13 days until my exhibition and I've been hard at work creating velvet paintings; saving Jesus until last. You might be interested to see how a velvet painting is realised, so here are the steps (after I hand cut the board to shape, stretched velvet over it and backed it with felt). I just have his hair to finish and a bit of a starburst on his chest on which to place the velvet flaming heart.
So why velvet you ask? The very essence of 'low art'.
It goes back to viewing an exhibition at Te Papa in 2006 of Bernard Roundhill's work. Roundhill was an airbrush artist- in fact THE airbrush artist in New Zealand; he led the way. As a graduate from Wellington Polytechnic Design School in the early 80's, I did quite well with an airbrush myself. It was my main tool for illustration (oh the fruit I have illustrated for yoghurt cartons!) I was tickled to see that Roundhill painted velvet for a hobby, yes, stags on mountain tops, that sort of thing. I wondered if there was a more artistic way of using the medium, so I dusted off the old airbrush and played around with velour. Two successful exhibitions later, 23 pieces of velvet art sold and I'm hooked. I like to think of my work as an appropriation of low art- finding the humour within the medium... and in creating 'Jesus' I found it ironic just five minutes ago to find on google that Bernard Roundhill had been an enthusiastic Scientologist. There, he and I part artistic and spiritual company.
I watched Tony Curtis in ‘Some like it Hot’ as a kid. His very distinctive curvy lips made an impression on me at an early age as did his very comic role which almost denied those extreme good looks in his salad days. I never saw him in a cowboy hat though and I think he’d have possibly looked a little like this- clean cut and very smooth. His pocket badge, the little gun, came from a army surplus junk store on Cuba St (more recently The Krazy Lounge, now Ernesto’s). We were design students of the late 70’s, beating path to pseudo punk and falling on the wonders contained within Krazy Rick’s on the corner. There you could buy army bags, plastic baby dolls just the right size for earrings and sometimes cheap tin jewellery from Japan. I’ve had that pistol in my pocket for years; just right for a velvet buck.
The 'Brush with Velvet' exhibition opens 20th December at The Deluxe Cafe, Kent Tce, Wellington
Here's a little preview of what I've been working on lately- some of the boys for my forthcoming velvet exhibition at the Deluxe Cafe on the 20th December. My inexpert photography and lighting doesn't really do them full justice- they are silky and smooth, and so very touchable... From left to right they are:
Ahoy There
Who doesn’t like the brooding sort in an officer’s hat? If Clint Eastwood had been in the Navy, he might have looked a little like this perhaps. I swooned plenty whilst painting him; some people had to come and pick me up off my studio floor and revive me with gin. The hat badge is from the French Frigate ‘The EV. Henry’ which visited Wellington in 1977. A friend and I were invited aboard in a non ship girl way for dinner with the officers when we were 17. We dusted off our schoolgirl French and asked them what the ‘F’ word was en Francais. They replied ‘ A fait l’amore’. I knew then that all French sailors were fabulously romantic and completely honourable…
Pork ‘n’ Beans
If you think he looks like James Dean in ‘Giant’, you might well be right. Poor boy, gone too soon… he should have had someone looking after him; like the girls at the nanny school I found his collar badge at. I was teaching them arts and crafts and found two of these cloisonné buttons in the useful box. They were far too vintage to be appreciated by my students, so I slid them into my pocket for some use in the future. That was 16 years ago. One is on my favourite jacket, and the other a reminder that cowboys are just rough lads that need taking in hand.
Oh Buoy
I was at Auckland Airport and to my delight in the queue were brand new naval recruits. I’m not sure if a requirement of entry into the NZ Navy is perfect skin and lovely eyebrows, but all of these boys had them. I was particularly thrilled to have one sit beside me all the way to Wellington, and he must have been worn out from his duties, because he closed his eyes and slept whilst I appreciated him artistically. He reminded me of Montgomery Clift in his younger days, or Gene Kelly in ‘On the Town’ or a Pierre et Gilles icon. The little medallion was bought as a souvenir in Cyprus in 1963 by my father whilst he was in the armed services and my sister took it into exams with her for luck.
I have a selection of tattoos on velvet along with three other good looking icons to go on show- they are still being painted as I blog...so back to the easel for me today. Ciao!
