New Suburban Goddess video

The amazing Brad Marsellos has produced yet another quality video. This time about my 'Suburban Goddesses'.   The goddesses will be exhibited at Pine Rivers Art Gallery in Strathpine, Brisbane.  Official opening, this Friday 6pm.  See you there!


A Suburban Goddess comes to life from ABC Open Wide Bay on Vimeo.

Not on the road!!

Not on the road!!!  The Bruce  Highway was cut by floods in the Gympie area...a couple of hours south of here. ( I hope my little mossy back tortoises are okay. They live in the  ponds and lakes in Gympie, and I have been photographing them there lately. ) 

Susan and I may leave as late as Tuesday morning now, depending on the road reports. 

I will have to email the curator at the Pine Rivers Art Gallery, to let her know what is happening.

I took some more photos of the Lifescape installation.  It will be dismantled and reassembled when I get home next week.

Well I hope my exhibition will be opening this Friday!!      

Till soon.   c x

On the road

This weekend will be  spent preparing the Goddesses for their trip to Brisbane. I have them in the studio, where I am checking that they have all their components. There is a photo attached of the SG's  in my studio, viewed from across my latest installation...'Lifescape'.

Susan Hutton will come from her home in Cordalba, in the ute, and we will endeavour to squeeze 21 SG's in to  the tray.  On Monday we will be on the road.

Installation of the works will be on Tuesday.  We will measure out a diamond-shaped grid pattern on the floor and mark the appropriate points upon which each goddess will sit.  Photographs of the sculptures will be placed on each of these spots.    From these photographs, the assistants will be able to construct the works quite easily.  Each piece is stacked up, like a totem pole and there is no glueing or screwing  required.

I am really looking forward to the show.  The Pine Rivers Art Gallery is a beautiful artspace, and the SG's should look great there.  Hope to see you there.

Water Tower bombing

The Water Tower over East was our most recent video bombing target. Brad and I learnt quite a lot from this session.

The high contrast black and white images were the best. There was quite a lot of haziness about some images. I'm not sure if this means the digital files might need to be larger, or that the problem is that the surface of the tower is a dull brown colour. 

Our more succesful bombings have been on white surfaces I think.

I am very annoyed with myself for not double checking the files I had prepared for the bombing.  As it turned out, two of them were not rendered properly, so we had to rely on some previous videos.

We were delighted to have quite a few spectators last night, including Jess and Darling. A couple from Scotland Street came over to talk to us about the projections. and several cars pulled over to park for a while to see what was happening!    All in all....it was another great night in Bundaberg!

Stop motion video

Brad and I remade our 'stop motion' video of one of my 'Suburban Goddesses'. We had made it several weeks ago, but weren't happy with the quality of the video , it's resolutuion and so on.     We took about 200 frames over two and a half hours.  I feel certain that it will have been worth the effort of remaking it.

Brad will edit the video and we should have a finished article today, if we are lucky.  I will post the video when I receive it.

Two screens

I am very excited because I  managed to get my two monitors connected to  my main computer.   Now I can have two separate windows going at the same time.

I can check Facebook while doing my banking and so on!!

Life will never be the same!   Try it, it's easy!

Exhibition

        Hoping you can join me at the opening of my exhibition!    c x

Video Bombing

Brad and I went video bombing around Bundaberg's streets last night.  It  was late night shopping and so there was a lot more traffic than we have usually found. Brad is able to set up our equipment in about 5 minutes flat now, which means we can take in several sites over a couple of hours.  

We projected a short video I had produced on Adobe Premiere elements...A figure study in black and white. The image held up very well, I think, because of it's strength and simplicity.
  

Various other  short videos I had produced for bombing were sadly lacking.  I will have to  rethink and reinvigorate them or start again. 

We tried another couple of sites without success.  We are learning what qualities are needed to make a good site.  Wall, not too distant....quality of the darkness and so on.

The other big success for the night was Brad's bunny video.  The bunny is a striking and intriguing character.   The basically black and white format was very successful on the walls above Noyes Glass. 

The  backpackers  on the other side of the road to us,enjoyed the bunny movie from their adjacent balconies.

Someone rang Brad's partner, Jess, to tell her that there was a video bombing taking place in Bundaberg!!! We felt happy that we were becoming somewhat notorious around town.  But really it's about getting work out there!

c x

Another work

   
    Here is another of the new series of limited edition. digital prints I have been making.

New series

I have started a new digital series of the female form.  These works utilise the same merging techniques I have used before in the works titled  'Broken Woman' .

