Jen's Pen

Life Painting Workshop

2009-11-05T20:32:00.003+13:00

The long awaited Life Painting Workshop with Wellington artist Rosemary Stokell took place last weekend. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to cope physically with such a full on couple of days so took it easy on the Friday before, only making sure that I had gathered the list of materials I was meant to take prepared and ready in a box.

Saturday morning Glenys and I headed to Otane early but even so we arrived after most of the others in the group. Our art room had been turned into a temporary gallery with examples of the nude painted in a variety of styles by the masters. We were going to be working with two models who usually come along to pose for us on our Friday mornings except this time they had brought along their camper van and were staying nearby.

Rosemary began with a series of two minute poses in graphite to warm us up. We then moved on to charcoal for the longer poses. While we were working she walked about and offered advice and comments on foreshortening etc. Before we knew it morning tea time had arrived. Then more drawing for ninety minutes (including some hilarious "blind drawing" exercises which turned the models into Picasso wannabees) before a shared lunch and then two and a half more hours concentrating on turning a pose into an abstract work in charcoal. This was my first experience working with a blending stump as I usually muddle through with my fingers making a happy mess. However I was really impressed with how sharply you could blend with it and will definitely use it from now on. Then we began working in colour, drawing a pose with both models before selecting two complementary colours and applying and blending these on the paper. This was a toughie for me as the acrylics were drying so quickly there was a strong line between the shades rather than a soft graduation. For once I longed to work with watercolours.

The next day (Sunday) I woke up tied in knots but sat with wheat packs on the sorest muscles before we returned to Otane. Our day's first task was to trace the abstract charcoal we began on Saturday onto a longish canvas before painting each section with a graduating tone of a single colour. I had a hell of a job getting the acrylics to blend again but Rosemary showed me how to use two brushes and work with water in order to achieve the desired effect. I still have a long way to go with this but it is definitely an avenue I want to explore.

After an hour spent on this exercise we had smoko before having a very fun time trying to draw with ink dipped sticks on paper on the floor. The monstrous effects were extremely fresh and spontaneous with even the more experienced artists having a bit of a struggle. We hung our drawings on the wall and admired each others attempts, having a giggle before grabbing a plate of food and sitting outside in the sun for some time out.

Rosemary had brought along a selection of her paintings which she lined up along the hallway explaining how she painted them and what had inspired her. For me though the most mind blowing things she showed us were her visual diaries. I have kept a couple over the last two years but they were nothing compared to what she showed us. Books filled with amazing ink drawings done on site in European churches interspersed with postcards, exhibition fliers and other sentimental keepsakes. My resolution became to find a smaller diary and keep it in my purse so I can draw when I'm out and about.

That afternoon we began working on projects we wanted to develop. A few of us wanted to learn how to paint flesh colours so Rosemary demonstrated before posing the models so we could paint from life. I had prepared a MDF board with gesso and began painting in the colours, firstly tentatively, but later more painterly with Rosemary's encouragement. Before I knew it the workshop was over and it was time to pack up and go home but before we left we each showed our best work and talked about what we'd each taken away from the weekend.

I came away totally inspired from the workshop, especially from seeing Rosemary's work. It made me realise how much I'd missed out on with having such useless art teachers at school. It has also made me long for yet another workshop with Rosemary pushing me out of my comfort zone and I know I'm not the only one to feel this way. Nude painting rocks!

Sunburn and Carpet Burn

2009-10-29T20:44:00.003+13:00

The Otane Arts and Crafts building was getting its floors scrubbed and sealed this week which meant that we couldn't use our art room as usual. Instead we were invited to sketch in the lovely garden of one of our Tikokino members, Marie S. We didn't know if we'd even be able to go as the day before was cold and rainy but yesterday dawned a beautiful sunny day, almost as if it were actually Spring.

Glenys and I arrived early since we only live five minutes away. Marie gave us both a tour of the old house which has been extensively renovated over the years. There were many original features left including lovely woodwork and an interesting old black stove. By the time we made our way back into the kitchen a couple others had arrived so we sat in the sun on the veranda having morning tea. Then Marie and I went around outside before I finally decided to sit out in a paddock to draw an old petrol pump and shed. Well I sort of sketched, mainly I talked to the sheep, took photos and annoyed the others as usual.

