Birthday

I spent another lovely day at Coonar Beach celebrating my birthday with friends.  The day inspired me to look back to  the last time I had visited.  Check out this link for the post I called 'Capturing Coonar'.

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7177501782029618908#editor/target=post;postID=6265983663191208338;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=3;src=link

Australia

Below is a short blog I posted for my New Mexican friends. I thought you might like to see my latest digital artwork.

Australia is a constitutional monarchy.  Our figurehead is the British Queen, Elizabeth 2.  Many of our countrymen and women would like to see Australia become a Republic. Others enjoy the 'pomp and ceremony' and history that we share with the 'Motherland', as people once called Britain. This, my most recent work, is titled 'Flora's Crown'.

A busy week ahead

Clinton's exhibition was well attended with quite a few sales on the night and even more in the following days. 

Music was provided by Mitchell Browne, a multi-talented, musician, singer, dancer, actor, now studying Psychology on the Gold coast. Mitchell was accompanied by Bryant Barnett.  They played an impressive range of instruments from electric guitars to saxophone and cello.

Mitchell had us completely enchanted with his rendition, in French, of an Edith Piaf classic.

Sam McKenna, another of the Linen's faithful young fans was also in town, and came by to visit us, as did Joe Saxby.  Joe is another very talented young singer/songwriter.

It is quite remarkable, the amount of talent Bundaberg is turning out, and it's hard to  see our young friends leave for the cities for their studies.  But they  come back and visit us at the Linen,  and that is wonderful.

Tomorrow I have a photoshoot with Sam.  A good opportunity to catch up on her news.   Talk soon!

Mitchell Browne

 

 

 

 

 

Mitchell and Sam catch up with their favourite (ex) teacher

Petrina McDonald.

 

James

Attached are some photographs I took of my friend composer, singer, musician - James.

Clinton Cross - Works on Paper 3

Clinton Cross is setting up an exhibition  in my Dirty Linen Artspace.  'Works on Paper 3', will feature several established artists from interstate.        The exhibition opens at 5.30pm this Friday the 13th Dec.   Free nibbles and drinks.

Welcoming artists Angela Brennan ( Roslyn Oxley and Niagara gallery ), Bianca Beetson. ( QUT lecturer of indigenous studies and artist ), Louise Tuckwell ( Damien Minton gallery - Sydney ), Rebecca Pearson ( gallery 9 Sydney ), Shane Drinkwater ( Rex Livingston Art dealer Sydney ), Selwyn Rodda ( Damien Minton gallery Sydney.)


There will be a Christmas party after the opening.  Please bring a plate.  Should be lots of fun.  See you there!   cx  

 Attached are works on paper by Louise Tuckwell. 

Chilling out!

At last it's time to chill out a little.  All my major projects are finished for the year, so I can relax a bit before Xmas.

I wanted to tell you more about my time at The Edge. 

I am so grateful to Flying Arts and The Edge for sponsoring the Digital Art Award  at the recent Qld Regional Art Awards.  My prize was a  fully funded two week residency at The Edge. 

The Edge is part of the State Library of Qld, and it  allows the opportunity to experiment across the arts, technology, science  and enterprise.

You can reserve a bay window (overlooking the cityscape and Brisbane River) for solo or group work.  Book a mac to use specialist creative software and record, edit and mix music in Lab 3.

There are free beginners workshops in the basics of design, film animation, music recording and  more.   You can pay for one on-one tutoring by appointment also.

You can meet up with collaborators and a creative community. A range of meet-ups take place in the space for face-to-face networking or you can join them on Facebook and Twitter.

edgeqld.org.au

Daniel Flood and his staff do a great job and are very friendly and supportive.

During my stay I had tutoring to improve my key framing skills, and I  attended two workshops relating to Video  mapping.  I also made myself familiar with some of the best software on the market today.  I'm not yet up to learning  that software, but I will get there some day with the help of the folk of The Edge.

