Alan’s comments

My son Alan posted this response to my blog about life after the Suburban Goddess exhibition:
Alan said:
''I can't help thinking back over the various phases of your artwork as I read through your blog mum. The "Frogs on Lillypads" that hung on our bathroom wall for so many years, "The Battle of the Oranges" (I'm still upset at you for selling that one!), your early installations including the reinterpretation of "the birth of venus", the amazing journey of Dante, the Martyr's wall which evoked such amazingly personal responses, the engaging walk-under kaleidoscopes, your Escher-esque patterns and now into your digital works... a celebration of persistence is very true, but also an amazing evolution! You should be very proud! It has been a wonderful journey... and so much more to go! Love, Alan."

I think I told you all earlier in my blog about the wonderful support I have always had from my family,...and there it is! What can I say?  I am truly blessed.   Thankyou Alan. I love you so!
I'm attaching one of my new Venuses for you to see- a sneak preview of my latest work. 
By the way, you are a terrific writer. 
Alan has been awarded a scholarship to study Aviation Medicine in London next year.  We are so proud of Alan for this achievement and for the many long months he dedicated to caring for the sick and wounded troops and civilians in Afghanistan recently.
C  xx

Life after the SG show

I can’t help thinking about what I am going to do after the Suburban Goddess show is over.   It’s so close now. I have so many ideas…but they are mainly  in the digital arena.

I’m not feeling nervous about the exhibition…I am excited though. This event has been so long in the making and I have had to face so many difficulties over that time.  This show will be a celebration of persistence if nothing else.

It is really my art practice that has sustained me through the darkest times…and of course my dear friends and family.

Trevor Spohr  emailed the other day regarding the problem we have of positioning the digital projector for the exhibition.

He said he may be able to attach the projector to  one of the  large beams that cross the  gallery high in the roof.  Then we may be able to project the DP onto the back wall behind the Goddesses.

That would be brilliant!!

My guest speaker for the opening has unfortunately had to cancel due to commitments to her new job.  Understandable, but disappointing too.  I have been trying to think of alternatives, but  I may speak at the opening myself.

I will go down to the studio today to check on the goddesses and to polish a few halos!

Other job for today…mow the lawn!

C  xx

Photo books.

I have been working on my photo book design. The books will be 8’ x 8’, soft cover and 20 pages long.
I have selected a variety of the better images and the book design is looking quite good.
On the back cover, I will have contact  details. Web, blog, email etc.
Big W have a special deal  at the moment…two books for the price of one.  Fantastic! I may be able to sell them for $12 -  $15. They could make a small profit.
I’m not sure if you have seen any of my ‘Fairies?’ – I have attached one below.  I couldn’t resist making them, but they are not to be taken too seriously!!


Susan is coming up from Cordalba and staying overnight with me.  We are dining out tonight, which will be a treat.
Art is our favourite subject (as well as shares!) so there will be some interesting conversation.
There is not long now before Susan and Catherine Mc Cue have their joint exhibition. It will be straight after mine, and in the Gatakers sculpture room.
I hear on the grapevine that Catherine is back from her tour of Europe. I can’t wait to hear her stories.
I treated myself to a small laptop yesterday. It was such a good price. It is therefore not overly sophisticated, but it runs my Digital Projection perfectly and has quite a lot of storage space. I am even able to develop a Home Network as both of my computers have Windows 7.
This will mean that I won’t get caught out again, with discs not working properly when I am  doing my own  ‘networking’.
Trevor Spohr rang from Gatakers to go over a few details. He managed to get the Digital Projection working, but with space being an issue due to the large number of ‘Suburban Goddesses’, we may have to use a monitor to show it.
I am loving reading Kate Llewellyn’s ‘Water Lily.’ (A  Blue Mountains Journal.’)  It is so rich in it’s interesting descriptions. Thanks again Kathy Donnelly for such a beautiful gift.
Kathy  loves the  opening sentence. Kate writes…  ‘When I came to live in the mountains, I was determined to be happy.’
I wonder if it turned out that way. I will soon find out.
I so admire Kate’s  evocative words. Here are a couple of examples:
In Kate’s Journal she writes….Sunday, 29 September:
‘I have just walked outside. The moon is full. It is sailing across the sky above a pine like a huge white  coach pulled by invisible horses. There's the aura of a rainbow round it like a promise.’
A few pages later Kate writes… ‘And now to bed, while outside a sky stained with pink like a blouse with a lipstick smudge and the sea pounding strong and regular as your mother’s heart before you entered this world.’
I will always think of my own mother when I hear the sea in future.
Beautiful words.
c  x