Jess

My friend Brad is away on assignment to document the king tides in the Torres Strait Islands.   To all accounts, he is having a most interesting time.  He even managed to get involved in the delivery of a baby while offshore in a little boat!

It has been a good opportunity for Brad's partner Jess and I to get the photoshoot done that we have talked about for so long.  I love this photo of Jess.

Good news

It started off as a good day as I had the return of my laptop from the computer repair man.  The laptop, with its new keyboard has no other option now, but to type the letter 'b' whenever I desire it!!!   So I have won a battle this time.

More good news in the form of a comment  that appeared today on my blog.   Lesley, the news editor left a phone number for me to ring regarding promotion of the 'Suburban Goddess' exhibition in the Pine Rivers Press.  I will definitely follow that up.  That is great!

And even more good news after I sent the director Marj Sullivan photos of my 'Lifescape' biscuit tin installation, she is keen to show a similar installation as part of her 'renew' exhibition later in the year.  I will probably use the tins in a series of circles.   I am very excited!  

For one happy dragon, a good start to the Year of the Dragon!

Pine Rivers Art Gallery

Pine Rivers Art Gallery is a beautiful venue for my upcoming exhibition.
Once all its movable walls are put away, it leaves a quite usable rectangular space.

The Goddess sculptures will be setup in their usual diamond shaped pattern.  

The 20 digital prints  are being prepared at Flash Photobition in Newstead, and will be delivered flat packed to the gallery this week.  I hope all will go well. The prints  will each be 1 metre high, with various widths.

I will talk to Jess from Creative regions tomorrow to see if there is anything else we can do in terms of marketing this exhibition.  She is the expert. I have used Mail Chimp to create an exhibition invitations list. The list has been sent down to Tracey, the exhibition curator.

I think I better start sorting through the storage rooms and bring out the sculptures that will be taken to Brisbane. Attached is one of the images that will be at Pine River Art Gallery - opening March 2, 6pm

Talk soon!  c x

"Lifescape"

Dirty Linen awaits its artists booking in....so in these quiet times I can develop some installations, or whatever  works I fancy at the time.

This last couple of weeks I have been producing an installation of biscuit tins.  Actually, what you see here is really only about half of my collection.  I tried a couple  more complex arrangements, but the piece wouldn't work.  In the end I decided that simplicity was the answer.   I have been getting quite a lot of interest in this work.  Thankyou.

Till soon!   C x

Cabinets of Curiosities

Cabinets of Curiosities is the theme for an exhibition I am part of at BRAG this month.  Various artists have provided works for a show that is sure to be rather special.   Susan Hutton and I are going to see it this week.

My work is called  "For Louise" and is a tribute to  Louise Bourgeois, who is one of my favourite artists. It recalls one of her works I remembered seeing years ago.  A blue cabinet if I recall correctly.  Full of glass objects.

 

I was attracted to its strength and simplicity and the sense of the cabinet being  serenely self contained.

Alone again

Sitting alone again in my empty house.....previously faithful laptop on my knees. The pool filter hums its way into the evening, lulling me into a state of optimism.  "I will not be green in the morning!" it seems to promise.  I  have heard that before!

I can't go home to Bundaberg until I have stabilized it.  I think I am getting closer.

All week I have been wanting to get to the printers to have a test print done for my exhibition next month at Pine Rivers Art Gallery.  I hope to get there next week. I am planning to have the digital prints enlarged to 100cm x 75cm  if there is enough detail. The works will be printed on a pvc material and hung with magnets.

The pvc 'posters' will display the digital images and these images will be available as limited edition prints  on archival paper, limited edition prints on canvas, or whatever is required.

It has been hard to choose the best 20 out of the over 200 images in the series.

The 25 or so Suburban Goddess sculptures will be packed in to Susan Hutton's ute once again for the journey from Bundaberg.  They will be installed very quickly once their floor plan has been marked out. They are not glued or screwed together,  but stacked up like totem poles.

I'm hoping that some of you Brisbanites from the Just Ideas exhibition may be able to come. It would be great to meet you.

Till soon.  Cx

Eatons Hill

I guess you must be wondering where I have been lately.  Well I am  stopping in Eatons Hill  in Brisbane for a week or two while I am preparing my house there for rent.

I sit in the middle of an empty house. My previously faithful laptop is on my knees.   It has decided not to type the letter ' '   ...the one etween 'a' and 'c'. Sometimes it likes to add hyphens to the words I am typing.  It is very erratic.

So to get back to what I was saying.....I am sitting alone in the middle of this empty house.  Previously faithful laptop seems to be gathering objects to itself in contradiction to its original 'raison d'etre'.

