Wednesday, May 17, 2023

World Collage Day Workshop and Exhibition update - POLES APART

I had a wonderful half day facilitating a collage workshop with old and new friends last Saturday 13 May, 2023 at GIGS Art Studios
Autumn inspired Valerie to play with fruits and foliage of the season .
Glenda deep dived into geometric shapes
Renae at work.
I have also been working on collage format for a small booklet for RE-Create Collective's upcoming exhibition POLES APART 2- 22 July 2023. And, finally completed the poster to advertise the event.

Sunday, April 30, 2023

Project planning, exhibiting and art

April has flown by. It has been a busy month but not a lot to show for it in terms of artwork. I framed some works for the Albury Wodonga Branch of the Embroiderers Guild Victoria (including West Wind -shown above) and help set up the creative stitch and play group table. It was a wonderful event that showcsae a multitude of embroidered textiles. And I am facilitating a collage workshop at GIGS ARtists Studios in a fortnightr
My focus this coming month is to complete some small collaged and stitched booklets for an exhibition with RE-Create Collective. There has been a lot of behind the scenes work and we have an exhibition coming up and it will be on show in two venues. I am very happy to be able to tell you all that POLES APART will be opening in Creators Artspace Gallery on Gateway Island in Albury Wodonga on 5 July 2023 and then be travel to HR Gallop Gallery, Charles Sturt University Campus, Wagga Wagga in August. It features work done by Jnnie Munday and myself in residencies in October last year and the Collective and invited artists' responses to our blog. My works respond to the sandstone walls that surrounded me in Oatlands Tasmania where I undertook my residency. More details about the exhibition in my next post.
I’ve also been looking to the future and done a heap of brainstorming for both continuing and new projects. It’s very satisfying to get the thoughts out of my head and into some semblance of order on a piece of butcher’s paper. (You know, those large sheets of white paper used to wrap (or once were) product in). The beauty of butcher’s paper is that its cheap. I can scribble, jot, mind map or list to my heart’s content and feel that nothing is fixed: ideas can still move,be fluid and grow according to what is happening in my life. This coming month is full. I’m running a collage workshop in a fortnight, need to be in Sydney for a couple of days, and have my usual meetups with art and craft friends and groups. And of course, working on those booklets.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Filling the creative well.

 

Breezy on the Brisbane River, Brisbane Qld

Two posts ago I wrote about procrastination.   With the benefit of hindsight I feel I was tired and just a bit overwhelmed with everything that I had achieved last year and all the thoughts swimming around my head as a result of it.

This post I feel revived.   I have been fortunate to have been travelling, resting and filling the creative well.

We journeyed up the east coast of Australia between the Sunshine Coast and Townsville getting around by train and bus.  It certainly offers a different perspective to driving by car and you see different things.

 

Fitzroy River, Rockhampton Qld


Views , Ross Creek, Townsville





Me and my little brother on Magnetic Island.  I revert to childhhod pose when aware a photo is taken!


Looking out to sea from The Strand, Townsville

We took in water views on ferries on the Brisbane River and to Magnetic Island.  We walked along the Fitzroy River and admired the substantial old buildings and wondered about the towns past history.  We watched the changing landscape through the train window. 

I was fortunate to be able to see POP MASTERS at HOTA . It featured works from Warhol, Haring & Basquiat together with works of artists I didn’t know.  I fell in love with Mickalene Thomas’s large bold portraits and use of a bit of bling.

Keith Haring, Untitled

Though I was familiar with the work Keith Haring seeing his work real life rather than in a spread in a book really gave much more sense to his work.   There was inspiration in his work which I could take forward in a textile and stitch format and inform some projects I have in mind regarding text and textiles.

Embroidered detail on dress

In Rockhampton we caught an exhibition of clothing by Brisbane designers Easton Pearson just before it closed. It was a delightful surprise.

We rested at Airlie Beach.  I swam in the pool and watched swallows fly down in front of me and scoop water on the wing.   