Since my return home, I have been trawling the net for more video mapping  information.

Attached is a video of a very basic mapping I have made with simple software on my iPad!!.    What next!!!???   This video looks to the rear of my studio, with 4 plinths close to the front.    

 cx

Projections of the Past

What a great night!  the event attracted about 300 people and received much favourable comment.  The threatening rain did not arrive.
Thanks to Brad And Steve for your support and assistance,  and Greg as well.

The 'Projections of the Past' project was initiated by the Bundaberg City Council.  I was engaged to develop the project. It was part of the celebrations of Bundaberg  becoming a city one hundred years ago.  The event was held in the Bundaberg CBD at Buss Park.

On the evening I had both the historical video and a second video playing in different areas of the park.  The Boardgames video I produced a couple of months back.

I'm so happy that things went well and I had some wonderful comments from so many folk.

Dinner out with friends topped off a brilliant day.   cx

Above:  My good friend Brad(Right) and new friend Steve.  They helped me so much.  Below is a still looking at the historical projection on the brick wall. Also below is a very short video that captured images of both projections.

 

 

Bundaberg Centenary celebrations

Saturday night will be a momentous occasion for me, as I will be presenting  Projections of the Past: a selection of historical photographs from the Library  archives.

These images will be projected onto the side of the Civic Centre, which coincidentally was the site for the first projection Brad and I did two or three years ago.

I have been having problems again with the video hanging soon after it starts... and I get a black screen. .  I think it's because my Apple, and Adobe Photoshop gear doesn't want to mix with Windows Movie Maker.  However, I seem to have converted the file to a Quicktime movie and things are going along nicely at present.

It would be more sensible for me to stick with one editing program, but each of the three programs I use have their own unique features.  I use Windows Movie Maker for very simple videos, Adobe Premiere and Movie Plus6 .  Of the three I find MoviePlus 6 the most user-friendly, and it has more features.

Tomorrow I just have to join a few film clips together and I will be ready for  the showing.

I am hiring a larger projector for this occasion. 5500lumens will be better than the 3500 lumens of my projector.

I'm happy that Brad is on deck for this presentation.  He is very resourceful and will be an asset, should there be any dramas....and of course he is funny, and  a good friend.

There is the possibility of rain on Saturday evening, in which case, we will move into the Civic Centre.  The show must go on!!! I hope you can be there.  cx

Attached is a picture  of one of Bundaberg's beautiful old buildings, that has been converted to a backpackers facility.

Beautiful Brisbane

Even more news from The Edge

My week has been filled with long walks to The Edge…down by the river, where the 'Biomechanical Pelicans' live. Long spiky lizards abound there in the scrub, watching your every move…still as statues unless you come too close. Kids call them 'Frillys', though there is nothing Frilly about them. They should be called 'Spikys'.  I like lizards. As I child I used to keep Blue Tongued lizards.  I was a strange child.

The river is full of charming River Hoppers… small  ferries that you  can hop on and off at various docks along the Brisbane River.  The big City Cats (catamarans) glide silent and serene across the glistening water against the big city backdrop and rugged cliff faces.   I feel the temptation to paint those cliff faces, but immediately dismiss that idea as ridiculous…I am no longer  a painter.

River noises are muted by the never ending drone of traffic.  It spoils the ambience of this otherwise  picturesque scene.  There is the constant sound of heavy breathing of the ubiquitous joggers  as they pound the  riverside pavements in droves, intermixed with the ardent lycra clad streamlined helmeted bike riders, who all appear to be training for the Tour de France.  One must be as alert as a lizard on and around the bikeways or one is likely to get skittled!!

Seriously though, the Southbank walk and bikeways are a great asset and allow for interesting outings…and I love Brisbane.

Days at The Edge can swing between great and frustrating.  Great when I have learnt something new.  Frustrating when I realise how much I don't know.  I will persevere.    c x

 

Amon Tobin

  

Check out that link to see a most amazing projection extravaganza!    cx   Thanks to Dan Cook for showing this video last week.