Not happy with it's own keyboard, I have had to purchase a second plug in keyboard just to type the letter 'b'.  My laptop also has an object plugged in called a 'dongle'. Not a very elegant word is it?  But without a dongle, life would be hardly worth living.  For those of you who are dongle deficient...the dongle provides my wireless internet access.

Next to the dongle is a tiny plugin that magically frees my mouse from the necessity to have a tail.  I really love this idea...I think it is probably my favourite..

Plugged in on the other side is my usb port  that connects my two terabyte back up hard drives, the odd memory stick and of course my hot pink Lacie 30g mini hard drive that every one covets. Not to mention, my SD memory card from my digital camera.

Finally, there is the power pack which must be plugged in every twenty minutes or so or my laptop will shut down sometimes without even a courtesy to hint that it is about to do this.

The dream was all about portability wasn't it???   And what ever happened to 'user-friendly'??  c x

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my readers.  Thankyou for your support through 2011.   I feel 2012 is going to to be a great year.  I have three exhibitions coming up this year, and a video bombing will be sponsored also.  I do hope there will be more of these video opportunities coming up.  Brad and I are going to have to do some planning when he returns from his trip to Cambodia.

I hope to have some interesting posts for you  this year and I would love to hear your comments.  Happy New Year!!

See below, a picture of the video bombing of the  Dirty Linen Artspace!

Talk soon!   C x

Birthday

It is my birthday today.  I'm 59.  I guess it would be easy to feel very negative about that, but I feel very much in the prime of my life.  I feel so blessed to have my art practice...  it has sustained me through some very difficult times.  It takes me to places I want to go, both in a physical sense and also intellectually. It keeps my focus on tomorrow.
I'm looking forward to lunch out with my girls today.  A seafood restaurant this time.  Down by the river.  The Burnett River.   It will look so peaceful there today as we sip our champagne and delight in our  seafood cocktails.  It will look so unlike the raging torrent that flooded Bundaberg so mercilessly last year.  Those of us here in Bundaberg, who witnessed these unthinkable events will remain forever scarred.

We came in droves... down to the floodings, to stop and stare and to document these events.  We came to see the inundations and to feel the brutal force of the river...knowing that it had swept away dreams and taken lives.  

Our lives piled up in soggy heaps of domestic detritus all over town.

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There are some very moving videos about the aftermath of the floods at the following link:

http://open.abc.net.au/openregions/qld-wide-bay-71AY7Fz/posts/the-floodwaters-came-19ho1ux
Produced by Brad Marsellos.
I have a very limited selection of photos attached below.

Bundaberg Floods VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

My Studio

I finally have my studio back after the Just Ideas works have been collected.  It's such a wonderful feeling.  I have already finished my artwork for the  Cabinets of Curiosities exhibition which will start mid January at BRAG.
 
I have attached a sneak preview....closeup only.  I hope Trudie won't mind.

Also attached is a work, 'Metropolis', that I made from small tins from my collection. I will have a short series of these fairly soon, I am hoping.

I trust you all had a joyful Christmas and wish you every happiness in 2012.

New software

I have been trying to learn Adobe Premiere Elements for video production.  Not as easy as it sounds!  What ever happened to manuals? You could hold the book in one hand and  exercise the appropriate manoeuvres with the other!  Much as I love the Internet, it would be a blessing to have the option of a book at times!

I have been using Photostory3 for Windows. It can be downloaded free from Microsoft if you have a legal copy of Windows!  It is very  user-friendly, as is Windows Live Movie Maker.

I think Premiere Elements will be a little more sophisticated and allow me a few more options. 

We shall see!

Attached is  a digital work, one of twenty that will be in my exhibition at Pine Rivers late February 2012.

C x

Timing

I've been feeling rather despondent these last few days.  I'm feeling that maybe my timing is wrong  in regards to opening a gallery  in Bundaberg again.
Clinton set dates for two artist talks, both of which had to be cancelled due to lack of attendance.  The weekly attendance rate has been quite sad.
Of course everyone will say it was a great opening but it's the silly season.  That's true, but I don't really  have an option to wait for Bundaberg to be ready for another gallery. 

I am getting very few expressions of interest, and survey result are not encouraging.

Bundaberg artists need to get onboard quickly now  if they feel they need Dirty Linen.

If Dirty Linen has to close, it won't be sad...it won't hurt! ( Maybe just a little!)  It may even be liberating!!!    I might have more time for video bombing with Brad!! 

I also need to consider the difficulties this project is causing my art practice, which will always be my prime focus.