Working outside has its own challenges. The brightness of the sun shining on your sketch pad so you can't see properly, the heat, the cold, wind whipping your paper away over the field, having to avoid sheep poo etc. On the other hand it's fun to be in the fresh air and the art created can be fresh and spontaneous.

Arriving home after doing practically no work whatsoever I had a rest, fed the animals and as the afternoon wound down decided to have a bath before I heated up dinner in the microwave. At the risk of providing too much information this cottage has a lot of windows but being in the country you don't have net curtains as there aren't houses invading your privacy. As my bathroom is pretty narrow I usually undress in my bedroom and scoot through the kitchen/dining room into the bathroom in my grundies. I am always extremely careful on coming out that I stick my head out of the bathroom door to check the coast is clear, that no cars are coming down the road, and no one is in the paddock at the front before making a dash for the bedroom.

Well it had to happen some time. I stuck my head out, checked no one was there and rushed out in my undies although I decided to make a quick detour to programme the microwave to cook my stuffed spud. However when I turned round I saw the lawn mower man striding towards my front door. The dog was in the way so I had to go around the dining room table and across the GLASS front door before racing into my room and throwing myself down behind the bed. The dog was going ballistic by this time as the guy was at the door. I'd only met him the day before when he came to give me a quote to mow the lawns and then promised he'd drop it into my place "sometime tomorrow".

I waited for him to leave but the dog kept on barking. I raised my head slightly above the bed but couldn't see him so grabbed my tee shirt and lay down to put it on. I then reached up to grab my stockings and wiggled my way into them before grabbing my skirt and shimming into this all the while getting carpet burns. Mishka was still barking so I knew there was no way to avoid the inevitable so went casually to the front door and tried to look as if I had just been having a lie down. The guy handed me an envelope and made some polite conversation but I am sure as he walked away he was smirking. I guess from now on I will have to think of him not as a stranger but more as an intimate friend.

How To Insult Models and Influence People

2009-10-23T14:31:00.002+13:00

I have been in a complete art funk the past week or so since my mojo upped and went on holiday. Anything I've worked on has only been useful for wiping up cat accidents. However I was feeling a bit more optimistic this morning, especially when I learned that our model was from Egypt. Sure enough Sayd (Said, Saed or Sayed etc.) talked, looked, and even walked like an Egyptian. However his sense of humour was very Kiwi. Well I hope he was joking when he looked at my drawings and asked if I worked for Jenny Craig because was he really that fat?

It Turned Out Ok In The End

2009-10-09T20:01:00.003+13:00

No matter how prepared and organised I try to be I usually manage to fall at the last fence. Last night I packed my basket for portraiture but on arriving this morning discovered I'd left all my pencils, charcoal etc. at home. Fortunately Glenys lent me a 4B and also a Conte pencil so I could continue. Our model was Megan who modelled for us the first year I began at portraiture (she is the grand daughter of one of our members) but I still got a shock to see how much she'd grown up since then. Her younger brother had also come along and spent his time trying to make her laugh or else drawing her as a monster, sometimes with "appendages". Sex education at schools has a lot to answer for.

Being Arty In A Recession

2009-10-01T13:51:00.003+13:00

Have begun working on stock for Christmas markets in the hope that I won't be painting frantically at the last moment. Of course I say this every year and every year I end up in a mad panic as I run out of time. I did hear about last Saturday's fair at St Mary's while at art group yesterday morning. I sold eight out of ten hand painted soaps, three out of six cat brooches and ten out of eighteen cards which made it one of my most successful events. Unfortunately the cash is nearly all gone on meds, rabbit food, the farrier for the donkey and I have put some aside for new paint brushes since so many of my small ones have gone to the great art shop in the sky.

