Secret obsession

Often on my journeys around Bundaberg I take a road that runs alongside the railway line. You can fly down that road with its gullies and dips and scoot around out of the heavier traffic without a second thought.

Well that would be the usual outcome... but there is just one thing....

That house!!

More digital works

More works from the Broken Woman series.

Venus

Here is Venus….a hint at what  will come after the Suburban Goddess exhibition.  I am  in  something of a ‘zone’ as they say -  I have been producing quite a lot of new digital works in the past few days.  I am very excited about them,  but will keep them under wraps for a future  exhibition.  I will have developed my ideas further by then.
In the weeks to follow I will be posting more  images from the SG series, both 2d and 3d.

Sunday at gallery39

I have had the most wonderful Sunday in my gallery/studio with all my favourite people around - Beryl, Susan, Catherine, Kathy and Jordan.

We discussed the future display of the Suburban goddesses, and all will be revealed  in time. 

Catherine Mc Cue, our Print maker - 'extraordinaire', had us dressing up to model for  artworks for her exhibition at Gatakers with Susan in November .  I will report on that exhibition as we go along.  It is going to be fabulous. Trust me.

Look in on Catherine McCue’s website listed below.

Her  ‘The Big Picture’ printing business (also listed below), is booming -  particularly amongst artists who appreciate her attention to detail in all the print making processes. Speciality art printing is an area Catherine chooses to pursue. She caters for all manner of printing necessities.

We had Kathy Donnelly's delicious potato,leek and bacon soup for lunch and settled in with a couple of wines after that. (Except for Jordan of course). 

Don't forget to look in on Kathy's Scar Tree Art Project. It is listed to the right of the screen.  Leave her a message if you would like to comment on her beautiful work...or ask her how she came to make it -  whatever!

At the bottom of each posting you will see the word 'Comments'.  Click on the word and a comments box will come up. You don't even have to leave your name, but we would love to hear from you. 

I managed to dig a couple of mannequin parts out of the chaos of my back shed, and have quite a  good group of subjects to photograph for my digital works.  I have been in some kind of stupor  for the past few days, mesmerised by my computer screen and all the miraculous goings on afforded to me in this digital age.

I just love playing with imagery in my computer with its wonderful software.

I have made many works  that closely interlink with the 'Suburban Goddess' theme. 

The 'Broken Woman' series is particularly important and is dedicated to the memory of my late husband, Alan.
I guess it's best to show you  a couple of the images and let them speak for me.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow I will post one of the latest series.

Getting back to Sunday in the gallery,  Sue, Kathy and I had a wonderful time over coffee at the end of the day.  Kathy introduced us to one of her clever creative writing exercises. I haven't laughed so much in years.  It is a great thing to have this close ‘camaraderie’ with kindred spirits.

Jobs for tomorrow:  Spend an hour or two on my silver canvas…I have been neglecting it.

Prepare a disc of new digital images for promotional purposes.

Take some more photos of the mannequins.

Take back downstairs to the gallery, all the art stuff I have bought up while so busy with the large collages.

Till soon!   c

Kathy Donnelly’s ‘Scar Tree’ Project

“To be is to be perceived”
(Esse est perc ipi.)
Bishop George Berkeley (1685-1752)
The Scar Tree
In the winter of 2009, I was delighted to find a very large scar tree on our land; only to feel quite distressed when, a few months later, the scar tree fell over.
It had been eaten out by white ants and, in this weakened state, was vulnerable to the summer storms.
The scar on the tree was made when bark or wood was removed to make a canoe.
The hole inside the scar made me wonder.
That hole wasn’t empty; it held memories and stories of life on the river in times gone by.
Opinions are divided as to whether the canoe was made by Indigenous people perhaps hundreds of years ago or by the South Sea Islanders, who were indentured labourers on the sugar plantations around the end of the 19th Century.
Either way, the fallen scar tree told a story of loss.
Loss of country, loss of culture, loss even of the scar tree.
I felt the need to make reparation for this loss and so I made a shroud for the scar tree.
“Reparation...is the universal human response to knowledge of our capacity for destructiveness, and is the basis of art and culture.” (Pajaczkowska, C. On Stuff and Nonsense in Textile Volume 3/1 2005)
Kathy Donnelly
2010
Please leave a comment for Kathy. This is a powerful and moving work. Chris

New floor plan

I have had a busy day or two, running around on various chores.  Developing some picture files of my new large canvases, so that I can send them around to  galleries  and interior designers. I ordered two new canvases as well and picked up some watercolour paper for our next print workshop at BRAG.

