Branch moulds

Branches and apples

It was 7 o'clock on a cold, dark and windy Friday evening by the time I could pull out (a not quite set) wax of each of the moulds I made. I couldn't go home until I had at least one wax. I really like the the meltable red mould making material (can't remember the name). Need to work on the bubbles though.

Blood jelly!

I was in Barnes this morning, buying a couple of kilos of mould making material when I walked past this shelf... Blood jelly, pumping blood, flowing blood, stay wet blood, realistic drying blood syrup..

Silhouettes in copper

So, I have started learning a new skill, thanks to Mikyoung it has been very easy. Thank you for lending me your tools and expertise.

The copper just needs to be oxidized to make the figures dark, then I need to work out a neat way of inserting these into the cedar lamp base.

Autumn queen

Sarah very kindly agreed to model this costume I made many years ago (that I can't wear any more). It was great to get some photos of it. Today was also the day that the second and third years were being assessed, so all their work was up. My favourite photo of many is this one with Erica's installation.

Crochet

So after all these years of being able to knit, albeit somewhat simply I have learned to crochet. Taught by You Tube. After practising with a few samples I crocheted a beanie/beret. Using Noro yarn and a selection of stitches (single, double and treble) I kind of made it up as I went along. I used the treble stitch on 2 different rows to make a kind of ladder that I could thread a ribbon through. I can't believe it has taken me this long to try crochet, it seems to be free-er than knitting and so much quicker. Except of course if you are making granny squares...then of course you need to pay attention to the number of stitches, something I'm not very good at. My stitches tend to come and go at whim.

Light in Winter

Exciting news, I have 2 pieces in a group show at Kirra Gallery, Federation Square. The exhibition coincides with the 'Light in Winter' festival in Melbourne. The theme for this years festival is words and story telling. Kirra Gallery for the last 4 years has had an exhibition of 'illuminated works' to tie in with 'The light in winter', a multicultural soltice-y kind of celebration.

Thank you to Crystal Stubbs for suggesting my work to Suzanne at Kirra Gallery.

The brief was to make a light out of the hot cast pieces that I have been making. The stands are made from recycled Australian cedar, with a burned designed, finished with a natural hard wax from Whittle waxes. The light is a strip of flexible LED's set underneath the glass in the cedar base. At last they are packed and on their way.

Letter box

If only every long day working hard was rewarded with a letterbox full of books!

Mother's Day

Gifts for my Mum and Dad, with handmade gift tags. The flower is a water colour and the soy fish is a screen print.

Autumn leaves 2012

This year I have had even less time to appreciate Autumn leaves which are one of my great loves. I still find old pressed leaves of autumns past in various novels. On our way up the Dooralong this weekend valley we stopped to admire this long driveway of plane trees and liquid ambers.

The growing bibliography...

Home by Miler Lagos

Thanks to reading Virginia A. Walter's paper 'Metaphor and mantra: The function of stories in 'Number of stars'' I have come across Jerome Bruner and Robert Coles. 'Acts of meaning', 'Actual minds, possible worlds' and 'The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination' the titles of their books that I hope when I get to them will shed some light on stories, imagination and cognition.

And more papers from today's research are:

• Why fairy tales matter: The performative and the transformative / Maria Tatar. Western folklore 69:1 (Winter 2010) 55-64
• Learning about ourselves through fairy tales: Their psychological value / Meredith B. Mitchell. Psychological perspectives, 53: 264-279, 2010.
• Declolonizing fairy tales / Donald Hasse 

I read a few more that weren't after all that relevant or informative, and realise that I have got to a point that I have read enough to begin to find where my own opinions stand, I feel another map / diagram coming on!

Through one paper 'The Magic of Fairy Tales: Psychodynamic and Developmental Perspectives' by Martin J. Lubetskyi (which for me was too focused on child psychology to be pertinent) I found a reference to Julius Ernest Heusher (1918-) who wrote 'A psychiatric study of myths and fairy tales; their origin, meaning and usefulness' (1974) and 'Psychology, folklore, creativity and the human dilemma' (2003) I'm hoping they won't be too much like Bruno Bettleheim's 'The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales  (1976). Bettleheim for my literary palate proves everything far too neatly. Every fairy tale gets psychoanalysed for usefulness within an inch of it's life! The enchantment fades as reason and usefulness is hammered into every word, in every story.

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

Very funny.

Post it wall

The beginnings of a research essay

Chapter Headings and epigraphs

Honours Research Paper

The other day I had an idea about the way I am going to set out the Chapter headings. I am trying to find ways to get myself to enjoy some parts (at least) of the Research paper process.

So the idea is to write chapter headings like a novel, indicative but slightly mysterious with an accompanying epigraph. Popular I think in Victorian novels. I think it's a style that has fallen out of use except when an Author employs it to evoke an other/older world. I think it could add a sense of humour and wryness that could alleviate some of the 'seriousness' of a paper.

Thomas Malory uses the epigraph for his chapters in Le Morte d'Arthur, giving us a summary of the events in the chapter ahead, somewhat giving the game away. Given his antiquated prose one could be forgiven for reading only the epigraphs.
For example in Book X
Chapter 21: How King Arthur let do cry a jousts, and how Sir Lamorak came in, and overthrew Sir Gwain and many other

Though the best use of this style I have seen is in Neil Gaimen's Stardust, informative and compelling!

