Artist Demo Day

Today was Family Day at Noosa Regional Gallery, a regular monthly event for the gallery (Gallery Public Program), Family day is where volunteer staff host interactive art activities; clay, paint etc., for the kids, while one of the current exhibiting artist contributes, usually in the form of a demonstration or similar for the visiting public.

A wet drizzly day weather wise today, however, it didn't stop folk from coming to the gallery. I was fortunate to have the gallery Foyer to spread out (pictured below), while the outside undercover area graced several long tressel tables full of happy little creatives and a sausage sizzle.

Just alongside me in the gallery were more tressel tables and more little creatives, this time being creative with tea stained watercolour paper, tea bag paper and tea leaves. Unfortunately, I was too busy to take photographs... the results were most intriguing!

My Foyer display.

 

Below, an Interactive display area I provided for the gallery and the duration of Expressions of Love II, latch hooking in progress for folk to have a try.

 

Additional interactive work, displayed just for today for further exploration. Foreground; Twinnings - Raspberry, Strawberry & Loganberry flavoured, yield pink coloured tea bags; knitting with spun tea bag yarn; prototypes, sewn patchwork panels, the making of Deconstructed Quilt; and crocheting with spun tea bags and a few sample crochet flowerettes.

 

After a quick run down on how to prepare the recycled tea bag yarn for spinning - everyone was most intrigued when the spinning begun.

 

Then it was time for others to have a try.

 

Thanks to all whom came today, 'twas a most enjoyable day!

exhibition opens + opening night

Now that my works, Expressions of Love II are hung and the opening last Friday evening, it's time to reflect and savour the moment I think - after a full-on year of intense making, gathering and processing over 10,000 tea bags, three weeks will fly by like a blink of an eyelid!

Opening night was a blast - the gallery was so crowded people were literally spilling out the doorways - the result of three exhibition openings in the one evening. On show and in Gallery One The Friends of the Gallery, Taste of Art Exhibition, in Gallery Two is the gorgeous Emma Freeman with her retrospective On the Edge and myself, Expressions of Love II in Gallery Three. Having the three openings in the one evening is a great idea, and you also get to met new people too.

To share some photos with you...

With great honour opening my exhibition, guest speaker Janet De Boer O.A.M Editor, ‘Textile Fibre Forum’ Magazine + CEO, The Australian Forum for Textile Arts, Ltd, pictured with me below.

Janet with the microphone, delighting the crowd with her fun sense of humour, and Nina Shadforth Gallery Curator, to the right, looking on.

 

Just to show you how many folk were present, and each room in the gallery was just as crowded!

 

 

Myself and the adorable Emma Freeman.  Emma is such an inspiring woman, I hope to be as vibrant and full of life, as Emma is, when I reach her tender age of 91.

 

Joolie Gibbs, Gympie Regional Gallery Coordinator and Guest Judge, presenting the awards for the Friends of the Gallery, Taste of Art Exhibiton.

 

 ...and a few happy snaps of Expressions of Love II (images courtesy, Lindsay Ham).

 

When you visit the gallery, remember to smell the pink coloured squares in my Latched with Love piece, like the lady seen in the pic below - to experience the sweet aroma of the Twinnings: Raspberry, Strawberry and Loganberry flavoured tea bags!

More on my website > here, if your wanting to see more J

Sending gratitude to all who contributed and saved tea bags for me to create this new body of work, thank you ♥

Gallery Public Program for 'Expressions of Love II'

Hoping you all enjoyed your Christmas, New Year break. I certainly did and I'm feeling all refreshed after a few days off, although, I must admit I have entertained the idea of an extended holiday J but Expressions of Love II is fast approaching and I have still lots more to attend to, so it's back to work!

First thing on the agenda is preparing for the galleries Public Program, most would be aware each regional gallery hosts activites alongside each exhibition and to compliment mine there will be a Teabag Latch Hook Workshop, Meet the Artist Tea Party and an Artist Demonstration Day on Family Day - for all the finer details and dates please see 'END NOTES' listed below.

 

For the Latch Hook Workshop (Sat 25 January, 10.30am-1.30pm) bookings open as from this Monday 6th January, 2014.  Each participant will be shown how to process and work with 100 tea bags to create a small heart shaped latch hook piece, all you need bring is a Latch Hook and yourself!  All other materials will be provided. Spaces are limited to 12 participants so you will need to book-in and secure your place - please direct all enquiries and calls to Noosa Regional Gallery on 53296145, many thanks J

Meet the Artist Tea Party (Friday 31 January, 10.30-11.30am) I hope you will join me and share in some arty conversation over a cuppa and cake - rsvp by 28 Jan. I've got the hand action going on in this image, lol - photo courtesy of Lindsay Ham.

 

Family Day - Artist Demonstration Day (Sunday 9th February, 2014 from 11am to 2pm). With my trusty vintage spinning wheel at hand, my artist demonstration will consist of spinning tea bags into yarn and you'll locate me in the Gallery Foyer.  I'll also create a tangible corner for folk who may wish to have a hands on experience with the tea bags and tea bag yarn... you might even like to have a go at spinning some tea bags!