Yesterday I decided to bring all the  goddess sculptures back into my gallery to try to combine them into the new floor plan I have devised.  Fortunately I had the assistance of the wonderful and tireless" Jordan, my friend from over the road.

"Just ring me! Any time you ring me, I'll be there.......  Just ring!" He tells me this all the time.

He helps me carry the big canvases upstairs to my apartment where I paint them in the evenings, listening to the radio. Once they are painted, he helps me carry them back down to my gallery/studio for  hanging, storing, photographing or whatever.   

Yesterday he  called out to me and came over to help carry all the sculptures from my back storage shed into the gallery.  We had only stored them in the back shed a few weeks ago, but Jordan seems to understand and we have lots of fun doing what is necessary.

I have posted a few photos of Jordan. He is a very special and wonderful person.  Funny too!

 

     

 

 

 

 

There are also some photos of the contents of my storage shed.

  

 

 

Today Kathy dropped in with her gorgeous daughter Bindi,  who is visiting from Sydney.  We had coffee, toured the gallery and spent time talking art and family again! ....which we never tire of!  Kathy will be sending me some writing about the Scar Tree Art Project she has just completed  and I will be able to post her photos  then.

 

Here is a picture of these two amazing women  - Strong, motivated and passionate.

 

I really am fortunate to have such wonderful people  in my life.    I will introduce you to more of my friends as we go along. 

I spent most of yesterday evening trying to arrange the sculptures according to my new plan.  Try as I may, it seems that the new design is not going to work.  I will press on a while longer.

Till soon,   c.

Floor plan

Susan Hutton, came by as she so often does on Sundays, to paint or draw for a few hours while I do my work. Our other friends come too when they can. We sometimes go to BRAG to use their press.

Susan Hutton comes from Cordalba, about 40 minutes away. We have been friends for many years.

Susan has a website displaying her beautiful work. Follow this link: www.susanhutton.com.au

Works by Susan Hutton

 

 

 

I was trying to develop my floor plan, and had photographs of all the works to place around the floor of my studio. Fortunately I have a lot of room, as the installation looks like it will be 6 metres square.

My second collage canvas is taking shape.

Jobs for tomorrow:

Set out some of my sculptures to assess suitability of floor plan.

Continue on with the collage.

Biscuit tin collection

I am making progress with my floor plan.  I will post it in a day or so.  In the meantime, I thought you might like to see some of my biscuit tin collection.  Tins have become such an important part of my work.
A few years back I was  asked to create a work in response to a beautiful traditional still life...a vase of white peonies  in the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery (BRAG) Collection. It's title just won't come to me at the moment.
In response to that work I made the attached image,  and wrote a brief statement........


'As a child I had little exposure to fine art. The only still lifes I encountered were the ones on the lids of biscuit tins. One could admire the beautiful tins whilst enjoying their contents! 
Once the tins were empty, they became reliquaries for all manner of things……needlework, gloves, letters. All sorts of treasures can be found in old biscuit tins.

Biscuit tins are reliquaries for memories, but the years take their toll on the biscuit tin still lifes. Progressively they succumb to the destructive nature of rust.' 

The Women’s Room

I spent the day working over that canvas I thought I had finished. In fact I have actually spent a couple of days playing with it. Juggling the lights and darks. Playing my 'boardgames'. It's close to being finished now - I think.

