bear among bees

Paper Chain Update

2012-01-30T19:33:00.000+08:00

This is the first collage for 2012 on the Paper Chain!It is from Ali Drake, Australia to Francesca van der Walt, South Africa on Chain 4.To see more Paper Chain images visit thepaperchain.tumblr.com

Do you "Like" me?

2012-01-30T10:21:00.002+08:00

You can now follow me via my facebook page, so come on over and "like" me!

Last night I dreamed I was dreaming of you...

2012-01-21T15:28:00.001+08:00

Last Wednesday I made a Facebook status update, "Last night I dreamed I was dreaming of you...".

The line is from a Tom Waits song, "Watch Her Disappear". That single line has been whirling about my mind, in that way that songs occasionally haunt you with some past truth you couldn't properly articulate.

On Friday, my friend and brilliant artist behind Doublethink Design, Chiara Adams posted on my Facebook wall that she had created an artwork (below) based on my status update. I don't know whether she was familiar with the origin of the line but I was blown away by how eloquently she had expressed it. Like that strange uncanny feeling I was having had just been given it's full voice. Thankyou so much Chiara.

Last night I dreamed I was dreaming of you, Chiara Adams. Graphite and watercolour. 2011.

Go find out more and follow Chiara Adam's fantastic work at these links:
Doublethink Design
on Facebook
on Twitter
on Tumblr

Tom Waits - Watch Her Disappear

Calling all Facebook users

2012-01-16T13:25:00.003+08:00

via sophiabudapest's flickr photostream - click here

I am gathering information at the moment for my Masters (yes, I'm starting Masters this year!) and have created a survey on SurveyMonkey that focuses on Facebook users. This is to get a little picture of how physical and online interactions intersect and is just a starting point for me.

I'd be greatly appreciative of your participation in the survey, there are 10 questions and your answers are anonymous.

Click here to take survey

Any further comments on the topic are also most welcome in the comments below this post, or via email to clairebushby[at]gmail.com

A trip to Green Head

2012-01-13T12:27:00.000+08:00

I really love the December-January period. It is my favorite time of year because there is get together's with loved ones and people you haven't seen for a long while for Christmas & New Year's, an excuse to indulge in lovely food and lazy holidays. Also, it's often too hot to do anything... bar lolling about and reading!

Last week a good friend treated myself and a couple of other gals to a three day getaway at a beach house in Green Head. It was the perfect end to the holiday season and a really lovely way to begin 2012.

Happy New Year everyone!

Green Head, Western Australia

Dynamite Bay, Green Head

Osprey carrying off his dinner in Green Head

Beached Bluebottle at Jurien Bay Beach

More photos in my Green Head flickr album

2011 Booklist

2011-12-30T15:59:00.003+08:00

It's that time again, when we tend to look over the year that's past and I agree with Julianna at Oh My Cavalier that a look back on one's reading can be a good way to review the year. So here is my booklist. While not the most impressive list, it is rather varied and I think does reflect things I was doing and thinking in 2011.

The New Black - Darian Leader
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
God knows how I got this far in life without reading any Jane Austen but thanks to a little motivation from Pip at Meet Me at Mike's I can now say that I have.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel
Everytime I felt I needed some balance during Austen I picked this up ; ) Also, this reminds me, I had a lot of zombie dreams this year...
The Secret of Chimneys - Agatha Christie
Every year Agatha Christie is on my booklist, this one came with me to Margaret River
Herakut - The Perfect Merge
Hi Fructose Collected Edition 2
PR3 - The Hallowed Seam - James Jean
The Creative Habit: Learn it and use it for life - Twyla Tharpe
Highly recommended for those looking to jog yourself out of a creative rut or just looking for new ways to approach your creative process.
Juxtapoz Handmade
The Elephant of Eastbury - Andrew Gates and Laura Mitchell
I had the opportunity to interview Laura Mitchell and talk about her artwork for this illustrated full-poem book.
Wonderwoman: Love and Murder - Jodi Picoult
Got this to read on the plane to England but read it before I even got to the airport.
The Shakespeare Secret - J.L. Carrell
Not my usual type of book but a friend gave it to me before leaving for England because she knew I was going to be seeing a show at the Globe. I was glad I read it because although the writing was not my style the author had done her research and there was some quite fascinating ideas about Shakespeare conspiracies.
Pleasure & Pain - Chrissie Amphlett
Read on the plane to England.
The Daily Practice of Painting - Gerhard Richter Writings 1962 - 1993
Lynch on Lynch edited by Chris Rodley
The above two books I just keep going back to, they are both wells of inspiration to me.
The Animal Contract - Desmond Morris
I was reading this at the time I was preparing for our exhibition, Beast for Thee in October.
Stencil Graffiti Capital: Melbourne - Jake Smallman & Carl Nyman
On the Internet - Hubert L. Drefus
Cyber_Reader: Critical Writings for the Digital Era - Edited by Neil Spiller (currently reading)
The above two books hint at my Masters subject matter for next year.
Dracula - Bram Stoker (currently reading)
Another book I'm surprised I still hadn't read, so many books too little time! I picked up one of the lovely clothbound Penguin hardback editions that came out not so long ago.

So what did you read in 2011?
Do you have any recommendations for my 2012 booklist?

Another chain complete on the Paper Chain!

2011-12-30T13:53:00.002+08:00

William Wernham to Holly Pepper (Chain 11)

This assemblage by William Wernham completes chain number 11 on our Paper Chain. To see more or find out how to join in visit: http://thepaperchain.tumblr.com

TONI&GUY Yen Young Australian Artist Award Entry

2011-12-24T13:34:00.000+08:00

I've entered Mr Wolf into the TONI&GUY Yen Young Australian Artist Award. There are so many fantastic entries, fingers crossed I get selected!

You can see my entry here: http://www.yenmag.net/artaward/entry.php?n=381
and if you are a Facebook user you can tell them you 'like' it and any of the other wonderful artworks.

At Yokine Reserve

2011-12-19T10:00:00.000+08:00

Newspaper Christmas Wreath

2011-12-18T19:50:00.001+08:00

Every year I feel more and more conflicted about Christmas. It's a wonderful time for catching up with loved ones and letting people around you know that you appreciate them with gifts, cards and fantastic food. Yet, it is also so filled with stressy consumerism and disposability that goes against everything I (and many people close to me) believe in. So, how pleased I was when I discovered Eco Empire and saw the wonderful DIY Christmas craft projects that they are currently featuring.

All the projects are centered around recyclable and reusable materials - reusable bon-bons anyone! That's so simple, yet so genius. Does anybody ever really like those cheap plastic trinkets and bad jokes anyway?

Below is my version of the Recyclable Paper Christmas Wreath, now hanging proudly on my front door. I realised part way through making this that it is mostly the births, deaths and marriage notice pages from the West Australian newspaper. I quite liked the irony and symbolism of endings and beginnings that this unplanned feature brings to it.

Thanks so much Eco Empire for lifting my Christmas spirit!

Total eclipse of the moon

2011-12-18T19:00:00.000+08:00

Last week there was a total eclipse of the moon, and I almost missed it.

I only realised it was happening when it was almost over because I was sitting procrastinating on my computer (as usual) and discovered that people were posting on Facebook about it (ah, thanks Facebook friends for keeping me informed). I'm not quite sure how I missed hearing about it before the event!

Anyway, I quickly rushed out with my camera and caught the tail end of it. The sky was very cloudy so I didn't see much eclipse but the colours in the clouds were fantastic.

One Moment

2011-12-09T17:28:00.001+08:00

One moment at Red Hill Auditorium last Sunday.

Carpets for Communities

2011-12-04T16:54:00.000+08:00

Carpets for Communities Promotional Video from cassarnorton on Vimeo.

Clothes Peg Sculpture

2011-12-03T16:19:00.001+08:00

Oh my goodness, how wonderful is this clothes peg sculpture in Chaudfontaine Park, Belgium? It is by Turkish artist, Mehmet Ali Uysal.

found via Juxtapoz

Creative Space

2011-12-01T15:30:00.000+08:00

This week I added two new blocks to my 200 Crochet blocks project. They are Old Vienna in green and Blocks & Shells in pink. After blocking them in my studio I took them out & about to Point Heathcote, where we enjoyed the afternoon sun together.

To see what other people have been up to in their creative spaces click HERE

One Moment

2011-11-30T17:49:00.001+08:00

One moment in Midland this week.

On the road

2011-11-26T10:06:00.001+08:00

This is a picture that my Grandad took of my Nanna picking up snacks from a roadside kiosk while on a roadtrip, somewhere in Australia - at a guess it's likely NSW. She loved travelling about and camping too. I love her smile as she is crossing this road and there is something about this photo that really describes how I remember her. It also makes me painfully nostalgic for a time that I never actually experienced.

Do you have any photos of loved ones from before you were born that make you feel a little like this? Link them below in the comments if you do, I'd like to see them.

Her Animal Poetry

2011-11-25T17:09:00.000+08:00

If you've followed my blog a little while then you'll probably have gathered by now how much I love bears!

So when I saw this Bear puppet kit on etsy.com I got very excited. Then I checked out all the other lovely creations by Furze Chan, a graphic designer based in Hong Kong, who makes the most beautiful paper goods and lovely soft animals for her label, Furze Chan with her Animal Poetry.

Other favorite puppets of mine are the wonderful albino wallaby and the lovely penguin wearing that sweet little hat. They're all just too wonderful, maybe it's best to get the complete set!

Go have a look, I think you will get excited too!

Find out more about Furze Chan with her Animal Poetry:
Furze Chan on etsy
Furze Chan with Her Animal Poetry
http://furzechan.blogspot.com

sit and sew

2011-11-21T17:06:00.000+08:00

Gregory Pryor's City of Perth Commission

2011-11-14T09:00:00.000+08:00

Speaking with Cherish Marrington

2011-11-12T11:48:00.000+08:00

Intraspecific Competition, Cherish Marrington,
ink on paper, 2011.

Can you tell us a bit about the kind of work you make?

Most of all I like to draw, and specifically make drawings of characters that oftentimes alarm or puzzle even myself. I tend to invent the personality first, and afterwards, the character. Sometimes they are reflections on people that I have seen or met before, otherwise they are totally imaginary. All the while I question their existence, and as I am drawing, I think about their lives. They are definitely real people—only, I have corrupted them in my own manner.

Who are the characters in your work?

Some of them are not my friends, and are the kind of people that are only nice when they want something. The way I form a character is similar to the methods of traditional animation. I am willing to redraw the same character many times until it has been moulded to my specifications, until I understand this character’s way of thinking, or simply until I have the line work just so. Concerning lines and textures, I can be quite pedantic and in this manner I can also relate to Chinese painting: the importance of mark making and how each manner of mark has its definitive place in an image. A certain line can be a specific expression all on its own—that sort of thing.

I really like the photographs of your people out and about among the grass. Do you leave them for people to discover, or do they come home with you after a photo shoot?

I don’t generally litter, although leaving them for people to discover is quite a romantic idea. This was simply one of those explorations that began on a whim—I like to play with scale a lot, and to have the viewer question the time and place of something like this. The imagery captured of these little paper dolls getting lost in the grass led to other things and ultimately I made drawings that related to all of this along the way.

This Is Ralph, Cherish Marrington
ink on paper, 2010

How did the animated film Sassy Playmates come about? I really enjoyed them dancing about the familiar urban landscapes of Perth, and I was creeped out too… with a smile, great combination!

