Jen's Pen

Mad For Mosaic

2011-10-28T17:14:00.006+13:00

My friend Rose and I have decided to try our hands at mosaic this year. This has required many many trips to various op (thrift) shops for cheap china while we've built up our "stash". I even recycled an unused freezer to keep my stock in with each shelf designated for a different colour of ceramic.

When my friend Gay heard of my new interest she arrived with a wooden bowl and two pillowcases filled with broken china and glass that she has saved up over the years. Most of the items held sentimental memories for her and she wondered if I could combine them into a mosaic bowl. I thought it wouldn't prove too difficult but as it was my first project it was definitely a learning experience as I had to combine different materials of differing thicknesses.

Inside I concentrated on attaching the glass pieces, particularly the blue and pink wine glasses that her now deceased brother in law and brought back as gifts from his native Czech Republic. Each of these were decorated with delicate gold swirls. Smaller pieces I saved for decorating the rim of the bowl.

As the bottom needed stability I used china from a single item
- a beautiful antique tureen that had been smashed beyond repair.

On the outside I combined both glass, broken mirror and different china in a random design. Grouting was the trickiest part as there were so many cracks to push it down into before the hurried rush to wipe it from the tesserae. Plus there was the horrifying moment when I left it on my bedroom window sill while I went round the house to come inside and a cat jumped up knocking it down onto a brick path. Amazingly it survived the fall which was just as well considering it took me well over 40 hours to complete.

Generation Gap At Pukeora

2011-09-10T16:58:00.003+12:00

I am slowly getting back into the art habit helped by deadlines which make me get my A into G. The Festival held at Pukeora Estate over the weekend of 8th-11th Sept 2011 was an event I wanted to enter. For the first time I painted on a prepared black canvas and decided to make it easy on myself by choosing cats as my subject. "Generation Gap" is a 8"x8" square canvas and I have used acrylics, gradually building up in layers to give the impression of soft fur. A friend thought the adult cat looked grumpy which inspired the name as I thought he was perhaps ruminating on the easy life these "young whippersnapper kittens" have with their indoor litter trays and soft beds.

Because the painting was so small it was given its own special plinth and easel to sit on. This seemed to do the trick as it sold to someone out of the area who also paid to have the work couriered to them. Sometimes going all "chocolate box" does pay off but there's no guarantee that if I did a similar painting tomorrow that anyone would want it. So much of selling art comes down to pure luck.

Breaking the Block

2011-06-26T18:01:00.000+12:00

I was chatting to a friend this week who mentioned that since her father died recently she has been unable to do much creatively. She brings out her beads and wire work and then sits with them on her knee unable to make anything. I've been in that situation. I was like that after my Dad died. It's not that you intend to have this block, it's just that it happens and you have to figure your way out. And apparently it's happened to me again.

Admittedly since Mum died in January I have been fighting "something" that has been attacking my immune system for the past few years which has since resulted in several trips to Hastings Hospital for rheumatologist appointments, x-rays, blood tests and MRI scans of my hands. For the past two months I have been taking Methotrexate once weekly resulting in nausea and now a lung infection I can't shake. In the middle of all this I was appointed the newsletter editor for the Arts and Crafts Corner Otane so had to create an email list, update the membership list after the AGM, learn how to work the document template without mucking it up etc. Even my cat died a month ago.

But I still went along to Portrait sessions so I would be drawing for at least two hours a week. I entered a painting in Art Hawkes Bay's annual Vidal's Exhibition in late January although it didn't sell. I also organised a Life Drawing Workshop with Rosemary Stokell which, after a glitch in February when our model couldn't work with us, was finally held over the weekend of 13-15 May.

Rosemary had worked with us previously in October 2009 but we hadn't managed to complete all the exercises she'd wanted us to do during that session. This is why this time the workshop was extended to take in two hours on Friday morning when we worked on two colour exercises with famous nude works as references using only complementary colours such as purple and yellow or orange and blue. Suffice to say I didn't make too great a job of mine.

The following day we worked with a live model completing a conte drawing in the style of an artist who worked in a manner opposite to ours. In my case this meant someone who wasn't afraid to draw lines that weren't "perfect". Rosemary also reintroduced us to blind and contour drawing in order to warm us up which worked so well for me that I now use it in my weekly drawing sessions. Have to admit that the sketches I do without looking at the paper are more lively and interesting than those I do later. The final day we continued working on two paintings with our model holding very long poses standing and sitting. One was in complementary colours and the second in flesh tones. At 4pm our model left and we sat and discussed everyone's work and how they had developed throughout the weekend. The workshop ended at 5pm with a drive home in the dusk.

Had just got over this when we were gearing up for our annual exhibition at Otane. We had painted part of our east wall a deep green to feature work on a chosen theme. This year it was "Myths and Dreams" which certainly brought forth some interesting work by art group members. All my intentions to do a couple of paintings for the wall came to nothing due to illness but I hauled out my watercolours and painted "Fae". Yeah well you can't win them all.....

After last year's exhibition where we sold only one painting during the four days we weren't expecting many sales at all. The recession and recent floods in Central Hawkes Bay had hit the local economy hard and art is always the first to suffer in such a climate being considered a "luxury". But surprisingly crowds were good and we sold five works from the wall and five more from the cash and carry section (unframed). Although my paintings didn't sell I was lucky enough to sell some stoned jewellery, cards and soaps- helped no doubt, by the Mayoress, Janette Butler, opening the exhibition while standing next to my display.

Then on the 22nd June twelve members (plus two partners) of the Otane Art Group attended the National Exhibition held in the Pan Pac Foyer of the Napier Municipal Theatre. Over two hundred works were exhibited including a carved kauri bath robe, three amazing mosaic mirrors, and a wide range of drawings and paintings. There were several good abstracts that stood out for me plus two flower works by local artist Nola Webber. It was also good to see that three drawings had sold. In fact when I attended over a quarter of the exhibition had sold and yet some of the prices were pretty high. On the down side I heard the usual refrain "Wow that paintings is really good. It's just like a photo" and had to bite my tongue.

After spending an hour at the exhibition we had lunch at Chantal's organic green and totally sustainable cafe near St John's Cathedral before I introduced two friends to Aaron's Emporium. I am ashamed to say how much I bought there. Canvases, brushes, paper, paints......I felt guilty all the way home even though I will use everything eventually.

So I have done all I can to break this block. I've tried a workshop, attended an exhibition or two, bought supplies, have been reading. If none of that helps and I still don't paint then I will have to put it down to another likely

Eulogy

2011-01-27T12:12:00.001+13:00

Margaret Amelia Flora b.4.5.25. d.19.1.11

When Mum was a little girl whenever someone asked how old she would be next birthday she’d reply “Four in a May”. A precocious child she’d perform for visitors, her particular party piece being the Haka “Kamate Kamate” complete with eye rolling and tongue poking out at the end. She loved playing the family pianola and on this she learned to play be ear. Although she later received proper piano lessons she frustrated her teacher by vamping and playing her own music despite getting a rap over the knuckles with a ruler.

In 1927 Granny and Granddad left for an overseas trip so at the age of two Mum went to live with Granny Jemima Hales opposite Wimbledon School. She continued to live there along with Aunty Elsie and Auntie Eva until she was 12 years old. Mum really disliked primary school as she was constantly teased about the colour of her hair. She always wanted to have lovely long hair that reached all the way down to her waist like her three sisters but Auntie Eva told her “No you can’t grow it long. It’s bad enough that it’s red”. When Mum asked why her hair was that colour she was told that as a baby she was found under a cabbage leaf and it had been raining all night so her hair had gone rusty.

There were many fun times spent in that household of women. The local Maori ladies would visit with Granny Jemima and they would speak in Maori so the children couldn’t understand who they were gossiping about. Mum spoke of the bullock teams going past the house and being pulled inside so she didn’t hear some of the language the drivers used towards their oxen. Then there was the day that the Napier Earthquake struck in 1931. Mum, in a panic, ran outside and around the house with the tank water sloshing out from on top of its stand and chimney bricks falling all around yet with not one hitting her. Soon as she reached the front lawn she passed out.

When she was twelve Mum was sent to Iona College in Havelock North. She thrived there as the class clown and was popular with the girls as she would play requests on the piano. She was also relied on for earthquake alerts. If she felt one was coming she would tell her friends who would put anything breakable away and sure enough that night there would be a quake. Mum spent three happy years at Iona before leaving because the headmistress had told her if she returned the following year she would be made a prefect. Mum didn’t fancy that idea at all.

Travelling to Wanganui Mum began training as a Karitane nurse looking after premature and special needs infants. Mum always really loved babies- it was just when they began talking and walking that she went off the idea. At the Karitane hospital she made several life long friends and had quite an exciting social life. It sounds perverse but wartime was one of the happiest periods of Mum’s life. She loved the music of that era, the dancing, the movies plus the men in uniform.

It was on a blind date that she met Dad. They were both on the rebound from broken relationships, Dad from an engagement with “Daphne” who, much to his disgust, had run off with an American serviceman. After dating for only two weeks Dad asked Mum to marry him. She told him “Don’t be so stupid” and then asked for time to think. Five minutes later Dad asked “Well? You’ve had long enough to think about it”

They became engaged much to Granddad’s horror. Both Granny and Granddad thought Mum was too young to get married and insisted that she wait until she was twenty one. That was the only time Mum’s wishes had been thwarted and she wasn’t happy at all. So after finishing her Karitane training she worked for a Quaker family with twins in Wanganui and later, on returning to the Wimbledon area, for Isabel Willis which Granddad had arranged so that Mum wasn’t manpowered into Watties in Hastings. Her social life was mainly music with the Reverand Kaa driving her to local dances where she played the piano. One of the greatest compliments she remembered from then was when someone told her “hey you play the Maori way!”

On January 18th 1947 Mum and Dad married at St Michael’s Church in Porangahau. They first set up home in Napier buying two neighbouring houses in Campbell Street (one of which they rented out) while Dad trained locally as a mechanic. However an accident put an end to this when Dad cut the tendon in his finger so they later moved with Carolyn who had been born in 1950 to Wimbledon where they bought the local general store. The building was pretty run down and Mum spoke of seeing rats running along the hallway. However living next to a shop had its advantages as at night she would sneak out, run her hand along the backs of the cakes of fruit and nut chocolate, picking out the lumpiest one to take back to bed with her. There were also unexpected moments of hilarity as when one day Sarah Lennox walked into the store and said in a loud voice “Bill have you got black balls?” At this Mum quickly disappeared behind the counter.

Later, the family with new addition Richard, moved to Windsor Hill in Waipawa. Mum was very proud of this house as it had once belonged to the Mayor. As usual she spent much of her time developing a large garden. She went to woodwork classes, worked for free for a year for local florist Nancy Jones and later looked after a little boy called Paul Jolly whose parents owned the local pharmacy. Plus it was at Waipawa that they adopted me.

One of the best things I remember about Mum was how she initially dealt with Richard and I regarding our adoption. Nothing was ever hidden, we were always told we were adopted along with the usual old clichés such as “you’re special because we chose you” and that we grew in her heart not under it. She would become defensive when family members told her that Rich and I brought bad blood into the family because it wasn’t known where we came from. Any questions we asked were always answered and when it came time for us to find our birth families Mum and Dad were supportive.

I always think Mum missed her true calling which was to go on the stage. She loved being the centre of attention, performing and being in the middle of any sort of drama. She once tried to join the Waipawa Musical Society but was thwarted in this by Auntie Elsie and Uncle George who told her that theatre was a hot bed of wife swapping.

Instead Mum had to make do with entertaining the family. She could be incredibly funny and/or incredibly embarrassing. I remember one summer we were staying at Porangahau when early in the morning she began running up and down the hallway in just her underwear. Before long Granny, Granddad, Aunty Elsie and Aunty Eva were all watching in disbelief as she whooped her way out the front door and began doing a dance out on the gravel driveway, kicking up her fluffy yellow slippers in a demented highland fling. Quick as a flash Granddad rushed and shut and locked the front door and then went through to the kitchen and locked the back one as well. We killed ourselves laughing as Mum tore round outside while Granny said “Oh I say- whatever is she?” Finally Mum disappeared but we later found her hiding in the washhouse clutching an old piece of sacking around herself.

When we lived at Waiohiki she came in one evening and said some children were getting up to mischief in our back paddock. She grabbed a sheet and put it over her head before sneaking out under the walnut tree while wailing like a ghost. The kids swore, grabbed each other in terror and ran all the way home.

When she was in her forties Mum decided to learn to drive. This was not one of her better ideas and could have led to divorce. I remember Dad trying to teach her a handbrake start near Te Awa Ave but she panicked and burst into tears so he had to get out and wave the traffic round the car. After she passed her test she bought a little bomb she named The Womble and would drive up and down Battery Road to go and work in the kitchen at Princess Alexandra Hospital. Later she bought a small van which she would drive in a convoluted detour around the back streets of Taradale trying to reach the shopping centre without actually meeting any traffic. One day we were travelling down a quiet road when she looked left and saw a man chopping down a tree. “Oh look that man’s chopping down that beautiful tree!” she yelled. I saw the man’s eyes widen in horror as Mum drove up on the footpath towards him before swinging back down over the gutter right across the road, up onto the footpath on the opposite side just avoiding hitting a power pole before she got the van back onto the correct side of the road all in one continuous manoeuvre. By the time she got the van under control we were at the intersection both in hysterics laughing. Fortunately she didn’t continue driving for long after that.

When I think of Mum I remember a person passionate about gardening and music, an immaculate housekeeper, someone interested in alternative healing and with a deep interest in spiritualism. For many years she wrote to the medium George Chapman in England and gradually collected a small library on New Age subjects. She loved telling stories about her childhood and spent much of her time writing letters or on the phone.

However I don’t want to rewrite history. Mum was a very complex woman with many problems that impacted on us over the years. Always dissatisfied with life she believed that happiness was just round the corner if we just moved house or Dad got a new job or she bought a new car. She needed to live with constant drama in her life. There was always some trauma or feud going on with Mum. I often think that to live in such a state of fear, constant paranoia and anger must have been extremely tiring and it did lead her into many dark and unpleasant situations. As Richard once said to me “In her own mind Mum had a very unhappy life”.

Mum you were funny, talented, generous, kind, infuriating, controlling, manipulative, stubborn and often very hurtful. But it was never a dull moment living with you and I know I wouldn’t be the person I am today without your influence in my life. I truly hope that you will find some measure of peace and healing in this next stage of your existence. We will miss you.

Gandalf

2011-01-16T21:57:00.005+13:00

I once read about two brothers who wrote and illustrated fantasy books. They'd make costumes and then "persuade" friends and family members to dress up and pose for photographs which then became references for their paintings. I've drawn quite a few different people who I sort of envisaged as interesting character types but never one who really looked as if they stepped right out of a fantasy novel.