At the moment I am reading a book about some of New Zealand's well known crafts people. It is interesting how so many of them had to reassess their businesses after the stock market crash in 1987 which saw the sales of arts and crafts plummet. I think this current recession has caused us all to think small in order to achieve sales. There is a large gulf between a bread and butter line which pays the bills and the more esoteric experimental exhibition work we do. Sometimes you have to think about what people actually want when the economy is slow. Often they're only looking for something practical they can use rather than something merely decorative to be hung on the wall.

In the gift line people don't think too much about spending $5 or under but begin thinking a bit more at $10 and hesitate at $20. It is hard to compete against the Chinese imports sold at the big chain stores but people do appreciate buying something of better quality, especially if they can find out a little about the person who made it. That's why it's good to meet your buyers so they can see the face behind the art(craft)work. Basically in hard economic times the way to work your way through it is to think outside the square, to market yourself as a brand and to have a Chinese money plant sitting outside your front door and water it nearly every day to encourage cash to come your way.

Pastel Poses and the Pissy Printer

2009-09-26T14:42:00.006+12:00

After a week of painting soaps and brooches for the fair at St Mary's Church in Waipukurau today I was relieved to break out at life drawing yesterday. Our model brought along her eight month old baby who needed a couple of pit stops during the session which provided a lovely pose to draw. This image is done with oil pastels on black sugar paper.

Unfortunately this week my 10 year old printer has had a complete mental breakdown. At first it wouldn't turn on so I had to switch to a power pack from the scanner. When I took the printer's power pack out to check it it was leaking fluid and the points were black and smelly. I think I was very lucky to not have had a fire. When I eventually coaxed the printer to work it wouldn't print on cardboard and now the cartridges just slide aimlessly back and forth while the paper inches its way inside. Rang my brother whose technical opinion was that the printer is "****ed". With crazy power and phone bills hanging over my head replacing it will just have to wait which is a royal pain as I print my own art cards etc. However the up side is that now I know what caused the weird smell in the office for the past couple of weeks although it did mean that I had to apologize to the cats for all the angry and unfounded accusations.

A Warning

2009-09-12T09:47:00.005+12:00

The model booked for portraiture yesterday couldn't come so we were left without anyone until one of our number volunteered to sit for two hours. I was really pleased with my work for once and came home all satisfied and pleased, propping the pictures up against the door of the hot water cupboard. Later that evening I heard a thumping noise and came out to discover my drawings scattered across the floor. On closer inspection the conte pastel sketches were smeared and the paper screwed up in places. Seems the cats decided to have a quick rehearsal of "Riverdance" using the paper to simulate the sound of tap shoes. A lesson learned- never leave your artwork anywhere a cat can dance on it.

Still Life With Blue Glass And Decomposing Apples

2009-09-10T22:31:00.000+12:00

The Festival at Pukeora was a huge success apparently (I never got there) with 1900 people visiting on the Saturday alone. Regarding the art exhibition 180 paintings were submitted and 120 selected. Fortunately mine was one of these. It didn't sell but a friend told me today that it did get some good comments from viewers. Art is a gamble really- you pays your money (entry fee) and you takes your chances (that your work will be accepted and then perhaps that it might sell). Not all of us can get someone to throw some rubbish on the floor, call it "installation art" and win a huge cash prize. Mostly art is about hard slog, trying to learn new techniques, practicing your skills and occasionally achieving a work which doesn't make you want to throw it on the fire. Add marketing and schmoozing to that and you might become a successful artist. However there are thousands of people painting who will never achieve financial success and who just create for the love of it.

I am learning about still life work at the moment. Spent an hour setting up the arrangement on the coffee table where it has sat for the past fortnight slowly decomposing. Less is more in still life- I removed three things from the original setting leaving just three apples and two glass items. I have never tried to draw or paint glass before. The main trick is to not draw the glass but to draw what is behind it as well as the highlights. The drawing to the left is done with oil pastels on black sugar paper. I have also drawn the same picture with chalk pastel and charcoal. The great thing I have found with still life is that my models don't move and once I finish I can eat a couple of them.

