Studio Work ABOUT my art & others

Pulled out the basket from the creek and after 2 weeks in the flowing water the cloth and white blanket look like this. a lot of hosing and washing out to come. previous post & video here of cloth in the creek in the early stages of setting it up.  here is one of a series on you tube of the basket (ongoing) idea of it sitting in the creek for a few weeks. another video here showing the first time the basket with cloth went into the creek and here another video here checking on the basket in the creek after a few days. stay tuned as i check again from time to time.

Prepping some papers using photos of cheezels which have now been eaten! Taking the pages with me on a trip away to make a little book. a little book about cheezels.  . 

 Bela Kacso  Born 26 June1936-2003 (21March) My Dad would be 87 years of age today and i know he would have loved Tasmania. I miss him. It is difficult to look back because he is no longer around and there are so many forgotten memories that re-surface when looking through old documents and letters exchanged during the days of snail mail and faxes! He was always immensely supportive of each of us whilst always insisting on kindness and respect for my mother, no matter what. In the mid-90's he supported my 'want' to do art and design and purchased my first computer. When i suggested a cheap model to begin with he said 'now why would i buy my daughter a bicycle without wheels?' and sent me off to 'research' the best type of computer (with programs) i may need so i could do digital art and design. I came back with the top 3 upon which he handed me a cheque with a smile and said 'no need to tell mum' .... Once upon a time, he wrote (in part) '...

working through my collage notes in a couple of hours of a play day. Love those. Some of these were the outcome. let me know what you think?  reach out if you are interested in a workshop.

On a return trip home from Western Australia recently I was stuck at Melbourne Airport for over 6 hours due to delays that impacted all flights throughout the day. Arriving at 4am it was a long day. Apart from coffees and exhorbitantly priced snacks I went hunting through the eye of my camera. A mix of my canon G5x and my Pixel2 phone.

The creek is taking on a life of its own, in my mind. A year of amazing abstract photos need to be edited as well as posting videos of plants, birds and wildlife in and around the creek. The mapping of landscape (with creek) and the trees that line the edges of the land is now part of daily explorations ... With this in mind I recently created this cage to place cloth, reels of cotton and blanket into it and drop it in the creek to see what happens. One of my 'what if' moments. It took some time before i found the baskets i had in mind, that would stand 'living' in the creek and then the challenge of making sure the edges, where the holes are a bit larger, are blocked in so no fish, platypus or native crayfish is harmed. (below) is a video of the early placement into the creek; the basket construction began like this with the original idea being to enclose the basket by joining two together, one on top of the other initially using zip ties. it did not work out as ...

 so proud to be a finalist again in this exhibition - always nice to see your work hanging with your peers  the winning piece by Robyn Harman is the one on the wall to the left 

  Following 2 (in one week) advice of being a finalist in the Bay of Fires Art Award  and the Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize   I have updated my CV here   blackfishartstasmania is a new website, started in January this year and i am still finding my way around the how-to, so do let me know if any links don't work - i would appreciate it. I have a section underway on the website of 'learn with me' with a lot of free content. It is not yet up so i put (below) a video of colour mixing swatches - the workshop was this weekend and was an excellent two days of non-stop colour explorations, food and chit chat. Exhausted .... and off to see my piece in the Bay of FIres Art Award tomorrow - have a look at my piece hanging among its peers. Overnighting and making it a mini #getaway with beach walks and exploring St Helens.

Heading out to see the exhibition and will take an overnighter so i can explore the beaches and take time out. Always enjoy the opportunity for a #getaway, albeit a short one but will take my time driving up (and back) to fill out the two days. The artwork of mine that made the finalist list is called 'An Impossible Telling' ... images below of my piece and when it was framed, prior to delivery.  CONGRATULATIONS to Robyn Harman for taking out this years Bay of Fires Art Prize.

 So pleased to be selected in this highly-regarded award. 30 finalists out of just over 400 entries. The idea of 'conceptual' alone, is daunting enough let alone the list of finalists. I got into this exhibition with one of a few books I created following the flooding of my studio after having moved in just 3 months prior. A lovely property that has a creek running through it and my huge (shed) studio right on the edge of the creek protection overlay area. I wrote about it here. This website was created so I could blog about my experience as an artist newly moved to #countrytasmania #lifestyle #tasmania. It is new(ish) having started it recently so i am finding my way around posts, menus, submenus, links and all sorts of challenges.  At the judging (thank you to Roger for the images)

  As a finalist this year, I am planning to head off to the Bay of Fires Art Awards to see the exhibition while its on from 9 to 12 June. I am planning to 'fill my cup' on an overnight short #getaway. This is a 3.5 hour drive from home with various stops along the way making it a long, interesting, enjoyable day. St Helens , on the East Coast of Tasmania is a beautiful area to explore I find getaways to be 'filling my cup' - replenishing mental, emotional and physical energies. On a #getaway one doesn't need to 'stop' ... its a way of doing, thinking, being on a different level but there is a break from daily cooking, washing up, hanging out laundry and other everyday things. I liken it, on a metaphorical level, to Kintsugi , The Japanese Art of Repairing Ceramics using Gold. #getaways are gold to me.  

 In general conversation (email), about artists and paintings, the name was mentioned within a block of a few others ... for some reason I copy pasted the name Joaquín Sorolla ... wow. What a find. His use of colour and light immediately hit me as I looked across all the images of his paintings on google. Drilling down a little I find he is called 'Spanish Master of Light'. 'Spain's Impressionist'. Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923). Born in the coastal city of Valencia, Sorolla is best known for his depictions of beach and water scenes. But he was also proficient in portraiture and landscape painting. We take a closer look at the artist’s life and work. read more I see/think when i look at these images. For the lights to work, the darks are just right. - both are so well handled as lights, darks, and together White is not white The colours are beautiful and clean The colours in the shadows 'read' colourful whilst kept in shadow. The composition of...

 Our first workshop in my new studio. ~ create your needlebooks in a small group, around a table with a cup of tea, chatting in a large, warm space. ~ inspired by bookbinding techniques I have created many quick, easy patterns to work from so you can create, needlebooks, using 100% wool blanket. ~ nothing difficult to aim for in this one-day workshop . ~suitable for anyone who is a stitcher or is learning ~ for the adventurous stitcher, you can create the basic pattern as fancy as you like and embellish it. ~ All raw materials provided ~ ~the studio is located in beautiful grounds lined with forests of gum trees and wattles giving opportunity for a walk along a creek & you may even see our resident platypus or the pair of scarlet robins recently arrived for their season. For all details and to register your interest email: blackfisharts see this blog post here on the environment and the studio also 2 of the needlebooks are talked about here