Birds were a big feature for me – looking for birds which I would not see in my home environment.  From our balcony in Townsville we watched small flocks of Black Cockatoo’s fly by in the distance, spotted Sea Eagles and Kites circling over Ross Creek and were entertained by small birds on the wires in front of us.    And there were familiars like the Ibis, Honeyeaters, Galahs and Cockatoos.

I went with a small sketch book, a glue stick, scissors and water-soluble graphite.   I did a couple of collages but mostly I just soaked up the sights and contemplated. And filled the well. 😊

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Musings at the end of the month

Resting on the Rocky Shore  -  collage.
I don't much like cutting up artbooks but I had one on Titian's works which was water damaged

Well February has flown past! 

A lot of life admin done and not a lot of artwork. I posted a couple of collages on Instagram and have delivered some completed works for a joint members exhibition at GIGS Art Gallery, Wodonga. It will be an interesting exhibition with a prominent colour theme of orange responding to Harmony Day. 

Hive/Hover - mixed media collage.


 I set myself the task of responding to some calls for entry/expressions of interest. They take quite a bit of work (especially when you don’t save the online form after making entries) but well worth the effort as some deep thinking is required to respond to the questions. What did I learn? I work in response to the medium and elements about me. I need to be a little more thoughtful about the work and ask does it relate to some issue that I’m trying to give voice to, why I did it, and what pleases me about it. Or not. 


... and a frog jumped onto the page. 
Collage using papers woven seeking design inspiration for an earlier project.   Waste not ,,. 

I also started stitching again after a few months away from this practice. I realised that I was not achieving what I wanted as I hadn’t thought it through properly. And, I had veered away from the work and achievements I had made in my residency at Oatlands. I am revisiting rocks and stones with new works in textiles in mind for POLES APART, a joint exhibition at Creators Artspace in July 5 – 22, 2023. 

And exciting news, I had a collage work accepted for inclusion in an issue of Sonic Boom. It is a virtual magazine featuring prose and visual arts.   I will share more when the magazine is published.

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Procastination, paying attention to intention and a bit of collage




Greeting card .... collage ... fish and chips?

 

January has been a bit of an odd month I’ve been regrouping and trying to focus on a couple of calls for entry.  And procrastination seems to have come into play.

I have at least managed to start working on some mixed media and paper collages – small items such as cards and A4 works for framing.  And I have come up with a potential series.   But, I haven’t progressed on the works for the call for entries .   .   Time to reset intentions and pay attention to them!


Greeting Card - collage - Blue budgie and blossom

I propose to work harder on giving attention to my intentions and diarise studio days so that work gets done.   Everything returns to normal after the January break and I know I work better to timelines.


Small play collage -  Conversation with myself
 

So now to work...its the first day of February.  A precious day that will never come again.  I will take full advatage of this opportunity.


Saturday, December 31, 2022

2022 - it's a wrap

 

Small concertina booklet - All the Letters of the Alphabet berbe

Well, 2022 turned into a busy year.   I keep pinching myself thinking how amazing this could all had have happened this year.   

I was thrilled to have an application accepted for the Wodonga Ephemeral Art Program with three images being displayed outside the entrance to the Cub theatre for three bermonths from September , 2022.

The RE-create Collective, of which I am part, hung its works for From Where I Sit;  Stories from within   at the Albury Library Museum for nearly 6 months.   It was a long haul completing works up to the eleventh hour! The exhibition opened in June and there were a number of associated activities with it  I had a ball doing a couple of workshops.  I wrote about about that in my last post.  And I’m inspired to do more collage in the coming year. 




Armchair travel series 

In October I undertook an artist residency sponsored by the Southern Midlands Council at Oatlands, Tasmania.  A wonderful opportunity for which I will be ever grateful.  It took me away from the hustle and bustle of home and community activities and I worked.  I think I’m still smiling.    A little bit more about the residency can be found here on my website.


