final week

This coming week will be the last chance to see my solo exhibition Domestic Duties Chp.2 A burden shared is a burden halved.  Sunday 24th June, 2012 at Studio 4 Gallery.  Incorporating an interactive component has truely been an enriching experience for me, the joy in seeing people participating and 'feeling' apart of the show has been wonderful!  And it was lovely to see folk come in and find their word they added to the collective.

I thought I'd share a few of my favourite pieces for the folk that are unable to come to the exhibition...

Dish Pan Hands - vintage glove hangers, latex free gloves & carved words on porcelain pegs.



Constant Appetitie Bottomless Pit - hand carved vintage rolling pin.

Tea Cup & Doily Saucer (12 Sets each) - etched word on Southern Ice Porcelain, various sizes, (each Tea Cup sits on a doily saucer even though the one on the right is not displayed on one).

Icing on the Cake - brass piping cones, metal limbs mounted on hardwood and plexiglass.

Icing on the Cake - detail.

Bad Hair Day I, II & III - old wooden Horsehair and Boar bristle dustpan brushes, metal limbs & porcelain flowers.

Bad Hair Day II - detail. (sold)

This Is Not A Vacuum Cleaner - vintage iron, protruding metal spears & wooden handles.

A big thank you to everyone that arranged to see me personally and my show, it has been a highlight spending quality time with you all. I will make myself available again, if anyone else wishes to have a one on one next week, and I will be in the gallery the last day Sunday 24th June from 1pm onwards.

yarn bombing & more...

What fun! Part of Treeline's program this year is an installation display of Operation Knit - the Maroochy Busland Botanical Gardens have come alive with coloured yarn adorning the grounds.

There's Pom Poms in the trees...

49 metres of handrail colour!

Beanies for the posts - afterall it is getting a bit brisk - the handrail in the distance...

And a few photographs from yesterday's set-up for the Tread Lightly Exhibition with the official opening tomorrow night.

Fiona & Barry (FaB) installing a rainbow stack of books.

Fiona's stunning artworks encased under plexiglass definitely highlights their preciousness.

Wearable Art dress by Robyn Woodrow - truely a sight to behold!

And a small detail of my piece...R & R (Reduce & Re-use)

Exhibition dates: Sat 16 June to Sun 8 July, 2012
10am to 4pm daily

Arts and Ecology Centre
Maroochy Regional Bushland
Botanical Gardens
Palm Rd, Tanawha

Tread Lightly

The next thing on the agenda is Tread Lightly an exhibition of green art inspired works to invoke wonder, interest and delight.  Showcasing works made with repurposed books, macro ecology photography, wearable art and more... Hosted by the Sunshine Coast Council as part of their 2012 Treeline program all the works on show will reflect an environmental theme.

I have two artworks included - the below image is a detail of one of them - a wall piece made with discarded cardboard shoe inserts, torn calico strips (dyed with Eucalyptus citrodoria leaves) and a salvaged fish net.  The piece is called R & R (reduce & reuse) "Increasing our awareness for our environment is a step in the right direction". 

And the invitation - perhaps a bit small to see (my apologies if it is) so I have included the details below.

Where: Arts and Ecology Centre - Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens
When: Exhibition dates: 16th June to 8th July, 2012.

Official opening: Thursday 14th June, 2012 at 6.30pm.
RSVP: saffron.drew@sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au by Tuesday 12th June, 2012

How to get there - directions - click > here

Official opening - Domestic Duties

A BIG thank you to everyone that came out last night and braved the wet weather to help me celebrate my opening. It was an awesome evening!  A few snap shots...

From left; Julie Hauritz (Education & Public Programs Officer Noosa Regional Gallery), Me & Jennifer Stiller (Studio 4 Gallery Director).  A collection of my peg mandala's in the background.

A few familar faces and not so familar.

My good buddy Jen and mum Dorothy - taking in the interactive piece Circle of Friendship with Bad Hair Day I, II & III in the background.

Phil Willy and of course me.  Part of NEVER vintage ironing board laser cut mounted on plexiglass in the background.

Many heads filled the gallery - fine wine and good company...

Of course those fabulous ONE words on a wall.

Me again and the extremely talented portrait artist Jandamarra Cadd

Presenting Julie with a gift for her inspiring speech (many thanks Julie!)

A small selection of works are now on-line for viewing >  Studio 4 Gallery

All set up

It’s been a full-on week installing the exhibition - a few snap shots...

I wanted to include as many ONE words as I could in the exhibition and decided to have a few placed randomly on one wall. There were so many words to choose from I opted for the most re-occurring ones plus a few that took my fancy. This bit was a killer on the shoulders putting them in place, slowly I might add, one letter at a time.

The one thousand and more ONE words written onto the peg strings for the Installation.

