12.15.2011

IRA GLASS




“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” — Ira Glass





12.09.2011

Hoot Hoot Christmas Window


With all the windows I make I upcycle as much as I possibly can. For 'HOOT HOOT' 
I collected postal tubes, shoe boxes, polystyrene packaging, and even lolly sticks for the branches.














11.19.2011

Wish I had thought of that.

Amy Joy Watson
http://www.amyjoywatson.com/
http://www.saatchionline.com/profile/293349

Using balsa wood Amy stitches together these geometric sculptures (yes you read it correctly stitches together by hand). swoon...












11.11.2011

ENVIOUS OF: Kristiina Lahde

Just amazingly stunning work,  I would love to think I would have done this with the simple envelope, Im utterly envious...




11.08.2011

Missile Toe. Creating opportunities to get fresh.

Its that time of year again and I was delighted with last years card I made for creating opportunities to get fresh, and have a blast...now what about this years card...


front and back

inside card



double sided missile toe hanging in doorway

10.31.2011

10.25.2011

Bows and Curtseys


New Window Display made using recycled paper, hot glue and staples. 






10.11.2011

Heady Rushes

I was just looking at my blog and was thinking I should post some of my own work again and although Im ferreting away immersed in paper mache and colour cards. Im not at the stage to be able to show and tell.

In the mean time here are two short films I made on a digital camera some time ago, 'Heady Rushes' and 'Wheat Free' (nee field of dreams). They remind me of summer. I love the sound and light on these two films, and how much fun I had making them in the fields and bog around where i lived in Scotland. 


'Heady Rushes'



'Wheat Free'

I made these well before art school, and the naivete` of these films is what makes them so charming I hope you enjoy them too.

10.08.2011

Katie Bell



Despite having bookmarks and google reader bloglovin etc etc... It drives me truly crazy when I can't find something I have seen and love, hence for the last few hours Ive been tracking down Katie Bells work. So I am posting it straight away.

http://www.katiebellstudio.com/work/

Katie also has a blog home work like the title love her work.

http://katiebell-homework.blogspot.com/








10.04.2011

WIN !

Anna J Illustraor/character

If you would like the chance to win this wonderful illustration by Nelson Anna check out her page
https://www.facebook.com/artbyaj and like.

9.24.2011

9.23.2011

SHED

Get up and Go and See this... 17 September - 23 October Tuesday-Sunday 11am -5pm

Nelson claims to be arty farty. (I have my own views on this marketing myth), yet the 'Shed'  is a stunner, housed in a Warehouse behind Guytons on Wakefield Quay, and organised by Rebecca Hamid of Nelson Sculpture Trust.

Im not sure if Im just in awe of the location, the warehouse is where customs store confiscated goods coming into the Nelson port. Its open space conjurs up images of drug hauls and the odd Rhino or illegal banana haul, not likely but I have a vivid imagination.  

I'm so delighted to see this exhibition in Nelson, an amalgamation of 'seven artists who challenge the dimension of jewellery and sculpture'.

This for me is what its all about, turn up, take it all in, experience something unique, and have a wee blether about art.

My favourites were Areta Wilkinson and her Stuffed Titi ( using parcel tape see below).
and Niki Hasting McFall's Waterfall - Papase'ea.
 

Niki Hasting McFall
Waterfall - Papase'ea 2011
Synthetic lei, cable ties, wood.
approx 8500mm height.




Joe Sheehan
Shit Creek 2009,
various river stones,plywood,stg silver

Joe Sheehan
Bulb, 2011
Jade, brass, electrical wiring, led bulb.


Jason Hall
Boundary 2007
Whitewash, pigment, polyurethane, charcoal

Areta Wilkinson
Stuffed Titi (Puffinus Griseeus,Sooty Shearwater, Muttonbird), 2006
Mixed media.

The curtain twitchers

Artist Asrid Jaekels wonderful window installation which comes alive at night by the use of light, is an artist after my own heart.

The papercut installation ‘The Curtain-Twitchers’ is a light hearted look at the tensions that can often occur between generations.  
her work depicts four elderly people in various poses who are all observing the goings on within Edinburgh’s Victoria Street during the Festival.






http://www.astridjaekel.com/index.htm

9.22.2011

ART 21 BLOG

Now Art 21 is a great resource for anyone interested in the arts in the Twenty-First Century, a  documentary series about contemporary visual art in the United States and the artists who make it. But Ive only just discovered their blog and its fantastic...