AIRspace - Oatlands

At the same time, I was accepted in an online residency with the ENSO Circle.   I was able to dovetail the two.  The Enso Circle led me through a journey has helped me understand what my art practice is, how to refine and refocus goals and that it is alright to work with more than one medium.   And I found my online tribe in a wonderful group of artists.  More moments of gratitude.   

When I applied for the residency at Oatlands I had a personal brief to develop mixed media substrates which I could stitch into.   I mostly focused on fabrics which I built up with paint (mono prints, painting, printing and stenciling), applied paper and fabric and stitch.  But there is so much more I want to do. 😊  The Enso Circle gave me a structure which kept me focused on this goal.





My feet had hardly touched the ground when I got home in November the Albury Wodonga Doll Bear and Hobby Show Inc had its first major event since 2019.   The last two years events were cancelled, like all other events across the world, by the impact of Covid.  Though our event was small it raised quite a bit of money which is earmarked for community operated charities in our region.   I am so proud of the amazing people that have kept this organisation alive and continue to champion involvement in arts and crafts.  Since November monies have been donated to a food charity, a women’s refuge and an animal rescue and re-homing organisation.    They are all not for profits which are also kept functioning through the efforts of volunteers,  fundraising and donations.   Food care has 140 volunteers help pack and distribute food.


Then to finish off the year I attended a symposium at the Wagga Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University run by the Creative Practice Circle.   The work that I did at Oatlands was on display and I did a presentation.   But the best of it was sitting listening to like minded people present and talk about their work ranging across purely artistic to academic endevours.  All presentations were different but the synchronicity of themes and thought was striking.  The week was finished by partaking in a short altered book workshop run by Barbel Ullrich.  A fabulous way to wind down. 


Some of the participants work at the Altered Book Workshop

The icing on the cake was to spend Christmas with some of my  extended family in Melbourne.  It has been six years since we spent a Chritsmas together.  They went out all stops to welcome us.   Here's my gingerbread place mark for the table.  



Wishing you all a fabulous 2023.  

Much metta 

Donna


Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Story Telling through Collage

I had a fabulous day last Sunday.  I was invited to run a collage workshop at the Write Around the Murray Festival.   At the end of the day, I posted of FaceBook:

A fabulous day. A fabulous workshop. Fabulous people. Says it all.     Had a ball faciltating a collage workshop as part of the Write Around  the Murray festival.       


My fabulous workshop participants made it work. I thank them all for their enthusiasm, laughter and sharing with me and fellow participants.                                                                                                                                                                                                   I have been given permission to share their work and here are a couple of photos.  Every one was so engaged to the last minute I forgot to get a group shot and photos of all the works made.   (Please seek permission before resharing these images).





 


Here is what we had up on the white board - a tad neater and clearer than it was on the day

STORY TELLING WITH CREATIVE COLLAGE

Collage – torn and or/ cut paper and glue                         Paper – heavy enough to hold collage

Photo montage – magazine images& photos                    Cardboard                                           

Assemblage – above/orand found objects                         Timber                                                

Mixed media collage –  “the kitchen sink”                        What else ?  Natural substrates         

Booklets, postcards, concertina, scroll, min, maxi            Archival – acid fee                            

                                                                                            Found papers not archival               

 

How will you tell your story:                                             GLUES:                                              

-          Realist                                                          -  Glue Stick                                      

-          Surreal                                                          -  PVA (White Glue)                         

-          Cubist                                                           -  Aleene’s Tacky Glue (if heavy)    

-          Abstract                                                         -  Paper Cement - bookmakers glue

-          Fantasy                                                           -  Gel medium - glue and glaze     

-          Geometric                                                                                                             

-          What other style or format can you think of ?                                                      

What is your story?                 How do you want to tell it?             Be inspired by the image


TRUST THE PROCESS



Much metta  

Donna


Not quite a self portrait

Not quite a self portrait
small 8' quiltlet with embroidered hair

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