The model for our first portrait class of 2011 had not cut his hair for 25 years. He arrived in bare feet with a wealth of interesting tales about his life. He is known to young children as "Gandalf" and he really seemed to have the whole wizard vibe down pat. This last sketch of the day took 15 minutes and was in graphite on white paper, perhaps a little less as I stopped before adding too many unnecessary details to complicate the drawing.

I took plenty of photos from different vantage points so if I ever need to write and illustrate my own wizard story I have a ready made muse to work from. Till then this particular image of a Kiwi Gandalf is stuck up on the fridge.

What Makes An "Arteest"?

2011-01-02T08:25:00.005+13:00

Everyone can draw- not everyone is an artist. The same way that everyone can write but not everyone is a writer. I think the difference (aside from actual talent) is having a great measure of determination and persistence. Hard work in other words. It is interesting to watch people who have recently taken up art as a hobby (or perhaps as an intended profession) wax enthusiastically about making money from selling their paintings. It seems so easy. You paint something, stick it in a gallery or shop, it sells, you become famous and wealthy. After a while you watch the enthusiasm drain away as their work hangs there unwanted like a limp piece of lettuce on a greasy plate after a BBQ.

There is no quick easy way to become an artist let alone a financially successful one. I believe it's important to have a good grasp of the basics- in particular drawing. You need to be able to draw properly in order to construct a viable painting. Picasso was an amazing draughtsman. Perhaps you look at one of his abstract nudes and wonder how the hell that could be since she has one eye in her forehead and the other one in her chest but you need to know the rules before you can begin to break them. You need to practice your craft in order to make art.

Art is more than merely copying. Photo realistic paintings can appear dead because the painter has just copied what they see with photographic distortions and all. Yet these paintings often sell because the public find them safe to relate to. However unless a painting has something to say there is no point in even hanging it up unless you just want to show off your technical proficiency.

Art is not about the destination. It's about the journey. If you look back at work you did a few years ago to what you're doing today there should be a definite progression or else you're doing something wrong. Not necessarily that what you're doing today is "better" than what you did then but that you have made a journey, that you have discovered something about yourself that you have put down on canvas or paper.

We're too caught up in making something perfect that often we aren't aware that it's the actual making part that is the most important aspect of being an artist. Too often you see people painting what they think people will want to buy as they equate selling a painting with success. But believe me I have seen some really bad paintings sell. I wouldn't call them art any more than I would call that painter an artist. Can that person draw? No. Can they think up new and original concepts and ideas? No. They take a photo of a landscape, copy it (sometimes badly, sometimes not) onto canvas and then preen when it's sold because they think they're a success. The truth is they're no more an artist than my cat is.

There is no quick or easy way to get to where you're going. You have to draw or create every day. You have to read, to experiment, to talk to other artistic types. You have to watch people, learn to look at light sources, examine the centre of a flower, sniff new sketch blocks with all the appreciation of an art supplies addict. Most importantly of all you must learn that it's OK to be imperfect, it's alright to make a fool of yourself because to try something new is more important than seeking the approval of others. Being an artist is not about selling art. It's about creating art. About living your life as a work of art with a sense of adventure and a good sense of humour in tow.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T07:45:00.006+13:00

A friend recently told me that thinking time is flying past is a sign of old age. After I'd buried her body in the garden I pondered this thought. Personally I think it's a sign of being really busy. 2010 has been a hectic year for me, especially in the run up to Christmas. Although I had decided to begin work towards the Creative Hastings Christmas Sale way back in January I still needed to complete extra work towards it as I felt that with the economy tanking people would really only be able to afford small (and therefore cheap) gifts. As it turned out I was right with soaps being the biggest seller. I also received one order for a cat brooch exactly the same as a pendant I painted but which was twice the price. So therefore I spent the same amount of time working on something half the size for half the price. This is why I am not rich.

In the middle of all this were Christmas "dos" for both sections of the Otane Art Group. The Portrait Group took our life model with us to the Paper Mulberry Cafe in Pukehou (our usual hangout) where we spent a couple of chatty hours. The main Wednesday group met at the rooms in fancy dress for a shared lunch (I was a gypsy so not much change from my usual attire). There was also a scarecrow, Fairy Gothmother, a mermaid, Mother Hubbard, saloon girl, Camp Mother and a few not-sure-whats. Unfortunately when I tried to use my camera the batteries had died so thanks to Marie for sending me her photos. Of course when I got home and tried the camera again it turned on...

Then I decided to make some of my Christmas presents. Yeah that was a bright thought when you haven't much time or energy. I had been waiting and waiting to find time to experiment with glass painting and managed to complete a decorated bottle and two votive candle holders. During this process I learned that I need more practice, that the paint doesn't look any good with brush strokes showing and that I have a shaky hand when applying out liner. But I hope that this will be another medium for making affordable gifts which is what I'm all about. So a week off painting now until January 1st 2011 when I start preparing for Christmas again.

Bunny Paintings and Christmas Cometh

2010-11-28T08:13:00.007+13:00

It is nearly two months since I posted. Hard to believe but true. I have been busy but mainly concerned with nursing my little Sheltie Mishka in the last weeks of his cancer. A month ago yesterday he made his last journey with me and since then the weeks have passed by in an unhappy blur. However I had to pick myself up enough to help organise the Otane Art Group's room for the annual Open Weekend on the 6th and 7th November. We probably didn't get the numbers through that we hoped as we were competing with a couple of big markets in Hawkes Bay.

On Saturday morning I sat with a couple of friends painting until lunchtime which helped pass the time. Big thrill was selling a painting I had only completed a couple of days before called "Somebunny". Shamelessly twee and cute the girl who bought it had only just moved to Otane from Auckland and mentioned buying some of my cards from me through Trademe ten years ago. I could have sold the same painting three times over apparently. Always the same- you complete lots of work no one buys (convincing yourself it's the recession) then a couple of small paintings that more than one person wants.

Our Circle Of Life works looked great displayed but in the end only one sold, a Helen McKenzie oil that was the most high priced work. However that does mean a donation to the CHB SPCA. Selling two paintings during this Open Weekend was a huge improvement over none last November although disappointingly only cards sold otherwise. However did receive an order for a smallish cat stone to be used in a scapbooking project.

My student loan has been approved so I have begun work on the Honours Stage of my Diploma of Art and Creativity through the Learning Connexion. Currently trying to decide my majors and minors and the projects I want to complete during my year. The annual Christmas Sale at the Hastings Community Arts Centre started this week. Despite forgetting the exact receiving days my work was still delivered to the gallery on the opening day after a weekend of kicking myself and wondering if I'm finally developing dementia.

Variations On A Theme

2010-09-30T20:04:00.003+13:00

A few of us have been working on an interesting project at art group. I ordered several 8"x8" square canvases and we each began a painting based on a circle. Of course the possibilities are endless but I still ended up confused as to what I wanted to paint. In the end I decided to do something design orientated and painted this Flower Mandala in acrylics based on an antique Art Deco brooch. So far ten people have handed their canvases in with six more to complete and it's fascinating to see the wide range of ideas and styles. When they're assembled we're displaying the works at Otane Arts and Crafts Open Weekend in November with the paintings being sold and the proceeds donated to charity.

For life drawing last week I decided to try something different. I lay four sheets of cartridge paper on the floor and did a poor man's Jackson Pollock on them. This made a good basis for drawing on with pastel pencils. Another method is to draw first with oil pastels and then drip watercolour paint over the drawing although this is best done at home with a large supply of newspaper.

Dublin On A Budget

2010-09-30T17:13:00.002+13:00

Dublin Castle is built on a site first settled by the Vikings. Although original building was begun in 1204 by King John of England most of the castle dates from the 18th century. The fortress was the seat of British rule until 1922 but is now a government complex used for important State receptions and Presidential Inaugurations. The State Apartments, Chapel Royal, Craft Shop and Heritage Centre are open to visitors.

Many Dublin hotels are close to the city’s historical sites include the Royal Hospital Kilmainham which houses the Irish Museum of Modern Art. There is a permanent collection with 1,650 works and the Madden Arnholz Collection with 2,000 prints by the Old Masters. Admission is free apart from special exhibitions. St Mary’s Abbey was once a wealthy Cistercian Abbey founded in 1139 but dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539. Only two rooms remain- the Chapter House and the Slype. Admission is free.

Phoenix Park at 1,752 acres is one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. With its own herd of wild fallow deer it’s also home to Dublin Zoo. The National Botanic Gardens has a collection of 15,000 plant species from around the world and restored glasshouses.

Visiting Paris: City of Culture

2010-09-20T21:00:00.004+12:00

Visitors to the city of romance and culture will find hotels in Paris city centre near some of the greatest attractions the capital has to offer. The Louvre has dominated the city since first built as a fortress in the late 12th century. Over time it was developed into a fine Renaissance palace until it lost favor with French monarchs. After the Revolution the palace was opened to the public as a museum in 1793 and has since grown to house 35,000 works of art ranging from prehistory, the ancient world, to western art from the medieval period to 1848.

The Museum d’Orsay opened in 1986 in the former Orsay railway station built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. Displaying work from 1848 to 1914 the museum is best known for its collection of impressionist and post impressionist masterpieces.

The Eiffel Tower is an iconic Parisian landmark that was designed by Gustave Eiffel. Built between 1887-89 it is 324 metres (1,063 ft) high with three levels for visitors. The first two levels feature world class restaurants.

All Paris is accessible via the rapid transit Metro system which is also a work of art with its Art Nouveau inspired station architecture.

Shaken and Stirred

2010-09-09T08:19:00.008+12:00

Earthquakes are on every one's minds at the moment with the terrible devastation suffered by Cantabrians last Saturday. I watched TVNZ's coverage all day except for a couple of hours when I attended the 40th Anniversary Celebrations at the Arts and Crafts Corner Otane. Glenys and I had taken along some of our old paintings to decorate the art room the previous day, Jean Addis had bought along two works from original founding members plus I printed out photos from our Venetian Masque themed winter luncheon last year. Glenys and I had stuck these on a noticeboard along with the masks we'd decorated for the event. I took photos of the anniversary for the centre's website including one of eleven past presidents. The most interesting moments though were meeting some previous members including the widow of my father's employer from the 1960s and the son of the man who founded the Arts and Crafts Corner who donated his father's scrapbook of newspaper cuttings to the art group, all collected from 1970 to 1984. These need to be pasted back into the book but once I've done that it will be a valuable addition to our group's memorabilia- not that we have much!

This week I was frantically trying to log up more hours so I could complete a folder for The Learning Connexion and finish Year Two of Stage One. I needed to grab a nap on Monday and just as I was dozing a 5.2 earthquake hit south of Porangahau. That jolted me out of my snooze. Since then we've had three more quakes although nothing compared to Christchurch's aftershocks. Still you wonder with Hawkes Bay's history if the next one will be the biggie so have been filling spare bottles with water.

I spent hours working on my entry for The Art's Extravaganza at Pukeora over the past month. I took the photo of the lamb last year when its mother allowed me near to stroke it just after it was born. I thought it would be easy to paint but its wool really was a coat of many colours and very difficult to execute. No matter though as ultimately it was rejected. The selectors didn't like the background colour apparently. However I was rejected in some good company as there were a couple of well known artists whose paintings didn't get in. It's all a matter of taste I guess.

Finally completed the pendant of Tara the One Eyed Cat for her owner. Also sold another pendant on Trademe. As Christmas is fast approaching and Trademe are offering half price on their classified listings I have advertised my "services". Doesn't matter what other work I do I always return to painting animals. Which in turn feeds my animals. And buys me chocolate...

Child Friendly Montreal

2010-08-20T16:04:00.000+12:00

Flights to Montreal take children to a city filled with fun filled activities and places to visit. Olympic Park houses the Biodome, an indoor zoo with four eco zones including a tropical forest, polar world, Laurentian Forest and St Lawrence marine eco system. The Park has extensive Botannical Gardens with Chinese, Japanese and alpine gardens, greenhouses, a touch garden with Braille labels and an arboretum. In early spring butterflies are set free to fly inside the largest greenhouse and in autumn the Chinese garden is lit by thousands of lanterns. In Winter the greenhouses are adorned with Christmas decorations.

The Old Port houses the Montreal Science Centre and Labyrinth, bicycle and quadricycle rentals, boat rides, and outdoor winter skating rink. Other kid friendly destinations are the Montreal Planetarium and The Grande Biliothéque with its great children’s section. The Aquadome has heated pools, diving boards and waterslides. The Ecomuseum is a 11.3 hectare educational wildlife park. La Récréathèque has bumper cars, arcades, laser tag and indoor sports.

Many of Montreal’s fine museums have educational programs including summer day camps and workshops. For more action minded children there is Go Karting and during the warm months there is rafting and jet boating.

Classical Boston

2010-08-20T14:48:00.001+12:00

Classical music lovers will find much to enjoy during their Holidays to Boston. Symphony Hall features some of the best acoustics in the world and is home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum holds weekly chamber music concerts in their Tapestry Room gallery. They have the longest running music program in the United States and feature well known chamber music groups and soloists.

The Boston Lyric Opera is New England’s largest opera company. Founded in 1976 it supports emerging operatic talent. The Boston Classical Orchestra was founded by violinist Robert Brink. A professional chamber orchestra focusing on music from the classical period it is housed in the beautiful historic Faneuil Hall.

The Boston Landmarks Orchestra performs free concerts in significant historical, geographical and architectural settings within the Boston area. More than 250,000 people have attended their concerts in the decade since the orchestra was founded by conductor Charles Ansbacher.

Each year Longy School of Music hold over 300 concerts featuring their degree and diploma students. in the Edward M Pickman Concert Hall. The Museum of Fine Arts also hosts concert series with an eclectic range of music from electronica to world music.

Royal London

2010-08-18T20:42:00.001+12:00

Hotels in London city centre are situated near some of England’s most visited royal buildings. Buckingham Palace has been the official residence of British sovereigns since 1837 and is the administrative headquarters of Queen Elizabeth II. Visitors can tour State rooms hung with paintings by Rubens, Canaletto and Rembrandt and decorated with fine Sevres porcelain and English and French furniture. The Royal Mews house State vehicles including horse drawn carriages and automobiles used on special occasions. This includes the Gold State Coach last used in 2002 during the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Visiotrs can also tour the Palace’s gardens, home to 30 different bird species and 350 wild flowers as well as a lake.

William the Conqueror began building the Tower of London in 1080. Yeoman warders have guarded the fortress since the early 16th century. They are currently required to have served honorably in the armed forces for at least 22 years and are available to take guided tours. Tower Green is the site where many great historic personalities were executed including Anne Boleyn. The Crown Jewels featuring 23,578 gems are under armed guard along with the Coronation Regalia. There is also an exhibition of five centuries of royal armour.