More news from The Edge

Tuesday was a treat for me. The morning, I spent sampling some of the many software programs available for people to use.  Top of the range versions…..so intimidating!  Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Final Cut Pro, After Effects and so on.   The computer screens are completely covered in icons.
It made my day when I was able to rotate an object across the screen in Adobe After Effects!!!

In the evening, I was able to attend a wonderful lecture by Dan Cook, who has created projections for the Opera House,  Vivid and many other amazing projects.

Dan showed us some videos of the outstanding projects that people around the world have done.  So inspiring!


Dan told us the history to date of projections and also provided some very useful practical advice too.
This lecture is to be followed up by a couple of workshops, where we will be building prototype laser projectors, for mapping small objects.

I can see where my art practice is heading!

On the occasional evening that I am home early in the evening,  this is the view of Brisbane that I am fortunate to enjoy from my son's apartment by the river.  

Sometimes I think I am dreaming!!!


Till soon,      Cx

The Edge

Sunday morning arrived and I had the short flight to Brisbane.  I was curious to  see from high up in the air,  if the rivers were still muddy brown,  churned up as they had been by recent flooding.  The land is very forgiving it seems, because all appeared  to be in order.....for now.

Silver spangled rivers gently meandered towards a sparkling sea on a glorious Queensland morning. 'Beautiful one day-perfect the next.' as the saying goes.

On Monday, my first meeting was with the the Edge's boss, Daniel Flood, after 12, so I had arranged to meet the very talented photographer, Keith Carey in the morning.  We had a very nice time sipping our coffees on the river bank, and chatting about the possibilities of Keith  exhibiting at Dirty Linen some time in the future.

(That upside down elephant sculpture is growing on me.)

In the afternoon, Daniel gave me the grand tour of The Edge's brilliant facilities, which include everything a technology geek like myself could possibly dream of, from a huge room full of massive Apple computers, to sound studios, to auditoriums and so much more.  All accessible to  the public at very little , or no cost.   Their goal, simply stated, is to promote new technologies and also to support scientific endeavour..

Daniel and I discussed  what was possible for The Edge to provide for me in the way of tuition.  the outcome of that meeting was very positive, and I will come away a great deal more skilled than I have been in the past.  This is a wonderful opportunity for me, thanks to 'The Edge', and the Flying Arts organisation.

I am keen to catch up with Flying Arts Jenny Jones and co soon.

More news tomorrow.       cx

Off to Brizvegas!!

I will be on an early flight to Brisbane tomorrow, to start my residency at The Edge on Monday.  It is going to be an exciting fortnight.

I have spent the day on the computer as always.   I am trying to  finalise  my video for the Bundaberg Centenary celebrations   which will occur a few days after my return from Brisbane.....cutting it fine!

The video is coming along quite nicely.  I have had to access the library archives for this project.  Much of the historical material has been damaged even before it has been recorded, which is a shame.

Anyway, I will have to make do. I will let you know how things go in Brisbane.


Talk art soon.  cx

Re post

http://christineaturner.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/honours-for-alan.html

I am just re posting this blog link, as my son Alan is in Afghanistan again, doing a wonderful job!    This was a post about his achievements in 2011.  We can't wait to have him safely home.  He made a brief appearance on a recent episode of  Foreign Correspondent.

Latest digital works

A beautiful friend posed for me a couple of days ago.  Attached is one of the striking images that came out of that photoshoot.

Wide Bay - High Desert Project

The Wide Bay - High Desert exhibition is currently on display at the Childers Art Gallery (ChArts). Four artists from Las Cruces, New Mexico and four artists from the Wide Bay region have come together to create a fabulous exchange exhibition.

Each artist produced four works, two of which have been retained in the home gallery, and two sent to the distant gallery.