An important person to mention is an artist named Matthew Moore. Certainly, working with this dynamic personality is an enriching life experience. When I discovered that he knew a thing or two about animation I immediately felt compelled to not let these useful skills go to waste. We share the same sort of sense of humour and planning an animation was as amusing as building it together. This, combined with the music he programmed made a piece that instantly worked for us, and we plan to have more of it this coming year.

Can you talk about oniemy.org? It seems there has been a few collaborations among the artists, Sassy Playmates being one example and Slave Trade another, also there appears to be a fair bit of exhibiting together. How did oniemy come about, and does being a part of this collective have an influence on your individual work?

Again, I can only speak highly of my cohort, Matthew Moore. Back when we were both studying art simultaneously last year, it came to our attention that our fellow hungry art students needed to get their brilliant work online and we wanted to set up a neat little online space for our favourite Perth-based art minions. As far as collaborations go it is mainly Matthew Moore and I, but there is nothing like doing group shows a few times a year with our friends. I think that there are some good things to come, as we have studios now! Paper Mountain—get excited.

No One Knows What I am Doing, Cherish Marrington
ink on paper, 2011.

Who or what are your biggest influences?

I’m very attracted to the work of Istvan Banyai, Giovanni Battista—his etchings from Piranesi—and the work of such animators as Sylvain Chomet and René Laloux (especially his Fantastic planet).

What is your earliest creative memory?

Probably as far back as yesterday, and the day before. Everything else gets outdated and vague quite rapidly.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m planning a show with my favourites: Erin Tily-Laurie, Lance Kershaw Ladu and Matthew Moore. I am wild about their work.

How can people find out more about your work?

I would say do some Googling to find out what’s new—it’s easy to do since there aren’t many other Cherish Marringtons out there. Well, maybe there are but they don’t generally have my name.

Thoughts on Skin: an imperfect coat

2011-11-06T12:04:00.001+08:00

Skin, it is that thin line that separates inside from out. Even perhaps, a separation from what is myself from what is not. The functions and processes going on beneath our skin are hidden from view, and rarely thought about day to day. Despite this, the smooth functioning of those organs protected within are what enable us to be. In fact, it is not until we are faced with illness that we become acutely aware of the vulnerability of what's hidden beneath this protective membrane.


Installation view, Skin: an imperfect coat, Naomi Hunter. Image via The Oats Factory.

Last Friday night I went to the opening of Perth based glass artist, Naomi Hunter's exhibition Skin: an imperfect coat at The Oats Factory. Hunter combines glass, steel, installation and film to form a three part exhibition. In the front part of the gallery is an installation which brings to my mind the clinical examination of the body - under bright light vessels spill red droplets like blood onto stainless steel surfaces, glass organ-like forms sit beneath specimen containers, and some seem to teeter dangerously close to the edge emphasising their vulnerability. This acts for me, like a manifestation of the loss of control felt when faced with illness. When we place our trust in medicine and submit to procedures that can be frightening and humiliating. Yet, like the body and all its imperfection these glass forms Hunter has created are intriguingly beautiful.

Sam (detail), Naomi Hunter, glass, steel and light.
Image via The Oats Factory.

The second part of the gallery is like a transition into an earlier stage of life. It contains larger sculptural works in a darkened space which have an ethereal quality to them. These works incorporate perforated steel with glass ovum-like centers. The glass, a membrane protecting the light emanating from within.

In the third part we step back another stage. An up closemoving image of glass while Hunter works with it is projected ontothe wall. Like promordium this liquid is evolving into form, ever changing and ever in process.

Skin: an imperfect coat runs until the 27th November at The Oats Factory, 69 Oats Street, Carlisle WA, Wed – Sun 12 - 5pm.

The Shepherd Inevitably Consumes the Flock, AJ Fosik

2011-11-05T11:00:00.000+08:00

The Shepherd Inevitably Consumes the Flock, AJ Fosik.Wood, Paint & Nails.
From 'Time Kills All Gods' @ the Jonathan Levine Gallery

I really can't get enough of seeing AJ Fosik's work, this is just stunning! I do wish I could go see the exhibition but for now I will have to be satisfied with pics on the internet.

Image via AJ Fosik's photostream

1001 Journals - #5073

2011-11-03T20:33:00.000+08:00

I took part in another of the 1001 Journals this week with the above pages. This journal has a happiness theme which made me think back to the things that made me most happy as a child and the memories that I keep returning to; like playing with my dog in the backyard. Animal friends have always been a source of happiness to me.
If you would like to see what others have contributed to Journal #5073 visit this link - http://www.1001journals.com/journals/5073

The IOU Project

2011-11-02T10:51:00.000+08:00

This is such a great initiative. IOU produces beautiful mens and womens clothes and you can be sure everyone involved in the making was paid a living wage. For each item of clothing you can track it's history back to the weaver of the cloth through the website. There is videos & bios so that you can "meet" the indian weaver or the European manufactuer - removing the anonymity of the maker that we have become so accustomed to. Real people with amazing craftsmanship make our clothes and we should be mindful of the human costs next time we see that "bargain" hanging on the rack.

via http://iouproject.com

Paper Chain Update

2011-10-31T14:07:00.000+08:00

A detail from Beverley Iles' collage

There is a lovely new collage on the Paper Chain!
Beverley Iles, Australia to Victoria Shiel, Scotland (Chain 12)

To see it in full visit the Paper Chain tumblr!

A Scoop mention!

2011-10-30T10:58:00.000+08:00

Hey look! Our exhibition, Beast for Thee got a little mention in the current Scoop Homes & Art, Spring 2011 issue. It's on page 207. Thanks Scoop!

Owl mask ready for Halloween mischief

2011-10-29T17:39:00.001+08:00

I designed this owl mask for the Beast for Thee exhibition, but since it is Halloween on Monday I thought it might be useful for a little trick o' treating too! You can download the PDF here - http://www.mediafire.com/?237txy2qib0io. Cut it out, colour it and staple some elastic to the tabs at the sides and you'll be ready for some nocturnal revelry.

We all designed a paper mask each for Beast for Thee so if you are nearby you can collect all four masks from The Oats Factory.

Have a fun Halloween everyone!

Beast for Thee

2011-10-29T10:32:00.000+08:00

A few more pictures of my work in the Beast for Thee exhibition. It closes tomorrow at 5pm so if you haven't seen it and would like to, please pop in sometime this weekend. Open hours can be found on The Oats Factory website.

Installation view

The beast in me loves the beast in you (detail), hand stitched cotton, papier-mache,
acrylic paint, ink, recycled wood, glass mirrors.

Mr Wolf, charcoal & pastel on paper.

Mr Tez, charcoal & pastel on paper.

For pictures of work by all of the Beast for Thee artists please visit my flickr album - http://www.flickr.com/photos/bearamongbees/sets/72157626890457426/with/6263489478/

Adalita & The Drones

2011-10-22T11:25:00.000+08:00

Last night I went to watch Adalita and The Drones play at The Bakery. It was an excellent gig. The Drones I have seen a number of times now and they remain one of my favorite live bands. Their music is on regular rotation when I'm working in my studio.

I had never seen Adalita (best known as the front woman of Magic Dirt) live before and after seeing her last night I will be further exploring her music. Such an amazing voice, strong, beautiful music. Vocally she occasionally reminds me of Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and at other times there is something Patti Smith about her, both artists I love. I very much recommend checking out her latest self-titled solo album.

A real treat for the night was the last song of the night, when Adalita joined The Drones for a cover of Bob Dylan's Oh, Sister.

Images from Beast for Thee

2011-10-20T20:50:00.000+08:00

I've got a lovely new camera and I'm trying to get the hang of it! Here is some of the first pictures, they are of our current exhibition, Beast for Thee.

If you haven't seen the show yet it is open until the 30th October!see www.theoatsfactory.com.au for more details.

Artsource turns 25

2011-10-14T17:36:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to Artsource on their 25th anniversary! I, like many other WA artists, am very grateful to Artsource for their support and commitment to the Western Australian arts community. My best wishes and thanks go out to everyone involved!

To celebrate they are opening the studio doors to anyone who would like to visit the Fremantle Studios, find out more on the Facebook event page - https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=152778141483159

Below is a recent SBS mini documentary about Artsource Fremantle.

First chain completed on the Paper Chain!

2011-10-11T09:00:00.000+08:00

Natsu Power to Carla Thursday, Chain 9

We have our first complete chain on the Paper Chain!

Natsu Power to Carla Thursday completed chain #9

You can see how this chain progressed by following this link -
http://thepaperchain.tumblr.com/tagged/Chain_9

A visit to the WA museum

2011-10-10T17:31:00.000+08:00

at the WA Museum

Something inspiring: Isaac Cordal's Cement Eclipses

2011-10-09T09:00:00.000+08:00

Isaac Cordal, Amsterdam, 2011.

via http://isaac.alg-a.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/isaacordal/

AJ Fosik & Mastodon: The Hunter

2011-10-08T11:09:00.000+08:00

I am really digging this Mastodon song at the moment, plus it features one of my favorite artists AJ Fosik making that amazing bulls head on the album cover of their latest album, The Hunter.

For more AJ Fosik check out his flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajfosik/

Some beastly thanks

2011-10-08T10:17:00.001+08:00

Til wears her customised Beast for Thee mask and shows us how it's done!

Thanks heaps to everyone who came along to the Beast for Thee opening last night and made it extra grand! I had a wonderful time and I hope you did too. My biggest thanks go to The Oats Factory gallery director, Melody Smith. She is one awesome, hard working lady who knows how make great stuff happen!

The show will be open until the 30th October, so if you missed last night there is still plently of time to visit.

See The Oats Factory website for details http://www.theoatsfactory.com.au

Beast for Thee: opens next Friday!

2011-10-02T21:34:00.002+08:00

Photo by Belinda Gittos

Our exhibition Beast for Thee is opening at The Oats Factory next Friday at 6pm.

You are welcome to join us for a drink and a look at the beastly delights we have created.

If you can't make it on opening night the exhibition runs until October 30th.

Beast for Thee: Claire Bushby, Claire Canham, Maria Hildrick & William Wernham

Opening 6pm 7th October 2011

Runs 8 - 30 October Wed – Sun 12 - 5pm

The Oats Factory 69 Oats Street Carlisle WA 6101

Speaking with Laura Mitchell

2011-09-23T17:00:00.000+08:00

The Elephant of Eastbury: The Book, Laura Mitchell
Acrylic and Mixed Media on canvas.
via laura-mitchell.com.au

Can you tell us a little about yourbackground?

I grew up in ahick town in Virginia, USA and quickly moved to the nearest mostcosmopolitan city I could find (Washington DC) as soon as I could! Istudied music and English Literature in university since I had a veryunpleasant and negative drawing professor early on, but my passionfor visual art won out later when I realised I hated playing inorchestras. I returned for a MFA in design where for my my MFA thesisexhibition, I staged a fine art rather than design orientedmultimedia installation based on exploration of a multi-trackednarrative. I had formerly made several artists books instead ofpresenting visual diaries for various critiques during thecoursework. This was the beginning of my passion for the depictionof “narratives”, stories, or as we say in the design industry“type and image”. After a career as an art director/graphicdesigner in the dot com boom, I moved to Perth and decided toredirect my energies into fine art which was my original love. I havea diploma from Central TAFE where I studied sculpture have completeda few semesters of painting at ECU and Curtin.

