropical 'Cockspur Coral Bean' tree. I have used only colour filters and a bit of cropping.

Yes, a bit of colour - it feels so strange to be excited about colour for a change. I have been teaching 'Digital Design' to a few groups of people over the past few weeks. Great fun. I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge - teaching mainly 'mature' ladies who are enthusiastically embracing the challenge of the computer and how it can be used in their arts practices. We are all learning from each other, and some remarkable designs have been created. Some of the results are here, mostly printed onto T shirt transfers then ironed onto fabric, ready to be developed into textile projects.

Maleny Arts Retreat Workshop

 

 

ATASDA Workshop





COLLAGES - FINISHED

At last I have completed all the collages ready for the 13th International Collage Exchange, with a few spares and one or two I have decided to keep for myself! What a treat, something I rarely do. Usually I am 'left' with the works that don't sell from each new body of work, but strangely enough the 'leftovers' are usually my favourites.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Taken for Granted

I have a tatty collection of flotsam and jetsam found at the beach and dumped just outside my studio door. I love my little treasures but go past them dozens of times every day without giving them a thought. Time to look carefully and to appreciate the textures and patterns created by a combination of the forces of nature and the forces of bugs and creatures unknown.





 

More Collages

 

 

 

 

 

A LETTER A WEEK Challenge

This is a project that began in 2010 and is primarily about having fun, experimenting and having a regular, small project to focus on each week. The aim is simply to write/create a letter a week, creating 52 letters which must form 2 alphabets by the end of 2011. The main rule is that the letter must be presented on a piece of material measuring 7cm x 7cm. There are currently 34 contributors, from all parts of the world.

I have decided to use the Mayan alphabet as my inspiration with a subtle reference to the equivalent Roman letter in the bottom right corner. I am really stretching the boundaries of what is required, but as I am not a calligrapher, I need to do other things. There are so many brilliant examples of calligraphy in the project - I am totally blown away.

...photographed with flash,

...photographed without flash.

I have used copper wire sandwiched between 2 layers of teabag, lots of glue and gold wax highlights.

I want to join the 'letters' together to make a hanging that will go in a window so that the light comes from behind and in front, depending on the time of day/night.



COLLAGE GIVE AWAY

The draw for  the collage to celebrate my 100th blog happened at 6.05 this evening. As you can see, I put the names in a hat and put the hat on top of the fridge, so no cheating to be had.
Congratulations to Sandra and Richard, from Bruny Island, Tasmania [I reckon the gin had something to do with it!!].
The collage they chose was collage D, by far the most popular of all of them. The others will be winging their way to NZ then on to other parts of the world, so if you are in the collage exchange, you may still receive one.
Thanks so much to everyone for participating. It was great fun. I'll have to think up something else to celebrate - the 200th will be too far away.

100th POST, COLLAGE EXCHANGE and a GIVE AWAY

Well, Faithful Followers - at last I have reached my 100th post so it's time to celebrate with a GIVE AWAY.... yeah!! As you will have noticed, I have also given my blog layout a face lift for the occasion. Haven't finished yet, still struggling with the tabs.

I have started making my bakers dozen [13] A4 collages for the 13th International Collage Exchange, organised by Dale Copeland in NZ. http://outofsight.co.nz/Dale/collage.htm  If you'd like to join, get in touch will Dale - the more the merrier. It's a great way to network with international artists and to extend your own arts practice by trying new things. You may even sell some of them.

Here are the first 6 of my collages. One of these will be my 'give away gift'. You will need to post a comment in the comment box [no emails please], and tell me which one you like - they are labelled at the bottom of the image with 'Collage A' etc. If you are the winner, you will need to email me your address and I will send the A4 collage to you wherever you live. They are all mounted with a single matt on a mattboard backing.

 Collage A

 Collage B

 Collage C

 Collage D

 Collage E

Collage F

If you know how to comment, ignore the following, but if you are not sure how to make a comment, this is the process-

You will need to go to my blogsite http://wabisabiart.blogspot.com/ [the emailed update is not sufficient]. 

Scroll down to the bottom of the post where you will see 'Posted by Noela Mills at [time and date]',  and 'x number of comments'.

Click on 'X Comments' then scroll down to see the comments people have posted. Go the bottom of the list and you will find a blank white box.

Type your comment into the box.

Where it says 'comment as' - if you are on facebook you can go to 'Google account', if not you can go to 'anonymous' but please tell me your name when you post the comment.

Then click on the 'post comment' box.

You will now need to write in your email address, password and type a crazy word verification - this all helps to avoid spam.

Sometimes you will get a red message saying that passwords etc don't match up, but ignore this message and keep going to the end if you can. I find this part of the process a bit tedious, but it's worth it so that we can connect and nertwork with one another. I have made fabulous new blogging friends this way and found so many like minded artists.

So just to recap - post your comment and tell me which collage you like and include your name and an email link if you are not a blogger.

I will draw the winner next Sunday so you have a week to decide and to post.

GOOD LUCK, and thanks to you all for fabulous support and inspiration over the past 100 posts.

Noela xoxoxoxo