On Saturday October 12th we will celebrate the opening of the two exhibitions, simultaneously.  There will be a Skype linkup if all goes well.  A blog has been maintained over the course of the exhibition, and provides some interesting reading. Below are the four images I produced for the  project. I feel very privileged to be a part of this exciting project.  Congratulations also to Jenny Gilbertson, Trudie Leigo and Catherine Brenner  for organising this project.

 

'Special Selection"   Unsettled Gallery, Las Cruces, New Mexico

 

 

'Queensland Vacation' ChArts, Childers, Australia 

 

 

 

'Aussie Bush Bride' Unsettled Gallery, Las Cruces, New Mexico

 

 

'Arrival in  Paradise', ChArts, Childers, Australia 

 

 

The Edge

I was delighted today, to find out that I had won an award at this years Queensland Regional Art Awards.   I have been awarded a two week , fully funded residency at The Edge at the State Library in Brisbane.

'The Queensland Regional Art Awards is an annual visual arts prize and exhibition for established and emerging artists living in regional and remote Queensland. The program aims to highlight the wealth of creative talent located outside the capital city and provide a platform for further professional development.'  (Quote taken from Flying Arts website.)

I am so excited about this wonderful opportunity!    Check out the artworks on the QRAA link above.

Magic

There is a little magic in the air!  I feel it...and it's coming out in my work today.  I don't mean to sound over-confident or arrogant even, but most artists have felt the magic when it's there.  It's a good feeling, and works seem to arrive effortlessly when that feeling is there.

I've been making digital images today based on photographs I took  months ago of a very special friend.

The works are photographs of my friend merged with photographs of celestial charts.

New digital works

I took photos some months back of one of my friends and have been waiting patiently to process them.  I have just managed to find a few hours here and there in between the work I have to develop for the Bundaberg Centenary celebrations.

I love making these digital images...merging photographs with patterns, celestial charts, lace and so on.   My models are transformed by this process. Here is one of the recent works and some older work as well.  Let me know what you think about them.  cx

 

2012

2012

Sorry

Sorry I have been neglecting you...I have had such a busy time with projects on and special family events. I have however managed to do a little painting, which has been therapeutic!   I won't be keeping that up for long....Video is really taking over!

But so much to learn.   Isn't it wonderful?!

I think I might buy a tripod with an extension  arm...I might try some stop animations.  Yeah!

More Foundry photos

These photos  courtesy of Shelley Pisani from Creative Regions via Fb.  It was Shelley who came up with the idea  of  projecting onto the foundry during the launch of Creative Regions ' The Foundry' website.  The launch dinner party was at the H2o bar across the river from the foundry. 

 

A photo above shows Shelley Pisani and a projection I designed for the entrance of the H2o bar.

 

Thanks Shelley for your vision and allowing me the opportunity to design the projection and see the project come to fruition.  It was a great night!

Whalesong 2013

It is always with a feeling of trepidation that I face another evening of digital projections.  It is so easy for things to go wrong....and one can end up looking like an idiot!  Art, I tell  people, is a leveller.....We can experience the very essence of the creative process one day, and enjoy the feeling of elation that comes with that, but tomorrow can bring imperfection. It can bring a sense of failure.

In spite of  the failures, I  prefer to look forward to tomorrow's ventures, hopefully having learned something from the past.  Tomorrow is a new day and I want to find something special in it!

The Whalesong projection I had produced, was displayed without a problem, at Hervey Bay,  last night.  Great evening!!

Now I can focus on the Bundaberg  centenary celebrations in November.

Congratulations to students Jess and James for their outstanding additions to the evening's schedule. Jess with a short video featuring whales and James with the music he had written  especially to feature  three very interesting instruments made of recycled materials.

 

The big inflatable screen went up.

 

My projection for Whalesong.

 

 

Jess....talented Media student stands in front of the huge screen ( Centre left.)

 

 

 James, young composer extraordinaire plays the seahorse. 