Till soon.  c  x

Artist talk 2

Clinton Cross will be giving an artist's talk tomorrow at 1pm.  All welcome.   Clinton will explain some of the works and tell you about each artist.   It wii be very interesting.  Don't miss out!

Video

A small version of a video  I made today. c
 

Still painting

I'm still painting the outside of the building that houses the Dirty Linen Gallery.  I live upstairs.

I am endeavouring to banish the aqua blue paint from the lower level of my property, at least.  It will make such a great difference.

Creative Regions conducted a networking meeting Monday night in the gallery.  It was a 'get to know you' affair and there were a lot of motivated and energetic people in attendance.  There were quite a few  from the Writers Club.  I am just itching to spend some time with them to see what they are up to.  They are such an interesting and talented  lot! They are as excited as I am about the poetry presentation and the possibilities it presents.  2012 is going to be a great year.

Clinton is 'mooching around' a bit after all the dramas of the Just Ideas exhibition. So, if you haven't been in for a look at the artworks, or to read the poetry snippets, do yourself a favour and drop in soon.  Clinton will give you a guided tour.

It's time for me to start focusing on my show at Pine Rivers Art Gallery.  It starts late February and will feature my Suburban Goddess  installation and 20 digital prints from the 'Broken Woman' series.
I am very excited  to be exhibiting the Broken Woman series of  limited edition digital prints.  They have never been shown before, apart from a couple of works  here and there.
I have attached one from the series. Others can be found in my permanent pages on the right of the screen.The prints will be 750 x 1m. At that size they should look quite imposing.

I hope that some of the artists  I have met through Just Ideas

will be able to attend.   Cheers!

Kathy Donnelly's birthday

Today would have been Kathy Donnelly's birthday.  I miss her so much as many do.  She was a vibrant, intelligent, funny, inspiring beautiful woman.  I know many feel she is part of our own creative journeys still.  Kept close to our hearts.

I thought you might like to read a blog I wrote one day after having lunch with Kathy.     I will also post pictures of the Scar tree project.  See the two  links below.

Her altarpiece dedicated to Mother is  beautiful.

C xx

http://christineaturner.blogspot.com/2010/08/lunch-at-kathys.html

http://christineaturner.blogspot.com/2010/06/kathy-donnellys-scar-tree-project.html

Artist Talk

I noticed on facebook that a lot of the Just Ideas artists have been congratulating Clinton on a job well done.  It has been a huge task succesfully completed. It is to his credit that he was able to bring together so many established artists for the Just Ideas exhibition.

Try not to miss Clinton's artist talk tomorrow at 11 at Dirty Linen.  It will be fascinating!

I have been overwhelmed by the many messages I have received from very excited writers today.  Their responses have been most welcome.  I am equally excited by the wonderful evening we had sharing our collective talents and maybe we could think about having another  art/poetry evening  in a month or two, once the holiday season is finished, perhaps? 

Some interesting ideas have come in already.       Till soon. c x

Just Ideas opens

Just Ideas opened last night. An enormous crowd gathered. We had not expected quite so many. It has been suggested that there were about 120 at least. There was a real buzz of excitement! Clinton rolled in at the last minute with a taxi load of girls behind him. His exhibition looked fabulous!
A musician/singer…Darren Hanlon performed three numbers for an appreciative audience. Clinton opened the exhibition with a short speech.
The writers then took the stage and delighted the audience with their brilliant poetic presentation. I’m hoping that we can forge a close association with the very
talented folk from the Writers Club.

Just Ideas exhibition 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Second video bombing

Video Bombing Dirty Linen Artspace- 6th Dec 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Our second video bombing attempt delivered spectacular results. We are learning a lot about the process.

It's not quite enough to just flash up an image and think it will work. It needs a video that has both

quality and substance. Combining these ingredients with the unexpected, can result in very special images.

Rain

Rain at last, to start a new week. The weekend was spent at Eaton's Hill. Roller in hand, I managed to paint most of the downstairs apartment. It is amazing how powerful colour can be. In this instance I banished a particulary sad looking pale grey/green. Now a pristine white, the room is much more inviting. And I repeated the magic in the entry hall.

Thanks to Kym and Lindsay for all their efforts on the weekend.

My son Ben and Sarah and baby Eden are shifting to Alpha (near Emerald) so that Ben, who is a teacher can do his country service. Thankfully, that isn't too far away.

And so the house is being prepared for renting or perhaps even selling.

We are on the countdown for Clinton's Just Ideas exhibition. The show is nearly hung, except for a few works which are late coming. It's looking fabulous! Will reveal all soon!