I saw your exhibition The Elephantof Eastbury at Kidogo Gallery in Fremantle earlier this year forwhich you had worked collaboratively with poet, Andrew Gates. Youalso produced a lovely publication of the same name with the fullpoem text and 10 colour images. How did this collaboration comeabout?

The poet, AndrewGates of Connecticut in the US was accepted by Littlefox Press topublish his work. The publisher, Christine Matthieu of LittlefoxPress in Melbourne, then approached me to do the project as acommission. I had done illustration work for them formerly, and theyknew of my passion for fine art based upon texts or stories.Christine then connected me with the poet in the US.

The Elephant of Eastbury: All and Nothing, Laura Mitchell.
Acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of the artist.

I'm very interested in thecombination of poetry with visual imagery, it can be quite a hardthing to balance two peoples versions of a narrative and I thinkElephant does this very successfully. Were there any moments when youdidn't agree with each other on how something should be interpreted?Were you in conversation together throughout the creative process, ordid one of you create work for the other to respond to?

The poet and theeditor had already finalised the poem, so I didn't have any influenceon the text. There was quite a bit of collaboration regarding theimages, however. I first started working on the images from theconcept of “childhood memories” - the elephant being a symbol formemory – and the result was a series of still lifes with anelephant. The publisher then felt that there needed to be at leastone image more concretely related to the text “the elephantwandering between the ears”which spurred the series of tinyelephants within an abstract background with the outline of an ear.These I was very pleased with. The other was a landscape withelephant and outline of a person's head, which I felt was too“graphic” and a bit forced, but it satisfied the gap thepublisher was feeling between the words and the images. Later, I waslooking for more inspiration and asked the poet if there was anythingmore behind the poem, and he told me a very inspiring story (based onreality) of a young child going next door to find his grandmotherlying motionless, beside her a tiny bejewelled elephant which was nolonger there when he returned having fetched his mother. This theninspired my exploration of death as a journey: the map, airplane,trunk, and glasses left on open book images were a result of this.

Who are some of your creativeinfluences?

I love Kara Walker, with her incredibly powerful “storybook” cut-out imagesbased on the politics and personal history of women and minorities. Ialso enjoy the work of Sally Smart and wonder how much influence shetook from Walker. Another favourite is LA based “low brow” artistCamille Rose Garcia with her abstract backgrounds and pop cultureinspired foreground figures, one series of which supported endangeredspecies. My mentor during the Elephant project was Melbourne artistnow relocated to Perth Jo Darvall, whose extremely meticulousapproach to colour and her extremely fine hewn approach to mark making isinspiring.

The Elephant of Eastbury: Origins of Meaning, Laura Mitchell
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas. Image courtesy of the artist.

You are also a professionalmusician, what do you play? And does playing music inform your visualwork, and visa versa or are they very separate processes?

I play violinmandolin and sing a bit, but have enlisted 2 great singers to help mewith the latter! Our group is called TrioAlegra & the Velvettesand consists of violin, mandolin, accordion, double bass, percussionand of course 3 part vocal harmonies. I have also done session workfor various musicians. I used to have a second band on the go butthat got canned when my second child came along! More time for thatlater. My music I would say is a parallel but separate process. Forinstance the idea of “consonance vs dissonance” in music I canrelate directly to visual elements such as line, texture, colour. Harmony and melody and counterpoint I relate to lines andcompositional elements, and “timbre” in music I relate to texturein visual art. Pitch I suppose for me could be related to tonality(light & dark) or level of saturation. So in this elemental orconceptual way each process informs the other, but in terms of“representing” aural phenomena directly, no I have attempted thatand found it too difficult! I do however love Kandinsky who I believesometimes worked in that fashion.

Do you listen to anything when youare painting? If so, what?

I frequentlylisten to nothing but to the sounds around my studio. John Cage wasone of the innovators in the concept of simple random sounds, or evensilence itself, as music. Because music for me is often “work” Icherish silence. Sometimes I feel obligated to interrupt my artpractice to work on music which can be a dangerous form ofprocrastination – not dedicating enough focus to either the art orthe music but getting caught dabbling in both! However having saidthat I love Bach, Dub, drum and bass, world music, tom waits,old-time/bluegrass, Balkan brass bands... jazz jazz and more jazzand sometimes put my ipod on random while working with all of thisrotating.

You have lived in quite a fewdifferent places around the world but you are now based in Perth.Have these changes in place had a great influence on you creatively?And what do you like about where you live now?

I have displacedmyself with migration many times in my life and have thrived on thechallenge of absorbing and attempting to assimilate into a newculture or place and the different energy and stimulation each newplace has brought me. However I am extremely grateful to be based inAustralia, WA in particular as the fantastic quality and style oflife has afforded me the option to pursue fine art and music as anindependent agent. In the US I lacked confidence of leaving the “job”as health care is exorbitant without an employer, there are no viablefree health care options there.

The Elephant of Eastbury: Edge of an Ear,
Clockwise from Top Left: Bone, Earth, Blood & Water
Laura Mitchell. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas.
Image courtesy of the artist.

What's coming up for the rest of2011 and into 2012?

The Elephant of Eastbury Book will tourto the US in late 2012 to be presented in 29 Main St. Gallery atVirginia Commonwealth University in Richmond VA, and on May 11, 2012I will be participating in a group exhibition on the concept of“Time” at the Moores Building in Fremantle. My works will bedeveloped through a collaboration with another poet, William Yeoman(also Arts Writer/Books Editor for The West). Following the theme oftime, he has written 12 poems following the concept of the“Horologos” - a set of 12 poems based on each hour of the day(and night), each with a connection also to a season.

Where can people find out more aboutyour artwork and music?

Thanks so much,Claire. My artwork can be viewed on my website, more recent works canbe seen via email or studio visit, simply contact me, details below.To hear about concerts and exhibitions please go to the contactsection of my website and sign your email in through the form and Iwill send notices.

www.laura-mitchell.com.au

info@laura-mitchell.com.au

www.myspace.com/trioalegra

+61 435 054 122 | +61 08 93362646

Are you strong enough to knit?

2011-09-20T17:40:00.001+08:00

Cary Grant was...

From the film, Mr Lucky
Found via Craftivism blog

In the Studio

2011-09-14T18:39:00.002+08:00

Mr. Tez in progress

Stuff happening on the work table

Looking out of the window at the Midland studio

Beast for Thee

2011-09-07T18:58:00.000+08:00

I'm going to be part of an upcoming exhibition at The Oats Factory called Beast for Thee during October.

Maria Hildrick, Stereotypy 2 (Sunbear), 2011. Mixed media on canvas.

Beast for Thee

8 October - 30 October
The Oats Factory

Animals can equally inspire our loveand our fear. They act as our companions, protectors, labourers andprovide us with sport. We have caged them, cooked them and we haveworshipped them. We associate some human behaviours with the animal,often behaviours we would prefer to see as 'other' than human... andsome behaviours that we long to allow in ourselves forgetting that weare part of that same 'kingdom'.

Beast for Thee features work byfour artists currently based in Western Australia, Claire Bushby, ClaireCanham, Maria Hildrick and William Wernham. The artists came togetherto explore this many layered relationship between humans and animals,from their own individual viewpoints and through a variety ofartistic mediums including painting, drawing, collage and small scale3d works.

Stay tuned for more about this show...

http://www.artguide.com.au/exhibition/beast-for-thee-/

Another Paper Chain Update

2011-09-04T21:00:00.000+08:00

Zoe Barry to Heiti M Miller, Chain 2

It's a good week for the Paper Chain, another new collage has arrived.

Click here to visit the Paper Chain tumblr

Paper Chain Update

2011-09-03T09:50:00.001+08:00

There is not one, but two new collages on the Paper Chain!

Melanie Diss to Ali Drake, Chain 4.

Leah Baker to Heather Blacklock, Chain 10

To see more images visit: http://thepaperchain.tumblr.com

Inspiration: the art of Gerhard Richter

2011-08-31T09:00:00.007+08:00

Deer, Gerhard Richter, Oil on Canvas, 1963.

Woman with Dog, Gerhard Richter, Oil on Canvas, 1967.

"Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human; art is making sense and giving shape to that sense. It is like the religious search for God."

Notes, 1962.
Gerhard Richter: Text. Writings, Interviews and Letters 1961 - 2007. Thames and Hudson, London, 2009, pg. 14.

Images via: http://www.gerhard-richter.com

In the studio

2011-08-28T14:16:00.001+08:00

Stuff happening in my studio

I'm currently working towards a group show called Beast For Thee. It is opening in October at The Oats Factory. I will tell you more about it soon.

Something silly and wonderful: The art of Tim Moore

2011-08-27T12:30:00.002+08:00

Tim Moore, Bande eccellenti del cavallo del hero, 2008.

I received this Art Nation video in my emails today from my friend John. It's about the wonderful embroidery work of Tim Moore. This has really made me smile today and perhaps it will make you smile too?

To see more of Tim's work visit: http://www.helengory.com/artist.php?name=Tim%20Moore

Somebody That I Used To Know

2011-08-16T19:29:00.002+08:00

My friend, Anita put me onto watching this great stop-motion animated video by Emma Hack. It's for Gotye & Kimbra's song Somebody that I Used to Know. It's a heartbreakingly beautiful song, and I really like what the animation says about feeling inside/outside of the "picture" for someone.

Funny thing is, I just realised this song reached number 1 in Australia. I hadn't heard it until Anita emailed to say check out the animation! Times like this it dawns on me how out of the loop with what is popular you can be when you don't have a tv... but then I do trust my friends to let me know if there is something worth paying attention to.

Acts of Intimacy Prints

2011-08-15T18:12:00.001+08:00

Acts of Intimacy IV (Series 1)

A selection of my Acts of Intimacy series prints are now available for purchase (framed or unframed) from The Oats Factory! Click here to have a browse : )

Love is what you want

2011-08-07T10:38:00.001+08:00

While in London I saw the Tracey Emin exhibition Love is What You Want at the Hayward Gallery. I wrote about Emin in my Honours paper so I have read extensively about her and it’s something I’ve been wishing for ages, to see Tracey Emin’s work in person, as opposed to reproduced in a book or online. So when I found out there was a survey exhibition of her work during my stay in London I was pretty excited.

At last I got to see her films in their entirety, which to be honest I was reluctant to do, since I’m generally bored by films in contemporary art and was hoping it wouldn’t put me off one of my favourite artists. It didn’t, Emin did not disappoint me. The most memorable for me was the film, Why I never became a dancer.

This film features super-8 footage of her home town Margate, against which she describes her adolescent dreams of getting out of Margate and nearly winning a dance completion, only to be taunted till she ran away from the dance floor in tears by some older x-boyfriends. In the end we see her in a dance studio, where she names these men one by one, then exclaims, “This one is for you” and begins dancing with a huge smile on her face to Sylvester’s, You make me feel mighty real. It actually made me cry but not because it was sad but with a wonderful feeling of triumph, this film really says a lot about overcoming those moments in our past that have completely knocked our self-confidence to the ground.

Love is what you want features the wide range of mediums Emin has worked with over the course of her career, including painting, drawing, photography, textiles, video and sculpture. Her work is incredibly diverse, which can be quite distracting, yet the themes are so tight that this is not the case with Emin.

Although the subject matter is deeply personal and sometimes quite confrontational, these stories are about life – being human, being female. What I enjoy about Emin’s work is that I can relate to her trauma and her joy, there is no right or wrong way to cope with what life throws at us. Emotion is real and not to be denied.

