Sunrise

Art Swap

"Erosi" and "Shards" have found new owners through an art swap I took part in. That's one of the fun points of painting, there is much to share and enjoy with others.

"Erosi", a painting that I loved having hung on my wall for the period before it left has gone to Jos Cofreur.

"Shards" is now hanging on the wall of Helen Sherrock.

I hope they enjoy my paintings! Its great to know they are out there instead of hanging out in my room (although I do miss them...)

Shards

Here is a little story about how how the triptych "Shards" came into being. My painting friends and I really wanted to have a "painting day" because we were always busy with other things. So we decided on a time, had a nice shared brunch then set off for Cornwall Park. It was the middle of winter, but that didn't stop us, although quite a few of our fellow artists didn't make it due to the cold or sickness. Obviously its an activity best suited for the mellow weather of summer.

Making the most of it, we brought materials and prepared painting surface. There were only three of us on this occasion and it was raining, at one stage quite hard, but it was those moments that make the experience of painting unique (who else would be crazy enough to huddle underneath a tiny pavilion in Cornwall Park).

I brought along a piece of gutsy card with several layers of gesso, my trusty acrylics and Indian ink, gouache, my favourite scrapers (I hardly ever use brushes). While wandering around the park, I tried to find what I wanted to paint, and found a tree near the pavilion with gouged out symbols in the bark. With a flurry of my dynamic painting style, I etched in the painting surface. Then from the site, I used sand, mud, the rain and a piece of fallen bark to create the foundation for "Shards".

Erosi

Mixed media - acrylic, chalk, ink.
Hanging and for sale at the "Out of the Blue" exhibition until the end of July.

Springs Buds

Drawn quite a while ago, they are the reminder of the end of winter (which I am really looking forward to!)

Tiny Flower

Tiny flower which I managed to juice out every nuance in a blue pen sketch (there shall be more!).

Originally I had a blog where I did blue pen sketches once in a while, but then the novelty wore off and subjects were difficult to find so that all went away. There was a freedom found in the line art of the pen, which I explored for the while I did the blog. I do have the whole collection of them so periodically I'll put them up here.

Exhibition Today!

This post was originally going to be for "Exhibition Tomorrow!" but alas the day has past by..

What it doesn't change is the fact that I'm very excited! Today I hung the works up, two pieces, "Erosi" and a triptych "Shards", both intensely mixed media. Acrylics, ink, chalk, modeling medium, even mud and sand from the site of the original subject!

Will post them up after the opening tomorrow night!

Details - "Out of the Blue"

Host:
NZ Art Guild

Start Time:
Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 6:30pm
End Time:
Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 5:00pm

Location:
Bruce Mason Centre
Cnr Hurstmere Rd and the Promenade,Takapuna Beach,
Auckland, New Zealand

Collision

An oil paint study 14/1/09

My Dress is Noise

Decortica gig, Galatos Basement. Taken 24/1/09.

Mediterranean Coast

This painting has deviated from my usual style in two ways. Firstly, it is done in oil paints while I usually never touch the stuff (I had learned to use them however, so I wasn't working blind to the world of oils). Secondly, I usually don't paint with realistic colours, rather I usually opt for the nearly monochromatic palette for abstracted atmosphere.

Why did I break all my stylistic rules?

This was a gift to my sister, who has a strong sense of confusion with anything abstracted more than an impressionistic style. So we were walking down a gallery one day and we saw a painting similar to this one. She instantly took a liking to it and I also wanted to try out a different way of painting. To say the least, it was hard as my every movement bent toward the "freeness" that I obtain in my own style of expression. And I lacked painting medium for oils.

This was a fairly sized boxed canvas oil painting, and it went safely to my sister's home where it now sits somewhere on display.

Hole

Google Painting

Today I helped a friend paint something on a small canvas. It actually turned out pretty nice. I might explore this a bit more in the future, a sort of pop art inspired appropriation of corporate logos. It speaks.



The Google logo was a instant catch for my friend and I when we were searching for inspiration. Its taken over so many part of our life... maps, satellite imaging, the mighty search engine war... it has even become a part of common language ("just Google it") So this is like my homage to Google, I do believe it has made my life easier, Google images and books are permanent fixtures in the way I work.



I really don't think this one brings all that to the table. It's not that well painted either but its definitely the start of something.

My First Comment

So today I was updating the blog, finally, as promised. And I noticed a comment hidden away in the very first post that had been sitting on the internet for a minor eon.

The first comment to this blog goes to Flor, a fellow creative blogger, and to my disgrace it was from April! It was in Portugese so I couldn't read it, even with the help of Google Translator. Still it opened my eyes to a world of photos where I am illiterate, Flor's Blog. A pleasant surprise.

Desert Solstice

Every piece of art comes with a story - often it is this history that bestows an inherent value upon the work.

Desert Solstice is one of my earliest works that I enjoyed having sat on my desk for ages while I decided what to do with it. Eventually there was an art swap and it now belongs to Tony Brown.

And what did I receive to adorn my lonely wall? "The Carnival" a photo by Cathleen Tarawhiti. It is now a permanent fixture in my room and a constant source of inspiration.

An Update

This blog is quite... neglected by myself. But over the next few weeks, when I don't have a hectic schedule, I will be putting up various bits of my work in true blogging style. A collection of my works.

Creative Collision, my little project in another site, is coming into form. But what it really needs is the initial launch and then is the time to see where it flows. Hopefully I'll get a few more followers/subscribers, its so encouraging seeing support before there's even anything on the site!

Soon I will be exhibiting (a small modest half panel) at the Bruce Mason Centre. I'm very excited! However, the work that I need to put into it even for that small space is a little overwhelming. It really is a publicity thing - to get your name out there, or to catch someones artful eye. This is how some artists think and work.

As for myself, if there is interest I shall respond, but really, the joy is in the expression of painting itself. As I do not study art, I do not have dedicated reams of time going into it. It has taken the spot of a favourite hobby. The most advantageous thing about exhibiting in these limited space group events is that it keeps me at it and motivates me with a goal.

My Views on Creative Practice

It's a clunky phrase really. Creative practice - its the only way I've been able to describe the things which are a fundamental part of the world, yet is sometimes seen as exclusive or merely of something to spectate and seldom participate in.

Why do I not just call it 'art'? To me, 'art' is a word that implies mastery ("he's got it down to a fine art" "the art of science") and really, it is the doing, not the perfecting or perfection that I think is more important. Furthermore, doesn't 'art' cut out all of those gratifying creative activities such as dance, architecture and - how about we list the most widespread example - writing?

I like to celebrate creative practice, to experiment, merge and dwell on it. Immerse and emerge to see what is exciting. On a more art historian level - investigate, discover and analyse (fantastic blog on this side of things - http://new-art.blogspot.com/). I see it as multi-disciplinary, to think purist painting is impossible. Even the flattest surface has depth.