'Praxis Makes Perfect' is a new column particularly interesting to any one who has just graduated and follows two artists Jacquelyn Gleisner and Jeffrey Augustine Songco


New Column! Introducing “Praxis Makes Perfect”



9.21.2011

SUIT WEARING SKATEBOARDING WEREWOLF

Heres my latest window display for the menswear store Sidecar. Created pretty much entirely from tape, complete with glowing full moon. https://www.facebook.com/sidecarshop








9.15.2011

Off Book: Visual Culture Online | PBS Arts




'For decades now, people have joined together online to communicate and collaborate around interesting imagery. In recent years, the pace and intensity of this activity has reached a fever pitch. With countless communities engaging in a constant exchange, building on each others' work, and producing a prodigious flow of material, we may be experiencing the early stages of a new type of artistic and cultural collaboration. In this episode of Off Book, we'll speak with a number of Internet experts and artists who'll give us an introductory look into this intriguing new world'.

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE

GIFTS, THINGS FOUND ON THE FLOOR, AND VERY EXPENSIVE STUFF.

I have recently been given some amazing things flock, clothes, Iphone, love, and information.
I often find things on the floor, I recently found velcro (double sided and sticky), Avocados, hair tie.
very expensive stuff Karen Walker sunglasses, external hard drive, new computer.


Anthony Burrill posters http://www.anthonyburrill.com/





Make-It-Yourself


It’s a fact that artists have been more likely to steal than to share. Nevertheless, we are quickly reaching a cultural moment where appropriation will no longer be controversial or necessary. Since the early 1990′s, artists have been learning to take advantage of the the internet as an infrastructure designed primarily and fundamentally for the effortless and rapid distribution of informational content. 
 Chris Cuellar, Artist, Los Angeles
Make-It-Yourself
great article.


9.08.2011

Ceara and Howlin Wolf

Heres my latest window display for Trouble and Fox boutique https://www.facebook.com/troubleandfox
materials used include sticky tape, paint, and sharpie pen.

Clothes all provided by Liberty Greig at her gorgeous boutique, be sure and drop in and see the latest designs, including Ruby, Federation, Stolen Girlfriends Club, Finders Keepers and so much more.

WHATS NEXT...Im sooo excited that I will be soon be creating a window for Sidecar in the upcoming  weeks. https://www.facebook.com/sidecarshop









9.04.2011

To The Point

On my excursion to Auckland I met the very talented Emma Thomsen who's working in Silverpoint on board, of which I had never seen before.  We were all fascinated by her work and intrigued by the technique. I had forgotten all about this until I got to Gordon Harris in Wellington so now I have got the pen and ground, I cant wait to give it a go. 
I also found some liquid pencil im intrigued. 
If your in Auckland take a trip to 

The Depot in Devonport
28 Clarence Street.
22 Oct 2011 - 3 Nov 2011  
Emma Thomsen: Nonlinear Complications


Emma Thomsen’s new work explores both the passivity and power of interacting with the landscape. Working in silverpoint on board, the works are renderings of ‘sods’ (from the earth) transformed by movement and new growth.

Sneak Peak

Trouble and Fox is just the best wee Boutique in Nelson. Im a complete fan and completely biased.

Im on to my second window display, and will install it this Tuesday. Now what's wonderful when you create you never know until you start, how it will turn out. Heres the latest image I created using the lovely Ceara Bickerton as a model,  my brothers dog foxy bingo, my circus caravan, and of course all clothes used are provided by this unique wee boutique on bank lane.

See you in the window on Tuesday.x



  

9.03.2011

Eggs Benedict and A Jar Of Sunflower Seeds

Age is a wonderful thing...

I was fearless as a child, and now im truly soft core. One good thing is I now have a much better appreciation for food. Like many children I was an incredibly fussy eater. Today I still wont eat pork (bacon doesn't count), or anything with a face, real or imaginary. (including lamb neck chops). lol.

Im making up for time and on a personal mission to find the best eggs benedict as I can find. Yes eggs used to be on the list also.

My latest find is SHEINKIN cafe and restaurant 3 Lorne Street Auckland.




Ive been there twice now and I highly recommend it, great prices,  great food, fantastic service, and a central location,.
Its just down the road from Gow Langford. Talking of which...

I used to find dealer galleries to be daunting to enter, but galleries today are a lot more approachable. The staff at Gow Lanford are lovely and happy to have a blether.

I picked up the new catalogue a beautiful directory of what's on display, this glossy treasure is free and packed with info. It can also be viewed on line heres the link.

http://www.gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz/exhibitions/pastexhibitions/2011/springcatalogue.asp 

My favourtie Ai Weiwei Kui Hua Zi (sunflower seeds), 2009.
I like to think they were freshly scooped up off the floor from the Tate Turbine Hall, and put in a jar and sent to New Zealand.






http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2010/oct/11/aiwewei-sunflower-seeds-tate-modern#/?picture=367519772&index=1