The Month That Was

2010-08-10T08:21:00.005+12:00

The past month has been a roller coaster with my dog Mishka developing a tumour on his lip that needed to be removed, the death of yet another friend, more wet weather, putting my back out and the whole Lindsay Lohan thing...

Have also been busy completing the website for Otane Arts and Crafts Corner. I had forgotten so much about setting up a site from scratch but once I started it all began coming back to me although uploading and setting the nameservers proved a very stressful part of the experience as my host had given me the wrong ones. But I worked it out in the end and no computers were harmed in the process.

One highlight of July was the mid winter lunch at Otane hosted this year by the Herb and Garden group. They decorated the centre with Christmas decorations and put on a full Chrissy dinner complete with roast and delicious desserts (being a vegetarian I remember the desserts with great affection). We all supplied a $2 exchange gift which was handed out by Father Christmas and it was amazing the amount of ladies who couldn't wait to sit on "his" knee. Afterwards there was a demonstration of floral art by Mary McIndoe with the resulting arrangements raffled off. I had to leave before the afternoon tea as I had an appointment but from what I heard the afternoon ended on a high. It was a wonderful effort by everyone involved and just goes to show what you can achieve with united teamwork.

I am not achieving a great deal of painting at the moment but need to get my head down over the next month to complete my entry for Pukeora's Festival. Plus I need to finish all the half completed projects sitting about the place. If it wasn't for portrait sessions I don't think I would get much done at all. And we've had some wonderful sitters recently including these twins who are the grand daughters of one of our members.

News: I sold my Hobbit House Rock this week. Also my brooches are now available from "Cups n Things" in Ruataniwha Street, Waipukurau. The owner approached me first which is much less stressful than having to cold call a shop owner and go cap in hand begging for favours.

Fun Times In Miami

2010-07-20T22:12:00.001+12:00

Holidays to Miami aren’t complete without visiting the Everglades National Park. One and a half million acres of swamps, saw-grass prairies and sub tropical jungles filled with dozens of endangered species the best way to explore is by canoe although thrill seekers prefer tours by airboat. Hileah Park, built in 1925 and modeled after European racing track has a Renaissance Revival club house and landscaped gardens full of native flora and fauna. There is a lake with several islands inhabited by pink flamingos. This has been designated a sanctuary for the American flamingo by the Audubon Society.

Fifteen miles of beautiful beaches offer all manner of activities including water skiing, parasailing, jet ski and windsurfing. Spend half a day at Miami’s Seaquarium and enjoy shows with performing killer whales. It’s also home to seal lion “Salty” and TV star “Flipper” the dolphin. The Miami Museum of Science has over 140 interactive exhibits. Its wildlife centre has 175 live reptiles and birds of prey.

Another attraction is Coral Castle. Situated between the Florida Keys and Miami this was sculpted from rock by a Latvian immigrant over twenty five years. There is also a rich legacy of Art Deco architecture throughout Miami.

Edifying Edinburgh

2010-07-19T19:44:00.000+12:00

Hotels in Edinburgh city centre are situated near the city’s most historic landmarks. Edinburgh Castle sits on volcanic rock at the top of the Royal Mile, a medieval thoroughfare linking the castle to Holyrood House. Housing the Scottish Crown jewels it also has the Stone of Destiny on which Scottish monarchs were crowned. Nearby Holyrood House is the Queen’s official residence in Scotland and best known as the home of Mary Queen of Scots. Visitors can tour the Royal apartments, throne room, the Great Gallery with over 80 portraits of Scottish monarchs and the Queen’s Gallery, Scotland’s first permanent exhibition space for pictures from the Royal Collection. Close by is the Scottish Parliament where free guided tours are available taking visitors from the Main Hall, the Debate Chamber and on to historic Queensberry House.

The Grass Market is nestled in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town with the best shopping the city has to offer. There are over 20 cafes, restaurants and historic pubs and Scottish designers and artisans sell everything from antique books to high fashion. Finish off a day of retail therapy by taking the Cadies and Witchery Tours which take a look at the city’s ghostly side.

Family Friendly San Francisco

2010-07-18T19:49:00.001+12:00

Holidays to San Francisco have many family friendly activities. The Aquarium of the Bay on Fisherman’s Wharf has over 20,000 marine animals which can be observed through 300 feet of clear tunnels. San Francisco Zoo is home to exotic animals who live in the Lemur Forest, Gorilla Preserve, African Savannah and Penguin Island. The Presidio of San Francisco, a former military post, is now a national park featuring scenic vistas and walking trails. Then there is Driven Raceway in Sonoma County, an indoor kart racing and family entertainment facility.

For fun seekers Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has the world famous amusement park with its 1924 Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster and indoor game arcades. iFly SF Bay Indoor Skydiving has simulated indoor skydiving. The Submarine USS Pamparito is an authentic restored World War II submarine where a crew of 80 men once lived for weeks on end. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Museum on Fisherman’s Wharf was established 43 years ago. With collections of old and unusual exhibits in 11 galleries there is entertainment for all ages. The Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate Park was founded in 1879 with rare flowers from around the world and five galleries.

Altered Photos

2010-07-08T11:59:00.006+12:00

My tutor send me an email assignment: to go outside for five minutes and take ten photos before playing round with them in Photo Shop or some other editing programme. I haven't really explored the effects I can get in PS so spent a happy hour exploring all of them. The above is a shot of sage leaves turned into a watercolour painting.

This is a mossy brick path "wrapped" in plastic which gives it a blurry distorted feel. I was impressed with how deep and vibrant the green of the moss appeared in the photos.

This is my favourite shot- a berry tree that has turned into an ink outlined painting resembling a William Morris design. I keep looking at the photo and finding it hard to believe that this little tree is growing in the garden and in reality is quite nondescript. The possibilities are endless- turn family snapshots into a mosaic, a self portrait into a distorted blurry horror picture, a pet portrait into a charcoal sketch. A great way to spend a cold winter evening.

Gone To The Dogs

2010-06-30T15:43:00.006+12:00

Everyone thinks I'm primarily a cat painter. I'm not really- it's just that they're more saleable as a cat owner will buy anything with a cat on it whereas a dog owner prefers their own breed. And there are a lot of dog breeds. Recently I received a commission for two brooches showing the owner's lovely King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. One was ordered for her, the other for the dog's breeder.

Within the same week I finished another commission for a paperweight to be given as a birthday present. On one side was the dog's intelligent and finely featured head looking towards someone.

On the other side of the stone I painted the subject "Holly" looking cute and cuddly. Every bit the alert little fox terrier. And now I am working on a portrait of a German Shepherd but it's going to be a long job as I've decided to only base coat in acrylic and to over paint in oils so I can match the beautiful colours in the dog's coat. Hopefully it'll be finished in time for Christmas considering it's meant to be a gift...

Pastels and Pondering

2010-06-21T08:33:00.003+12:00

Not being a huge fan of pastels I was interested to see how I would find artist quality ones. Conclusion- more vibrant colours and less dust. Also they resulted in a photo realistic picture although that doesn't necessarily equate with good art but rather good copying aka the Hong Kong Horror School of Art.

I have my travel blogging job for a further three months hence the occasional entry on Boston or New York. Also working on the website for Otane Arts and Crafts and should have this completed within the next couple of weeks. The time consuming part is trying to remember how I did things when I built the other websites a few years ago. It's true that if you don't use it you lose it. I dread to think the amount of information I have "lost" over the years and wonder if it's floating out in a never never land of great ideas that occurred while sitting on the loo but evaporated five minutes later.

Cheap and Free in Boston

2010-06-20T14:43:00.001+12:00

No Boston City break is complete without a visit to The Museum of Fine Arts. Opened in 1876 this now has over 450,000 objects in its collection. More than 1 million visitors annually take advantage of its special exhibitions and imaginative education programs. Admission is free on Wednesday nights. Another must do activity are the Swan Boats which ply the waters of Boston’s 24 acres of Public Gardens. The only boats of their kind in the world this attraction was begun in the 1870s by Robert Paget whose descendants still operate the business.

Boston is one of America’s oldest cities, incorporated as a town in 1630 and as a city in 1822. A Walk To The Sea begins at the State House on Beacon Hill overlooking Boston’s ancient common passing by historic landmarks and buildings for one mile before descending to the sea. The State House built in 1795 by Charles Bullfinch features a copper dome sheathed in 23 carat gold. Tours last 30-45 minutes and include an overview of the history of the state capitol including “The Sacred Cod” a wood codfish hanging in the House Of Representatives as a symbol of the importance of fishing to the Commonwealth.

Art In the City of New York

2010-06-19T20:12:00.000+12:00

New York holidays aren’t complete without a visit to the Statue of Liberty. Sculpted by Frederic-Auguste Barthold and modeled on the Colossus of Rhodes this statue was the first landmark seen by 12 million immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island. Donated by the French people in 1886 as a commemoration of the alliance of the two nations during the American Revolution guided tours are available by reservation. Another striking landmark of the city is the Empire State Building. Completed in 1931 it was built in just 410 days and measures 436 ft (145m) in height. Art Deco at its best.

Art lovers are spoilt for choice as New York features several famous world class galleries. The Metropolitan Museum of Art houses 2 million works of art ranging from ancient to modern times as well as hosting visiting exhibitions of world masterpieces. The Guggenheim Museum is a work of art in itself as it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and completed just after his death in 1959. The Museum of Modern Art or MoMA was founded in 1929. With over 150,000 paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs is has the most important collection of art in the USA.

Otane Arts and Crafts Exhibition 2010

2010-06-14T09:06:00.009+12:00

I've been working hard towards our annual exhibition at Otane, especially as The Friday Portrait Group were the featured artists this year and I had volunteered to paint a nude. I also decided to complete the work in oils as skin tones would be easier to blend than acrylics plus colours don't change when they dry. Of course oils have a much slower drying time so I began painting a couple of months prior and spent an hour each day working in the spare room on an easel to protect my Sleeping Beauty from the attack of the cat fur. Of course I still ended up doing a last minute dash which was not aided by my red background which was still tacky days after I painted it. We were hanging the exhibition a full week before opening so I figured it would have dried out way before then which it did.

To make the featured works pop black tablecloths were hung on the wall and the pictures pinned and nailed on top. There were a mixture of working sketches and completed paintings from our life sessions. There was a positive reaction from the public- especially the men. One gentleman took a particular liking to my Sleeping Beauty and asked if he could have the model's phone number. Then he asked if the price meant the model was thrown in as well. I told him he had more chance getting the artist at that price. One old man headed over to the wall with a very determined look on his face only to have his wife grab him by the arm and drag him out of the room. Then there was the local radio announcer who was phoning in reports to Central FM over Friday morning. His eyes firmly fixed on boobs galore he remarked that "the paintings are really superb- you wouldn't think they were done by locals at all!" Did hear on the grapevine that some women in the centre found the works "offensive" but they find us a bit uncouth so that was no surprise.

I had a very strong feeling that with the recession and the tough financial times we would be very lucky to sell as many paintings as we did last year. In the end we sold one- a watercolour by Donna Dahm. However cards went extremely well as did Marie N's art dolls and my hand painted soaps and stone brooches. Marie had brought in four bookcases and painted them white the night before she and I were setting up. I thought I'd made sooo much stuff but when I arranged everything it looked quite meagre. However the display created a great deal of interest with the public and we sold well.

As leaders Glenys and I felt we had to be on duty perhaps more than we needed. I had twisted everyone's arms and had a full roster to help out. I set up my jewellery stand on Wednesday June 2nd, we went to the members' opening on the 3rd, spent Friday the 4th there, Saturday morning and the whole of Monday the 7th. The weather was extremely mild, there were good numbers of people coming through and Glenys had chocolate hidden under the table so the exhibition turned out to be a good thing.

Getting To Grips With Oils

2010-05-23T19:06:00.004+12:00

Working with oil paints after so many years has been quite an experience. Firstly remembering the different rates that colours dry- particularly challenging in that I have a mottled red background in the nude painting I am working on which I should have finished a couple of weeks ago to allow it to dry properly. However the flesh tones that I mixed with a white alkyd dry overnight and can be worked over the next day. Then there is having to plan where the painting can safely sit while wet so that it's not smooched or sat upon by various hairy individuals in the household. Tonight it's perched on top of the vacuum cleaner in the bottom of the hot water cylinder cupboard.

This is the second of two tea pot collages I did a couple of weeks ago. I painted several sheets of paper different colours then cut them and stuck them down in this crazy patchwork. Took hours. One of those projects where you spend so much time on it you feel as if your life is slipping away.

Historic City of Montreal

2010-05-20T20:20:00.000+12:00

For one hundred and fifty years the historic city of Montreal was the industrial and financial centre of Canada. Now composed of nineteen large boroughs that are subdivided into smaller neighborhoods including the Plateau which is considered Canada’s most creative neighbourhood. Ville-Marie is the borough with the most neighborhoods including the city’s downtown, Cité Multimédia, Chinatown and the Latin Quarter.

Old Montreal is a historic area with restored architecture and cobbled streets featuring horse-drawn caléches transporting tourists around the city. The Old Port is a riverside area maintained by Parks Canada and is rich with historic buildings including mills, warehouses, factories and refineries. Old Montreal is accessible via the Underground City, a collection of interconnected complexes above and below the ground in downtown Montreal.

Besides its historic architecture Montreal is a capital of culture. In 2006 the city was named one of three UNESCO Cities of Design (the two others being Buenos Aires and Berlin). Cheap flights to Montreal ensure visitors can attend such events as the Just For Laughs comedy festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Nuit d’Afrique and the Montreal World Film Festival. The city is also centre for French language TV, theatre, radio and film productions .

Toronto: City Of Culture

2010-05-19T20:51:00.000+12:00

Cheap flights to Toronto can transport arts aficionados to a major international city for culture. Featuring more than fifty ballet and dance companies including the National Ballet of Canada, six opera companies and two symphony orchestras Toronto also has many world class performance venues including the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres and the Toronto Centre for the Arts.

Each summer the Canadian Stage Company presents an outdoor Shakespeare production in Toronto’s High Park. Other annual events include the “Caribana Festival” held mid July to early August. Based on the Trinidad and Tobago carnival this event attracts one million people to Toronto’s Lake Shore Boulevard and generates $300 million in revenue.

Ontario Place hosts the world’s first permanent IMX movie theatre as well as the Molson Amphitheatre, an open air venue for large concerts. “Distillery District” is a pedestrian village where tourists can visit artists’ studios, restaurants, boutiques and small breweries including the Mill Street Brewery.

Toronto is also base for the production of domestic and foreign films and television. Pinewood Toronto Studios is Canada’s largest television and film production complex with five sound stages and the Toronto International Film Festival is an important annual event for the international film industry.