I was so blown away by the size of her blankets, and some of the stitched drawings; I just had no idea of the scale of these works. I came away from Love is what you want with even more respect for this artist both technically and philosophically than I had before (and I already loved her greatly).

If you are in London and haven’t seen this exhibition you really must.

Tracey Emin: Love is what you want
Hayward Gallery 18 May - 29 August 2011

Note: The above images were sourced from the Hayward Gallery website.

Waste Landscape

2011-08-05T09:45:00.016+08:00

Something fasinating I stumbled across on the net today...

elise morin + clémence eliard: wastelandscape
At 'halle d'aubervilliers', Le Centquatre in Paris.
On exhibition until 10 September 2011

In the artist's words:
'made of petroleum, this reflecting slick of CDs forms a still sea of metallic dunes;
the artwork's monumental scale reveals the precious aspect of a small daily object.'

more at Design Boom

Narratives of Debris

2011-08-03T10:59:00.003+08:00

Did you enjoy the interview with Melanie Diss posted yesterday for August Speaking with?
Perhaps you'd like to go see Melanie's work in Narratives of Debris currently showing at The Oats Factory in Carlisle.

narratives of debris
July 29th - Aug 14th
Shelley Brookland, Melanie Diss & Connla Kerr.

An exhibition exploring the memories of places & objects.
Sculpture, ceramics and painting by three emerging artists.

The Oats Factory
69 Oats Street
Carlisle WA 6101

Open: Wed – Sun 12 - 5pm

Speaking with Melanie Diss

2011-08-02T22:38:00.000+08:00

Paint Petals (Purple), Melanie Diss, 2011.

Hi Melanie, Could you tell us a little bit about your background? Did you grow up in Perth and did you study here?

Hi Claire, yes, I grew up and still live near the Swan Valley, pretty standard upbringing. My whole family is quite creative in different ways so I've always had some sort of artistic activity going on around me. In high school I took TEE Art, as well as Art & Design and I also chose to spend my free study period in the art room so almost half my weekly school schedule was spent making art!

I think that was a really productive time and it reinforced what I had always known, that whatever I'm doing, making art needs to be a big part of my life. Saying that though, I had no idea what career art would lead me to other than "graphic designer". I had gotten into university but I wasn't too keen on jumping straight back into full-time study so I thought I'd go to TAFE part-time instead and see where that leads.

I studied Fine Art at Central TAFE in Northbridge, which was an amazing place to study, the lecturers, the resources, the whole atmosphere was really creative and inspiring. I went on to get my Advanced Diploma, then ended up continuing on to university after all, where I got my Bachelor of Arts at Curtin.

Age, Melanie Diss, 2008.

You have a studio in Midland, where we are neighbours : ) Did you get your studio quite soon after leaving uni or did you wait a while? and do you feel that having a studio (as opposed to working in your home space) enhances your creative drive?

Through Artsource I heard about a venue in Midland becoming available for studio spaces in early 2009, which was the year after I graduated. I hesitated to put my application in at first because I assumed I didn't have enough experience. But a friendly person at Artsource encouraged me to apply anyway and let me know that Artsource are all about helping emerging artists so I went ahead and applied and got a space.

I definitely think it would have been harder for me to continue making art if I didn't have my studio space. It's invaluable having a space outside of your home that is dedicated to making art. It keeps you disciplined in that it can be like going to work, but it also gives you freedom, in that it's a room that's solely used for art and doesn't need to be tidied up and used for some other purpose! It feels like a continuation of my space at uni really.

I agree wholeheartedly with what you say about having your own dedicated space, it really does make a difference not having to consider the other uses, or people that use a space!

Who are some artists you find most interesting and why?

While studying and developing my current body of work I discovered artists who were doing really interesting things with paint textures. I wanted to work with paint without a canvas, Linda Besemer, a US artist was doing amazing things with this idea. I also looked at the work of Lynda Benglis, who used paint and other materials, like latex, to create the effect of really visceral paint sculptures. I also love the work of WA artists Cynthia Ellis and Alex Spremberg, while very different, the effects and textures they both create are really incredible.

Paint Patch (Green), Melanie Diss, 2011.

Coming from a textile background, I got so excited when I first saw your work and realised you were painting on fabrics other than canvas! and I think it is kind of funny that people seem to forget that canvas is a textile too. Is that something that you were consciously thinking about when you started painting on organza?

To be honest it's not something I was conscious of! At first I wanted to work with paint only, and create paintings with no support, but I couldn't get the desired effect. So I experimented with a few different materials including plastic sheeting and different fabrics like tulle and voile, before discovering that organza was exactly what I needed.

I wanted a material that would 'disappear', with the support being almost invisible. Organza definitely gave this appearance but when I started using it I also found it had other really interesting qualities that I could work with and manipulate, and with it's transparency there are lots of things you can do that you can't do with canvas.

Installation view - Narratives of Debris @
The Oats Factory, 2011.

Are there constant themes that you are attracted to throughout your work?

With my current work I am really interested in texture, and I find that I'm drawn to that in other artists' work. I also find myself noticing interesting textures everywhere now! I'm also interested in the themes of decay and renewal, and finding something attractive/appealing in discarded or neglected objects.

Are there any mediums/materials you would like to try that you haven't done yet?

There are so many different skills I've yet to learn, I think that's what makes art so exciting, there's an infinite supply of techniques and materials to try out. For me though, I'd like to learn screen-printing and finally learn to sew properly! I do find I always end up coming back to working with paint though, there are so many things I've yet to try and there's so much it can do. I'm also only just starting to use different painting mediums and glazes more, so I think I'll be sticking with paint for the next few years at least.

I often hear music playing from behind your door when I walk past at the studios. I think it is interesting how some artists need silence to work and others really draw from that energy music gives, or they drown away outside distractions with it. What part does music play for you in your art making?

I find I generally need the TV on or music playing if I'm working for long periods of time. I find it occupies the part of my brain that thinks too much! If I have music playing while making art I tend to make more intuitive decisions, I don't over-think what I'm doing. And yes, it definitely blocks out other outside distractions too, so I definitely prefer having music playing.

Installation view - Narratives of Debris @ The Oats Factory, 2011.

If you could go anywhere tomorrow where would it be?

I was gonna be cliched and say the Louvre, travelling around Europe, seeing as many galleries/churches/museums as I can but the truth is, tomorrow I'd love to be able to go to my studio and work full-time as an artist, and quit my boring day job.

Any current/future shows coming up?

I have a show with Shelley Brookland and Connla Kerr, at Melody Smith's gallery The Oats Factory. The show is called Narratives of Debris and the last day to see it is next Sunday, 14 August.

Where can people find out more about your work?

I've just recently set up a blog which can be viewed at melaniediss.blogspot.com, please check it out!

An English Adventure, Week 2

2011-08-01T11:24:00.000+08:00

Day 9, After meeting back up with Liz in Chelsea, we went for a walk exploring Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace and Wellington Arch.

Day 10, We walked from Chelsea to Kensington and visited the Natural History Museum, which was a truly awesome experience. The architecture of Natural History Museum is an amazing work of art, with beautiful detailing throughout the building and with an almost overwhelming amount of things to see and absorb.

Inside the Natural History Museum, London

We then caught a bus to Harrods, another fascinating spectacle with the most incredibly expensive cup cakes I’ve ever seen! We did not partake in any of those extravagances.

Day 11, We shopped in Soho and had a yummy dim sum lunch in Chinatown. Then we visited the British Museum. Again, there was so much to see there, it’s just impossible to see any of London’s big museums in just one day.

Inside the British Museum, London

Later, that evening we went to the Royal Opera House to see Madame Butterfly – a wonderful performance but the story (that I’ve seen a few productions of now) is so terribly depressing!

Day 12, Liz and I went shopping on Kings Road, sales were on and we had a great time purchasing some lovely clothes. At lunch we discovered The Trafalgar, where we had the best fish & chips I’ve ever had – seriously!

The best fish and chips ever!

In the evening Liz’s cousin took us to Shoreditch, where we had some great burgers at Byron, a hamburger joint that sources their ingredients from local producers. Then to The Hoxton Square Bar for some live music, a great venue and fun night.

Day 13, I visited the Southbank for the second time, this time to see the Tracey Emin show Love is what you want at the Hayward Gallery. I will be posting a separate blog entry about this exhibition since I enjoyed it so much. After the Hayward I wandered about the Southbank, people watching and taking in the atmosphere of this vibrant area.

View from the Hayward Gallery balcony

Then off to Tate Modern again for Poetry and Dream, the highlights were seeing drawings by Louise Bourgeois, painting and sculpture by Dorothea Tanning and sculpture by Joseph Beuys and Ai Wei Wei. For dinner I met back up with Liz for another visit to The Trafalgar in Chelsea.

Joseph Beuys @ Tate Modern

Day 14, Victoria & Albert Museum, wow! We saw The Cult of Beauty exhibition and tried to soak in as much of this massive museum of wonderfulness as we could.

Jewellery room @ the Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Day 15, Liz and I both started coming down with the flu, there was lots of rain this day and we decided to just go for a quick trip back to Camden Town. Since we were feeling pretty lousy we came back to our place in Chelsea quite early to pack and rest up for the long trip home early the next morning.

An emergency in London

So, that is my English adventure, it was fantastic (except for the flu part).
Thanks England you are great!

If you are interested to see anymore of my photos from England you are welcome to visit my flickr album - CLICK HERE.

Coming home

An English Adventure, Week 1

2011-07-28T21:33:00.007+08:00

I got back from England last week, then spent a week in bed with the flu (not the best way to return home). I packed so much into those two weeks in England that I think I will have to write a couple of blog posts, one for each week that I was there. I wasn't able to blog while I was there because I didn't have regular access to a computer and... well, I was having too much fun to be blogging!!

I travelled with my friend, Liz and her family, we stayed based in Chelsea, London but I did have a chance to explore outside of London too. Day 1, Liz and I visited Camden Town with it's amazing markets - which we just fell in love with! It really is a facinating feast of interesting shopping, eating and people watching.

In Camden Town

Day 2, we visited Saatchi Gallery where we saw the exhibition The Shape of Things to Come: New Sculpture. I think I shall have to write a separate blog post about this since it was a pretty great show. We also shopped in the Saturday Market at Duke of York Square, just outside of Saatchi Gallery - there we picked up some of the best pies I've ever tasted and some lovely handmade fudge. In the evening we metwith some of Liz's English relies and went to see Dr. Faustus at Shakespeare's Globe , an enjoyable performance and fantastic venue.

Inside Shakespeare's Globe

Days 3-5, Liz & I travelled to Pewsey, in Wiltshire. This is the village where my nanna B and dad were both born - my nanna was actually born in a pub called the Cooper's Arms, no less! Wiltshire was an amazing place to visit, so much to see. Many of the heritage buildings and sites are very well preserved, very interesting to someone from WA, I think our councils seem obsessed with new and shiny things. The countryside is just beautiful there.

Inside The Cooper's Arms, Pewsey, Wiltshire

My nanna B's niece, Linda and her husband kindly hosted us at their lovely home in Pewsey and showed me some of the places of significance to the family, plus some popular nearby tourist sites, including Stonehenge, Avebury and Salisbury Cathedral. I especially loved Roddy & Linda's garden.

Roddy & Linda's Garden

On the evening of Day 5, Liz and I saw the very funny Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine at HMV Forum in Kentish Town, London.