Update

I found I did have some colour photos of  Kathy’s Scar Tree, so I have updated the ‘Lunch at Kathy’s’ posting.   I also included some photos of Kathy at work.

Cards

I have spent the last day or so pricing  promotional products that might be suitable for the upcoming exhibition.
I have discounted  having T Shirts  printed up as they are just a bit too expensive.
I thought for a start that I could get some art cards printed. They would be an inexpensive memento of the exhibition and the cards will have my website advertised on the back cover.
I had 250gsm A4 card  printed with  images from my Digital Projection.  I’m quite pleased with them. (Picture attached below.)  I will just have to spend some time scoring the cards so they can be easily folded. That will be a tedious jog.
On Monday, will  look around for envelopes to  suit the cards.
C   x

Carol Seeger

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Carol Seeger sent through some images I had asked her for. 
When we had lunch at Woodgate recently she showed me these beautiful prints that she had made after our last big print workshop.
I had given her some small scraps from my  plastic tablecloths and she has made some truly sublime works from them.
Less is more as they say.
Thanks Carol. See you soon    c  xx

Lunch at Kathy’s

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I went to see Kathy at  Avondale today (30 minutes North of Bundaberg).
She has a gorgeous ‘pole house’, I think you call it. The house is surrounded by seven acres of bushland. It is a glorious and peaceful place.
The house is full of beautiful furniture and treasures old and new, from a lifetime of enthusiastic gathering.
You can sense that this is a home  that has encompassed a warm and loving family.
The walls  are embellished with paintings by friends, relatives and Kathy herself  - a talented girl  who has an enthusiasm for her art practice that is quite captivating.
Kathy studied  Ceramics and Textiles at college . She has also dedicated herself to many years of painting and drawing .
More recently Kathy has been collecting flotsam and jetsam and old weathered objects. Many of her treasured objects are incorporated into artworks that evoke the landscape.
Some of her artworks convey a deep respect for those people closely connected to the land.
You may remember Kathy from an earlier posting about the ‘Scar  Tree’ Art Project she completed some months back. She also is quite active with her responses to my postings and you can read her interesting comments here and there throughout this Blog.
The  house overlooks a river. You can admire the river from the upstairs balcony, while you are sipping your wine and enjoying Kathy’s company.
Beautiful black swans, ducks and other river dwellers go about their business as we go about ours…..our art business.

Kathy and I visited her  Scar Tree and I took some photos for you to see. The tree with it’s comforting shroud made with Kathy’s tender regard,  is a moving sight.

Later Kathy and I watched a series of slides from the Pilbara art expedition she had been on. It had been a fantastic and intense journey for her. 
Kathy produced a lot of exciting paintings and drawings in the Pilbara. My favourite work that she created there was her altarpiece assemblage titled  ‘In her memory’.
‘It was both a prayer and a meditation on the women who live and work on the Pilbara stations, and of course on my mother’ said Kathy.