Life Models

2010-05-15T08:12:00.003+12:00

A couple of our regular life models have moved away which has left us in the tough position of trying to find a replacement. This is not easy as Central Hawkes Bay is a fairly conservative area when it comes to "that sort of thing". Even an advertisement in the CHB mail didn't even garner one single reply, not even a cheeky one. However this week we were lucky to find a woman from Napier who doesn't mind travelling down to Otane every three weeks to work with us. Not only that but she is amazingly fit having been a ballet dancer and now a yoga practitioner so she was able to hold difficult poses without even twitching. AND she knew how to pose so did her own thing without needing any input from us. For one of the longer stints I tried out my new artists' pastels and have to say I am still not a fan of pastel. Even working on proper paper with a good tooth I still managed to collect a good layer of dust over my easel. Obviously still doing something wrong.

As the Friday Portrait Group are the guest artists for our Queen's birthday Weekend exhibition there was some discussion over what to submit. We have decided to display some of our better drawings to show the public what we do on a Friday as there is quite a lot of sniggering and misapprehension as to what goes on in our sessions. I don't know why- there's nothing wrong with the naked body as long as it isn't yours!

Getting Stuck On Collage

2010-05-13T08:51:00.005+12:00

It is so easy to get stuck on a painting. Not stuck in a good way but completely paralyzed and unable to finish. With myself I find I am so scared that I am going to make a mistake that each brush stroke feels like it could potentially wreck hours and hours of work. That is the perfectionist in me and is why I had to give watercolour away for so many years. Acrylics were a revelation- you could paint over your whoopsies.

Now I have found the solution to the procrastination. Have more than one project on the go. That way when you feel yourself making excuses for not working (or stressing when you are) you can just move onto something else. At the moment I have an oil painting of a nude, a pen and ink logo and several cat brooches on the go. During the day I will switch from one to the other when I feel myself becoming stale and starting to sigh more than usual.

Another way to freshen your outlook is to try something completely different. Maybe a new media, a new technique, a subject you've never tried before. Recently for me it has been collage. I always associated this art form with bad school projects but now I see it as having a wealth of possibilities. In this exercise I drew one of my teapots in charcoal before photocopying it twice and using these templates as bases for collages. In this one I have ripped up some of that boring old junk mail we get every week as it had the nice glossy surface I wanted. The original teapot was royal blue but in this picture I have changed it to a comfortable brown but still retained its shadows and highlights. The only disadvantage with collage is that it takes ages to do as each piece of paper has to be fitted to the next like a jigsaw. But as a fun project with no expectations it's a great way to kick start your creative juices. And that's what art should definitely be about- having fun.

Woolsheds and Weed Paintings

2010-04-27T08:32:00.005+12:00

Last Wednesday saw a few of my art group heading to Ashley Clinton to paint the Ashcott Station Woolshed. Marie S and her husband collected me and fortunately because the property is on State Highway 50 I didn’t really get us too badly lost. The woolshed was old, dark green and now serving as a slightly tumbledown pigeon residence. After wandering around and taking some photos Marie S and I sat with the sun on our backs, had morning tea, talked a bit and tried to look enthusiastic since it was both our first that way as the building turned out to be tricky to draw. I measured, I erased, I redrew, and by the time lunch had arrived had managed to get a pretty faint outline onto paper.

Like many large stations Ashcott has been broken up and the original homestead is no longer part of a working farm. We were lucky enough to have permission to have lunch in its grounds and saw close up the extensive renovation work taking place on this massive building. The front of the house belies what lies behind. According to Helen a whole wing had been taken down (I assume it was too damaged to repair) but even so the house must be a maze of rooms inside. As I went around snapping I kept finding more bay windows, more hidden balconies and more evidence of all the work the owner is undertaking to try and bring it back to life.

Apparently I am no better sketching homesteads than I am woolsheds. You’d think straight lines would be easier than bodies but apparently not. It’s all I assume a matter of practice. As I remarked to Marie- perhaps it might be easier to start on something simpler like my cottage (or the woodshed).

So I have finally-nearly-almost finished the painted book I have been working on as part of my Learning Connexion course for the past weeks (a friend says it’s months but I try not to think about that). The exercise was meant to be an illustrated poem so I took one of my own as it had floral imagery and edited it into page sized pieces. I prepared the calico with gesso before swirling colour onto it with acrylic but in thin glazes ala watercolour. After that I wrote the poem out with a calligraphy pen (an old fashioned job that you dipped into ink). This took a while as the calico soaked up the ink like Sponge Bob Squarepants so every letter meant a new dip.

I drew the flowers in pencil and then outlined them in ink before wetting each petal with water and swirling colour into it. I even managed to accomplish my first dew drop courtesy of one of the instruction books I bought at the Bookarama a couple of weeks ago. I used to paint flowers a great deal when I was younger until the cost of framing my watercolours drove me into the arms of acrylics and financial considerations meant I had to turn to pet portraiture. Long live flowers with their beautiful vibrant colours. They are so much easier to draw than woolsheds…

Montreal- City of Culture and Fun

2010-04-20T20:48:00.003+12:00

Flights to Montreal arrive in the largest city in Quebec and second largest in Canada. Situated on two large islands on part of the St Lawrence River this cosmopolitan city known for its cold winters and wonderfully hot and sunny summers.

One of the main features of the city is the Casino de Montreal which offers 24 hour gambling, food and drinks. For shoppers The Underground City links major buildings and multi level shopping malls in the downtown area. Sheltered from the weather it offers access to cinemas, food courts, entertainment and a wide range of goods and services. The Notre Dame Basilica, a neogothic church dating from 1829, features beautiful interior with stained glass windows, statues, a Casavant organ and the largest bell on the continent.

Mount Royal is part of Mount Royal park and overlooks downtown Montreal, across the river towards the Monteregian Hills. The top is divided between two cemeteries, the Catholic Notre Dame des Neiges and nondenominational Mount Royal cemetery, and a park. The Olympic Stadium was built for Montreal’s 1976 Summer Olympics and is still used for sports events and concerts. Next door is the Biodome originally used for cycle racing, now an indoor zoo.

Bookarama

2010-04-19T08:11:00.002+12:00

After waiting for a year the first day of the Pakareki Lions' Bookarama finally arrived (16th April). Rose and I left here at 8am in the chill and arrived at Waipukurau by 8.25am. There were already a few people there including the ubiquitous dealers sitting along the front doors so that no one else could get near. They had large fadge sized bags into which they would later sweep books off the tables without even looking at the titles. Fortunately only a few people had arrived at that point and I was next to someone I knew from art who was waiting patiently with her three daughters. As the sky began to cloud up and darken more people began to arrive. The polite ones lined up behind us but the cheekier individuals went an alternative route and pushed in front of the line. Eventually there were several well dressed people crowding by the dealers.

At 8.45am it began to rain yet the dealers and other rude buggers wouldn't let us under the overhang of the building. Some of the organisers must have seen our predicament and opened the door to let us shelter in the lobby which is when the nastiness began. Pushing, shoving to get in front, not only was I knocked about but an old lady on a walker was nearly pushed over. We huddled in the lobby until the crush began to get unbearable when the main doors were opened and everyone tried to squeeze through at once. I get claustrophobic at the best of times but this was really frightening although Rose and I got into the hall without being punched. There were tables and tables of books (over 18,000) that had been donated. I couldn't see the art section but someone pointed it out and I rushed over in time to meet a friend (also called Rose) from portraiture who was also keen to get some books. She and I worked together, swapping books and finding titles for each other. I was thrilled to find a copy of Susan Harrison Tustain's "Glorious Flowers In Watercolour" which usually retails at $70 for just $2. Also three large folders of watercolour magazines for just $1 each.

I only rifled through a few sections before my two bags were so full I couldn't lift them at all. A friend's eldest daughter stood guard over them for me (if you left your books unattended someone would go through them) before I ran out of energy and money> I sat there exhausted, shocked that only half an hour had passed. By the time we left the building it was pouring with rain so there was a mad dash to the car with the stash of goodies. Oh how I wish I'd had more bags and money as I would have come out with double- as it was I bought 33 books (mainly reference- art, history, crafts). But as Rose reminds me there's always next year.

I have begun the Design In Sculpture section of my Learning Connexion course which meant playing with clay. My first exercise was a fantasy creature which I called "Washed Up Mermaid". Rose pointed out that her breasts were too upright considering she's lying down but as I told her she'd just had silicon implants put in by a shady squid doctor which is why she was washed up deceased on the beach. Then made a small rabbit sculpture which was meant to represent a French Angora rabbit although it seemed to be suffering a severe case of gastroenteritis as it was a bit on the skinny side. One exercise consisted of making an abstract sculpture representing an emotion. I chose grief but the resulting piece resembled a urinal with a giant brown jaffa sitting at the bottom...

Cosmopolitan Toronto

2010-04-18T20:02:00.000+12:00

Toronto began as a small French colony in the 17th Century before the American Revolution saw families loyal to the British fleeing northwards to safety. Many settled beside the north shore of Lake Ontario establishing the town known as York. In 1834 the name was changed to Toronto, the Indian word meaning “Meeting Place”.

In the early 20th century the English nature of the city was changed and enhanced by the cultures brought in by an influx of immigrants. This saw Toronto turn into a city with 80 ethnic groups speaking more than 100 languages.

Also known as Canada’s commercial capital Toronto features “Yonge Street” the longest street in the world and the city’s main north-south artery. Toronto’s main landmarks are the CN tower, the world’s tallest standing structure with glass-fronted elevators rising 1,815ft (553m) to indoor and outdoor observation decks and “Skydome” an entertainment complex with retractable roof. Besides these there are also museums, art galleries, massive shopping complexes, a dynamic stock exchange, cutting edge architecture, first class restaurants and hundreds of parks.

Flights to Toronto have an average flight time of 7 hours and 20 minutes from Dublin with a time zone only 5 hours earlier than GMT.

Pete

2010-04-03T13:01:00.001+13:00

My friend Pete died on Tuesday- he was 42 years old. He first wrote to me fifteen years ago just after his brother died of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome when I was setting up the NZ support group. We first met ten years ago when he flew up from Timaru for a conference I'd organized in Napier. After the weekend of lectures we spent a day together, we went to lunch and then spent the afternoon sitting in a park talking, comparing dislocations and flat feet. Since then Pete had kept in constant touch, he remembered my birthdays and Christmas, he rang me every day for a week after my Dad died, he was always there when I needed someone to talk to. Six years ago his bowel perforated and we nearly lost him but against all the odds he survived. Every day was a miracle although he did still have his health scares, bleeds that put him in hospital, sleepy days when he couldn't do much plus times of extreme pain. Just recently however he had a period of good health and was able to go fishing with his friends and do a lot of the things he wanted to do. The fact that his death was caused by medical misadventure by an arrogant doctor who lied and didn't listen to the family when they told him that Pete couldn't be given Warfarin as he had a bleeding problem just adds another layer of pain to an already painful situation. And it will go on as there is to be an inquest into his death.

I wanted to curl up in a ball after hearing the news about Pete. Certainly I had no intention of going to art on Wednesday but then I heard that it had been arranged that we could go and sketch in the garden on "Punawai" a property just off State Highway 50. Gay picked me up on her way and we arrived just after 9.30am. It was a beautiful Autumn morning and the trees were just beginning to turn gold around the dam turned garden pond. A feeling on serenity and peace pervaded the property. I wandered around with a camera ending up taking 80 photos of the English style country garden, the park-like grounds and the many sculptures dotted around. Finally I settled down to sketch near a creek. I was determined to draw some trees in ink and ended up spending nearly two hours scribbling away. After lunch I left with Gay to have afternoon tea at the Onga Onga General Store so didn't get a chance to put a watercolour wash onto the drawing until the next day by which time I had developed a pissy little head cold which I am still trying to shake off. I hope the picture conveys some of the peace of that lovely place.

Two Exhibitions In One Day

2010-03-27T20:33:00.004+13:00

This week I received my first payment for three months of travel blogging I'm doing for an Irish company. I also received a cheque from a gallery that had sold a couple of my brooches, my first payment from them in a year. My electricity company will be very happy. In a recession the arts tend to suffer first as they're considered a luxury. Jobs are tougher to get, paintings are harder to sell. Therefore I thought it was very brave of Liala Ireland to ask to hire our art room at Otane this weekend to hold an exhibition of her pastel works. Yesterday after portrait class we cleared the room of all furniture, found hangers for the frames and put the boards up at the windows so that there would be more room for her works. This morning my friend Gay and I left at 9.30am to help Lea for the morning and arrived to find her in the midst of doing last minute tasks. She hadn't enough hangers for her works so I wandered around the Otane Arts Centre and nicked some from the other rooms so she could complete hanging. When someone remarked there was no signage I took one of the Centre's signs out by the road with a notice advertising Liala's exhibition. Gay took another out to State Highway 2 and put it on display. Despite radio and newspaper advertising by the time Gay and I left the centre no one had been through to look at the exhibition. It reminded me of my disastrous day at the Waipawa 150th Celebrations market six weeks ago. I hope that a crowd with plenty of money arrived after lunch and bought every picture.

Gay and I went down the road to McCauley's Cafe to have a drink and something to eat. Afterwards we went to the Central Hawkes Bay Settler's Museum to have a quick look at the Mary Bibby exhibition that was opening that afternoon. Mary Bibby came to NZ as a young woman, married, had several children, started the CWI in Waipawa, was active in the Church etc. but still found time to paint. Gay and I were allowed in to look at the exhibit before the official opening which was a bit fraught as we felt like two naughty children but it did mean we weren't trapped with a crowd. There was an interesting display of drawings and paintings of local landscapes and buildings plus a write up about her life including a moving account of her final day written by her son in whose arms she passed away overlooking Kairakau Beach.

I was a bit away with it when I saw a woman turn and smile at me. Got a surprise to see it was Joy Cowley who was launching her new book at the museum later that day. I rustled up some courage and told her that she'd written one of my favourite short stories. She smiled and asked which one and I told her it was "The Silk" and how it had actually made me cry. She seemed quite surprised and said she'd written it a long time ago but that just the day before a girl from Weta Workshop had rung her to say that she'd bought the rights to the story and was going to make a short film of it. I congratulated her and before I ended up turning into a complete pain wished her a happy stay in Hawkes Bay and left one happy literary groupie.

Destination Las Vegas

2010-03-20T20:37:00.001+13:00

Situated in the Mojave Desert Las Vegas is easily the world’s biggest theme park. Since 1946 when Mafia Don Ben “Bugsy” Siegal opened the Flamingo Hilton on Highway 91 this city of 1 million inhabitants has entertained 35 million visitors per year.