Gine Embroiders

2009-08-31T20:29:00.003+12:00

I feel like I've run a marathon but have really only just been pushing myself to finish the painting that I've entered in the Art Extravaganza at Pukeora this coming weekend. The subject is my friend Gine who was furiously working away at an embroidery she was finishing as a wedding gift for friends over a year ago. It is the first time I've ever done a proper portrait, of a human that is. And trying to paint a white garment without it ending up looking flat was especially challenging.

At art group last week Kevin Annand from Electra Gallery came along and did a critique on people's paintings, giving us some pointers at how to improve them. "Gine" was discussed and Kevin remarked that he'd once seen a painting of a woman in white except no white paint was used. Now that would be really interesting to try. Suggestions he made for other paintings was to try and allow the viewer be able to walk through landscapes in five or six steps so that colours gradually lead you through the picture. Also how a living thing added to a painting will immediately become the centre of interest. One other idea I found helpful was that there are often two of three prospective paintings trapped in a picture waiting to get out. By using a couple of cardboard mounts he was able to show how paintings could be improved by strategic cropping.

Friday my cousin Gwendolyn posed for portrait class. I have no idea what she made of us all but she certainly seemed to enjoy the banter. At midday we all went to the Paper Mulberry for lunch. Unlike the last time I was there in early June it was very warm and pleasant sitting at a table with the others. Gwen and I even went into the second hand bookshop at the back of the the cafe and managed to find a few books for her to take home to Melbourne although she did give me two (on Feng Shui and crystals) to add to my hoard- um I mean collection. It was a lovely day but I wish that she lived closer so we could see each other more often as I find our conversations fascinating and uplifting.

Oil Pastelling

2009-08-23T19:42:00.005+12:00

I have been using oil pastels for the first time and must say that despite the pungent aroma they're quite good to work with as they are much cleaner to use than the softer chalk variety. Today I experimented with a couple of sketches resulting as an afterthought from last Friday's portrait session where Marie S modelled some yoga positions for us. I am happy that I have quite a few photos from the class so I can practice sketching some of these when not under time constraints. I have used very bright colours in order to stand out from the black paper and to try and move away from my usual muted palette. Suffice to say that Marie's hair is really not bright pink.

William

2009-08-09T19:45:00.002+12:00

Favourite models are a joy to sketch again and again. Our new favourite for portrait class is William who wandered into our art group's annual exhibition in late May and was immediately snaffled as a model. We drew him about a month ago and enjoyed it so much that he was invited back last Friday. He has the gift of being able to relax into a pose without a trace of stiffness and then to maintain that position without moving. Children and teenagers have this flexibility and fluidity but generally can't concentrate on remaining still for too long so to find an adult with this natural grace is quite exciting.

My Own Hong Kong Horror

2009-08-04T20:23:00.003+12:00

I'm still not a great fan of working with pastel sticks. Probably because I am using the cheap student variety which drops the most incredible amount of dust and means I have to vacuum (never a good thing). This "work" is part of my course and is on black sugar paper. Adapted from a cliched calendar photo it has all the charm of a Hong Kong horror. Perhaps I should sell it on Trademe for a few hundred dollars.

Finished a good book today. "You don't Have To Be Famous: How To Write Your Life Story" is that most unusual writing manual- it's well written, informative and write on. Everyone should write their autobiography no matter how boring they are. Preferably to be distributed at their funeral service which would ensure that all the relatives turn up to see if they're mentioned in it. If the deceased has a wicked turn of phrase they could ensure a bust up at the wake with a resulting family feud. I think I should begin writing mine...

Double Trouble

2009-07-31T20:11:00.004+12:00

Double trouble with our models. They are both experienced in posing for us now and know how to challenge us with body positions. I was excited to try my new pastel chalk pencils and found they worked beautifully on black sugar paper. Trying unusual colours spiced up the sketch for me but my energy began to flag before the end of the session and I came home, lit the fire, and had lunch before lying on the sofa with a couple of wheat packs for an hour.

Good news though is that my "Felines of the Night" painting sold at the "Out of the Blue" exhibition which ended today. After all the stress of the paintings taking so long to arrive in Auckland it feels like a happy ending.