Then hung from the Folding Clothesline Installation - the lighting has cast shadows and looks great!
And the Marrick Quick Dry Installation with strings of Southern Ice porcelain Pegs (with a carved word in the clay) - each string hung from a Dolly Peg, and the Pianola scroll in the background.

opening night

As promised snap shots from lasts nights exhibition opening - Culture 2 Culture

top from left; Christine Elcoate, Noela Mills, Maya Carter-Malins.

Left; Councillor Jenny McKay and Ken Munsie.

Left; Noela and Jess

Left; Me and my good buddy Jen.

Left; Annie Burns and Tania Mitchell.

Right; Amy!

A snippet of some artworks... and below (for you Robyn) the collaborative Domino Tiles

No guessing which tiles are mine amongst these!

Exhibition details:

23 May - 17 June, 2012

Rosebed St Gallery

13 Rosebed St, Eudlo

Wed-Sun 10am to 4pm

www.rosebedstgallery.com 

Culture 2 Culture

Wet weather won't dampen the atmosphere for tonight's official opening of Culture 2 Culture at Rosebed St Gallery.  I just had to post the invitation on my blog, because it is so beautifully designed (thanks Noela), and looks absolutely beautiful in print - definitely a keepsake!

We're all braving the wet and cool weather to celebrate "Friendship" - I hope to see some familar faces there!  And for my overseas bloggers I will post some photos of the evening and artworks over the weekend for you all to see.

More details on the exhibition in my previous post - or just click > here

1000 words & more - Domestic Duties

It seemed only fitting to include the complete list of all the ONE word(s) compiled for this exhibition. I have been collecting words for over two years now, every opportunity I would ask for a word and noted it down in my trusty exercise book - using the ole fashioned method and using a pencil!  So many people have generously helped me along the way, even you my blogging friends have helped in my 200th blog post giveaway and I am very grateful!

I came across some old pianola scrolls recently and thought I'd try my hand at typing all my words down on the scroll a full length of a vertical wall approx. 2.3 metres.  One word that has repeatedly rolled off my tongue of late is THANKFUL. I've been so thankful to everyone for their help to collect my ONE words, Glen's sister Michelle even delivered Jordan's typewriter (below) from Brissy over the weekend for me!  (thanks Mich!).  Over 1000 words soon had to be repeated as I typed around a negative space creating the word THANKFUL.  Looks pretty groovy! 

Domino tiles, vessels &

The next group show I am participating in is an exhibition of Friendship & Collaboration.  Sponsored by Sister City Friendships and the local Government fellow artists Noela Mills and Christine Elcoate travelled to Jingdeshen, Xiamen and Wushi last year connecting with many artists, on their return they conducted 4 workshops here on the Sunny Coast with Chinese artist Li Jun resulting in a collaborative exhibition Culture 2 Culture with 12 artists [Li Jun and 11 locals], and school children's works from 2 Chinese schools and 3 Sunshine Coast schools.

The centrepoint of the exhibition will be 300+ domino sized ceramic tiles - made in Australia, some glazed here by local artists, others glazed in China and brought back for the exhibition.
and now we have a collaborative exhibition at  Rosebed St Gallery, Eudlo. 

A sneak peak of my pieces to be showcased - my inspiration was drawn from traditional Chinese porcelain techniques...

 My three slab rolled Southern Ice (SI) porcelain domino tiles

Wheel thrown pierced SI porcelain - Spoked

Handcarved SI porcelain tile - He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

A detail of the Triptych - Floral Motif  etched SI porcelain

and a 3 dimensional piece also SI porcelain - He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Domestic Duties Chp.2 - update

When I undertook my challenge to create a body of work from my topic Domestic Duties I knew it would be anything than the norm.  Initially starting out by compling a list of ONE words from everybody (on household chores), the plan was to create an installation with the 'one' words written onto pegs and hung from a Hills Hoist clothesline - I soon realised a break down was needed and decided to formulate 'Chapters' - this body of work comprising Chp. 2 (Chp.1 - Installation IMAGINE THAT! Showcase event 2011)

Picking up from my last update from my peg mandalas, I have been busy making and consolidated my ideas to incorporating artworks using Vintage/Retro (mostly) domestic ware.  Studio 4 Gallery is a quaint and intimate space not big enough to showcase a Hills Hoist clothes line, so I am installing a folding clothes line system instead for the interactive installation component. (Chapter 3 WILL see the Hills Hoist and a new perspective).

So what have I been up to?  Here's a snippet - paint a picture with these images below!  You could possibily ask "How could you make a piece of art from all this stuff?" Well I'm not sure either, tho'  I've had a whole load of fun trying!  The 'finds' have been all rather unpredictable and dependant on what was available in the op shops or markets etc., at that time.  Most folk would consider this stuff junk but for some reason I am gravitated to it by an uncontrolable force and just want to make art with it.  These bits'n'pieces are certainly an interesting array of stuff.  As to what will feature and what won't, well anything is possible!!!  Hopefully I will be able to continue my updates in the lead up to the exhibition to share some of the insights. One thing I can say tho' - it has been a liberating, exhilarating, most refreshing and fun process - the exhibition is shaping up quiet nicely!