Las Vegas houses 18 of 21 of the largest hotels in the world ranging from the family friendly Luxor resort to the opulent Bellagio Hotel. However room rates and restaurant bills are the lowest in the Western world. The world famous “Strip” sports the skylines of New York and Paris, Egyptian Pyramids, Venetian Canals and Treasure Island where an on-sea battle between a pirate ship and British Galleon is re-enacted. Elvis, Liberace and Frank Sinatra entertained in Las Vegas and today visitors can book to see shows by artists as varied as Lance Burton to Cirque du Soleil.

Although Las Vegas is most closely associated with casinos and gambling it’s also now marketed as a family destination with theme parks, shopping malls and golf courses. Nature lovers can leave the city environs and visit the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Red Rock and Grand Canyons. Reasonably priced Las Vegas Deals make this city an affordable holiday destination.

Popping With Poppies

2010-03-20T14:25:00.003+13:00

The dozens of poppy photos I took in the Spring finally came in handy when I began working on this tiny (2"x3") painting. Focusing on the centre of this ruffled flower made for an interesting piece of abstraction but was frustrating to paint until the last moments when the jigsaw finally began making sense.

My favourite feature of this piece is the tiny easel it sits on. I have several of these in stock so have ideas for landscapes, animal and other flower paintings but am unsure as to whether these will sell. Oh the joys of trying to be saleable. I have sent this painting and "Autumn Journey, Tikokino" to the end of term exhibition at The Learning Connexion Wellington.

Our last two portrait sessions have been model-less but having to draw each other has been fun as we get to draw several different body types within two hours. I sat for two poses yesterday in positions that were comfortable for me yet when I looked at every one's drawings I realised how hunched over and disjointed I appear as if I am having an out of body experience. The joys of being hyper mobile.

Had a visit from the local Occupational Therapist on Thursday but instead of health issues we had a ninety minute conversation on crafts. She actually gave me many great ideas to follow, ideas for subjects, ideas for mediums and outlets. I was so hyped up after her visit that I wore myself out and had to have a cat nap. Inspiration is all very well but it sure wears a girl out.

Destination Orlando Florida

2010-03-19T22:00:00.001+13:00

Florida is closely associated with Walt Disney who built his Magic Kingdom there 40 years ago. This has grown to encompass four main theme parks including Epcot, the Animal Kingdom as well as Disney Studios along with dozens of smaller attractions (including two cruise ships), hundreds of restaurants and snack bars as well as thousands of hotel rooms.

Daytona Beach in central Eastern Florida stretches for 23 miles (37 kms). Jet skiing, surfing, para sailing, fishing, cycling and beach cruising (during the day) are just some of the pastimes available to vacationers. Seaworld, the Orlando Odditorium which houses Robert Ripley’s collection of weird and wonderful exhibits, the Orlando Museum of Art and Daytona Speedway where the annual Daytona 500 Nascar race is held are just a few of the exciting attractions the area has to offer. An hour’s drive away is the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral or you can watch the space launch from the beach, sail, fish or walk the 840 ft historic pier at nearby Cocoa Beach.

Flights to Orlando Florida are reasonably priced and with a time zone only 5 hours earlier than GMT this exciting destination is easily accessible for families or the intrepid tourist.

Agony, Ecstasy and the AGM

2010-03-05T21:26:00.003+13:00

Already the nights are drawing in- in fact they're doing more drawing than I am at the moment. I haven't been firing at portrait class the past two sessions, perhaps because I am tired or grumpy (probably both). I have been busy making pressed flower cards as part of my order from Country Collectables and was able to deliver the bulk of this to the shop on Tuesday. Anyone traveling through Waipukurau should stop by and have a look at the great items sold there, all beautifully displayed and colour co-ordinated. I wish I could find an outlet for my pendants now but think I may have to extend my subject matter beyond animal portraits.

Monday the 1st was the AGM for the Otane Arts and Crafts Corner Inc. I was voted in as leader of the art group with Glenys swapping back to deputy. When the general business section came the President asked me to talk about the website I might design for the club. I had taken along the laptop with a couple of screen shots of my websites but people were more interested in discussing how the website would be financed and updated. Many members weren't computer savvy, in particular there was some confusion as one lady was adamant that Google provided free web hosting but it turned out she was talking about belonging to a Yahoo group which wouldn't really advertise what our organisation does or increase our membership in the same way as a website. It is now up to the executive to approve my fee (have no idea what to ask) and an honorarium for running the site.

Been doing a few different things this week including calligraphy with pen and ink for the first time in many years. Making a book featuring one of my poems. Also have some clay sculpture to do as part of my course. Not one of my strengths I will readily admit. And I finally finished "The Agony and the Ecstasy" by Irving Stone. All 781 pages of it. I always thought it was just about Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel and his struggle with Pope Julius but the book actually covered his life from age 14 through to his death at 86. His agony was common to any artist- having to please buyers, sometimes undertaking commissions you don't really want to do. His ecstasy those magic moments when the work grows of its own volition, when the artist's vision takes material form and something special results. Hopefully you don't have to be a genius to feel the ecstasy.

Sketches and Another Outlet

2010-02-25T21:13:00.005+13:00

The benefit of having a digital camera is that I've been able to take it along to my portraiture class Friday mornings and snap away so that I have ended up with a good selection of shots of each model. My intention for doing this was so that I could work on longer and more detailed drawings at home. The beautiful model for the drawing above was Miko, a Japanese University student who was working on organic farms throughout New Zealand.

The second drawing was a bit more difficult as it was a member of my family- my cousin Gwendolyn who lives in Australia. I'm not sure if she'd really like this sketch as she's much prettier in life but I am hoping it does give some sense of her calm and peaceful nature. I told a friend this week that after I'm "gone" (in the permanent sense) my family will go through all my visual diaries, ripping out unflattering pictures of themselves. Rather like when I was at Port Ahuriri primary school and the teacher had us draw one of our parents so that the results could be sold off as a fund raiser at the school gala. I drew my mother with her Dame Edna glasses, curly red hair and the turquoise synthetic top she loved to wear. I was so proud of my effort as I thought it really looked like her but obviously my mother had a different take on it as she made sure we arrived at the gala before everyone else, bought the drawing and shoved it into her handbag. I never saw it again!

Yesterday after art group I bit the bullet again and took my goods to Country Collectables in Waipukurau, coming out with an order for cards, three brooches and some soaps. It wasn't as nerve wracking as my first wholesaling attempt but I had to bite back my disappointment that the owner didn't purchase any of my pendants. However she seemed to stock the ubiquitous beaded necklaces that are so in fashion at the moment and my hand painted pendants would not have fitted with the general feel of the shop. I will continue to find somewhere to place these.

Today I managed to get three months of writing work. Hopefully this is the start of me getting back to wielding the pen and not just the brush.

Picking Myself Up and Kicking Myself In The Butt

2010-02-21T14:08:00.004+13:00

Theme tune for this week was "Pick Yourself Up (Dust Yourself Off and Start All Over Again)". Tuesday morning I took a couple of boxes of my work to Country Traders, a gift shop in Waipawa. Ended up selling three brooches, six soaps and quite a few cards wholesale- hopefully this will develop into an ongoing relationship. The difficulty with approaching retailers personally is that you have to develop a thick skin in that your "babies" are about to be criticized as they are seen from a seller's viewpoint. You also have to bite your tongue when something original and hand painted is compared to a mass produced "cheap" (read tacky) item. Still everyone has to start somewhere.

Waipawa 150th Celebrations Market

2010-02-14T14:21:00.009+13:00

I worked like a dog this past week completing $1000.00 worth of work for Waipawa's 150th Celebratory market at Coronation Park. The first glitch occurred Friday night when I rang to check that the person who was bringing my jewellery stand from Hastings Community Arts Centre had done so. She had forgotten. So till 11.30pm that night I was busy finding baskets for cards, my black velvet covered polystyrene block to hang my pendants from as well as finishing pressed flower cards and wrapping brooches.

Up early the next morning I had a phone call from Hastings from the lady who had forgotten to collect my stand. She'd driven all the way back to work to collect it and would leave it outside her house for me to pick up. I was running late when Gay who was helping me for the day turned up. She loaded the car while I finished letting chooks out, feeding chicks, getting dressed etc. By the time we arrived in Waipawa it was 9.20am (ten minutes before I was meant to be at the park) so Gay rushed in to find the stand which she couldn't see so I went around the back and discovered it under a staircase. By the time we'd rearranged the car to accommodate it we were very late but were allowed into the park despite being one minute before cut off.

Most stallholders were established by this point so we looked around to find Marie N whom I was sharing the stall with. She was busy trying to unravel the intricacies of her new second hand marquee along with two helpful men who were sticking poles in various places. There was a generalised panic but after throwing the canvas roof over the frame they were able to fit the corner poles in and lift the whole thing into place. The next door stallholder had agreed to come under the marquee with us in return for us taking over some of her space so she set up in one half which left us with the other.

Marie had brought along four round tables (two each)for us both but as she unloaded them from the trailer each one the legs pulled away from the wood so they couldn't stand which left us with one four foot diameter table between us. I covered this with a tablecloth and by 10.45am had set up the table and hung some small paintings up on a a cargo net Marie had strung between on the side. I sat out the front and began painting to try and draw people in while Marie sat at the back and stitched her dolls.

And then we waited. The main parade arrived in the park at 11am with the public following. A great many people walked past including some in costume, a few friends popped in to say hi, but few public ventured in. Then a nor'wester began blowing everything around. My business cards took off, dolls flew off the table, paintings swung around but fortunately I had painted stones so was able to use them as paperweights to hold things down.

By lunch time I had stopped painting and did a bit of rearranging to try and entice people in. By 2pm the next bout of wind began and by that time I had had enough. For apart from Gay buying a couple of cards and the stall holder next door a couple of soaps I sold nothing at all to the public. This for the first time in over twelve years. I packed up my stock, Gay loaded the car and we asked a couple of ladies to help us lift the marquee over the other stall holder who hadn't packed up so that we could help dismantle it. No way were we wanting to leave Marie to cope with having to pack that away all on her own.

Both Marie and I came out of the event out of pocket and me with my confidence absolutely shattered. I had items marked from $3 upwards, everything professionally packaged, everything original and hand painted. Why why why?

Next post will be titled "How To Deal With Failure" once I work out how you do that.

Hare and There

2010-02-06T21:01:00.005+13:00

Just a week out from Waipawa's 150th Celebrations and I am booked in to share a stall with Marie N at Coronation Park next Saturday (13th Feb). The toughest part of preparing for a market is guessing what will sell and combining popular items while trying out new products. My soaps have been selling since I began decorating them just over a year ago so I decided to add another theme to the line. However I am unsure as to whether they'll sell as most people don't enjoy seeing a hare on their soap...

For a break from my incessant puddling I went along to portraiture yesterday morning where we drew a new member of the art group. Robyn sat incredibly still and her classic features made for some interesting sketches.

When I arrived home there were two packages from TLC sitting by the back door (materials I'd ordered) so after lunch I spent an enjoyable half hour unpacking all my goodies. I now have a small visual diary which I have put inside my purse so I can sketch when I'm out and about. I also ordered clay for sculpting, sepia ink and a set of calligraphy nibs to replace my old pen that was given to me on my 21st and which is now worn out (a bit like me really). Also ordered fresh sketch pads and canvases. There is nothing as joyous as an unused sketchpad or brand new book, both of which are full of endless possibilities and undiscovered excitements.

Autumn Journey, Tikokino

2010-01-31T21:35:00.004+13:00

On the 24th January I promised to go to the baptism of a friend's baby son in Waipawa. By the time I arrived home and had lunch it was after 1pm before I began continuing work on my pointillist painting which I had unimaginatively titled "Autumn Journey, Tikokino". I worked throughout the afternoon into the evening with the picture perched on a small easel on my knee, my paints arranged on a bean bag beside me. The night passed in a blur to the rumbling soundtrack of TV: "Enchanted", "Doc Martin", "Stargate Atlantis", "Wes Craven's Dracula 3" Legacy" and "Alamo". Finishing this not-quite-an-all-nighter I turned my lights off at 3am, getting three hours sleep before packaging the picture for a friend to deliver to Vidal's Winery for the selection process. It wasn't until the following Friday that I heard that the painting had been selected for Art Hawkes Bay's exhibition "Shapes and Scapes of Hawkes Bay".

Apart from the fraught hours painting my nemesis (trees) I attended two portraiture sessions including a life drawing session where the model was 78 years old. She enjoyed regaling us with the story of how she met someone in the Post Shop who knew she was going to pose for us. The woman asked her if she was going to have a Brazilian and our model, assuming in her ignorance that this was a stiff drink, replied that no but she needed one...

The Art Of The Pre-Raphaelites

2010-01-15T20:27:00.002+13:00

Hard to believe a month has gone by since our last portrait session but today was our first for the year. How true it is that if you don't use it you lose it- my rubbery fingers fumbled trying to make an intelligible mark. Our model was a local girl who works on a farm near Onga Onga. What she thought of our mad group I have no idea. I don't think most of us know what to make of our mad group either.

Currently reading "The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites" by Elizabeth Prettiejohn. Gives an excellent insight into their working methods, how they began with a brilliant white background, painstakingly building up the picture with small brushes and completing every detail in the background before beginning to work on the main subject-their devotion to working from nature was their raison d'etre.Every part of the painting was considered as important as every other part. At the time this was considered a rebellion against the art establishment and the group were ridiculed until John Ruskin took up their cause. Although the male counterparts of the Brotherhood are famous their female associates such as Evelyn Pickering, Elizabeth Siddall, and Rosa Brett are rightfully becoming of more interest to critics. Their work is of equal quality but they were limited by education and lifestyle (in particular marriage). Thankfully times have sort of changed and women have more opportunities for pursuing their careers and passions.

Rocking Hobbit House

2010-01-03T14:37:00.005+13:00

I have too many half finished projects sitting around the place so decided to pick just one to finish before New Year's Day. Found this rock on a river bed near the village of Onga Onga. Rivers tend to produce interestingly shaped stones and this one said "Hobbit House" to me. For months it has sat dustily on my dining room table with just its lawn roof completed.

I'm not sure how many hours I spent on this house. Far too many to make it financially profitable but that's not the point I guess. The bricks in particular had to be painted unthinkingly so I didn't fall asleep with boredom. The lead light windows are my favourite feature- I would love these in my own house.

It's interesting to look at a rock and then make features out of its bumps and lumps although I am sure I'll be asked how I added the chimney (that shape was already present). The sad part is that the finished product will just be regarded as "just craft" as it's merely painted on a stone.