 

 

END NOTES:
Noosa Regional Gallery Public Program:

Teabag Latch Hook Workshop
Date: Saturday 25 January, 10.30am-1.30pm BYO latch hook, all other materials provided. Tea and coffee provided. $35 per person (Max. 12 participants). Bookings and prepayment essential. For more information and bookings phone 5329 6145.

Meet the Artist Tea Party
Date: Friday 31 January, 10.30-11.30am An informal gathering over tea and cake with artist Kim Schoenberger. Tea party refreshments. Gold coin donation. RSVP by 28 January 2014. For more information and bookings phone 5329 6145.

Family Day: Hands on Artist Demonstration
Date: Sunday 9th February, 2014 from 11am to 2pm
Meet talented artist Kim Schoenberger as she sews and spins magic into tea bags, transforming the mundane and disposable into extraordinary and repurposed.  A tactile and sensory experience for all ages and interests.  Free event. Demonstration times: 11.00am to 12.15pm & 12.45 to 2.00pm

Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year...

Seasons Greetings everyone!

 

 

"May Angels always guide you and bring you smiles to share, may they brighten your day and surround you with those who care."   ~ Unknown

hot off the press!

With only two days to spare before the xmas/new year business closures my catalogues are all printed and ready Expressions of Love II opening night.  Don't panic the opening is not until 24th January 2014, it's just the silly season and holiday period.... businesses re-open in mid-January 2014 and the thought of printing the catalogues with only a week or two before opening night was way too tight, I opted for the stress free approach and printed them this side of the holidays.  And besides, it's another thing ticked off on the list!

Here's a little teaser of the front cover, slick and simple this time round and like my Insight: journeys in steel and clay catalogue is the same format A5 and six pages.  This is my second attempt at designing my own catalogue and learning these new skills with the design program 'Serif Page Plus' has been an invaluable and surprisingly enjoyable experience.

 

I am more than happy to snail mail a catalogue to anyone, anywhere. Just leave your mailing details in the comment box below or email me at info@kimschoenberger.com and I'll post you one upon exhibition opening. 

 

To recap on the exhibition details:

Exhibition dates: Wed 22nd January to Sun 16 February, 2014
Official Opening on Friday 24 January, 2014 at 6pm. Guest Speaker, Janet De Boer O.A.M Editor, ‘Textile Fibre Forum’ Magazine + CEO, The Australian Forum for Textile Arts, Ltd

 

End note: I would like to acknowledge and thank my IT expert Deb, and the team at Nprint & copy for their assistance whilst creating the catalogue - I really appreciate you help!

 

"Minutiae" opens @ Rosebed St Gallery

Rosebed St Gallery's saw it's official exhibition opening last Friday night for Minutiae.  A massive crowd gathered in support of a special little gallery in down town Eudlo.

Minutiae (n, pl the small, precise, or trivial details of something: "the minutiae of everyday life") is a wonderful showcase of 430+ artworks from 43 artists (me included) and is Rosebed's annual end of year takeaway art small's exhibition, which means, artworks can be taken home once purchased (link contained within for details).

Curated by gallery owner Maya Cater-Malins Minutiae is a delightful mix of artworks at affordable prices, if your in the area and would like to support local....

 

A couple of my pieces on show...

 

It's the Little People

Laugh Dream

 

More images of my artworks for Minutiae seen on my website, additional artworks can be viewed on-line in Rosebed St Gallery's facebook page.

Exhibition dates: 04 Dec 2013 to 02 Feb 2014
13 Rosebed St, Eudlo
Wed - Sun 10am-4pm

dyed tea bags a gift from afar...

This week and to my delight I received an array of natural dyed tea bags in the mail from a fellow blogger Trace of Soewn Earth. Trace is a mixed media artist who lives in Western Australia, she uses all natural materials focusing on sustainability and low impact for our environment her work ethic is very inspiring, her works are beautiful, earthy and emulate a calm warm presence.

How super delicious are these!!!  I might sit with these for a little and absorb all the beauty and deliciousness before I use them....(Thanks Te :-)

Tea Bag Tea Party No.3

Today I hosted my third Tea Bag Tea Party at Rosebed St Gallery.  What is a Tea Bag Tea Party (TBTP) you ask?  Well a TBTP is a chance to have a cuppa, switch off from the daily grind and have some fun and conversation amongst a warm gathering of lovely folk and friends, whilst processing tea bags!  All in aid of my tea bag antics, in this case for my upcoming solo exhibition in January 2014... (here's a link to my website with images of works made with tea bags incase you are unfamilar with what I am up to).

I was blown away and humbled by today's turnout, there was a glitch in the times for the event so I was alittle unsure of what the day might bring.  I was super organised this time with my list on hand and rose with the sparrows this morning to pack everything in the car.... my suitcase brimming with tea bags and my spinning wheel, to which I gave a short demo of spinning with tea bags.

 

The gallery was overflowing with helpers, out the back we filled two tressle tables with happy tea bag processors...