Mandalas and Materials Maketh The Madhouse

2009-07-29T17:15:00.004+12:00

Rainy days make for good art making as long as grey skies don't make you depressed, mad or bad. My two cousins Gwendolyn (from Melbourne) and Elaine (from Waipukurau) came along to the Otane Art Group to spend the morning. Gwen brought along a book on mandalas as she is currently reading up as much on these as she can. I find them interesting, their designs are very balanced and each has a different spiritual meaning. I'm afraid I chatted so much I didn't get much work done apart from a commissioned pendant which I was putting finishing touches to.

When I arrived home there was a huge parcel sitting at the back door. It was full of materials I had ordered from The Learning Connexion several days ago. Always feels like Christmas when I open a parcel, even when I already know what's inside. In this case I replaced a few of my acrylic paints whose tubes had reached the soft-at-the-far-end-but-hard-in-the-middle-so-you-can't-get-the-paint-out-unless-you-stab-it stage, oil pastels, pastel pencils, pastel papers (black and shades of cream- yes women are able to tell the difference between tones of the same bland colour), two sketch pads, four canvases including one that was 30" long, brushes, brushes, and brushes, a big fat glue stick which hopefully doesn't lose its "stick" like my last one, and beautiful Cotman watercolours- eleven tubes to replace the ones that turned to concrete years ago. Ah heaven...sigh.

Heads Up

2009-07-23T18:02:00.007+12:00

The CHB Mail published an article on our "Midwinter mask fest" last Tuesday. Not a bad report- I am the one in the bottom photo looking like a demented purple chook on crack. I am keen now to explore the whole Venetian Masque subject a lot more and perhaps get over my phobia of masks. Had this fear since age five when my mother cut out a scary mask from a cereal packet, put it on, covered herself in a sheet and leapt out of the dark of my bedroom as I walked down the hallway.

A friend from portraiture lent me a conte pencil to "have a go with" so this afternoon sat down and drew a friend's baby as a practice piece. The last sproggle I drew looked like a mini adult all due to the features not being placed in the bottom third of the face. Plus the head was too small so the subject resembled the headhunter character from the ghostly waiting room in "Beetlejuice". Not a good look and one liable to ensure the artist receives a severe beating from an irate mother.

Otane Goes Venetian

2009-07-17T21:05:00.004+12:00

It feels as if the past week has been filled with masks and mask making. Last Saturday Glenys and Marie S arrived for a morning of playschool where we worked on our masks for the mid winter luncheon at Otane. I stupidly had decided to make mine from scratch but being too tired the evening before had been trying to form a papier mache mask on a plaster cast of my face. I had just finished gluing the third layer of paper on when the others arrived and ended up trying to dry it out with a blow drier, mostly at floor level so I didn't blow Gleny's glitter and feathers all over the room. Marie's beautiful feathery mask was ready made but she embellished it with small gold butterflies while Glenys got the hysterics trying to control the purple glitter of her mask from spreading everywhere. Too soon it was lunchtime and I had not even begun to decorate my mask. Later that day Peaches the cat sat down in some glitter I hadn't cleared up and was strutting around with bling adorning her hairy ginger backside.

Tuesday Glenys, Marie S, Marie N, Joan Reed and I travelled to Otane to decorate the rooms. The building was quite chilly and seemed to get colder for the two and a half hours we spent there. Marie N had spent so much time and energy crafting different Venetian masks to hang on the walls of our room while Joan had made cardboard fans spray painted either red or gold for the gardening room where we set up the tables for the buffet lunch. The walls there were drapped with material and shawls to complete the effect. Later that day Glenys rang to say she would be unable to attend the lunch as she had to go to a funeral so I would need to welcome the people attending etc.

Later that evening I strengthened the papier mache of my mask before gessoing and painting it dark purple. After that I spread PVA glue over the surface and dusted purple glitter over it. I was still working on it Wednesday morning holding it in the sunlight trying to get the glue dry to hold purple geese feathers in place at the top. When I tried it on I resembled a plucked chook or, as Glenys remarked when she saw a photo of me, like road runner!