Endings

2009-12-23T20:39:00.004+13:00

Everyone is winding up for Christmas Day and winding down before the end of 2009. Otane Painters decided to celebrate their end of year do at the Wanstead Pub just south of Waipukurau. I remember this hotel so well from driving past on the way to visit my grandparents at Porangahau. It was just before reaching this place that I would hit the carsick stage in the back seat of my parent's Vauxhall Viva (bought because my mother liked the colour). It was always a rather scruffy building as were so many Victorian dwellings in the 1970s before it became fashionable to renovate. Wanstead had been restored sensitively, keeping many original features while removing some later additions that weren't in keeping with the building. However there were reminders of the original furnishings in the form of framed examples of wallpaper and linoleum hanging in the main bar.

I was lucky enough to receive a few surprise presents. Marie N has been making some amazing art dolls (dolls with attitude) during the year and I was the recipient of "The Choir Girls". I set them up on a table in the corner where they silently serenaded us throughout the afternoon. The blonde has the definite look of a soprano complete with bustle. Glenys keeps me supplied with chocolate and also gave me a voucher for Humanities Art Supplies and Bookshop. While we waited the 90 minutes to be served our meal (I had a specially made vegetarian pizza sans olives and mushrooms) "Recycling Santa" arrived in the form of one of our members who is in the process of decluttering her house. She donned a Santa hat and gave each of us a wrapped surprise gift from out of her shopping bag which we were told to recycle if we didn't like what we received. As every gift was a book on a variety of subjects we were pretty stoked. Later one of our members gave a kind speech about the work Glenys and I have done for the group and we were both presented with a voucher, again for Humanities Art Supplies and Book Shop so I no longer have to close my eyes when I enter the shop on my way to the paint section.

Friday was our final portrait session with the return of a model who is a member of the Waipukurau Pistol Club. He was dressed as a cowboy complete with pistols which managed to make us all behave strangely enough. I took oodles of photos which was just as well as my drawing that day wasn't that wonderful. The day ended sadly when I received news that my 96 year old aunt had died. Today was the funeral at St Mary's Anglican Church in Waipukurau. I was going to be so brave but managed to bawl throughout the service. Fortunately my cousin Gwendalyn sat beside me so I wasn't on my own. The church was full of people I didn't know although I did see a few cousins I hadn't seen for twenty years plus some I hope I won't see for another twenty. Later my aunt was buried at the local cemetery after a short graveside committal. Everyone threw dirt and flowers down on the coffin but I only threw a cream rose as no way would I chuck dirt on a favourite aunt. My brother and his wife didn't come as Diane had chest pains on Monday and had been in hospital with a suspected heart attack.

This is a year I won't be sad to see the back of as I have lost two dear aunts, nearly my brother, had to move home AGAIN and a plethora of small stuff. Art has been one of the few things to keep me focused and moving forward. Next year will be the start of exciting events as I am determined to get my work out in the big wide world. Hopefully...

Props

2009-12-11T21:38:00.005+13:00

Props are handy for spicing up things in a variety of situations and today our model turned up complete with pink wig, Op Shop high heel shoes, various hats and a broom. As she is an artist she moved easily from one interesting pose to another. With some of the last ones I sat with Helen on the floor and drew from an unusual vantage that distorted everything in a really cool way.

When we packed up a follically challenged individual remarked that he really needed a wig so was given a chance to try out our model's. A couple of us made sure we got some photographic evidence should it be needed for blackmail purposes in the future.

Then to the Paper Mulberry Cafe for the Portrait Group's Christmas lunch where Glenys presented Helen with our joint gift- a red T-shirt on which I'd written "I'm Aging Disgracefully". In the cafe's second hand bookshop I managed to pick up a textbook on the Dreamweaver web design programme which I have been struggling to come to turns with by employing my usual technique of pressing every button until something works interspersed by yelling at the computer.

Torturing the Model

2009-12-05T20:13:00.009+13:00

I once watched a documentary which gave some idea as to the tribulations faced by life models. Firstly a respectable woman of the time would never pose in the nude so prostitutes became the true face the Madonna and every other famous female. Secondly as they were required to sit for extremely long periods of time their limbs were tied into place with ropes so they wouldn't drop out of the pose so posing for any artist was torture in more ways than one. I often think of this when I watch our life models staring into space with gritted teeth. And when they move you often see the pressure points they were suffering with as red marks on the skin.

Yesterday one of our best models came to pose for the last time before she undertakes a full time course of study in another city. What a loss for us as she would read an art book and fall into any position pictured (and I don't mean that to sound icky either!). I decided to use a technique I learned out our recent workshop and used a stumpy (tortillion) to put in shadows and soften lines. What a find this tool is- as the actress said to the bishop.

I finished another small box of goods for the Creative Hastings Christmas sale which were put on display yesterday. I received a message today that the horse pendant (middle) sold this morning and could I paint more of them. There are obviously many horse mad little girls out there! I should know as I used to be one until I grew up into a horse mad big girl.

Poses and Roses

2009-11-28T11:41:00.007+13:00

So my TLC folder finally arrives Thursday a full week after it was sent and I discover the courier company responsible was PBT couriers not NZ Couriers this time. Very bad service but at least it arrived. Positive feedback from my tutor with some suggestions for improvement.

Friday we had two models: Toni the granddaughter of one of our members plus her dog Cassie, a princess disguised within a red setter's body. I began in conte pencil but switched to ink which is a most unforgiving medium but it does make you look and think before you put pen to paper. It also sped up my drawing considerably. Having a camera with me has freed me considerably from trying to capture an exact likeness during the session but sometimes it accidentally happens anyway. Cass had no idea what we were doing and was quite concerned with Toni posing, shoving her head in places you don't want a dog to be. I can understand why they say never work with animals or children but then it wouldn't be near as much fun!

After lunch I went through two shopping bags full of dead headed roses sent by a friend and separated into colours for drying as I've decided to go back to making potpourri. Took me three hours sitting on the floor but finally finished and have the petals laid out on newspaper in the spare room (or perhaps I should call it Kit's bedroom as she has taken to sprawling out there all day). Being surrounded by such a colourful garden I feel drawn back to my old crafting pastimes and tempted towards others like beading. The older I get the more I am tempted by shiny things like beads and mirrors so perhaps I'm finally morphing into a magpie.

Tight Paintings and Crap Courier Services

2009-11-25T20:08:00.005+13:00

Being part of a group of artists you pick up so many ideas and are constantly inspired but it is also frustrating that while everyone is busy embarking on new projects I am stuck working on bread and butter projects for the Christmas Sale at the Hastings Community Arts Centre. My painting style at the moment is as tight as a hen's bum but when you're painting in miniature you can't be too experimental.

My painting "Gine Embroiders" has been temporarily renamed "The Embroiderer" and is hanging at Electra Gallery, Ruataniwha Street, Waipukurau for a fortnight. It is situated between a mini exhibition of portraits by Blair Logan and two by Helen McKenzie so is in very good company.

I am waiting for a folder of work to be returned from my Learning Connexion tutor at the moment. It is a week tomorrow since it was sent via New Zealand Couriers- the second time this year I have had delays with that company delivering items. Frustrating considering the extortionate delivery fees they charge. If my folder has gone missing I am not so worried about my drawings but the thought of losing my visual diary has me slightly pissed off. Well actually extremely pissed off. To the extent I could poke someone with a sharp stick...

Twenty One Again

2009-11-21T21:12:00.007+13:00

Celebrated another anniversary of my 21st birthday on Tuesday. I thought I'd spend a quiet day working but a couple of friends rang in the morning and Glenys popped in for a while in the late afternoon bearing antique gold paint amongst other goodies. I'd just said goodbye to her when I had another phone call and then my brother and his wife arrived with a combined birthday/Christmas present- a new printer to replace my hysterical misbehaving one. It was the first time I'd seen Rich or Diane in over five months so it was quite a big thing that he'd made the effort to drive out when he is still feeling so ill. After a late rice meal and internetting during the evening I finished up by making silver wire findings for pendants before going to bed near midnight.

Next morning I was all prepared for art early and waiting out on the roadside when Glenys and Marie S drove up. Marie gave me a beautiful bunch of roses from her garden which I carried down to Otane with me. Although we were the first to arrive it wasn't long before a few others wandered in. While the door was open into the corridor I was shocked to see an old friend standing there. She was equally shocked to see me there as she'd brought her grandson to take part in the Otane School sports day and had just wandered over to look at the building. As I hadn't seen or heard from her for three and a half years there was quite a bit to catch up on.

Mid morning Marie N came in and then disappeared again. A while later I heard the door open and glanced up to see Marie's grand daughter Toni holding a chocolate birthday cake with three candles blazing away (thankfully not relating to my real age otherwise the building would have burnt down). I must have been in shock as it was the first time I didn't disappear under the table when Happy Birthday was sung. Everyone got a slice of the deliciousness but there was enough left over to bring home thankfully. Toni had cooked the cake herself so it looks like she has inherited her grandmother's culinary witchery. I remember the last cake I baked- it sloped down one end and was burnt and raw all at the same time and not where you'd expect either.

Friday (20th Nov)was my first time back at portraiture in a few weeks. Glenys came at 8.30am so she could photograph some of the red poppies flowering in the garden before we headed to Waipawa to drop off a box of my jewellery and soaps etc. plus an awkward stand at the home of someone who works for Creative Hastings and would take everything to the gallery before the sale starts next week. Our model for the portrait session was a Japanese girl which brought its own challenges but she was so beautiful and with such a giggly personality the morning passed extremely quickly. Afterwards she walked about and took photos of some of our drawings including this one which she photographed several times including one closeup. Hopefully this meant she wasn't too insulted.

To Otane And Back And Back

2009-11-11T21:05:00.009+13:00

Otane Arts and Crafts Corner Open Weekend (7th-8th Nov)came up before I knew what had happened. I decided not to go on Saturday so I could stay home and work. Mid morning I received a desperate message from Glenys that she was on her own and the tables and model's plinth hadn't been cleared away but fortunately someone from the Wool Group helped her set up and tidy the room. By 10.30am a couple of our group had arrived to work but apparently there weren't many people coming through and the day was very slow. However one really lovely thing happened when my Hong Kong Horror sold to someone who worked at Cranford Hospice in Hastings. Apparently one of her patients had complained that there were no paintings featuring boats so she bought my picture to pin up in his room. After he passes away she is having it framed. An amazing result considering how much I disliked that pastel (I only marked it for $10 because I thought so little of it).

Sunday morning Glenys collected me early (before 9am) so we ended up being the first to arrive for the day. I set up at a table and began a long session of painting soaps (exciting- not). A reporter from "Hawkes Bay Today" was walking about when suddenly he got on his knees and began taking some close up photographs of me working. Fortunately I don't think these will ever see the light of day..

The biggest excitement of the day was when two swallows flew into the hallway. One flew straight back out the front door again but the other managed to concuss itself on a window and confused flew into our room. We opened the large sash windows but the poor bird didn't seem to realise how to get out and ended sitting on an electric light cord. After an hour of gradually turning into an ice block I grabbed a long pole (no double entendre intended) and encouraged the bird to fly around until it managed to fall between the glass panes of a window where our tallest painter present climbed up, dropped an apron onto it and then set it free to general jubilation.

By the time 4pm arrived and despite catching up with a couple of people I hadn't been in contact with for years, Glenys and I were staring tiredly across an empty room waiting until we could decently pack up and leave. Not being punished enough we were back at Otane on Monday afternoon for a committee meeting. Meetings aren't my favourite thing and when you get excited about the smelly gent's toilet being fixed you know that you have hit rock bottom ('scuse the pun). "And God so loved the world he didn't send a committee".

Wednesday I was back at Otane again for our art morning. Gay and I were the first there so she set up the plastic covers over the tables while I set up the tea trolley and boiled the kettle. Only eight people turned up but despite this we had some animated conversations including one concerning the article one of our nude models had written about our Life Painting Workshop which had been published in the Central Hawkes Bay Mail the previous day. General consensus was that we were very glad that it hadn't been published before Glenys and I had gone to the committee meeting.

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.

Trees, Fairees, and Artees.

2009-05-20T17:10:00.007+12:00

I finally put the finishing touches to my topiary tree painting yesterday and am quite pleased at the 3D effect the modelling compound gave. Definitely something I would like to try again. However I spent so much time fluffing about with it that I hadn't even begun refurbishing the frame for my faery painting. I applied the high build on Monday afternoon which allowed a good long drying time. I began painting this within 24 hours and after only half an hour I had a base colour applied and was dropping in deep blues, purples and various half shades. I was so onto it that within 90 minutes I was certain I had finished the painting part.

Evening came and I spent an hour working on labels for the paintings at our group exhibition next week. I then spent more time in front of TV listening to "House" cutting them out. Then I decided I needed to change some of the colours on my frame. An hour later I wasn't happy but it was getting late so I forced myself to go to bed. I kept waking up throughout the night thinking I was sleeping late so that by the time it was daylight I truly resembled "Kiss without the makeup" to quote Robbie Williams. Propping my eyelids open I quickly painted over what I'd done the night before and hauled out the old epoxy glue to stick the faery to the frame.

First there was the fight to get the tubes unstuck from their plastic holder. Then my hands got stuck to the tubes trying to undo their lids. When I finally prized these loose and unstuck the fingers from them I managed to squeeze some glue onto a card. mix it together and apply it to the painting and the frame. After sticking everything I didn't want stuck it was a profound disappointment when the painting peversely fell off the frame.

By this time Gay had arrived so on our way through town she stopped into Mitre 10 to ask if there was a proper glue for the job. There was- it was PVA glue albeit a professional grade. Although there were many people at Otane delivering their paintings for hanging my only thought was for my loose faery. I applied the glue and on explaining my dilemma a very kind art teacher fetched bricks and after carefully laying newspaper over the painting weighed the whole thing down with these and our handbags! Unfortunately soon we needed to hang the thing in position and after an hour or so of being shifted about the faery's wings began to droop forwards off the frame. She was unceremoniously removed and I reapplied the glue and she is presently lying on a table covered with newspapers with four bricks on top. In educated circles they say "You can't keep a good faery down..." so here's hoping my faery is very very bad and will end up very very stuck up.

After lunch we finished labelling the paintings before heading to McCauley's for a hot drink. As usual there was some interesting conversations going on. For example in the space of a few hours today we discussed pig welfare, battery chickens, dogs eating manure, pregnant fairies, how coffee conscious Kiwis have become, old cars, and how hard it is to get the smell of chicken poo off your hands. Perhaps it might sound weird to a "normal" person- you just have to be there.

Going and Mojoing

2009-05-15T17:52:00.004+12:00

I don't think I'm meant to gad about much. I've been out five times this week and I'm shattered. Monday Glenys and I had to represent the painting group at the monthly meeting of the Otane Arts and Crafts Committee. Tuesday was my shopping day and I had the thrill of finding a wooden frame to gussy up for the fairy painting I am entering into our Queen's Birthday exhibition. Wednesday was art where I continued with my topiary tree picture although I didn't get much done as Gine, Gareth and baby Moses stopped in for a visit so all of us clucky females spent a good hour staring at the little guy. Thursday afternoon Marie and I went to Gine's for the afternoon where I spent two hours holding Moses and was even rewarded with a smile (I will not admit it was wind). Then this morning Glenys and I went to life drawing at Otane for the morning.

