Virtual exhibition

I was fortunate to be an exhibitor in this year's Auckland Festival of Photography, in a signature show called Matakana Images at RD6 in Matakana.

I exhibited a set of contrived and deadpan images, with the intention that the viewer would make up their own narrative. Here are my four images.

Girl in Repose

Before Crosses

Woman with Agapanthus

A Huia Stream

   

Thanks to my family, and my friend Laurel who do things out of the ordinary for me (like sit half naked in a river bed, or submerge themselves in a bath of milk). Exhibitions are great things for making you get some work done, and pushing the boundaries. Looking forward to the next one.

It's been a while folks

From March to about one week ago I've been heads down and bum up on University studies, which has left me desperate for creative time. Infuriating, frustrating and downright depressing,

Not much happenin'.

Nada.

Then I got a commission to make a guest wedding book through Discover Me, Emporium of Gorgeousness, which gave me the perfect excuse to down the study and make a book. A real book with actual paper and everything. Both exciting and ironic.  I say that because my study has all been on line, not a scrap of paper to be seen, just webpages, wiki's and blogs.

And paper feels sooooo good.

Really sexy.

So here's the book for Claire, and her man.

Handmade Indian paper cover, 40 leaf blank pages. Coptic bound. Claire, hope you enjoy, and here's to your happy and long marriage.

And here's to school holidays where I can have time to make more stuff.

Sigh no more

This post is dedicated to the memory of Carol.

And while you read it and look perhaps you might like to tune into this gorgeous song Sigh No More with the beautiful lyrics by Shakespeare. I can't get it out of my brain at the moment, it appears to me in dreams and in every waking moment ever since I heard it on Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing. 

There is no right or wrong way to grieve, everyone does it in their own fashion. For me, I like to pour it into an artwork. I find the process of making something truly therapeutic, it gives me time to reflect and something to give away at the end. A kind of symbolic letting go.

This is a fabric book I made for Carol's partner to use as he wishes, and in some small way, help him process his grief. It's a bit girly, well, VERY girly. But hey ho, so was Carol, so let's acknowledge that beautiful feminine person with something equally feminine.

Recuerdos - mixed media, vintage fabrics, eco dyed mull, found objects.

The brown fabric is mull, eco dyed with NZ harakeke seed pods. Embellishments are vintage beads, buttons and lace. The pages have been left plain, ready to fill up with memories, photos and stories. Binding is simple long stitch.

Assembrush

One thing I've learned from assemblage artists is that you can pretty much use anything to build your assemblage on.

Take Ron Pippin for example, an artist of genius proportions. He created an entire work built on a Kayak And here's one from Michael Demeng from, well you can see what he uses. Seems like you are limited only by your imagination.

So here I took an idea from a Michael Demeng workshop entitled Good Brushes Gone Bad and created 2 small assemblage pieces from used-up house paint brushes, you know the ones where the bristles are so stuck together that painting is impossible anymore. Anyone with the right sense of mind would chuck them in the bin. OK, so anyone in their right sense of mind wouldnt' chop the faces off baby dolls either! The old layers of paint create a natural start to the assemblage and I retained some of this in the work. 

Bad-Ass Baby

A Brush with Bling

Both pieces are up for exhibition this weekend in the Martakana Art Show, another fundraiser for Warkworth Wellsford Hospice at Matakana primary from Friday  24th to Monday 27th January. Come along if you are local. 

Discover Me

I've recently joined a NZ on-line shopping community called Discover Me and am hoping I might sell a few of my hand-made things. You see, I keep producing stuff, of which some I keep and some I give away as gifts, but often I make more things than I need to keep or giveaway. But yet I still keep producing because, after all folks, it's the journey rather than the destination that is the important thing. And to be honest, financial income doesn't really play a significant part, it's just a bonus. So now I have the option of listing some of my work for the Kiwi market on-line.  Check it out!

A Shrine to Rust

A competition and fundraiser for Hospice, to decorate a mannequin in whatever way you want, inspired me to make "Our Lady of the Divine Rusty Junk".

Our Lady of the Divine Rusty Junk

The body has been rusted using the technique outlined here. The elements used to embellish her were all salvaged from the Hospice rubbish pile. One man's trash ....... as Macklemore says......

Our Lady is rife with symbolism of fertility and re-birth. She is a shrine to honour the beauty that can be found in aging and decay. Rust is a beautiful mark that time leaves behind, a symbol of a good life. The repurposed junk reminds us that 'useless' is a subjective term and that everything continues to have value.

The mannequins are on display at a local shop window, and people are invited to vote. Then they will go to auction and all proceeds donated to the local hospice. Where I work. Another example of recycling I guess. 

When I made her, I had trouble getting the rust to stick to the mannequin. In the end, I painted her with gesso mixed with binder medium, then a second coat of gesso, then the rusting chemical. Finally I sprayed it with fixative spray.

 I'm not a catholic but I love the iconography of catholicism. The virgin Mary is a favourite of mine.

Not all Mums would spend their weekends drilling holes in boobs, my daughter says that's because I'm wacky, not like the other Mums. Thank goodness for that.

I'm honoured....

I was talking to my talented print maker friend Glennys Patterson about whether it was time for me to do another exhibition. And Glennys said "you don't always have to do your own exhibition, you could join someone elses ya know". Which is very sensible advice and a helluva lot less work. So I went home, and lo and behold in my in box is an invitation for the Nelson Camera Club Triptych Salon. So I entered 3 digital images, and they awarded me an honours for this triptych of Queen Anne's Lace.

I was pretty stoked about this, my first honours at Salon level, and one of 4 honours awarded out of 340 digital entries. So thanks Glennys for your direction and inspiration. Unfortunately I won't be able to go to the awards and exhibition opening tomorrow because of course it is in Nelson and I'm a hockey mum this weekend for my daughter. Her Underwater Hockey team is in the Nationals event after receiving gold medal at Regionals - another reason to feel proud and honoured.  It's a good life.

Why I rip dolls heads off.....

People think I'm a tad on the strange side when I tell them I rip the heads of dollies. Can't think why? No doubt those same people may be offended by my treatment of Jesus and the Madonna as well.

This latest assemblage is influenced by the Mexican Day_of_the_Dead. Dia de los Muertos, a religious holiday related to the Catholic All Saints Day, honoring those that have gone before us and celebrating their lives.

I found these small statuettes, candelabra and a doll at the hospice garage sale - another place where we remember the dead - and in typical DeMengian usage of 'inherant thingyness' put them together in this table centrepiece. The crystal in the middle has healing properties.

It is an evolving piece, I hope to have it covered with black drippy wax and spider webs in time to come. I find it infuriating that candles these days are all non-drip. I love to play with drippy wax, something quite therapeutic in that.

Eco-print Fabric Journal

Last few months I've been playing around with dyeing fabrics and paper with leaves, India Flint style. The muted salmon pinks and browns along with vintage lace and vintage found objects, old jewellry, form into a book that has an aged and worn look about it (much like myself). Here is the result, an embellished journal made entirely by hand stitching with a long-stitch binding.

What I love most about this book is the combination of recycling objects from nature with objects that are made. Creates a nice symmetry I think.

Front Cover

Back cover

Spine

Opened book

Inside pages

Page print - Eucalyptus leaves