I think you will agree that this work is very special.
Till soon.  C  xx

Catching up

Arriving back in Brisbane on Friday, I had an appointment to meet with Kevin from Artworkers.
I caught the Air Train from the airport in to Roma Street in the city. From there it was  a short ( and incredibly fast)  bus trip to Paddington.
The Artworkers building is  a strange  big cubic construction with two huge timber doors that look as if they have come from the entry of an old castle.
They were opened welcomingly wide and I could see that there was an exhibition of colourful drawings inside.
A very nice gallery volunteer named Paul advised me that the strange building had once served a purpose in the production of trams.
The menacing looking huge block and tackle device hanging from the ceiling had been useful  in that undertaking explained Paul.  So one’s fears of it being some cruel type of device  for your imminent torture were therefore relieved. Maybe they had other ways to torture you here!
I had wanted to discuss strategies for developing and broadening my audience in Brisbane. Three or four years of dealing with a series of health issues and a great personal loss, had made any kind of networking for the art practice at that time, seem discordant. In fact - it was impossible.  
Kevin gave me quite a lot of useful information and some advice on groups and people to contact. He explained to me that these were difficult times for artists and gallery owners and  the only course was to push on and keep working. 
We had unfortunate incompatibility problems with my Digital Projection discs.  They having been produced on an IBM PC didn’t agree with Artworkers Apple MACS. So we had to fall back on images I had previously sent to Artworkers for my folio there.
This was quite disappointing and I will have to check that the discs can be  read satisfactorily on either type of PC, in the future.

Today I prepared a few files from the DP to email to Kevin.
Tomorrow  I will check that my DP’s are functioning well on Apple or IBM, and I might look in on the Goddesses.
I have attached an image of Kim. She is a quite versatile mannequin, but she has a tendency to look rather menacing at times.
Till soon…c

Away from home

Hi,

I have been in Newcastle catching up on family. That is why you haven't heard from me for a while. I return to Brisbane tomorrow.

I have an afternoon appointment with Artworkers, so that should be interesting.

I will spend the night in Brisbane and be home in Bundaberg Saturday night. So Sunday in the gallery will be on!

While I've been away, I have spent some more time sorting out my Digital Projections. They will be good to have on hand at Artworkers.

Not long to go before my exhibition opening now....it's getting exciting!

Talk soon ........C xx

Sorting things out

I spent all day yesterday on the computer sorting out my digital files, which I had been saving all over the place.
I have enough trouble with Windows 7 libraries jumbling up my images without adding to the confusion myself.
So they are more neatly stored now. Small file copies have been made and collected together.  Medium size copies have been made for use in the Digital Projections. The very large files have been copied to the external hard drive.
I called Artworkers last Friday and asked if I could have a consultation regarding my works. I don’t expect to hear back till next week as Artworkers have a booth at the Melbourne Art Fair.
I’m getting my list of things to do before the exhibition at Gatakers. I will select a few  digital images that I might get Catherine to print up for me when she returns from Europe.
Hope you are having a good weekend.
C  xx

Hi Kathy D

Lovely to hear you are having such an interesting trip. I can't wait to find out what you have been up to, and see your work. Thanks for your wonderful words of encouragement. I love your energy and enthusiasm!

The show opens September 10 at 6pm. Hope to see you there. c xx

( You can read Kathy's ever interesting comments under some of the postings. How about a comment from you every now and then...hmm? Don't be shy! ....c xx)

Artists statement.

I sent Trevor a cv and an artists statement. I was guessing he would come looking for them soon:

CHRISTINE TURNER - ARTISTS STATEMENT

SUBURBAN GODDESS

It has been said that the big question for a person in their middle years is a spiritual one. In my quest to find gods and goddesses, I have only come across one and that is Mother. My own, living Mother.

She is my 'Suburban Goddess'…a goddess that reigned in the fifties and sixties- presiding within a ‘Traditional’ family model that actualised what has been called by some a 'Golden Age' and by others an 'abberation'.This was a paradigm that could not sustain itself, but one that still causes today a degree of uncertainty and sense of loss in current familial relationships. The family of today takes many forms and consequently the role of Mother changes to meet contemporary needs.

I incorporate and assemble the chattels of the ‘Suburban Goddess’. These are the objects society is currently discarding, and with them go aspects of her values and standards.

As well as paying tribute to my own Mother, these works open up a dialogue relating to the ever-changing role of women in society.