I am now convinced the model is responsible for how I draw. If I don't connect with them my drawings are blah. If I do (and I have my favourites) then my mojo is up and running. That's how I felt this morning. To avoid boredom I used pastel pencil, ink and finally charcoal and eraser. All in all eight drawings within two hours which flew by. The general consensus is to have life drawing every fortnight until the money runs out. Hopefully all this extra practice will allow our drawing to improve dramatically. Once we're broke I think we may have to do furtive self portraits in front of a full length mirror at home. {{SHUDDER}}

Squishy Subjects

2009-05-06T19:33:00.005+12:00

Missed out my portraiture session last Friday so I could go see my friend Gine who gave birth to little Moses Eliah on 28th April (Tuesday). Well worth it to get another cuddle and to spend some time with Gine who had a really rough time getting him into the world. Doesn't matter if you're the maternal sort or not it's still amazing to look at the perfection of a baby's tiny hands with their perfect fingernails. Let's face it babies need the cute factor so you don't mind the poopy nappies and the frequent screaming. And then we end up the same way at the other end of life sans teeth, sans memory, sans sanity in many cases. Makes you realise how quickly life passes. So much chocolate- so little time...

I am painting a series of Art Deco Flappers on small stones for McCauley's Cafe in Otane. Delivered the prototype a week ago and then made a few more in shades the owner was happy with (to match the interior of the cafe). Then needed to complete
my contribution for the New Zealand Art Guild's Collaborative work "Ngatahi" which will be auctioned at our exhibition in July 2009. Glenys gave me the idea and I stayed up until 10.30pm Sunday night finishing it. Wasn't hard to keep awake as a minor TV station here was screening the semi finals of the Eurovision Song Contest. I have never seen this before (apart from excerpts showing ABBA's famous win with "Waterloo" in 1974). It was well worth watching for the total kitschness of it all. From a Lithuanian guy with long black hair who rocked out a power ballad completely out of tune (in Lithuanian to boot), to Belgium and several strangely dressed females singing a funny oompah anthem, down to Ireland's entry performed by a puppet called Dennis the Turkey who at one point broke wind while feathers blew out his backside. The Irish have a very tongue in cheek sense of humour. As my Dad once said the Irish gave the Scots the bagpipes and they still haven't got the joke!

Today I began work on a painting for the Creative Hastings Artists' Challenge "Trees Keys and Brollies". Spent ninety minutes experimenting with sketches before committing pencil to canvas. It is also the first time I have used modelling compound- what fun it is. Now I can understand what my aunt got out of cake decorating. All that squishing and mashing is vaguely satisfying.

You never know what's going to happen at our painters' group. One brave lady is making a 3D naked woman out of foam displayed in a homemade shadow box for our exhibition in three week's time. The comments and advice she garnered from the room ranged from the reasonable to the risque (I made a few rude suggestions but then I usually do). As she artfully applied the bellybutton and nipples with a tiny brush there were quite a few tears of glee being wiped away. To me it rates with the time a while back that seven artists gathered around a half finished canvas ernestly discussing the merits of a sheep's bottom.

New Beginnings

2009-04-26T14:45:00.004+12:00

I realised this morning that it is nearly six weeks since I last updated this blog. This was partly due to my having to shift in mid March, partly due to a family bereavement, partly due to being lackadaisical. I didn't stop painting though attending two life drawing sessions as well as a portraiture one last Friday in the midst of all the chaos.

Other news is that I passed Year One Stage One of my TLC course. Also that I finally saved up enough Warehouse gift cards I'd been given over the years to buy a digital camera. There are two unfortuatelys to qualify this. 1. Unfortunately there wasn't a memory card with the camera so I only have enough memory to store three photos until I save enough to buy one. 2. Unfortunately my computer had a complete hissy fit when I tried to install the camera's software. Needless to say I think it'll take a while until I can afford another computer so I may have to make a few trips to the chemist to get my photos downloaded instead. However it'll still be faster (and cheaper) than using my steam driven camera which I will save for the art shots instead.

There is an outside room here which could make a good summer studio as it faces south and the lighting is unchanging. I have all my art supplies in boxes out there ready to be unpacked except my acrylic paints which are living on the coffee table in the sitting room as my current art studio is situated on my knees as I paint sitting on the sofa in front of the TV. Unfortunately when I become to comfortable I tend to nod off. However I have three deadlines this week for work due at different places so my napping hours may be curtailed in favour of brief periods of panicking instead.

Beware Of The Chisel

2009-03-09T19:01:00.004+13:00

At the moment whenever I get stressed I go out the back and hack away at my Oamaru stone sculpture. Each time I bang the chisel with the hammer I imagine it's not just a stone head I'm hitting. Who says art isn't therapy?

This afternoon I had my first official committee meeting as "No 2" of the Painters' Group. One and a half hours later Glenys and went to the bank in Waipukurau before having afternoon tea at a local cafe. Glenys reckoned after all the excitement I needed a hot chocolate. It is interesting to see all the work that goes into an organization behind the scenes. I can well understand previous members' reluctance to go back on the committee. Hopefully my large mouth won't have my stockinged foot in it too often.

Surrealism and Seawitch

2009-03-05T19:06:00.006+13:00

Tuesday I went to see an exhibition on New Zealand Surrealist paintings at the Hastings Art Gallery. It was a fascinating collection including work from many Kiwi artists including Sylvia Siddell, Heather Busch and even Raymond Ching. Surrealism is quite a challenging genre and I think you need to be slightly weird to get it (explains why I like it anyway). For example there was a large wooden panel of a Dalek but instead of the usual dome with a plunger sticking out the front at the top there was the Beehive (the home of the NZ Government) and replacing the half rounded mounds on the body were icons of Kiwiana including a paua, a Kiwi's head etc. What occurred to me was how well painted all the works were. Many were photo realistic but their subject matter was very "out there". The prices were also in outer space with some work priced at $18,000 to $38,000!

Our model didn't turn up again yesterday so some of the portraitists took turns to pose. After lunch Donna gave a few of us an hour long demonstration of watercolour techniques which went some way to solve many of the problems I used to have when using this medium. The only thing that really puts me off going back to it is that watercolours have to be mounted and framed which can prove very expensive.
Before heading home we went to Electra Gallery to see every one's Art Hawkes Bay entries. Gay and I were chuffed that our paintings were hung side by side. Unfortunately mine needs natural light to reflect on all the gold paint in it so didn't show up as well as it does here. However I think Seawitch a bit too way out to appeal to any local buyers so it probably doesn't matter.

The Model Herself

2009-02-27T09:35:00.003+13:00

I pushed myself to finish a folder of work for TLC this week and Gine took a couple of photos of larger work that couldn't be mailed. What a fantastic piece of technology the digital camera is- the photos were so professional and it was so handy to delete unwanted pictures. It made me get my A into G and I finally took four films I had sitting on a shelf for developing. I think they date from May 2008 through to February 2009 so goodness knows what's on them.

I was happy with some of my drawings that I did from Tamara De Lempicka's work. She is a favourite artist of a friend and of course I'd never heard of her until a few years ago. Her paintings done in the 1920s and 1930s are my favourites and although I am more an Art Nouveau girl I can appreciate the skill she had in painting textures.

Wednesday we arrived early at Otane for Portraiture but it turned out that our model couldn't make it so I volunteered to sit. Or rather to slump and lie down. Bam took photos throughout and I hope I have convinced her to delete most of them as they just showed up my weak chin and witchy nose. It's no wonder so many models look shocked when they see our portraits of them. Everyone had difficulty drawing me with Jacqueline saying I had a classical look which is another way of saying "big nose". Oh well it always means I look good in hats!

A Real No 2

2009-02-20T12:52:00.005+13:00

Monday I attended my first Otane Arts and Crafts AGM. Glenys and I arrived early to help although the most I did was help put out mugs. After a shared lunch where the few painters attending ended up in a corner chatting we all sat in the art room for the hour long meeting. The election of officers for the committee included the leaders of the four groups. Jacqueline nominated Glenys for leader (with no small amount of glee I noticed) and when it came to a second Helen nominated myself and Jacqueline seconded the motion. After all these years being called No 2 now I can truly say that I am.

Life Drawing yesterday was with a pregnant model who has agreed to sit for us for the three months before her baby is born. We had two new people attending including one lady from the Dannevirke art group. Because of the extra interest Helen has suggested we hold life drawing every three weeks instead of once a month. I have a friend who says I've seen more naked bodies than she has but it honestly makes you not feel so bad about your own. It's a pity some of these Hollywood actresses couldn't take a class as they'd realise how interesting the human body is as it ages and how boring the silicone Barbi look really is.

I have hardly picked up a brush in the past week although one morning I felt stressed so took it out on my Oamaru stone "sculpture" (I use quotation marks for irony)giving the half formed face a nose job. I am rethinking what I intended as the nose I have carved so far is not the aquiline feature I imagined. Instead it looks like someone has shoved it into a mammogram machine.

New Outlet

2009-02-12T19:17:00.002+13:00

Martina was our model for portraiture yesterday. Other artists are wonderful to draw as they instinctively know how to pose. Martina in particular got into some challenging positions so in revenge I made her look distinctively grumpy in all my pictures. Actually I did that by accident- I seem to have some difficulty drawing people I know well.

Gay shouted Gine, Martina and I to lunch at McCauley's Cafe. This time it was much emptier than our first visit (which was on the occasion of its opening) so we were able to wander round and look closely at all the paintings and other items displayed. After fortifying myself with a cup of hot chocolate I asked to meet with the owner and showed her some of my work with a view to perhaps selling some of it. In the end she took my greeting cards and asked me to paint some small stones with an Art Deco figure on them to match the age of the building (1930). At least now I have another outlet and will be able to do some different work to what I usually do.

When we arrived back at the rooms at 1.30pm everyone had left except Marie so we sat and worked and chatted for 45 minutes. Working in the afternoon is really a peaceful experience and you get much more done. I began painting a "maybe" commission for someone on Trademe. I say maybe for although they asked if I could paint their dog on a pendant there was no firm agreement that they would want to buy it when it was done. Always a risk with doing commission work.

In the evening I rang my cousin who lives just north of Melbourne but fortunately she is not affected by the fires at the moment. It is hard to comprehend the scale of the devastation in Australia, all the deaths both human and animals, the loss of habitats and homes, or even why someone would want to deliberately light some of the fires. It makes you realise how insignificant your own problems are compared with what is happening in Australia.

Dealing With Rejection

2009-02-08T09:07:00.005+13:00

OK so I have to suck it up and say it- "Seawitch" did not get accepted for the Art Hawkes Bay Exhibition. I have had rejections before but this one particularly stuck in my craw as I was certain it was one of my best paintings. I have a saying my mother trotted out on occasions like this ringing in my ears "Pride Comes Before A Fall".

Dealing with rejection is part and parcel of writing and painting. Often it has nothing whatsoever to do with the work but more about the opinion of the person selecting. With writing it may mean that the piece doesn't fit into the overall theme of the magazine or book you're submitting to, maybe the editor has overrun his/her budget that month, perhaps the article needs tweaking. With art perhaps the judge is a fan of photo realism so only wants to show work in that genre. Perhaps they have a limit of how many works they can choose for the exhibiton space.

But then again you don't want to run the risk of becoming like those tone deaf hopefuls who audition for American Idol and don't believe Simon Cowell when he tells them they have no talent and that their singing reminds him of a cat being dropped from a twenty story building. You see them come out defiant and angry, saying the judges don't know what they're talking about, they know they're talented, the world hasn't heard the last of them and they're going to keep on going until they succeed. No one really wants to be one of those people.

However if you enjoy doing something and want to take it to the next level (professionally) then you do need feedback from outsiders. This is when you need to grow a thick skin, put on a stiff upper lip, lift your nose in the air and keep on going when the going goes nowhere. Human beings seem to need something to strive towards. Perhaps that's part of being human because if we didn't have dreams or ambition what is the point of being alive? So now I'll think about the next exhibition I need to prepare for, pick up my paintbrush and begin working again content in my absolute certainty that this particular selector was just plain WRONG.

Of course I had to receive the news of The Rejection in the middle of our first portrait session. I was already feeling down about the fact that what small skill I had managed to acquire last year had packed its bags and gone on holiday to the Bahamas. However we had a good model who sat very still and managed to hide his horror at what drawings resulted from the session.

Lay Down or Lay By.

2009-02-02T12:54:00.004+13:00

I have had to force myself to paint this past week since the murder of a local Tikokino resident just over a week ago. Not only was he young with his whole life ahead he also lived just 15 minutes from where I am now plus he was the cousin of a close friend. It was such a senseless killing as he was only trying to protect a woman who was been beaten by her gang member boyfriend. I wish the Government would toughen up on the gangs in this country. The last Government in particular had a tendency to kowtow to them as I know since I once lived in a gang area. They had family members working for the Ministry of Employment and used to boast of all the handouts they received. Yet you get genuine people who really need help being hassled by WINZ etc. Just makes my blood boil.

However I had to keep going as the deadline for handing my fantasy painting in for the Art Hawkes Bay show was today. I just finished it mid yesterday afternoon and after wrapping it up I left it out of the veranda for a friend who collected it at 11pm. I should hear if it's been accepted by Wednesday.

With the economy tanking at the moment it's been time to think new ways of generating income. One method which was brought up at one art forum I belong to was to offer layby to clients. This would mean that they could pay off larger items over time, receiving the artwork when it's been fully paid for. I think this is a great idea as it would perhaps garner more customers, especially those who love a painting but don't have the wherewithal to pay the full amount up front. Of course this might only apply when selling work privately but I think it's an idea that most artists should consider. The other option is to have a sale to move on work that hasn't readily found a home. I would find this tough to do personally as my stuff is already low priced as it is and I don't really want to give it away. I have found in the past that the people who want a bargain are often those that can afford to pay full price. It is very annoying to have someone try to haggle you down from $20.00, especially if you've put a couple of hours work into a piece, while they're wearing designer sunglasses and swinging round a Gucci handbag.

Bugga

2009-01-24T18:54:00.006+13:00

I have been spending mornings doing chores outside before the heat begins to kick in too much. After watching "Stargate Atlantis" reruns at lunchtime I sit and work on my fantasy painting "Seawitch". She's coming along although sometimes I wonder if the subject's green skin makes her look like she's decomposing rather than sleeping.