Another deadline

I had not long finished the Foundry project, when I was offered a role in the Whalesong event at Hervey Bay.  This project is part of the 'animating spaces' strategy and involves Artslink  and many other arts organisations. 

Click here to find out more about this great festival.

I am contributing a video projection for this event and offering support to a couple of very talented students.  One composing music to be played on some rather interesting  musical instruments made of recycled materials.  Instruments inspired by a children's drawing workshop that occurred some time ago.

I am hoping to get copies of some of the drawings, so that I can incorporate them into my video.

The other student is also producing a video to go with the newly composed music. 

So all in all, an interesting project.  Opening on the 24th of August.(Next week!!)

cx

The Foundry projections

Two pictures taken from my digital projection a week or two back.   It's hard to convey just how big this foundry building is. 

It must be over 3 storeys high.

You can see a crescent moon above the building in the picture below.  It was a wonderfully successful projection.  I wish they all went that well.  cx  Even more pictures coming!

The Foundry digital projection

The day had come at last.  This was the day that I would see my latest project come to fruition.  A video bombing of the Bundaberg Foundry, to be viewed from the other side of the Burnett River at the H20 bar and Restaurant.

Later that night there was a special dinner there  showcasing produce from local providers and special tributes to some of the very innovative and successful of the local farming families...and of course, the launching of another project by Creative Regions, a new website...http://thefoundry.net.au....a website championing local content.

I have had several months to prepare videos for this project.

After  our test run early in the week, I realised I had some last minute changes to make to the videos.  Having made the changes I found on a couple of occasions, that the videos stopped soon after they started  and remained stuck.  I remade the  videos and they tested as fine, but I was not 100% confident with them....especially with the large scale of this particular project.

The projection went off without a hitch, I am very pleased to say.  Pictures coming.     cx

PS  It seems I am having problems combining PC generated files with Apple equipment.  Things are looking better for  my video making after a defrag, graphics card driver update and fixing the virtual memory setting.

Unfortunately, I didn't get many photos of the projection, as I was busy.  You can see from the bottom two photos, how the projection was improved when the Foundry lights were switched off for 15 minutes.  Thanks so much to the foundry management for allowing that.   cx

 



 

 

 

Digital Imaging

My recent days have been hours  and hours in front of the computer screen, attempting to move small picture files  along a path and across time.    It sounds easy enough,  but my results are inconsistent and I can see that it is going to take time and lots of practice.

I started producing digital works in 1998 when I had been confined to home for a period of time.   My late husband Alan arrived home one day with a thoughtful gift -  Corel 3 digital imaging software.   

I had found a new obsession.

As simple as that software was, compared to the packages I use today,  it still took me over six months to get reasonably confident with it. 

Digital imaging  has become the most important aspect of my work combined with a developing interest in photography and in video production for digital projection.

 

A still from the 'Cogs' animated video I am currently producing.    cx

Mary Poppins Festival

The Mary Poppins Festival happens each year  in Maryborough, as it is the birthplace of Mary Poppins author, PL Travers.

Maryborough is about a 1 1/2 hours trip, South of Bundaberg.

Trevor Spohr (Art and Cultural Development Officer)  from Gatakers Artspace, had asked Brad Marsellos and me to do a video projection for the festival.

Unfortunately Brad was not available for this Saturday appointment, but I went along anyway and had a great time.

It was a beautiful  evening...Irish band playing, lots of delicious foods and wines. Art and crafts. And of all things a magnificent little pirate ship on wheels accompanied by four pirates.

That little ship had come with its owners from the Sunshine Coast to be part of today's festivities. It would be such a treat for young children to take rides in the ornate ship, ferried around by four scary, but funny too, pirates.

Apparently, people enjoyed the projections I had prepared, so it was a very successful evening.

I had used umbrellas as my main theme...very plain and geometric shapes.  Often, less can be more.

I was lucky to be able to spend time later that evening,  with the charming and friendly (as it turned out),  pirates.

Talk art soon!