I’ve starting making trial signatures for a swap I’m involved in. We each make 11 sets of signatures, and send off by the 20th Sept, and signatures back from a variety of amazing artists. You can see more about it here.
I have been playing with some quite heavy watercolour paper, and have decided it is a bit *too* heavy. The other day I ordered some lovely paper from Gordon Harris, and I’m going to have a play with those tomorrow. I’ve got some mixed media paper, rice paper, watercolour paper and one other – escapes me for the moment just what it was. So far I have stuck with black, white and red, and have been using foam stamps, old credit cards, a spray bottle, stencils and marker pens. The mark making is too dark for the look I want; tomorrow’s lot will be a bit less obvious. Here’s what I have been doing so far:
Yesterday I spent the day at the rest home with my Aunt. They thought she had a chest infection and I had some very hard decisions to make. Turns out she had aspirated some of her Nutrisip, so crisis averted for now, although the aspirated drink may yet cause pneumonia. The Doctor and I have agreed that we will not treat her if she does develop a chest infection or pneumonia. It’s a hard decision to make fr another human being. But Aunty Julia has late stage Dementia and no quality of life. I was dithering a bit and he asked me “if we save her, what does she have to look forward to?”. Nothing – she can’t move on her own, doesn’t talk etc. So I sat with her, giving her sips of drink, reading my book and talking idly to her. What else can you do. Life can be messy and hard, but with love and patience, there’s a way forward.
And so it is with my art. My desk is a shambles but it is not really as chaotic as it looks. I am working on my journal, trying out some ideas for an exhibition in May, and filing odd bits and pieces I want to use at a later date (into gorgeous new brightly coloured paper folders I bought the other day). All of a sudden the desk will clear and order will be restored. I need to spend some creative time out today. Yesterday was hard, I called a family member who lives 4 hours away and they have come up for 36 hours for what is probably a last visit. I will leave her care with them today and take over the reigns again tomorrow. Today belongs to me…
Working on the filing system
Aunt J looking very alert Christmas day – it's fair to say this is the not person we're dealing with now.
Recently I purchased a few arty magazines from Stampington & Co, because it is cheaper to buy direct from the USA than to buy them here in New Zealand; that’s if I can even find the titles I want. So, I’ve been enjoying the Winter 2011 edition of Art Journaling by Somerset Studios. Yesterday I popped across to Ro Bruhn’s blog and, what do you know, she was blogging about sketchbooks. As I said on Facebook, I had an instant case of sketchbook envy. Then I got to thinking; what is it about Ro’s sketchbooks, amongst others, that make me envious and wanting to do more? I use my sketchbooks, so what’s the issue here?
I spent some time looking at my journals, some online ones, and the pages in Art Journaling and started to see the differences. Often the ones I love use pages that have been prepared ahead of time – smothering them in gesso and acrylic washes ready to work in. Many that I like have stitching and ink splatters, or just lots of layers of work. Yet when I look at mine I tend to want to get the ideas down, visually thinking out an idea, and then move on. It was an “AHA! moment.
I hauled out a 13x21cm sketchbook with a nice weight of paper, and went through it covering all the pages with gesso. When that was dry I went back and edged all the pages in various ways – something else I had realised I love the look of. After that had dried, I started creating some pages, working back and forth, adding paint and collage and ink and my own handwriting. No plan – just working intuitively and, more importantly, keeping working on the pages. And you know what? I now have 3 pages in my new journal that I’m really happy with. They say something to me, say something from me, and are testament to my new working process.
For the record, the page I have scanned is about the recent disasters and how I am overloaded by all the tragedies and taking myself off the news circuit for a few days. A huge step for someone who is normally a news junkie…
A few posts back, here, I showed you a test piece I had done – thinking about ways of presenting information and photos from our Italy trip ready for an exhibition in Wellington in May. In that piece I used a couple of MM foam stamps. I am happy enough with the result but would really like to be using something more personal, something uniquely my own. When I was studying with the Learning Connexion I did some lino cuts and a lot of monoprints. Here’s a couple of examples:
I decided the answer was to take an image from our trip and cut a stencil or make a stamp and use that in the new artworks. The image needed to be something iconic enough that people here in New Zealand would still recognize it even after I had simplified it right down. I had a play with statues, the domes on top of churches, the bridge over the Tiber and the Colosseum. The Colosseum won easily, it is just *such* a recognizable structure. I scanned one of my photos into Photoshop and reduced the level of detail, then turned it to a negative so I could cut out the right parts. I transferred the image onto my lino and got cutting. My first attempt I really liked, but I had forgotten to flip the image and so in terms of my memories of the Colosseum, the building is running the wrong way. Okay. I flipped the image and started again. The end result is quite a different linocut to the first, because that’s the way I work, but I like it. It has energy and it’s mine, not someone else’s idea of the Colosseum.