For a while it seemed as if the few painters who turned up in all their finery would be the only ones attending the lunch but soon people from the other groups began to arrive giggling as they tried to work out who was who behind their masks. It was amazing to see the trouble some people had gone to. Finally at 12pm I welcomed everyone and introduced the President of the centre who convened a five minute general meeting to pass an ammendment to the constitution before we all filed into the garden room for lunch.

There was quite a feast laid on as everyone had brought a plate of food. During the hour everyone was eating and chatting I went around and got some wonderful shots of some of the masks. We then filed back into the art room where I introduced out guest speaker, Kevin Annand from Electra Gallery who talked about art and creativity and how it takes different forms for the next thirty minutes. He had also agreed to judge the best and scariest masks which were awarded prizes. After that it was time for our roll on raffle. Our group had donated sixteen prizes.Each time someone won a prize they drew the next ticket. Embarrassingly I won twice but the second time forfeited my turn so someone else had a chance.

Several of our group stayed on to clean up and restore the rooms to normality once everyone else had left. After all the work decorating the day before it only took a short time to dismantle them and the Venetian afternoon was over.

Dreams and Scary Pictures

2009-07-10T20:39:00.002+12:00

I have the most amazingly weird dreams. This morning I dreamt that a crowd came to portraiture class and we waited and waited for the model to arrive. In the end he came an hour and a half late and we hurriedly sketched for thirty minutes before the session ended. I remember being extremely impressed by the drawings of the woman next to me, someone I'd never met before. Strangely her pictures were of a woman whereas the model was a teenage boy. Freud would have a field day.

I was in the middle of watching the cats watch Demelza who had just caught a mouse and was busy torturing it when Glenys arrived. Melz took off leaving Kit and Peaches behind as the thought of fresh frosted mouse was stronger than their fear of visitors. The temperature was 0oC when we left Tikokino but had gone up 2 degrees by the time we reached Otane. There were only six of us sketching and fortunately our model was early so we got to work quite quickly. Nine drawings and several photos later it was time to yawn our way home again.

I remember when I first began portraiture two years ago that I would become very tired and wonder if I would last to the end of the session. Now however the time passes extremely quickly and the thought of thirty minutes spent on one sketch no longer scares the hell out of me. The end results though sometimes do!

The Wings Beneath My Wind

2009-07-08T14:45:00.004+12:00

Began the week with the good news that my paintings had arrived in Auckland last week in time for the exhibition so this very relieved artist celebrated by baking. When will I ever learn?

Glenys is back from the South Island so I rode down to Otane with Marie and her this morning. The conversation soon turned to donkey manure- how she must have missed our scintillating conversation while away on holiday! Did about twenty minutes work on my portrait before heading into the garden group's iceberg of a room to help make arrangements for the mid winter lunch next week. I had taken a small gold basket along with bags of fake berries and cobbled together a small arrangement which looked more Eighties Retro than Venetian Chic.

Am enjoying working on different portraits in various mediums. I am sometimes surprised with the end result as I was with this fairy picture where I sculpted with high build, glazed with acrylics, rubbing back into the paint with bath cleaner. The frame was $7 from an op shop which I worked on to match the painting. Not to everybody's taste but if you don't move out of your comfort zone as an artist then you will just end up being a mere painter.

Missing Paintings

2009-07-05T19:51:00.003+12:00

What a crazy week. After working so hard on my exhibition paintings for the NZAG exhibition they went missing on their way to Auckland. As of writing this I have had no word as to their whereabouts. Over $600 worth missing.

Then my brother contracted flu on Tuesday and on Wednesday was rushed to hospital by ambulance from the doctor's surgery. After being in re suss he was moved to the Emergency Department and then to a ward where he was put into isolation until he was cleared of Swine Flu. He was given a nebuliser several times as well as oxygen and by this time was diagnosed with pneumonia. However on the Thursday some self officious nurse decided it was "a big hassle" to give him his nebuliser and although the doctor argued with her and told her it was necessary she still didn't give him his treatment. In the end he left the hospital- or tried to as he collapsed before he got out of the ward. However they were kind enough to give him a wheelchair so he could get out to the car.