I put a second coat of paint on the other collage - black and silver this time. I'm getting a quote for another two canvases from Dave at Art'n Such here in Bundaberg.

I also spent a couple of hours on the computer, making images, so it has been a pleasing and productive day. See attached one of today's digital images:

Getting back to my upcoming exhibition, tomorrow, I am going to draw up a plan for the 3 sided 'Room' installation. I will measure up and try to decide on the size of the room. I can overlap sculptures where I want to. I will also be able to include some other domestic objects that I had hoped to display.

I am getting happier about my new plan...it is actually better than the 'grid' plan. I could also develop the 'Room' idea a bit further. Maybe having a 4 sided construction, with an entry gap on one side and an exit gap on the opposite side, creating an intense, even claustrophobic environment within.
Maybe it won't feel claustrophobic... it may have the air of a cathedral.

Over the last week or so, I keep recalling snippets of Marilyn French's novel 'The Women's Room'. There are a few influences percolating up from the depths. Perhaps I should read the book again, if I have time.

I have done a quick 'Wikipedia' cut and paste that describes the book, in case you are interested in reading it.

'The Women's Room is a novel by American feminist author Marilyn French first published in 1977.
French was almost unknown among feminist circles before the publication of the book. It has been described as one of the most influential novels of the modern feminist movement. Its instant popularity brought criticism from some well known feminists that it was too pessimistic about women's lives and too anti men.
The Women's Room is set in 1950s America and follows the fortunes of Mira Ward, a conventional and submissive young woman in a traditional marriage and her gradual feminist awakening. The novel met with stark media criticism when published but went on to be an international best seller.'

Jobs for tomorrow: Start new installation floor plan. Decide how many sculptures will be needed for each side. Allocate positions of sculptures. Check heights and other details. Compile a list of things to do and things to buy if necessary. Draw out the plan for the computer.

Goodnight!

Floor Plan

Well it has become clear to me that I am not going to be able to show my sculptures in a grid pattern. There is just not enough room. so I have two options.

One is to have them follow a straight line under one of the overhead cross beams - approximately 7m long.

The other option, is to place them in a three sided rectangular shape underneath the overhead beams. I might ultimately have more metres on the ground - (about 9 metres), and that enclosed space would invite the viewer into a new environment.

For either option, I could suspend objects from the overhead beams.

I think I prefer the second option.

In either case the works could overlap and some could face forward and some backward. I did a small mock up on the computer and think that should work ok.

Kathy Donnelly came yesterday to talk art and family- ( my two favourite subjects as well!), which was nice. She went home with one of my little Madonna paintings. I will post a link for her Scar tree art project. It is quite moving .

Bianca - from the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery (BRAG) dropped in also - to catch up and chat about a possible exhibition at BRAG.

Jobs for today:

Continue on with second collage.

Pick up some more paint from the hardware shop.

Installation floor plan

Now that I have the gallery floor measurements, I can start to look at my original plan for the installation.

I designed the 'Suburban Goddesses' to be displayed in a grid pattern, with each sculpture 1.50m apart, so that people can wander amongst the figures. But I have 50 sculptures. The floor space is 9.4m x 12.35m or 116 sqm. If I made the space between the figures 1 metre I would only be able to fit in 30 sculptures- allowing for space to move around the perimeter of the installation. And if I have to make the figures 1.50 metres apart it will be dramatically cut back further.

I will have to set out some sculptures in my gallery and see if there will be enough free space to wander through the figures if I allow only 1 metre between them. If it is not going to work like this, I am going to have to rethink the entire installation.

Measuring up

 

Two or three weeks ago, my friends and I went to Maryborough to measure up the gallery where we  will be exhibiting our  works- Gatakers Artspace.

My exhibition will be  from Sept 8 to October 10.  My friends Catherine McCue and Susan Hutton will share the space for their exhibition straight after that.

Below are some photos of that  morning.

View Full Album

We also enjoyed browsing through Janet’s Art Book shop, and the nearby op shop.