 

and another table set-up on the front verandah J

 

Then another small table inside the gallery.  Seriously, it was sooooo much fun!!!!

 

AND, it was so groovy to see the guys joining in too!

 

 

A close up to show you what we were up to, sorting and deteeing.  You can see a small bundle of emptied tea bags ready for use.

 

 

And if all this activity and fun wasn't enough, a super bonus for the day, two very special friends made a surprise visit to join in, from left; Lidwina, me (centre) and Kaye who came all the way from California!!!

 

What an incredible day, I am so overwhelmed by the response.   A fun day was had by all with talk of wanting me to organise another day - so watch this space peeps!  Come 2014 we may very well see more TBTP's coming your way... J

 

QRAA touring exhibition Brissy launch

This coming Saturday (16 Nov.) see's the Brissy launch for 'The Essential Character of Queensland', Flying Arts touring exhibition for the 2012 Queensland Regional Art Awards and also marks the final leg of the 12 month Queensland tour.  

Throughout 2013, the selected works travelled far and wide to galleries in Roma, Gladstone, Mundubbera, Texas, Chinchilla, and now the tour concludes in the Brisbane exhibition at The State Library of Queensland.

Exhibition festivities kicks off on Saturday (16 Nov) from 1pm with a public forum and a floor talk, then at 3.30pm the exhibition will be officially opened by Chris Saines, Director QAGOMA. With the previous venues being way to far to travel, I am really looking forward in seeing the exhibition.

Exhibition dates: Sat 16 Nov to Sunday 15th December, 2013.

Here's a link to the gallery for more details and gallery hours.

Road Trip, 2012 Printed photographs on acrylic skin adhered to a perspex cube.

I took these four photos when I was about 8 or 9 (amongst 100 others!) on one of our many road trips up north, being a city slicker I was totally marvelled by the country, spanse of the land, the cane fields, the number of bugs hitting the windscreen attracted by the car headlights at night, the air was fresher, crisp and smelt different, the country was a totally different world coming from the city....fond memories etched deep in my psyche of family, fun and a simpler way of life.

To give you a little insight into the photos, the foreground, a man sees me taking the photo and waves as he drives past on his tractor, taken from our car window whilst in motion. Only years later did I notice, there are only two tyres on his tractor, classic! The photograph on the right, cane fields being harvested. The photograph at the back, cane fields littered the landscape and seemed to stretch for miles and miles, and on the left is a giant Fig tree, totally amazed at its scale, I asked to stop so I could take a photograph and saw a landmark noting the biggest Fig Tree in Qld, if only I had thought to photograph the plaque!

Artist Statement:

"In the eyes of a child you will see the world as it should be" - Unknown

This cube encapsulates the essential character of Queensland as seen through the eyes of the artist as a child on a holiday trip to Sarina, North Queensland in 1975.  The Field, the Harvesting and Transporting the Cane along with the towering fig tree.  Hovering in the heart of this cube is a piece of sugar, the defining moment of being a Queenslander in a simpler age where "one of the biggest trees in Queensland" was something to be marvelled at.

Latched with Love

As well as knitting and crocheting works for Expressions of Love II, I have given Latch Hooking a go.   Remebering the rug I made as a child I was quiet excited about the prospect of latch hooking with the tea bags.  Initially, the plan was quiet simple...well, so I thought!  The plan was, to latch hook three different brands of tea bags into a triptych, using one brand for each square. I purchased mesh, three 43cm x 43cm squares and then after counting all the holes to work out how many tea bags it would take to complete the project it hit me. I realised what I had done to myself, I was about to latch hook my way through 4032 holes for each square, totalling 1008 tea bags in each. However it was way to late, my mind was set and I was already committed - looking back on it now though and seeing the end results I am really glad I persevered.

Seeing the completed triptych layed out I was intrigued by the colour variation with each brand of tea, it actually inspired me to explore further.  Once again the initial plan was meant to be simple... create six small latch hook squares of different colours (brands) using 100 tea bags in each. Six soon became thirty six, six of each brand (seen in last image below).

Each piece is entitled, Latched with Love.

Detail, latch hook triptych.

 

 

Exploring different brands and varieties of tea, the berry flavoured teas yielded deliciously pink coloured tea bags.   For latch hooking, each used tea bag was emptied and cut into four strips.

 My signature image for the exhibition, and a detail.

 

 

Last weeks photoshoot, the layout for the 36 piece latch hook.

 

Design No.122...

Continuing on with tradition, and after the success with knitting the recycled tea bags I have tried my hand at crocheting with them. 

I was gifted an old vintage knitting / crochet pattern book (thanks Bruce :-) and decided to crochet up 'Design No.122 Girls Crochet Bag', using a size 6 crochet hook creating the shell pattern.  In some parts I have needed to take a little artistic licence in areas due to the nature of the material, for working with the tea bags is certainly different to working with yarn, there is not alot of give, actually there is none and I am a notorious tight tension crocheter which is very obvious upon looking at the detailed image.

I have finished the bag with tea bag internal lining and is adorned with Southern Ice porcelain handles.  Even though I am presented with many challenges to overcome in each project I am loving the end results.