Interesting part was that during all the tests they discovered that at some point in the past he had suffered a heart attack although he doesn't know when as he usually as chest pains with his emphysema.

I can't face picking up a paintbrush at the moment so just went to portraiture Friday and since then have been keeping busy with housework and doing my tax return- a sure sign of procrastination.

Out Of The Blue

2009-07-01T20:31:00.004+12:00

Began a new painting at Otane Painters today. Am moving out of my comfort zone with an acrylic portrait of my friend Gine based on a photo I took of her while she was embroidering. It will be challenging as the sun was behind her which makes her skin seem several shades darker than usual as well as forming interesting patterns through the material she is sewing. Plus she was wearing white so a few problems for me to solve.

The New Zealand Art Guild's annual exhibition "Out Of The Blue" opens tomorrow night. The collaborative project most of us contributed a painted wooden panel to is being auctioned with the event being filmed by "Campbell Live" and screened on TV3 after 7pm tomorrow. This will be the first time any work of mine has been on the telly so it's quite exciting.Just hope the people attending will be excited into parting with some cash and buying a few pictures as I need to buy some new paintbrushes and some firewood. I am happiest with my painting "Felines Of The Night" which I dreamt of one night. Better than some of the dreams I have. The one with Antonio Banderras and me on the run being chased by David Duchovney is one I remember vividly. Especially the part where we hid in a caravan with a severed head sitting in a small fridge with its false teeth sitting on the floor. Obviously I can't control my dreams otherwise Antonio and David would have been stark naked and I would have looked like Keira Knightly.

BFlies and DPhotos

2009-06-29T14:06:00.003+12:00

Last Friday was my first time at portraiture with my new camera. Therefore I took a great many photos, probably to the annoyance of everyone else although they didn't say anything. I am glad I did as our model was an elderly man with Parkinsons so he had great difficulty in keep his head up. However his presence was such that I think he would make a great painting. On coming home I uploaded the photos to the computer and got a thrill in seeing how I could zoom in even further to the extent that every age spot was in high definition. Of course I bet I would feel differently of course if it was my photo on the screen.

I was so relieved to get my exhibition paintings finished. Now back to more photo realistic work and jewellery making to try pay the bills.

Mist Eyed

2009-06-25T17:21:00.001+12:00

I have painted like a maniac this week. Finished three paintings for "Out Of The Blue" the 2009 New Zealand Art Guild Exhibition which runs throughout July. But then this afternoon turned round and did a rush commission- a pendant for a birthday present. The cat's name is Misty incidentally.

Been taking my digital camera everywhere. Thanks to an angel from Auckland I now have a laptop that I was able to upload the software onto and I'm away and laughing. So far have taken shots of the mountains covered with snow and the cats in compromising positions.

Favourite Things

2009-06-19T20:08:00.003+12:00

My Dad always used to said that a bad tradesman blames his tools but I've found that with art you should always ensure that you use the highest grade materials and tools that you can afford. Over the years I have gradually built up a stash of "stuff" but I always come back to the same few tools that I use over and over again. One favourite is just the common pencil and today at life drawing I had an epiphany when I realised that I love using a 4B. For some reason it is soft enough for sensitive shading yet sharp enough to make a crisp image.

We had a series of three longer poses after our warm up exercises today. Usually I find myself becoming quite tired but today the time seemed to fly by and before long it was time to pack up and go home. The great thing with life drawing is you learn to embrace imperfection as there is no way you can complete a satisfactory drawing in say, one minute. You also experience happy accidents when in few short strokes you convey all that you need to say. I just wish I could do it every day.

Otane Arts and Crafts Exhibition 2009

2009-06-02T18:01:00.003+12:00

I was up until late Wednesday last week printing and packaging cards for our exhibition at Otane which opened the following Thursday afternoon (28th May 2009). Quite a crowd attended the opening, many invited guests and friends of the members. They were intrigued by the Mr MacGregor's Garden display that the Herb and Garden group had been working on for several weeks.