In St. Peter & St Paul's Church, Marlborough, Wiltshire

Day 6, I travelled up North to Wisbech where my other nanna's brother (mum's side), Anton lives with his wife, Barbara. It was facinating to see the difference in landscape driving up that way, compared to where Wiltshire is. Much flatter and almost looks like down South, Western Australia, I didn't expect that!

Day 7-8, Travelled with Anton and Barbara to Dunstable, Bedfordshire where he and my nanna S were born and spent their childhood. It was very evident that this town has suffered a lot in terms of the big retail giants taking over trade - smaller businesses just can't cope and many shops were empty, even boarded up. Quite sobering after the towns that I had just visited in Wiltshire. Anton showed me were he and nanna had gone to school and where the family's bicycle shop once was, along with a few other significant family sites.

We visited Dunstable Downs. The main purpose of my visit was to see where my nanna's ashes had been scattered. She spoke of Dunstable Downs so often I almost felt like I already knew it when I got there. It is a very beutiful place and I can see why she would have spent so much time there.

The view where my beautiful nanna's ashes are.

On day 9, Anton and Barbara took me to St Alban's, in Hertfordshire. The parklands around St. Alban's Cathedral are really lovely. I was excited to see the wall remains of the Roman cityVerulamium, right in the middle of the park! Also, the cathedral contains some wonderful thirteenth-century paintings on the pillars.

Remains of Roman city, Verulamium. AD 256-270.

Thirteenth Century paintings inside St. Alban's Cathedral

After St. Alban's I traveled back to Chelsea, London to meet back up with Liz and take in some sites in London. Phew! What a week and another to come!

Artperth & some quick news

2011-07-26T22:50:00.000+08:00

I'm back from England and almost back to usual routine. I caught a hideous flu the evening before we left which made the flight home that extra bit longer. Then I was in bed for a week when I got home with larangytis & a chesty cough. I'm almost over it but that cough is hanging on.

I had a wonderful time in England and when I'm feeling a bit better (which will hopefully be soon!) I will share some images and tell you a little about my trip. But for now... I just wanted to let everyone know that the lovely peeps at Artperth.com have posted up a PDF version of my interview with Zoe Barry which is now downloadable.

Also, if you haven't visited Artperth before, I recommend that you do, it is a great place to explore and discover some wonderful Perth talent and find out what's on around the state, so check it out.

Speaking with Zoe Barry

2011-07-03T18:05:00.002+08:00

Shit Faced, Zoe Barry, 2010. Mono-print & cotton stitching.

Did you grow up in Perth? Study here?

I went to primary school in Roleystone, and high school in Narrogin. After year 12, I moved straight up to Perth and got my BA Art at Curtin, majoring in printmaking. I am now doing an Arts Management course through WAAPA part-time, and working 30hrs a week at Artsource.

Can you tell us a little about the kind of work you make?

I've always made art from a cathartic place. So whatever I'm making is from an honest place and it often reflects where I am at. I generally revolve around printmaking and installations. At the moment I'm enjoying exploring stitching-like methods and materials. My work often reflects my observations and reactions to the everyday.

I do, Zoe Barry, 2009. Cross-stitch.

I really enjoy works like In the Beginning and I do, the way that you have subverted traditional stitch-work that calls to mind the good wife decorating her home with virtuous texts. You seem to tackle emotional subjects with quite a bit of playfulness and humour. Can you talk a little about this?

I was looking at combining text and image, and was particularly into Shrigley and Leunig. I wanted to say something that expressed my current cynicism, as well as make people laugh and think. I had also just discovered radical cross stitch, and loved work by Ghada Amer, Leah Emery and Silke Raetze's 'My Buddy'. I had drawn a large number of stick figure drawings expressing random thoughts and chose my favourites to develop further.

I like the idea of putting in so much time and detail into what was essentially a stick drawing and challenging the craft vs. art and high art vs. low art conceptions. I love the contradiction between the time consuming, feminine, and traditionally decorative cross stitch and the subversive, totally honest, and cynical message.

Yeah, I guess it's a reflection of my somewhat dark humour and the very sophisticated tool of sarcasm.

Are those stitching and craft techniques something you learned as a child, from family perhaps or is it something you sought to learn later as an adult?

Yeah, Mum taught me to do cross stitch and I quite enjoyed it as a child. I also got into French knitting and weaving for a while, but never really succeeded at knitting.

What is your workspace like? Are you someone who works from a studio or in your living space?

At the moment I generally work from wherever there is space in my apartment. Sometimes it's the kitchen table or desk, but it often ends up being my bed! So, there's a couple of paint and ink stains on there.

What is your earliest creative memory? and did you always want to be an artist, or did that come later?

I think I was about 8 and I sat and drew every last tiny detail of my bicycle and I remember Dad getting quite enthusiastic about how well I had done!

I was planning on being an art teacher for a fair while, but when it came to enrolling I realised I don't want to teach but just sit and use the schools supplies and have lots of holidays. Haha!


Pink Present, Zoe Barry, 2010. Location: South Entrance of Curtin University, Manning Road, Bentley, WA.

The images of your gift wrapped urban objects make me so happy! You've also done some yarn bombing? Can you talk a little about the work you have installed in public spaces?

I was looking at alternative mediums of graffiti and street art. There's some extremely creative and original styles of graffiti around. I was totally intrigued by yarn bombing when I discovered it, and it expanded on the stitching I was already doing. I found it quite difficult to think of something more original than just a contribution-like piece to the yarn bombing movement. Having said that, I really enjoyed doing the piece 'river views', and am amazed it is still there, bright as ever, 12 months later! It makes me smile every time I drive past it, and even more when I see someone else notice and react to it.

So, I wanted to do some street art in a medium that no-one else had done before, but realised I didn't have the balls to do anything particularly illegal! The idea of gift graffiti just came to me and was a lot of fun. It was interesting seeing how long it would stay installed for, and watching people's reactions when they passed by a gift wrapped electrical box! Despite my stakeout sessions, I haven't managed to catch one of these installations being removed yet.

River Views, Zoe Barry, 2010.
Location: Pattie st, Cannington, WA.

Do you have any exhibitions coming up?

I'm Co-Curating a show that will be up at Free Range in August called Kick the Habit, exhibiting new work by 4 emerging Perth artists of varying mediums. So, I'm pretty excited about that. I have started working on some new stuff, combining found metal and wool, but it isn't developed to be exhibition ready as of yet.

Untitled, Zoe Barry, 2011.
Wool and found metal object.

Where can people find out more about your work?

For news about what I'm up to and to look at more of my work, you can have a look at my website: www.zoebarry.com. I welcome feedback, comments and questions :)

Bear on a Plane

2011-06-30T09:00:00.046+08:00

Image: Bear on a Plane by Gemma Jones

I will be flying on a plane destined for England tonight, I’m so excited! I've never been to England. In fact, I've never been on an overseas flight so I can hardly contain my excitement!

I'm going to see family I haven't seen for years, and some that I have never met. I will visit some museums and galleries I've been daydreaming about forever, and hopefully find some nice places to do some thrift shopping. Plus, I am going with one of my best buddies which makes the trip a little sweeter still.

Do you have some favorite places to see and shop, in and around London?

At the studio

2011-06-29T16:52:00.001+08:00


With artwork on walls by Claire Canham, Graeme McCullagh, Denise Brown. Sculpture by Cathy Swiolko

Light through the window

Pigeons in the window

Old Vienna

2011-06-29T16:40:00.000+08:00

The latest addition to my 200 crotchet blocks is Old Vienna, block # 98.

View from a Window project

2011-06-27T22:41:00.004+08:00

27.06.2011

http://viewfromawindowproject.tumblr.com

Something beautiful

2011-06-21T23:29:00.000+08:00

I've just discovered the work of Shinichi Maruyama through the Juxtapoz blog. The video is just beautiful and I recommend exploring his website http://shinichimaruyama.com some amazing images.

Paper Chain Update

2011-06-20T23:11:00.000+08:00

Six hands are better than two, Clare Dilworth, June 2011.

The latest collage on the Paper Chain is by
Clare Dilworth to William Wernham on Chain #11.

See all collages at thepaperchain.tumblr.com

Reflections On Being Faithful

2011-06-17T20:09:00.001+08:00

Better Luck Next Time, David Turley.

When an invitation arrived in my inbox to David Turley's current exhibition at Free Range I was instantly intrigued by its title, On being faithful. I visited the exhibition today and it brought up a lot of memories for me.

I grew up in a family full of polarised views on faith. My mum's father, a Spirit filled preacher and my father's father, an atheist, and both as passionate about their belief (or lack thereof). Needless to say family events with them were always sure to be lively.

I was in hospital a lot when I was a kid and when I was about 5 plagued by night terrors of dying. This fear began a nightly ritual of mum and I saying the Lord's Prayer at bedtime, followed by a session of imagining. There was a picture on my wall (from my mum's childhood bedroom) of children running in a field with little lambs & woodland animals, mum told me that it was what heaven will look like, and every time I was afraid I was to imagine I was in that picture playing with them. I still have that picture in my bedroom now.

Growing up faith and belief seemed always to be in the foreground of family, whether it was to praise or chide it. I tended to follow in my mum's footstep's as a kid since belief in God gave me a sense of comfort and safety, not to mention the promise of woodland animals for friends in the afterlife! Also the gaping absence of God is a terrifying thing to face. For a period in my late teens I even carried a bible with me everywhere, preached to anyone who would listen (and probably many who would rather not) in genuine fear for their salvation. Then I got angry and blamed religion for every sad and miserable thing that had ever happened to those I loved, and every problem with the world today. In the last few years though there has been less anger, more reflection.

I enjoyed the exhibition On being faithful because David Turley succeeds in reflecting on an upbringing in the Christian faith with both humour and integrity. His criticisms do not descend into mockery, something I think quite rare in comments by artists on religion, and valuable since faith is so layered in memories and connections to our past and history.

On being faithful is open this weekend Saturday, 18th and Sunday, 19th June, between 2-6pm at Free Range, 339 William Street, Perth, WA.

Good little things

2011-06-14T00:04:00.003+08:00

B took me to see the 35th Model Railway Exhibition at Claremont Showgrounds on last weeks long weekend, Monday. I was totally blown away by some of the wonderful exhibits, the creativity of the scenes people had built!

Below are some pictures of my favorites but there were so many good ones, so visit my flickr if you would like to see more.

The exhibition is held annually by the Australian Model Railway Association WA Branch so keep your eye out for it next year. Also click here to see a video of some of the exhibits in action on Jane's blog.

Paper Chain Update

2011-06-08T23:54:00.000+08:00

The latest collage on the Paper Chain is by

Sarah Jane Pell to Zoe Barry on Chain #2.

See more images at thepaperchain.tumblr.com

Masked and animal

2011-06-05T23:48:00.005+08:00

I'm working on a project at the moment with animal masks and heads, here are three of my favorite study drawings over the last couple of weeks.

If you have a picture of yourself wearing an animal mask, that you don't mind me using as a reference image, I would be interested to see it : )

Likewise, I am looking at a lot of animals in art generally, do you have any favorite animal flavoured artworks that you think I should see?

Light all my lights

2011-06-04T00:04:00.003+08:00

This video makes me so very happy, I wanted to share it with you.

http://seekerloverkeeper.com

Speaking with Anita Haywood

2011-06-03T16:42:00.002+08:00

When I was in my late teens one of my best-friends started using heroin. When expressing my concern to her she told me that it was her body and she could do what she likes with it. In my naïve teenage way I empathised with what she was saying. Navigating ones way into adulthood we are faced with questions about who we are, how to/whether to assimilate with societal restrictions and ideas of what is normal. Many of us spend our whole lives struggling to feel in control and for some, like my friend, even the most self-destructive actions can lead to a feeling of gaining a choice about ones own destiny.

