Reflecting

 

September was a month of thinking, administration and a touch of play.

A meet up with Creatives at the Farmers Market at the very end of August was great fun.  Keep an eye on  Danielle France’s insta Dwellingartmagazine  for updates.   Bring some tools  with you and be creative.  Danielle has some oil pastels with her. I hadn;t used them before and tried them out and drew my coffee mug,

My exhibition A Mirror to the Multiverse  is now up.  I am very chuffed to be rubbing shoulders with other artists and in a wonderful space.   You are invited to an Art Bar Event (see below) if you are in the area on 18 October 2024.

I have found my stitching mojo again and been turning up to the Embroiderers Guild meetups.  I have found my happy place with a small group of women who like to think outside the box and  experiment with different techniques.   Recently the focus has been on variants of stitched collaged fabric and dying using to get marks and stains using iron, tea and rusty objects. 

Connected by a Thread, the textile interest  group I belong to met up and had a play day lead by member Pauline.  We experimented with watercolour paper, watercolour paint and stitch and I was quite taken with some of the results.  I  think it is a technique worthy of  adding to my tool kit.   The group has been planning an exhibition for some time and we have agreed on November 2025.   It will be a busy lead up to the as my solo exhibition is on at the same time.  Have to say I love a deadline though. 😊.

 Sit and snip beside my chair

I have been cutting out roses again – or still.   They will be at the heart of my solo exhibition in 2025.  I am  planning a major piece which will cover a  wall in Gateway Gallery, Wodonga.  I have  been cutting out  10- 30 roses of various sizes in an evening .  I feel that will cover about an A4 sheet of paper.   Since I don’t wield scissors every night, I think I will be cutting out roses well into the middle of next year.

I have also been researching an eco-themed work and developing a small story map.   This is a big transition for me.   The story map uses software to turn maps and geographic information systems (GIS)  into interactive content.  I have learnt that I can add artwork into this 😊.  The research I’m doing is going towards a long-term project (3 years) with the Creative Practice Circle.  It is lovely to have a continuing project to slowly work on.  The collage play (both fabric and paper) that I do with my other groups will lead to the development of work for the story maps.   I love that my experimentation and play feeds into and informs the work I do and across the different groups I belong to.

Now I ‘ve read what I’ve written I think I should change the opening sentence to say a lot of play.

Yep – I’m project driven, and I need to work in concert with others.

Exhibition deadline reached 😊

Raven World (Collage)

Another month has passed by. My deadline for works and amin for an exhibition reached. It is installed next week in the Hallway Gallery Wodonga Hyphen Library Gallery. A big thankyou to the panel and curatorial team for considering my application and taking on my idea of works reflecting the concept of Multiverse - somethings that’s not observable beyond our immediate world. 

My bio for the exhibition explains a bit more. 

Donna Caffrey is a local artist whose practice involves collage using paper, textiles and found images. The tactile, playful act of tearing, cutting and placement of papers underpins Donna’s love and connection to collage.

In this new body of work, Donna plays with the ideas of portals and the Multiverse, where all possibilities and probabilities become events somewhere. In this new series, Donna explores themes of portals and the Multiverse, envisioning a space where all possibilities and probabilities are events in different realms. Her work examines concepts of space, horizon, and distance, capturing moments often with humour and the idea of layered realities. 

...

PORTAL: A doorway, gate, or other entrance 

MULTIVERSE: A term that scientists use to describe the idea that beyond the observable universe, other universes may exist as well.

Hyphen is having a bit of a shin dig on 18 October 2024  from 6.00 pm at the ART BAR.  Not in the listing yet but you get the idea.  Hope to see some of you there.

MIA and back again

It pops in my calendar – every month – BLOG POST. I’m finally taking action and writing something. But I'm giving myself a bit of leeway. When I look back realise life has been full. I have been sort of busy each month. January took me to Sydney to see exhibitions and catch Covid. February was spent recovering.

I was away in March, exhausted in April, ran a collage workshop in May and have been madly cutting and pasting to get ahead for an exhibition commencing September at the Wodonga Hyphen Library Gallery. I am about to draw a line in the sand for the exhibition, I have more works than needed and they will be selected next week. Working on two more pieces and that’s it.

I have been tinkering with textiles and finally found my mojo in that regard. I wonder whether it’s the cooler weather. I had the oportnunity to share some design exercise workshops with other textile groupies. The top photo above is a collage using real leaves and adding stitch. This came out of the collage workshop in May and was inspired by the participants. The other is a stitch play on the word 'stitch'. I’ve picked a couple of unfinished pieces and changed my mind about what I want to do with them – especially all those small black and white hexagons. Perhaps next month I’ll have photo to post showing what I’ve actually done.

So what’s next? The Mayday Hills Artists Society has invited me to speak to them next week and I’m looking forward to sharing what I do. Grateful they think I’m of interest. I’m working on couple of collages and a textile piece for upcoming group exhibitions at Gateway Gallery. And, I get to share my love of collage and will be facilitating some collage events at Gateway in September. Keep creating. Donna

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.

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.

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. 😊

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.