When I was a kid, I'd draw my favorite things. This piggy bank sits on a shelf in my kitchen; I've had since I was ten. I'd put my 5 cent pieces in it to save up for art and craft materials and I'd always rob it before it was anywhere near full (somethings never change!) then go to Goldings Handicrafts to buy beads, felt and paint. Its rubber stopper has long since perished, but that old bit of cheap china still hasn't lost it's charm for me. I've drawn ever since I could remember, and today, washing out my paintbrushes after a day's work, I still haven't forgotten that my first true love and talent still fills my piggybank.
Domestic appliances with attitude, and whimsical game boards make up the collection of works in a new exhibition at Breaker’s café in Seatoun.
Artists Judith Eastgate and Lucy Moore show their paintings and collage work together for the first time. Judith’s paintings on paper and board are large, bold gestural works depicting her response to ‘the magic of the everyday’. She describes the process as 'detecting joy in ordinary corners’.
Lucy Moore’s collage works on canvas are like games from a dream world, where motifs and characters interact unexpectedly on checkerboard backgrounds. Fantastical buildings both invite the viewer in, and keep their mystery intact.
The show runs from November 9 to November 30 at Breakers Café, Dundas St, Seatoun.
I've come to that stage of late October where the need to put my head down and work on my own projects has come up. So my next blog post will probably be in December with details of my exhibition opening. In the meantime, here is a poem for all of you other busy-freaks out there.
'Busy' was written and published in Next magazine a few years ago now (judging by the content- my kids are now adults) as part of my monthly column there which went on happily for 8 years of regular paid commissioned verse- quite something really! I owed it all to Lindsey Dawson, the then editor of Next, who saw something in my bold proposal of a poem and illustration combo once a month because 'you don't have one' (I said).
I'm all for entreprenurial approaches because some of the ones you fire out actually hit their target. I have big (new) plans for 2010, so watch this space...
So given my last post, I thought it was time I should do something about that...
So I have started work on a new collection of velvets that go up on the wall at the Delux cafe December 20th. This one is just a tiny tease of what is to come. The larger velvets will follow on from my Pin Up gals from last summer, but this time feature gorgeous men (think Brando-esque in a sailor hat and you are on the right track).
They will be interspersed with homage-to-the-master, Sailor Jerry style tattoos like the one you see here on skin toned plush fabric, for that 'run your hand over it' viewing delight. If you can't touch the real thing...
My last two shows sold out in a few days, so I will have a studio showing before the opening so you can get first pick of the pics for Christmas. Let me know if you want to be on the mailing list for that. Now, back to work on those sexy hunks. Being an artist is sheer hell.
I wondered what to blog about, given the conference and WOW is over; two things that have taken up many of my waking hours for some time this year. Then whilst wondering what to make for dinner and consulting the Destitute Gourmet’s cookbook, I had it! Rather than write and draw, I feel my words have best been expressed by The Flying Lizards in this video… bon appetite.
I can finally show you what I did for WOW now that the show is almost over...
Kunugi Kodama:The tree where insects gather…
The Japanese saw tooth oak, Kunugi, oozes sap which attracts moths, butterflies, stag beetles and the occasional tree sprite. Kodama are invisible to human eyes but they quietly listen to visitors in the garden, so be careful what you say!
When Patrick and Carol Toner (Made in Nippon, Japanese supplies) had 1000 kimonos in bales on their carport deck, I was invited around to pick through them and see what I could use. I picked out lightweight silk and rayons, all of which were ripped and stained. Carol tells me that Japanese villagers rarely throw out kimonos, instead they fold them carefully, tie them into bundles and store them in their garden sheds. So what might you find in a kimono down the bottom of the garden? A little wood sprite maybe…
I was very excited to see it featured largely in the official programme, because that usually indicates a prize is in order- but then it wouldn't be me if I got up there and scooped a whopping great cheque now would it? I didn't get inspired to write Glory because I perenially scoop awards. The winning piece in the section ' The Dandelion Clock' by Tracey Koole was clever, gorgeous and performed really brilliantly, so I could hardly be green eyed in the garden of delights that was the Children's section this year. Congratulations to all the designers for getting their work a) finished and b) on stage. It really is something!