It didn't take long before we realised that she was addicted, the control she thought she had was false. She had in fact, just traded one form of control for another. I felt an intense powerlessness as I watched someone I love submit to something like a slow motion suicide, with seemingly little action that I could take to change it.

Anita Haywood is currently exhibiting her show, The Illusion of Control at Heathcote Museum & Gallery. Please don't misunderstand my introduction, it is not about drug abuse but it does deal with that experience of spiralling loss of control and the methods that we try to put into place to gain some. It also spurs us into reflecting on situations in our own life and our perception of control. My story is just one and I have no doubt you'll have your own.

In her statement about The Illusion of Control, Anita says,

“We strive throughout our lives. It is the Human Condition. Racing against time, battling with opponents over various dilemmas, coping with the stresses and strains of everyday life, as if we are in 'free fall'.

We like to believe that we have control over our lives. But have we? No matter what controls we think we have established, events develop out of our jurisdiction. Even in death, nothing is guaranteed.”

The Illusion of Control will run until the 3rd July 2011 at Heathcote Museum & Gallery. Anita will be giving an artist talk at 1.00pm, Saturday, 4th June and she will be artist in residence at the gallery on Saturdays 11th, 18th and 25th June, where she will be available to discuss her work.

Anita has also kindly agreed to do a Q & A about her art practice with me for June Speaking with.

Ignition, Anita Haywood, burn photograph.

Can you tell us a little about your background, where you grew up?

I was born in England, but as my Father was in the RAF, we lived in several countries while I grew up, usually 'hotspots' - Germany, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Wales and Aden. When I married, I lived and worked in Iran and very briefly in India, all as a teacher.

What kind of work you do you make?

I did my degree in conceptual sculpture & finished my BA Hons in 2008 in Scotland. I specialised in filming groups that I planned & directed in 'communication scenarios', either as Interventions or Performance. Sometimes I set up 'mis-communication' theatrical sets for Audience Participation Art, and exhibited work in Aberdeen & Edinburgh as Sound Sculpture.

What drives you to do what you do?

That's more difficult to answer! I suppose I've always liked 'creating' something that stimulates me - from chopping up clothes as a child & refiguring them to wear. I tend not to like cooking that is consumed so fast, but making something that lasts longer & I can evidence. Answers to 'Why We War' interests me.

Did you grow up in a creative environment?

No, except that my mother was a great seamstress. She was the cook & never let me in her kitchen!

Running Past Perth, Anita Haywood, Infrared photograph & light box

You've emigrated from England relatively recently, what do you like about Perth? And how do you think living in Perth has influenced your work?

The people are very friendly. It's extremely clean & warm [maybe a tad too warm in the summer] But especially the art & the gallery openings are such fun. Fremantle Festival was the best, but I love all the performances by dancers & actors. The Writers Festival is brilliant. All hugely stimulating even down to filming at the Agricultural Show! I think about identities.

What are some of your favourite materials to work with?

Probably the camera(s) I have digital, camcorder, film & medium format, & have set up a darkroom in my bathroom [very exciting & obsessive to develop] I probably like the control of directing people too….

Any medium you would like to explore that you haven’t done yet?

I'm just starting with paint, so there's tons to learn. I want to make more small figures in mixed media that will mirror my film ideas.

Universal language, Anita Haywood, Oil on canvas.

Who are some of your creative influences?

Bill Viola of course. Rebecca Horn, Annette Messager, Shirin Neshat, Mona Hatoum, Johanna Billing, Anselm Kiefer.

Where can people find out more about your work?

My website www.anitahaywood.com shows my audience participation, collaborations & interventions. Or they can email me on anitahaywood@gmail.com & have a chat.

I like Surprises

2011-05-31T00:06:00.002+08:00

Pink & Grey, paper collage and oil.

You might remember a few days ago I told you that I had entered a work into the City of Melville Art Awards? Well, I won an award for my mixed media painting, Pink & Grey! You can still view it at the Melville Civic Centre, up until this coming Saturday, along with many other works of art by some wonderful Western Australian artists.

Here is the City of Melville media release - Judges select striking art award winners

Speaking with Jessica McCallum

2011-05-30T18:09:00.000+08:00

It's Speaking with time again and for the month of May I caught up with all round talented lady Jessica McCallum via email.

Bohemia

Hi Jessica, what you are working on at the moment?

I'm working on an exhibition, opening, hopefully, at the end of this year and, possibly, in the State Theatre Centre of WA, Studio Underground. The theme is creepy clowns, buxom burlesque beauties, fetish, fear and fascination...complete with feathers. A little bit circus and a little bit carnival.

I'm doing a series of watercolour/ink/gouache portraits at the moment, inspired by my evening Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School classes. Once I move to bigger quarters, I'll start working on some larger spray-paint/acrylic graffiti slash comic book style paintings. I've got this idea for some mixed media pieces tentatively called ‘Stains’ using tea & coffee, salt & silk (if they work).

Also I'm hoping to finish some fascinators (just in time for the races) which I was going to display on a slightly freaky, but not offensive, sculptural installation. I wanted to explore a slightly darker, sometimes creepy, definitely sexy, but always fun side of theatrics in this exhibition. That and I’ve always wanted to run away to the circus.

Sounds exciting!
We met when we were working front of house at a theatre together and I think, from memory you studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)?

Yes, we met at His Majesty's Theatre, which, oddly enough I applied to work for when I was a WAAPA student... & didn't get :). Too young I guess, straight out of high school. Or too goth. Studied scenery, props design and construction for a couple of years at WAAPA. Lots of carpentry and welding, and unfortunately for me, too little designing.

Went on to use my scene painting for the more practical purpose of painting murals for businesses and also in people's houses for a while. I'd like to get back into staging though, it was fun. The interactivity is cool, doing stage design, knowing that someone is going to utilise and interpret whatever you've created. I guess that's why I'd like to get back into sculpture and why I studied product design at one point. I find people's reactions to things they can actually use interesting.


From the Red Umbrella Series

I'm interested in how performance and theatre has influenced your work. In your exhibition, Raincheck you had small watercolour drawings that for me acted as a storyboard for the larger scale 'feature' works. Even your process of having people 'play a part' in photographic reference material seems akin to performance, rather than just the artist's model posing. Is that a correct observation?

I've done a bit of film stuff too, which yeah, I guess kind of explains my storyboard style. A picture might paint a thousand words but throw in a couple more and you've just got so much more to say. I like to kind of write a story by either photographing or filming my friends, then I'll edit that down to several frames which capture, the introduction, conflict and resolution, in a few different moods and expressions. I choose my favourite moments, those which really encapsulate my friend as I see them. Then I just pick a favourite shot, or two or three... like a 'best of', to paint.

I ask my friends to pose, but it's the moments that happen in between I tend to choose to immortalise. The one's they've suddenly burst out laughing in, or a coy, shy look to the camera to check if you're still filming, a spur of the moment 'what about if I do this?'. So yeah, I guess my process is very filmic, even a little voyeuristic but then I paint them how I see them anyway and in a kind of fantastical, 'what if' background too. I'm no landscape artist and painting fruit just doesn't do it for me. Neither do torsos and bits of bodies, too clinical. I like faces, animated faces. Maybe moments in mixed media is a fairly accurate description of my portraits.

Jude

It is interesting what you say about directing your friends into poses then capturing them in the moments they are at their most natural. I think it is the balance between the staged and the spontaneous that attracts me to your work. It is a good metaphor for the way relationships between people often are, a precarious balance of the identity we want others to see with our private inner desires and insecurities. Is it important that the identity of the person you paint is recognisable to others? and how do you choose who to paint?

I know what you mean by 'what we want others to see'. Most people show a particular side of themselves to the world. I guess it's that vulnerability, I'm compelled to paint. Good or bad, the traits that make that person them are what makes them beautiful. So why not share those with other people that may not see them the same way I do.

As for how I choose who to paint, those people I've become closer to recently because they have all that untapped vulnerability. Probably because I know the person but have only just glimpsed their inner-selves, I don't know them well enough to be privy to their secrets. A desire to know more about them through focusing on the contours of their face, drives me.

Did you always want to be an artist? or did that come later in life?

Not sure about always wanting to be an artist, think I wanted be a lawyer or a cop when I was a kid. I've always been creative though and drawn to beautiful things. By beautiful I mean both natural and man-made. I grew up on a farm when I was very young and near the beach as a teenager, so the environment and nature are important to me.

Symmetry and pattern also fascinate me. I rarely paint portraits face on because I like imperfection and there's this compulsion to balance the features. I've seen a documentary before that studied the asymmetry of nature, while we are made up of a series of patterns we are imperfect, unbalanced and I like to reflect that in what I paint. A computer program can replicate and produce pattern, nothing creative about that, it takes human intervention to make the beautiful mistakes.

Splash

What is your earliest creative memory?

Earliest creative memory. Not sure, I used to sit out in the backyard with my brother and draw a lot. Mum would give us a pile of butcher's paper and coloured pencils, we'd happily sit at the picnic table scribbling. Dad was a biologist and he would tell me all the botanical names of flowers, while Mum would walk with me in the garden and tell me their personalities, as though she was introducing me to friends. I'd make up little stories about their daily lives based on the shapes of their little faces and their individual attributes along with their terribly formal sounding names. I would address them and converse as though we were colleagues or co-conspirators. Pretty creative, and maybe a little nuts. Now you know way too much about me :)

I don't think that's nuts, I love that idea! It sounds like with the flowers you were already homing in on the stories faces can tell. It also sounds like your mum was quite a creative lady too? Can you name some artists/people who you've found most inspiring?

I guess my Mum, I would have to say, has inspired me the most. Since I was a little girl she's been involved in film and now writes screenplays, and dabbles in publishing the occasional poem. I always ask her to write some words for me to put next to my paintings when I exhibit and I've started putting together little postcards with a print and the poetry, just as something people can take home if they don't want to invest in an original.

Other influences are usually film orientated; I'm a bit of a Tim Burton fan, Eiko Ishioka, Art Director on the movie the Cell and the costumer for Cirque Du Soleil's Varekai, who started out as a graphic designer in Tokyo. I love all Cirque Du Soleil's stuff of course, and I'm developing an interest in street art and graphic novels.

Creepy Clown

Do you listen to anything when you are working? Is there a soundtrack to your work?

I always put my i-tunes on at home while I'm working. Usually I start a new themed playlist. At the moment it's anything burlesque, carnival or circus inspired, from Christina Aguilera's Candy Man to Eminem Welcome to the Eminem Show to Barbara Streisand's Send In The Clowns to Missy E's Get Your Freak On. It keeps me focused. Last exhibition I listened to Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head waaaay too many times.

Where can people find out more about your work?

I have a blog, I update occasionally, when I've got something to say, which qualifies as a website at the moment www.jessicamccallum.com. Working on the website side of things, I want something interactive otherwise it feels a bit like a one-way conversation, or worse a sales thing, ickky.

City of Melville Art Awards

2011-05-26T20:12:00.001+08:00

I have entered one work into the mixed media category of the City of Melville Art Awards.

Apparently there are over 250 artists exhibiting so it should be worth a visit if you like to see a diverse range of artworks from painting to textiles, sculpture to photography.

