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| Tapu Te Ranga Gallery pic via Facebook |
Wow this brings back a few memories! My very first home and my old gallery Art Space Island Bay in Wellington, New Zealand is back as a gallery again! So great to see. My old home has had a few different incarnations since I sold it in 2005 - an antique store and fashion boutique. Island Bay is such a lovely spot and the locals were always so supportive of my work. My time in New Zealand is still a big influence on my art, especially when it comes to landscapes.
The crazy thing is the new gallery owner used to run a gallery there in the 90s! Sounds like 139 The Parade has always had a creative history. I have a lot of fond memories of Wellington and this house - hey its where I met my hubby! But this picture does also bring back memories of scrubbing that floor after weeks of painstakingly removing 1950s plastic tiles. Ahhhh my first attempts at DIY. I'd love to know what the rest of the building looks like inside - wondering if my purple textured bedroom walls and bright blue bathroom ceiling are still there :)
So if you're in Wellington pop in a say hi to the new artists and give my old home a hug for me.
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| 'Night - misty lake' digital mixed media print |
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| 'Day' digital mixed media print |
June has been a very busy month settling back in after our trip to NZ. This month I finished off two new pieces created for a Brisbane group exhibition, Foot Square at the Aspire Gallery in Paddington, and won the voters choice award!
This months I put together two new digital mixed media landscapes - night and day. The only limit to entries for the competition was each piece must be under a foot square which produced a fantastic range of themes and works for the exhibition.
The starting point for each work was a mountain range made from torn pieces of security envelope lining then many layers of texture, colour washes and more images were added. For example in 'Night' the moon is a frying pan and the night sky a close up shot of tree bark.
Each was printed with archival inks onto my favourite acid free 100% recycled consumer paper, then mounted to board for a special edition print. There are limited edition unmounted versions 12x12" and 8x8" available from my shops fine art section and on artfinder.com
Opening night was a great turn out, so many different styles and ideas. The works were exhibited next to my synthetic scene photography piece too, and best of all they won the voters choice award for the publics favourite work! You'll be able to find these work at the Aspire Gallery Paddington for the next few months.
Visit our store https://www.hardtofind.com.au/store/creative-monsoon
This month I'll be taking part in the SNAP16 exhibition at the Aspire Gallery with my latest piece 'synthetic scene'
The aim of the exhibition is to highlight the work of photographers often shunned by many in the artworld for not being true artist. Anybody who vists SNAP16, a new Paddington exhibition can see that’s a lie.
SNAP16 is a collection of photographers of both international and local recognition who know their way around a camera.
SNAP16 is open to the public from the 4th to 21st May at Aspire Gallery in Paddington, Brisbane and showcases a real variety of photographic talent and skill.
53 Kennedy Terrace
Paddington, QLD
10x8 and 11x14" prints are available through artfinder.com
Happy Australia Day! Thought I should share an update on a little project I started last year, a collection of Aussie birds and animal illustrations for the nursery or a kids bedroom.
To start with I do loads of quick sketches looking a photos to help determine what are the key shapes and positionings I want to go with. Add some colour with pen and then rework them on the computer.
I've got a long way to go before I've got a full set of Australian birds and animals, but so far I couldn't be happier with these guys. Prints are available from creative monsoon on etsy and down that little lane.