That is Susan Hutton in the white shirt, Catherine McCue in blue jeans, Beryl Kitching in maroon, myself in black. Kathy Donnelly with the long blond hair.

In the Maryborough Art Society gallery that day was an exhibition of work by  Brett A Jones, a local artist who has designed his own deck of cards. It was a fantastic display.

Check it out at

http://www.seaofpain.com/content.html#update

Later we had lunch by the river. Beautiful!

Home

It's great to be home. My son Ben, dropped me at Caboolture Station on his way to work. I had enough spare time to visit a couple of the local op shops.

I was able to take some photographs of a old mannequin head in one of the shops. I have been playing on the computer all evening, manipulating these images. (Images attached)

When I arrived home this afternoon, I found, hanging on the door

knob - five boxes of 'Bali Hai', coloured plastic drink coasters shaped like Hibiscus flowers, and a piece of plastic table cloth. Obviously from someone sympathetic to my need for junk! I quite often arrive home to find small gifts left anonymously. Its quite wonderful!

I think these plastic flowers will be great to use on one of my collages.

Mueck exhibition

My son Ben and my beautiful daughter-in-law Sarah, and I went to GOMA in Brisbane to see the Mueck exhibition. Our assesment-amazing!! our favourite work was the newborn baby.

Don't miss that show.

Erotica exhibition

The 'Erotica' exhibition was a great success with quite a large crowd attending. The works were very interesting. Dinner in the Valley after the show was fun.

Attached is a picture of my work for 'Erotica'.

Digital SG 07/08

I have posted another Stand Alone page. DIGITAL SG 07/08

It has images from earlier digital series, around 2007/2008. I will be adding a few more images there next week.

Let me know if you are interested in my work...perhaps send me a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Packing for Brisbane

I had a busy day yesterday running around tying up loose ends so I can head off to Brisbane in the tilt train today. I had my business cards printed.

I burnt a couple of discs of art images to have with me.

Michael Derry from the Newsmail wrote a good article about my inclusion in the Erotica exhibition.

http://www.news-mail.com.au/story/2010/06/02/erotic-image-up-for-prize

The canvas pictured above is Concerto 2 from my Suburban Rhapsody exhibition which was here in my gallery a month or so ago.

It is an acrylic collage on canvas 150cm x 150cm.

Collage

The first of my two new canvases is all but finished. It will only require minor touches now, and some varnish.

I am thinking of calling these recent works 'Flourish'. I will post a picture to my blog and also open a new page (to the right) that will store completed works.

New page added

I have entered a new page (See right) called ABOUT THIS BLOG. This page has general information about my Suburban Goddess project and how it came into being.

Digital works 08

Here are 3 images I found while sorting out my external hard drive. They go back to 2008.

I have some favourite mannequins and I make dozens of images with them.

Jobs for today:

*Coffee with my friend Rachael if she’s home. I would like also to check out her handbag collection.

*Have business card file printed onto card.

*Finish the first of the collage

Erotica exhibition

I rang the framer of my  digital print for the Erotica exhibition (Saturday June 5th opening) and he was just about to deliver my  print to the Artworkers  gallery.

A reporter from the Newsmail came to my home to take notes  about the exhibition and my entry.

A photographer took some shots.

Jobs for the day have been:

*Prepare some art business cards to take to Brisbane

*Keep working on my 2 canvases.

The artwork above is from a series I made in 2009 using photos of hairdresser’s headblocks, merged with photos of biscuit tin lids.  My ‘Frida’.

Aspects of my work over the years, reflect the powerful influence of the artist Frida Kahlo.

Collages

(Detail)
The two new canvas I bought are taking shape.  They are 150cm x 150cm  and are collages of plastic tablecloths.   They are developing quite rich surfaces. The unfinished work photographed here is actually black and gold.
(Detail)
I often return to patterning- it is so much about getting back to the basics.  I really enjoy making these works.
I hope to produce 7 – 10 new canvases in the next few months and will try to promote the works in Brisbane somewhere.



(Detail)

Below are two of the recently finished large canvases.