Exhibition runs from 28 May - 4 June and is open daily from 9:30am - 4:30pm Monday - Friday; 1:00pm - 4:00pm Saturday and Sunday at the City of Melville Civic Centre, 10 Almondbury Road, Booragoon.

Wish me luck!

My new website!

2011-05-21T13:33:00.001+08:00

After quite a bit of frustration and cursing at my computer screen I have a website that I'm pleased to invite you to visit. It features a selection of my past and recent artworks so if you are interested in seeing stuff I've made (since this blog is more about works in progress than the completed works) please have a looky!

www.clairebushby.com

Also if you have any trouble viewing content, particularly the drop down menu, please do let me know. I've tried my best to make it compatable across browsers but there might still be something I've missed. Thanks friends : )

Red, White & Blue

2011-05-20T22:51:00.001+08:00

Once the cooler months arrive I automatically feel the need to make soup and crochet. Hence, I haven't posted one of these in a while! This is a project I have been working on since 2009. I've been making all the squares from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks in an attempt to learn crochet inside out - while also playing around with photographing them.

This is 4 of block #68 (Red, White & Blue) joined together.

View from a Window

2011-05-14T12:44:00.001+08:00

I have been documenting the view from my studio window since the week I moved in (April 2010). It is just over a year now since then and I've got quite a collection of photographs! I love seeing the same view in so many different lights and I'm fortunate enough to have quite an interesting building to observe across the road.

If you are interested in seeing all the images together I've set up a new tumblr blog just for this project - http://viewfromawindowproject.tumblr.com/

Drawn: Exhibition at The Oats Factory

2011-05-11T08:02:00.001+08:00

I wrote about Bill's artwork last week and now you have the chance to go see it in person. He is exhibiting some of his drawings with 13 other artists including Claire Canham, who also co-runs Paper Chain with me!

drawn
13 - 29th May 2011
at The Oats Factory
69 Oats Street
Carlisle, Western Australia
An exhibition of contemporary drawing featuring works by Marie- Annick Burridge, Claire Canham, Jenna Downing, Zoe Chong-Seng, Connla Kerr, Cynthia Ellis, Donovan Fisher, Deborah Haslam, Rebecca Morgan, Rebecca Orchard, Tanisha Percival, Melody Smith, Bill Wernham & Ian Williams.

Paper Chain Update

2011-05-10T18:29:00.002+08:00

Paul Moncrieff to Clare Dilworth, May 2010 (Chain 11).
Photograph courtesy of Clare Dilworth.

There is another wonderful collage on the Paper Chain.

It is by Paul Moncrieff to Clare Dilworth.

Check it out at

http://thepaperchain.tumblr.com

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=365525800880

As evening draws in

2011-05-02T09:00:00.003+08:00

Midland Town Hall

Spot the differences

2011-05-01T09:00:00.009+08:00


27.04.2011

04.04.2010

Not Speaking with William Wernham

2011-04-30T19:48:00.004+08:00

Kangaroo (skull), ink pen on 2 pieces of found paper.

Well, actually I speak with him all the time, we live together. This month, although I have a couple of interviews in the works, I was unable to get a finished one for the April 'Speaking with'. So I decided to do things a little differently, instead I am going to tell you a little about the art of William Wernham.

Some of you may also know Bill as my partner. We met during our Visual Art Degree at ECU in a first year Foundation Studies class. There were some drawings that I can only describe as intense stapled to a wall in a seemingly haphazard way (yet it wasn't) to which I exclaimed “Who did these awesome drawings!” and Bill mumbled “Um, I did.”, I said “what are they?”, he replied “it's a car alternator”, and that was about it. Well, the conversation went something along those lines and if you've ever tried to speak with Bill about his art you will also know that speaking about what he makes is not his favourite part about being an artist. Hence, I am “Not Speaking with William Wernham”.

There is few illustrators who can make the inner workings of a car look so extraordinarily interesting to the non-mechanical such as myself. In fact, I was soon to find out, it wasn't that Bill was interested in mechanical things either he just liked to draw things that most people overlook.


Pelican, coffee on 9 A2 pages.

Over the past few years Bill has been drawing a lot birds, often water birds but many other kinds of birds too. He has spent hours in the bird room at the WA Museum drawing the taxidermy birds there. He says he likes to observe the museum visitors too, to see which birds they are attracted to, which ones they spend the longest looking at. He told me that he thinks most locals will spend a lot of time looking at rare or extinct birds whereas tourists aren't as discriminant since they don't have the same familiarity with the common birds and this peaked his interest. Why should the common be any less interesting to look at?

A selection of water birds in coffee on A2 paper.

One of Bill's favourite quotes is from David Lynch talking about looking at a duck as a guide to film-making.

"I sort of go by a duck when I work on a film because if you study a duck, you'll see certain things. You'll see a bill, and the bill is a certain texture and a certain length. Then you'll see a head, and the features on the head are a certain texture and it's a certain shape and it goes into the neck. The texture of the bill for instance is very smooth and it has quite precise detail in it and it reminds you somewhat of the legs. The legs are a little bit bigger and a little more rubbery but it's enough so that your eye goes back and forth. Now, the body being so big, it can be softer and the texture is not so detailed, it's just kind of a cloud. And the key to the whole duck is the eye and where the eye is placed. And it has to be placed in the head and it's the most detailed, and it's like a little jewel. And if it was fixed, sitting on the bill, it would be two things that were too busy, battling, they would not do so well. And if it was sitting in the middle of the body, it would get lost. But it's so perfectly placed to show off a jewel right in the middle of the head like that, next to this S-curve with the bill sitting out in front, but with enough distance so that the eye is very very very well secluded and set out. So when you're working on a film, a lot of times you can get the bill and the legs and the body and everything, but this eye of the duck is a certain scene, this jewel, that if it's there, it's absolutely beautiful. It's just fantastic." David Lynch quotations

Duck, ink pen on A2 paper.

Coot, enamel on 6 A2 pages.

Lynch describes looking at an animal we are all very familiar with, the duck but really seeing the various textures, colours and even the motion your eye will take viewing it's form. The repetitive detail to which Lynch goes into during this quote reminds me of the way that Bill's art functions (especially the ink pen drawings). In fact, I think this quote is a good key to reading Bill's artwork since he encourages us to see the extraordinary hiding in the familiar, sometimes monotonous details around us.

Koala (wallpaper), photocopied ink pen drawing.

Journal #4962

2011-04-27T09:00:00.001+08:00

Have you heard of the 1001 Journals project? It's a lot of fun, these journals travel all around the world and different people contribute a page of whatever they want (drawing, collage, writing, etc). So you never know what might arrive in your mailbox when you sign up for one. I've just contributed a little pencil drawing to Journal #4962 and I will be posting it off to Denmark this week for it's next contribution.

http://www.1001journals.com/journals/4962

Untitled (White)

2011-04-26T09:29:00.025+08:00

Untitled (White), Acrylic & gloss paint on cotton, 2011.

Just finished this painting that I've been working on for a while. It has proved incredibly hard to photograph though I'm pretty pleased with the white on white effect. For the pattern I took inspiration from car pinstriping and art deco designs. I am planning to do others to follow this one.

Jesus in Midland

2011-04-24T15:26:00.000+08:00

Jesus in Midland, originally uploaded by Bear among bees.

Via Flickr:
The little round sign does say Jesus Christ... I thought it had an Easter vibe

Latest collage on the Paper Chain

2011-04-22T12:44:00.002+08:00

Fiona Roberts to Paul Moncrieff, April 2011. (Chain 11).
Photograph courtesy of Paul Moncrieff.

A wonderful textile collage by Fiona Roberts to Paul Moncrieff on chain #11. For more Paper Chain goodness visit http://thepaperchain.tumblr.com

in progress

2011-04-21T23:30:00.001+08:00

It's been a little while between blog posts but I guess that is pretty normal for me!

I've been busy working on a website for myself. It's been quite a learning experience, to say the least. A lot of swearing at my computer screen has gone on but I think I'm almost there.

I've also been painting and wanted to share a peek at what I am working on. This picture is just a section of a diptych. If you came to the studio open day a few weeks ago you would have seen it sitting on my easel but it has changed a hell of a lot since then.

Best wishes for a lovely Easter break, my friends!

Paper Chain Update

2011-04-10T18:59:00.004+08:00

Belinda Gittos to Melanie Diss, March 2011 (Chain 4)

Photograph courtesy of Melanie Diss.

There is a bunch of new collages on the Paper Chain.
March was a very prolific month!

Some beary goodness

2011-04-04T22:50:00.002+08:00

Untitled, originally uploaded by die dié.

http://www.comopajaros.blogspot.com
http://www.diedie.com.ar/

Gareth & Dan @ The Bakery

2011-04-03T13:46:00.000+08:00

I went to watch Gareth Liddiard and Dan Kelly last night at The Bakery. I went mainly to see Gareth but both are excellent performers and to see them both play at the same gig was interesting. They have very different songwriting approaches that I was surprised to find complement each other really well. Both share a great sense of humour and irony that I enjoy.

Liddiard's lyrics are so detailed and full of emotional intensity. Listening to his latest album Strange Tourist... it hurts, it makes me cry and it is truly affecting in that way that I believe great art should be. If you haven't heard it yet I really recommend that you do so but be prepared it's not just another acoustic album.

Below is the film clip for the title track. I love the ink-like effect throughout the video too, simple and beautiful.

Gareth Liddiard - Strange Tourist from Two Fish Out Of Water on Vimeo.

Speaking with Kristi Chua

2011-03-27T22:05:00.002+08:00

This month I had privilege of interviewing a very talented painter, Kristi Chua.
I'm also lucky enough to be able to say she is a studio neighbour of mine. So I get to regularly admire her work on the walls of our shared hallway and sometimes get a sneek peek at what she is working on in her studio.

Tell us a little about your background and the kind of work you make.

I've spent a good deal of time working in and around the Aboriginal community of Perth, and I think my work reflects this, often inspired by landscapes I've experienced, people I've met and things I've learned along the way. I'm homeschooling my son and I often find my smaller works reflecting ideas and thoughts around the natural learning process (using observation and exploration as the creative process is also a learning process). My early works were with found objects and acrylics primarily, I have since moved to oils and a combination of graphite and oils after two years playing with watercolors.

Are you self-taught, formally trained? Acquired skills from family/friends?

Although I attended Kalamunda Senior Highschool which had a very comprehensive art program, I am primarily self taught. I am interested in pushing the boundaries when its comes to combinations and techniques for expression. I apply what I have learned from one medium to another, for example my current work with oil and graphite employs techniques and observations I discovered while working with water color. I am also learning much from other artists through conversation and observation, I feel very lucky to be working with Bibbulmen elder and artist Toogarr Morrison at the moment on a tile mural. I find artists to be very generous with their knowledge and I hope to work with other people more in the near future.

Did you always want to be an artist, or did it come later in life?

I have always wanted to be an artist, although it was never seen in my family to be a "career" choice. It's only recently that I have made the commitment to my practice, ensuring I make it a priority in my life. My mum reminds me that when I was younger I told her I didn't need to go to school because I was going to be an artist when I grew up, funny enough thats exactly how it turned out. I left my masters in Education last year because it was interfering with my art!

What is your earliest creative memory?

Making pictures with colored spagetti at a family day care. I still think its fun.

What drives you to do what you do?

I feel like when I am painting or drawing, I am being authentic to myself. I am happy in my own skin when I am creating, and to "not" create usually results in me feeling unwell and depressed. Its just something I have to do, like breathing.