The first sale I took was in the first few minutes when an envelope was handed to me with a cheque to buy one member's painting worth $550. Within that first hour another painting sold plus a few cards and some of my stuff. Within two hours we'd sold $712.50 worth of work. Came home buzzing. So much for the recession. I didn't go to the centre for the next two days but heard all about it from other people. A reporter from a local radio station went among the crowd and did short interviews which were broadcast on Central FM throughout the weekend. That publicity really helped and over those days another four paintings sold plus three from the cash and carry bin. I had a phone message that all my soaps had sold out so sat up until late Saturday night painting more.

Then the cold snap hit. When I got up Sunday morning the sky was steely grey. I was trying to finish pricing my stuff when Glenys arrived at 9.15am so she finished doing that while I slapped on some war paint and changed into my tidy artist uniform. We got to Otane just 10 minutes before the centre was due to open. Our group was on kitchen and raffle duty and I sat in the art room with another artist fully expecting the crowds to rush through as they had been doing. However as the day wore on it became colder and colder and apparently people's fingers became too frozen to open their wallets as I only took $31 that day and $24 was for my work!

Although I was sitting there figuratively twiddling my thumbs it did give me an opportunity to listen to the comments about the paintings. Most people were drawn to the photo realistic pictures and I even heard one guy say "Well you can tell it's a good picture because of the high price on it". Works with more artistic value were overlooked. This was reflected in the "People's Choice" voting as well.

We left Sunday at 4pm in semi darkness and by the time I got home it was beginning to snow. I fed the animals and headed inside to get the fire going before snuggling down for the evening and nodding off on the sofa. When I woke up I kept rushing to the front door and turning on the outside lights so I could watch the snowflakes landing on the lawn. Yeah big kid!

I had a relaxed Monday morning before Glenys and I headed back down to Otane for the afternoon. We sat and drank tea and ate dark chocolate to keep our spirits up as by 3pm we'd only taken $17. Then in the last hour a lady came with cash and bought a painting worth $350.00 (done by a very talented artist in our group so I was thrilled for her). I toted up the cash and Glenys and I had all the bank deposit forms filled in for her to take in today. At 4pm the doors were closed and we packed up and moved tables back into place for art on Wednesday.

I sold so many things over the weekend, all small but perfectly formed. Enough to cover the phone bill anyway. Definitely the way to go in these hard times although perhaps I should be painting some photo realist pictures for our next exhibition!

Frozen Fingers

2009-05-22T16:57:00.005+12:00

Woke at 3am this morning and found embers still burning in the Lady Kitchener so threw another log on the fire which kept it burning until daybreak. Just as well as when I pulled the curtains all I could see was a steely grey sky and white iced grass. Terribly hard to get out of bed but Glenys was calling early so we could do some exhibition stuff before portraiture. When she arrived she informed me that we'd had an 11oC frost and although it was nearly 8.45am the air temperature was only 1oC.

We arrived early at Otane finally beating Helen who is usually the first there. However our glee was short lived when we realised we'd be walking into a freezing cold building. Helen arrived just behind us and within five minutes had the gas fires going with us huddled around them moaning and rubbing our hands. Soon as we'd thawed out a little I went to lift the bricks off my loose fairy and was pleased to see she'd finally stuck down. I also gave Glenys the extra labels I'd printed out for our exhibition's guest artist Shirley Vogtherr's paintings. At this stage there is nothing more we can do although I am still going to make some smaller things for the cash and carry table as I am convinced that people are going to buy cheaper things due to the economy. But I have been known to be wrong before- quite often in fact!

Our model was a motel owner from Waipukurau and an excellent subject she proved to be sitting stock still although what she thought of our conversation is anyone's guess. This is my favourite drawing of her using the charcoal background and rubbing out the highlights. This was very useful for showing up the softness of her cardigan as well as the different tones of her hair. I think it would also be interesting to try drawing just a face with this technique, especially one with a strong light source coming from the side.