I took her along to art on Wednesday and did get a little done before it was time to leave. I was also lent books by three different people so must get down to some serious reading in the evenings. I often read two to three books at a time although I have long since given up on my childhood ambition to read every book ever written! When I think about it my family (and many of my friends) don't talk about books very often if at all. The only person who I could really talk to about them was my grandfather who was of course an ex schoolteacher and Renaissance man who would stay awake till 1am each night reading. Not too great when you're a farmer and need to get up early but I guess that's what he kept Granny for.

Often when Gay and I are on our own we discuss poetry, well actually my poetry which she has actually read (the woman needs a medal). Two weeks ago we sequed (finally I get to use that word) onto short stories of which I have written a grand total of two in the last nine years. I have promised her I will show them to her and I hope she can stand the shock as they're pretty dark.

When I was a child I used to write fiction incessantly. Horse stories mainly about young girls who tamed black/white/Palamino stallions or else owned riding stables. I kept notebooks full of stories but one day came in to find my mother and elder sister holding one and laughing while reading one aloud. It took me quite a while to get back into it by which time my fertile imagination had withered and fallen over.

But to end on a brighter note here are the little bugs I painted for the December sale. My favourite type of insect as they don't crawl all over you or need spraying.

Sulking

2009-01-15T08:43:00.006+13:00

Yesterday was the first day back at art in Otane. Took along my "Seawitch" painting and spent most of my time mixing and remixing colours so I could begin work on some of the decorative elements. When I got the picture home late yesterday I decided I still wasn't happy with the colours so will have to muck around again today. No one would ever believe I only had two weeks to finish this thing!

This afternoon someone from the Arthritis Society called. She'd also entered the Creative Hastings Christmas Sale and was approaching other exhibiters to see if they'd be interested in having a stall at a market day at Duart House in Havelock Nth in early March. This is going to be a fundraiser for the Society and if successful will be an annual event. I haven't attended a market in several years now but as this one only lasts for four hours and is in an affluent area it might be worth trying. She's going to send me more information next week.

Airini brought over yesterday's Dominion newspaper as she thought I'd be interested in an article on the front page. This was about a two year old girl from Aussie whose "abstract" paintings are selling for between $400 and $2,000 each. It made me want to lie on the floor and have a hissy fit at the unfairness of life. Instead of which I ate a piece of chocolate and had a quiet sulk...

Meltdown

2009-01-08T19:08:00.004+13:00

The thermometer under the veranda read 35oC (95oF)at 8am today so goodness knows what temperature it was out in the sun. Being stuck inside I decided to work on an exercise for the "Acrylics Into Oils" section of Stage One since oils would be the easiest to work with in the heat. After using acrylics it is such a pleasure to have time to blend and the colours are so much more rich yet subtle. However after an hour and a half painting with Edith Piaf in the background warbling about losing her legionnaire/gangster/boxer even I was ready to lose the will to live.

With the economy being so depressed at the moment (David Letterman says it's so bad that even the Salvation Army has surrendered) art becomes even more of a luxury item and I've had to rethink my goals for the year. Perhaps people will only be able to buy smaller items so I should concentrate on these as my bread and butter line. But then again I don't want to stagnate creatively yet can I really afford to paint some large piece that might not even sell? I think my grandfather's motto of "moderation in all things" is the way to go. Concentrate on the work that will generate an income but in those spare moments when I'm not stressing about paying the phone bill work on a painting for a competition or try something new to add to my non existant portfolio.

Buddha once stated that nothing lasts forever and even an economic downturn will eventually go the other way and that's when the artist will hopefully be ready to hit the market with some new ideas that'll make a potload of money and save some of us from continually trawling for a rich old sugardaddy...

Happy New 2009

2009-01-01T09:38:00.003+13:00

My New Year's resolution is not to make any New Year's resolutions. You start with great intentions and they wither away before January is over. Well perhaps I can state one intention that I will try to keep during 2009 and that is to stop saying I could be happy if only this would happen or if something else doesn't happen. The better way forward is to live in the moment and just take what enjoyment out of it you can. I see too many people who think the grass is always greener somewhere else and end up never being satisfied. Life isn't perfect and trying to enforce our own view of what we think it should or could be will only make us unhappy.

I have begun back into my TLC course work since I still have 198 hours to complete before the end of Term One. For drawing we had to try and copy a Da Vinci sketch which meant I had to borrow a book from Gay who has an entire library on the great artists. Like all the masters Leonardo can give the impression of the sitter in few lines. The model's eyes seem to speak out from the surface of the paper although my version doesn't have the looseness of the original as I was too nervous of making a mistake. Thank goodness for erasers!

Becoming Jane Austen

2008-12-27T18:52:00.003+13:00

Christmas is over and done with for another year thank goodness. I mus admit that I was so unenthusiastic that I didn't even bother to put my "Merry Kissmass" teddy bear out on display. One thing I have noticed over the previous few years is that less and less people are sending Christmas cards. I thought it was just me but when I've asked around everyone confirms that it's the same for them. Whether it's the influence of the Internet or else we're becoming too busy to be bothered I have no idea but on the plus side I guess we're saving some trees.

I did much better at the Creative Hastings sale than I expected so should be able to pay a couple of worrisome bills in January. Four of the seven soaps I sent in sold- in particular the stylized butterflies and Jazzy cats were most popular. I gave a few for gifts and have heard from people that they're not going to use them which is a shame as I wanted to find out how the paintings lasted.

Full of good intentions every afternoon I sit on the sofa, my bean bag tray on my knees painting. Because I am so comfortable there I am able to work for much longer than usual but unfortunately this doesn't help for larger works as my sitting room is really too small to accomodate my larger easel. However I want to build up some stock so I can find other outlets to sell through.

I am currently reading "Becoming Jane Austen" which I guess partially inspired the Anne Hathaway movie. I have read every biography of Jane Austen that I could find over the past twenty years- this is a highly readable addition. It made me think of how important letters once were to people of those times and how well written they were. Although concerned with the minutiae of daily life they were very witty. There is nothing so wonderful as holding a handwritten letter in your hands, knowing that someone has taken the time to sit there and write to you. I wonder what Jane Austen would make of us today with our "text" language and emails? I can't talk though as I take so long to write by hand that battering out an email on the computer seems a much easier option. Who knows- if she lived today Jane Austen might be an enthusiastic blogger.

The Great Underwear Caper

2008-12-24T08:47:00.003+13:00

I have been painting painting painting gifts and still have more to finish today. However yesterday I had break when I went to town to finish a few chores including spending my birthday money which I had put aside to go on an underwear safari. So it was that I found myself at Farmer's panicking, trapped amongst the knickers with lacy over the shoulder boulder holders surrounding me in every direction. Two snotty young females on the counter looked haughtily in my direction but it was no wonder as I crept along, bent in shame, surrepticiously feeling every bra I could, trying to find any that were not underwire ones.

Finally I found two cotton ones that looked like they should really be in the training section and bashed my way out of the claustrophobic jungle of briefs and thongs (why women bother to buy them when it would be cheaper to wear dental floss is beyond me) ala "Father Ted". I now have great sympathy with men who panic at the mere thought of entering the lingerie section as it's bad enough when you're female.

Afterwards I dropped off another pendant at Creative Hastings. The past week has been very good for me as I have sold seven of my twelve Love Bugs, a couple of soaps, pendants and a brooch as well as animal cards. The sale ends today but hopefully there will still be a few last minute shoppers who in desperation will buy something that they don't want, don't understand and can't return ie. my stuff.

Christmas Cheer

2008-12-18T16:41:00.002+13:00

I feel a bit like a mouse frantically running on a wheel at the moment but that's only because I decided (due to finances) to make most of my Christmas presents this year. This can be a hit and miss event because some people feel that if you don't spend alot of money on them and instead "palm" them off with a home made gift you're short changing them. I should know- I've seen the look of disappointment often enough! I love having things my friends have made me about the house. I have a few paintings, embroidered cloths and beautiful beadwork that I've been given. I always think of their makers when I see these things and it gives me a buzz to think that my friends have taken the time to work on something especially for me.

We live in an increasingly sterile mass produced world with increasingly minimalist uninteresting "houses" designed to look good but which give little idea as to the owner's character. I was thinking about this yesterday when I went to the Painters' group end of year party which was held at our leader's lovely arts and crafts home in Waipukurau. Everywhere there was warm natural wood, textiles with a real eye for colour and, to me the most interesting part, many wonderful paintings hanging throughout the house. There were several delicate watercolours painted by our hostess as well as some that I recognised as being done by other members of the group. Everything was original and really made the house a home.

None of us really wanted to leave. We arrived just before midday, bringing our plates of food and our under $5 presents. Gine encouraged us to sing Christmas Carols with her and then sang a beautiful Irish song called "The Wind In The Willows" before we tucked into a buffet lunch. Blanca was there and the life of the party as usual. She had made gifts for a few of us including a necklace for me made from beads she'd brought over from Peru. Also Glenys made sure I was stocked up with chocolate with an unexpected gift. Later when we all dipped for a present I ended up with three sweet little recipe books for summer fruits which I guess it the universe's way of making me cook a little more!

At 3pm it was time to say goodbye. I honestly felt as if I would never see anyone again which is so silly as I surely will be back next month but still being without a place to move to has left me feeling unsettled, melancholy and overall very Irish.

Seeing Double

2008-12-17T07:19:00.003+13:00

Last Friday was the last life drawing session for the year and for the second month in a row we had a couple pose for us. There was no need for heaters as it was broiling hot and most of the windows in our art room don't open so it wasn't long before we were all sweating and sighing. Finally someone remembered that we actually have a ceiling fan so this was turned on to everyone's relief including the models.

Our models have posed before for art students and enjoy thinking up difficult poses to prematurely age us. They quipped that they knew we were challenged because the room fell quiet without our usual chatter. In a couple of cases there was only time to pare down the subject to gestural poses which I think worked more successfully than the longer drawings.

We had started at 9.30am so we could end earlier as we'd booked in for our Christmas lunch at the Paper Mulberry Cafe. Our models came along and in a strange case of serendipity we met another of our life models in there as well. The Paper Mulberry has two advantages to other cafes in the area: there is a good gallery showing local art, a small shop stocking local produce and a second hand bookshop out the back of the building. The second advantage is the food is excellent and served in generous portions which means that when you order a mug of hot chocolate you also get a marshmallow and small chocolate fish! That's enough incentive for anyone I would think....

Getting Plastered

2008-12-12T07:39:00.005+13:00

Late November I finally got round to running the mask making workshop at Otane. I was concerned that few people would be interested as it did involve taking off make up and trusting your fellow painters to get you plastered without suffocating you at the same time. Blanca (our Peruvian visitor) was the first to volunteer. We draped her in newspaper and towels after she had first vasolined her face and I demonstrated how to wrap Gladwrap around her hair before applying the plaster bandages. Even though she can't speak English Blanca continued chattering in Spanish before I finally plastered her mouth shut. Jacqueline documented the procedure with her digital camera so we have a great record of the morning including shots of everyone fully masked looking decidedly spooky.

Glenys went next and this time Blanca and Jacqueline did the honours while I supervised. I took the opportunity while Glenys was unable to speak to cheek her but she still managed to place a well aimed kick to the shins! There was one hairy moment when the girls inadvertantly covered up part of her nostrils and then she was partially exfoliated as we removed the mask but all in all Glenys said she found it all very soothing.

Marie had a huge phobia about having her face covered up and perhaps being unable to breathe properly but she bravely faced her fears and allowed us to plaster her face. The others in the group came over to add their support and occasionally a smart comment to the proceedings. The general consensus was that Maire resembled Queen Victoria!

Meanwhile Gine and Colleen decided just to plaster their hands. Colleen however was a bit impatient and didn't wait for the bandages to dry which resulted in a couple of her fingers falling off. She found a jar and positioned the hand over this while trying to stick them back on. At one point they were all facing different directions, another time one finger was standing alone flipping the bird, another time the hand was giving the Vulcan sign to "Live long and prosper". In the end Blanca helped Colleen to stick them back on and they made a great job too. It was only when they finished that Gine pointed out that the little finger was where the middle finger should be and visa versa!

After much discussion over lunch Jacqueline decided that she would have her mask done while lying down as that way all her wrinkles would fall away! She lay down on a table while four of us worked on her. Then it was my turn- photos to follow! I don't think I have laughed so much in a very long time.

The following week I showed everyone how to vaseline the negative and pour plaster of paris into it to form the positive. As of writing this I have several scary looking plaster "Jen's" lying on the dining room floor. When I have time I will then make a couple of papier mache masks based on these to frighten the visitors!

Otherwise I have been frantically painting colourful "Love Bugs" and decorating soap for the Creative Hastings Sale. It has been so slow this year but I have sold three pendants and a few cards and there is still two weeks to go.

Two Nudes, A Drawing Tutor and The Peruvian Soap Decorator

2008-11-25T19:42:00.002+13:00

I haven't had much time to blog this past fortnight as the days are full of activity and the evenings I fall asleep on the sofa with one of the cats! I've enjoyed a few firsts in art starting with life drawing on the 14th where we had two models. We often have this in portraiture but with the life class it's tough enough finding one person willing to pose in the buff let alone two. Fortunately this married couple were old hands at sitting as they'd posed for art students in Christchurch. The lady was quite bemused by the fact that I described drawing them lying down in a very awkward position (and I don't know a better way to write that) as drawing a human landscape. After we finished they came over to look at what I'd done and the husband pointed out that they looked like the Ruahine Ranges...

Two days later on the 16th Nov Glenys and I went to Otane to attend a drawing workshop tutored by Tom Williams. He brought along many of his own sketch books and portfolios so that we could see what sort of work he did. I was impressed with the range and quality of his work- especially his old buildings as he really captured their soul. He had us working hard at drawing an old Bentwood chair all morning and after a lovely alfresco lunch held under the century old trees outside we sat and drew a tree for two hours. At the end of this I was more convinced than ever that I need to spend time learning to draw trees as my picture just looked like a tree having a quiet nervous breakdown.

Wednesday Blanca, a Peruvian lady who is here visiting her neice in Waipukurau, modelled for our portraiture class. Fortunately Jacqueline is fluent in Spanish (as she was born in Argentina) so she translated all our extremelly witty and insightful repartee. After lunch Blanca taught us how to paint on soap. I had bought a packet of six "budget" cakes which we shared and she demonstrated (with Jacqueline translating) how to smooth the soap, varnish and then paint on it. I painted a bunny but because it's so dark it looks like something nasty has died on the soap so I may have to rethink my colour scheme!

It is now a week since the Christmas Sale at Creative Hastings began and for the first time in all the years I have entered I have not sold one thing! Whether it's the slowing economy or my stuff just doesn't gel I don't know. I finished another three pendants and a brooch over the past week and dropped these off today with the fervent hope that everyone is just leaving their Christmas shopping to the last moment this year.