"Boab"

Who/what are some of your creative influences?

I don't have to look too far for creative inspiration. Country and family and friends inspire me, my own bioregion, my garden, my son, all inspire me and influence my creative process. In terms of other artists I love the work of Jo Darbyshire, Toogarr Morrison and Peteris Ciemitis. Lyn Franke, Julie Dowling and Kimberley Kohan are also some of my favorites.

What are some of your creative goals?

I really want to travel and paint, particular up to the Kimberley, our homelands. I would love to just go and observe and explore, and create a body of work based on my experiences of place there. Another goal of mine is to move into public art, I have a great interest in how people interact with their environment, particularly children and young adults, how they explore and move in spaces. I'd love to be involved in creating public art that not only has people reflecting on what it means to be in "place" but also art that gets people moving and exploring these spaces.

Are there constant themes you are attracted to in your work?

There are definately themes that I return to regularly. Interaction with the natural environment and how we process our understanding of that. Sometimes this is something that isn't explicit in my work ( for example most people would just see a landscape) but other times its more obvious, well I think it is. My work based on my synesthesia I think is more "out there" for people, I get asked more questions about my process with that particular body of work. I'm also interested in how people interact with our shared history, although I have not produced a large number of works in that theme, it is on the cards.

"Synesthesia"

What do you like about Perth? How do you think living in Perth has influenced your work?

How can Perth not influence my work? While my mob come from the Kimberley, I have primarily grown up in Perth and surrounding areas. So I am most family with the plants, animals, people and places of Perth, our bioregion, our country. The small things of home, like the candle banksia flowering, or the bigger things of our home, like the shifting of our seasons influence every aspect of my life, including my art work. As they do for all people living here, just some seem to have forgotten the importance of it.

Do you listen to anything when you are working? If so, what?

I love to listen to music while working, although I can loose track of time this way! I listen to JJJ or Noongar radio most of the time, but I have a varied taste in music depending on my mood, anything QOTSA, prodigy to Joanna Newsom gets played. On some rare occasions when I'm completely alone, I prefer just the sounds of what is going on outside, birds singing, people walking past.

Any future shows coming up?

I have put my hand up for a few things this year but am patiently waiting for news back. Hopefully a show in Ellenbrook and I hope to be involved in the heritage week in Perth.

Where can people find out more about your work?

The best place to keep track of me is on my facebook group Kristi Chua Art, any events I am involved in or shows will be posted on my page. People can also track me down through Artsource WA.

A PDF version of this interview is available on Artperth.com.

Latest collage on the Paper Chain

2011-03-22T21:51:00.001+08:00

The latest collage by John Parkes to Natsu Power

Head over to thepaperchain.tumblr.com to see more images.

Open Day at Midland Studios

2011-03-17T23:30:00.001+08:00

in progress

2011-03-06T21:45:00.002+08:00

(detail) WIP, originally uploaded by Bear among bees.

Young Guns at The Oats Factory

2011-03-06T20:53:00.000+08:00

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the Young Guns exhibition opening at The Oats Factory. If you were unable to make it on opening night there is a lovely video by Hannah Klassek to give you a little taster of the night!

The Young Guns exhibition continues until the 20th March, and features work by Bill Wernham, Cherish Marrington, Cynthia Ellis, David Ledger, Johl Dwyer, Kate Jarman, Maria Hildrick, Melanie Diss, Meldijana Hozanovic, Rebecca Morgan and Richard Foulds.

Check The Oats Factory website for opening hours.

The latest collage on the Paper Chain

2011-03-02T17:11:00.000+08:00

Claire Bushby, Australia to Alusha Newnham-Kell, Australia. February 2011 (Chain 8).

Go to Paper Chain on tumblr to see more images.

Creature Comforts on Art

2011-02-26T20:52:00.000+08:00

Speaking with Laura Williams

2011-02-24T17:05:00.001+08:00

Tell us a little about your background
I grew up in Australind, an hour and a bit south of perth. We had a beautiful house that was surrounded by bush and looked out over the estuary.

Did you grow up in a creative environment?
Yeah, my family is pretty creative but in different ways. There is a lot of quilting and sewing and cooking and gardening and music and generally making lots of things - everyone has their projects and we are a fairly practical family. We have always been encouraged to follow whatever we were interested in and I was always making stuff and had little projects on the go all the time. Papier mache bowls, necklaces, paper clay, paintings, sewing pencil cases in the shape of elephants...

One of my brothers is a graphic designer too (also with lots of painting and screenprinting and other projects on the go) so we often bounce ideas off each other and get another opinion on things. It is great having a family with lots of skills in different areas because if I am unsure of how to do something, someone else usually knows!

Who/what are some of your creative influences?
I get inspired by lots of artists, movies, books, music and often just things i see or come across. In terms of artists, I really like artists such as Andy Goldsworthy, Cressida Campbell, Margaret Preston, Clarice Beckett and lots of others. I also have a general love for patterned fabrics and papers. I recently realised that I collect a lot of things too (having had to pack it all up!). I have a lot of postcards of reproductions from exhibitions, fabrics, buttons, jewellery, beads – elements of these things inspire me , even if it is just the colours.

I also have a couple of lever arch files that are filled with pages that I have ripped out of old magazines or just general images that I have found. They are mainly of places and objects - gardens, plants, landscapes, animals, all kinds of things, but I've found this is a really useful resource if I am feeling stuck. I like to be surrounded by stuff that relates to what I'm working on, so at the moment there are a lot of photos of plants and gardens everywhere.

What do you like about Perth? How do you think living in Perth has influenced your work?
The lifestyle and the weather in Perth is pretty great and I really like looking at all the beautiful gardens in the streets around the house I have been living in. I do like the beach too – I feel pretty lucky to be able to go swimming at the beach in the morning and see a school of fish swimming next to me. I think that in some ways I am usually more influenced by other places i visit though or the photographs I have brought back with me. I get inspired in places where there is a lot of natural space and I feel like I need to get out of my current environment every once in a while for a bit of a refresher.

You are moving to Melbourne soon! Will you be continuing your practice there and what creatively are you looking forward to most?
Yes, I’ve actually just arrived! It’s quite exciting and I am planning to continue to paint and draw and make things but I’ll probably have a little break from exhibiting for a while and just focus on the making. I find going to new places really exciting: working out where things are and what I find interesting and how everything operates. I guess I am just looking forward to taking everything in and I’m planning to see as much and learn as much as I can too.

What are some of your creative goals?
I tend to look at everything I do as a learning curve, whether its how to use a material better or just hopefully improving my skills and techniques as I go. Every so often, I have a little bout of extra enthusiasm and start entering works in lots of exhibitions and putting ideas together for possible shows. In reality though, my goals are more about what I am working on at one particular moment. It always feels as if there isn’t enough time for everything. I guess this is a good way to be as I always have the next project or idea waiting in the back of my mind. It is more a matter of trying to get these ideas and images that I have in my mind onto paper as best I can - that is always the main goal.

What are some of your favourite materials to work with?
I have been working on paper for a while now and most recently with watercolours. My favourite part is putting the first wash of colour onto the paper. I like the way that painting of any kind always feels like something that you gradually learn more and more about but there is always more to know. I also did quite a lot of video and animation work while I was studying and I am quite keen to do some more. I like the way it challenges me to bring time into the equation and the ideas are no longer only about 1 or 2 images.

Any medium you would like to explore that you haven’t done yet?
I would like to try using oils sometime soon as I haven't really done much oil painting before. I have also been experimenting with resin recently and I'm really enjoying working out how to get different effects and seeing what it can do so that is definitely something i would like to explore a little bit more

Are there constant themes you are attracted to in your work?
I am usually drawn to natural themes - gardens, plants, insects, water, weather - i find these things endlessly fascinating. Over the past year or so I have mainly been focussing on gardens and plants and most recently, I have been doing some mini watercolour works in the shape of windows looking out into gardens. I guess I'm trying to make the works have the same effect as a nice window - a view into a calm sanctuary. I do also like drawing cute things too so every so often I do a bunch of drawings of tiny smiling snails or checked pigs or something!

Do you tend to work in a studio, from home or both? What is your workspace like?
I just work wherever I can but I have usually had a dedicated corner to work in with a table or a little bit of bench space. I have had a beautiful studio in Subiaco over the last few months and I think this was really good for my work. Prior to that I had always worked at home, so it was a good way to see if I could work somewhere else. It made me a lot more disciplined (no web browsing!) and probably a lot more productive too. Having said that though, I need a lot of things around me to be able to work effectively: paints, other materials, books and images that relate to what I'm working on - I always seem to surround myself with stuff. Hence, wherever I am working is also always a really messy area!!

Do you listen to anything when you are working? If so, what?
While i am working I usually listen to music or audiobooks depending on what I am working on. If I am doing really detailed and repetitive work, I find that listening to books really helps me work longer and not get distracted. Most of the time I listen to music though, and i like all kinds of things so it really depends on my mood. For some reason, Joanna Newsom's music and the Ys album in particular instantly inspires me but lately I've also been listening to Arcade Fire, Laura Marling, LCD Soundsystem, The National and Dan Sultan amongst lots of other things.

Where can people find out more about your work?
I have a blog: http://laurajwilliams.blogspot.com/
and an etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/laurajwilliams

Any future shows coming up?
Not in the near future. I'm just planning to concentrate on the making side of things for a little while and then see how i go, check the blog for updates on this one though!

New on the Paper Chain

2011-02-19T13:39:00.001+08:00

There is something new and lovely to see on the Paper Chain blog. It's by Kristi Chua Pinjes, sent to John Parkes on Chain # 9.

Check out a slideshow of this work here -http://thepaperchain.tumblr.com

and while you are there, why not have a look at some more of Kristi's work at Kristi Chua Art on Facebook

We were just glad...

2011-02-16T23:02:00.000+08:00

A peek at a painting I am working on.

We were just glad to find somebody like ourselves (detail), Oil on cotton with hand stitching.

The Belle of the Brawl

2011-02-15T23:13:00.000+08:00

I came across the work of artist Jesse Hazelip today through the below video by Colin M Day. It is about Hazelip's exhibition The Belle of the Brawl. Using mixed media on found wood & installation Hazelip examines the "sociopolitical patterns of repetitive historical mistakes." He also makes some interesting comments during this video about America's general disconnection from war that their troops are fighting in, something I think also relevant to us in Australia.

For those in San Francisco at the moment this exhibition is showing at 941 Geary.
For the rest of us watch the video...

The Belle of the Brawl - Jesse hazelip from Colin M Day on Vimeo.

http://www.jessehazelip.com

http://jessehazelip.blogspot.com

http://www.colinmday.com

http://www.941geary.com

Young Guns

2011-02-14T01:09:00.004+08:00

Lots of people comment on the wonderful Bear Among Bees header, drawn by my boyfriend William. So you may also be interested to know he is in a group exhibition at The Oats Factory opening next Friday. The skull to the right (below) is one of his drawings that has been included in the exhibition Young Guns.

A group exhibition featuring works by Bill Wernham, Cherish Marrington, Cynthia Ellis, David Ledger,

Johl Dwyer, Kate Jarman, Maria Hildrick, Melanie Diss, Meldijana Hozanovic, Rebecca Morgan and Richard Foulds

Exhibition continues until 20th March

The Oats Factory
69 Oats Street
Carlisle WA 6101

Please contact melody.smith@theoatsfactory.com.au for further details.