My sculptures often take the form of the ‘Totem Pole’. It has been said that a totem pole is like a poem - Many things are said with only a few words. A stacking of biscuit tins or other domestic objects can be an artwork in its own right and can also preserve social and cultural histories for generations to come.

A biscuit tin can be a reliquary for memories.

Print day at BRAG

Wednesday

I was so happy to hear that my parcel arrived at Hervey Bay Regional Gallery this morning .

Allison Bateman kindly emailed me, thereby relieving a lot of stress!! The flyers were included with the gallery’s own mailout, which is wonderfully generous of all concerned down there.

I had a call from Trevor Spohr from Gatakers Artspace yesterday. Amongst other things we talked about marketing products. We discussed our separate experiences looking into the T-shirt idea.

I will have to look a little deeper.

Trevor was interested to see the small Madonnas I had made a few months ago as novelties for the Hyatt Art market. They may be the kind of thing Gatakers Artspace might like to have in their merchandising cabinets.

We shall see.

I spent most of the day making a more formal slide show of my Broken Woman series. It has come together quite quickly with the new software. My friend Susan Hutton, has been experimenting with the software too, so we will have to share notes.

I had a quick look at my website and found a few pages were reported as ‘not found’, so I reloaded them and made a mental note to check on the site again soon. I like to change the homepage picture every so often and update the news section as well.

At lunchtime I went to BRAG (Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery) to see Susan Hutton. She had come into town to use the galleries printing press. I didn’t stay long, not wanting to interrupt her work too much, and I had plenty to do at home. I will ask her to send us some photos of the prints she made. We both Had chat with BRAG Manager Andrew Gill regarding having exhibitions in the Vault-a fantastic small artspace at BRAG, that was once a bank safe. The space really lends itself to small contemporary installations. He was sure he would be able to find us a space each. Great!

This evening I wanted to relax and make some digital images in the latest series I am developing.

I have attached a little character that I will use in one of the new works.

Tomorrow I will write a checklist of things that will have to be attended to . But…happily, I think I am getting there at last.

Till soon…..C

Flyer

Here it is. It has taken me a whole day and evening too, but I think it will be OK. I have sent it to Trevor to check details.

I had an email from the Australia Council confirming which logos to use. So all being well I can get the flyers printed and dispatched to Allison at Hervey Bay....in record time.

See you this av!

Digital projector

The days are getting busier. I seem always to have a deadline of some kind. I am so pleased that the sculptures are all but ready to go and I can concentrate on all the myriad of issues related to the presentation of the work.

I have started a Powerpoint Digital Projection. It will be more formal than the one I have just finished.

I had a call from Trevor Spohr (Arts and Cultural Development Officer) at Gatakers Artspace. He delivered very welcome good news – Gatakers Artspace has a new digital projector ! Fantastic! I had priced one to use for the DP and found it too costly. This is great news for me, and for the many artists that will use the projector in the future.

I have asked Trevor to send me details of the brand of projector so that I can get some information off the web about it. I’m wondering if it will play a disc or if it will need to connect to a computer or laptop.

As well as that good news – more brilliant news. Allison from Hervey Bay Regional Gallery has offered to include my exhibition flyer in her mailout of 600 invitations. That is wonderful!!

But, I said…..‘my exhibition flyer’. Actually I haven’t made one yet!!! So I better get cracking!

Allison needs it by Friday, but I am aiming at Thursday.

I have contacted the Australia Council to see what logos I may need to include on the flyer as they had sponsored the original creation of the Suburban Goddesses.

The flyer will probably be the size of a DL business envelope.

I will have to chase up printers today. I’m not sure that the local printers will be able to get this done on such short notice.

I better get going! Talk soon. c

PS: Rita loves her new nose!

Rita's new nose

I thought you might like to see a picture of Rita with her new nose. (Posted especially for Kathy who has been away on a fabulous Pilbara painting safari.) You can read Kathy's interesting comments under the posting called Kimberley and Rita.

I can't wait to see the work you have produced in the Pilbara Kathy. Looking forward to having you home soon. You have been missed!! xx