I wanted to do some more linocuts but had run out of lino, hadn’t had time to get some more, and it’s quite expensive. Today I was watching ‘Acrylic materials and techniques for expressive art with Merle Rosen’ from North Light DVDs. It’s a great dvd by the way, fun to watch and Merle has an exciting art practice. Anyway, part way through I had a total “Aha!” moment. Merle uses old styrofoam packaging to make stamps; it’s cheap (free) and easy to make marks in with scissors, metal tools, old pens etc. How cool is that?
We tend to buy most of our meat from the local butcher. Grant’s old-fashioned, in the best sense of the word, and wraps the meat in brown paper. So no styrofoam meat packaging in our household, but we can always buy some muffins — just for my art practice you understand. In the meantime, here are my first attempts at the Colosseum – these are the linocuts themselves, not the printed images. The images are not perfect and I don’t want them to be; they’ll be used in the background of mixed media works I’m creating over the next month or two.
This year I have been watching a few blogs regularly, but have cut down the amount of time spent online overall. I found I was reading and watching, but not doing. It seemed a bit pointless being inspired if I never found the time to do anything with it. The blogs I *have* been following have been a huge source of joy to me. I thank each one of these amazing artists for sharing their art, processes and artistic self so willingly with others. Here are my main blog fixes:
Martha Marshall – I have been following Martha for years now. Martha is incredibly generous in sharing her art processes, and insights into her garden and kitchen. One of the things I find so inspiring about Martha is her sound work ethic and the joy she feels in the process of creation. I own 6 small works by Martha and hope to add more as I can afford to invest in more artworks.
Tanya Dann – I met Tanya through the NZ Art Guild and appreciate the way in which she juggles her time and commitments to make time for art, and a role in the running of the Guild. We have two of Tanya’s striped works on our walls, and love them. One was created especially for me, and has the most amazing oranges and purples.
Sophia Elise – again, I met Sophia through the NZ Art Guild, which she is manager of. One of the reasons I follow Sophia is the sheer generosity and kindness with which she treats other artists; she has a spirit worth knowing. Tony and I are the proud owners of a work by Sophia, which isn’t quite in our hands as yet…
Michelle Ward – I have been following Michelle for a number of years, having first seen her work in a Somerset magazine. I follow her because she is very inspirational, freely sharing her techniques with her followers, and challenging people to push themselves artistically. I don’t own any artworks by Michelle, but I do own some of her rubber, and I try to participate in her online challenges most months at the GPP STreet Team site.
Tina Mammoser – Again, Tina is someone whose blog I have been following for years. And yes, I own a small work by Tina and love it. I always enjoy reading about Tina’s process and admire her work ethic as a self-supporting artist. The other thing I like with Tina is that she seems to have this clear vision of what she creates and why, and that appeals to me.
Rebecca Crowell – this is a blog I’ve been reading for about two years. Rebecca has a restrained palette and creates works with this amazing sense of depth and texture. I wish I could see one in real life. I love reading about her process, and the way in which she works through any obstacles in the process of creation. The final results have a real sense of age about them.
Babs Wilson – yes, it’s a blog I have been reading for a long time too! Babs creates fabulous works but, more than that, she feels real joy in the process and shares that joy with exuberance. I love reading about her adventures in creating and her playful artistic spirit. I own a small piece by Babs which I treasure.
When I look back at this short list a couple of points stand out for me; I love it when other artists talk about their process and I am consistent in what I like and why I follow. If I enjoy a blog and develop a relationship with the artist (comment by comment by comment) I am more likely to end up owning a piece of their work. What does this mean for me? In all likelihood, I should describe my process, because people like me care about the process of creation. And building relationships with people is what it’s all about in the end, whatever the setting – gallery, blog, weekend sales table, website…
Cath Sheard Art 