Chapter One: In Which We Learn of the Village of Wall, and of the Curious Thing That Occurs There Every Nine Years

Light and shadow experiments

Some quick, basic tests

It is annoying when the 'torch' on ones smart phone is brighter than the 'spotlights' one has bought to be ...you know spotlights!

Cee-lite by Flexalite

These cee-lite panels looks awesome, need to get some!

Hatched artists: Then and now

My first out of uni 'Artist talk' for Hatched at PICA in Perth.

Hatched 2012

Hatched opening night

and the Bullseye Emerge Winner* is ...

Émilie Haman with 'Once upon a time'

 Well, what can I say. I like it, it's all fairytaley. It's sweet and disturbing. What happens if you put your foot in there? Do you become something else? Tempting...




Actually they don't use the term winner but 'Bullseye Glass Emerge 2012 Gold Award recipient' but that would make my heading waaay too long.

The PICA opening dress

Over the Easter break I have been doing a little pattern drafting in order to make myself a newly styled dress for the Hatched opening at PICA. Starting with my favourite pattern V. I used the straight darted toiled pattern as my starting block. I wanted pockets and some sort of variation. For some reason a peg skirt came to mind, sort of fits in with the quasi retro feeling of the original. I also wanted extra length, it's amazing what happens to a skirt when you sit down. The fabric I'm using is a floral cotton (lemon yellow base with turquoise and green flowers) that I bought in Singapore. The trim for the pockets and bodice is a blue green shot silk. The lining is a silk cotton blend in off white. I bought it in one of Tessuti's sales, it has a gorgeous feel.

So changes are:

Side pockets with trim
Peg shaping, 2 pleats on either side at front and top stitched pleats at the back
Below knee hem

Experiments: model and mould making

'The ice book'

Davy and Kristin McGuire are the creators of 'The ice book' a truly magical combination of effects and storytelling.

"The performance blends animation, puppetry, and film to bring a pop-up book vividly to life in front of the audience's eyes."

You can see bits of the performance on the vimeo clip but to find out more about the project go to their website www.theicebook.com



The Icebook from Davy and Kristin McGuire on Vimeo.

Artist of the day: Matthew Day Perez

Matthew Day Perez. 'Sending light' (2009)

"Matthew Day Perez Received his BFA from Illinois State University and his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. He works primarily with glass, printed matter, digital media, and installation. Most recently he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to undertake research at the Australian National University. During this period he will generate a body of work that will be shown in 2012. He lives and works in Canberra ACT Australia." - MDP website. Check out his blog Thesunishotterhere for impressions and experiments in Australia.

Matt came to the SCA glass studio to give an artist talk and a demonstration last year. Many of us were impressed with his artistic practice. In his slide show, he showed us some works (similar to the one pictured above) that were made in a very innovative way (to me at least). The model and the mould were made at the same time. ? Well, imagine making the model of the one above in wax, difficult enough in its self, then imagine making the mould (all those finicky places to reach!!) Instead think of making the layers. Wax, plaster, wax plaster and drilling in between those layers to make connections. So wax becomes glass, and so does the drilled out holes..make sense? Probably not the way I've tried to explain it...but it set something off in my head, I would never have thought to do that. It makes the product a little more unknowable and I like that.

My bathroom the stop motion animation studio

As I am re shooting the animation part to allow for the slightly different positioning of the glass pieces for the hatched show, I have transformed my bathroom into a studio. There's a fair bit or rope and masking tape making sure things stay in place. The lighting isn't exactly bright enough (feels like it, but the proof of the photographs shows not) but needs must!

All packed for PICA!

and the second batch of work ready to go...at last. I love these plastic packing boxes. They are sturdy, have self locking lids, nest..what more do you want! Each piece is nested in layers of custom cut styrofoam sheeting. That hot wire unit is awesome, you can cut the most intricate shapes with it! Seriously, it takes 'almost' as much time to pack the work than to make it.

Ready to be picked up be the couriers, (2 days later it turned out)

National Student Art Glass Prize 2012

The official 'mayoral' event at the National Glass Collection is tonight, but I'm in Wagga Wagga by 9.30 to check out the exhibition before the hoards swamp the work and to check on how my work was installed. I was quite surprised at how well the projection showed in daylight. The projection area was a little small but the ceiling couldn't really be made higher so I was happy with the resolution that the gallery came up with.
So enough about my work! All I can say is thank goodness I didn't have to judge this show, picking a winner would have been incredibly hard.
I was so impressed with the level of work on display. Given that it is a graduate survey show (over 30 works from students around the country) I was also struck with the curatorial effort given by the gallery to carefully place and arrange pieces to their best advantage while creating a holistic visual effect.
My favourites would have to be ...(I need the catalogue for this) but Anabell's was a favourite.
The winner was Chris Boha a student from Adelaide uni...correction University of South Australia.
Katie-Ann's work 'a thousand ways to skin a cat' was bought by the gallery, a sound strategy on their part as I reckon her work will be collectible one day not so far away and that will be the cheapest price that they will ever get.
This evening was also a great opportunity to catch up with some of my favourite glassy people.

Detail shot of Ruth McCallum's work (need to check)

Wheels and plastic boxes..oh my!

The crates I made with Jono's help for the exhibition in Wagga were great, however they did take a bit of time. Also material wise I used the remainder of the MDF that I had bought for the 2 plinths. So, now I need a second set for the work being sent to Perth. Something made me remember a conversation with Grace Fine art removals. The topic was more about having to treat wood being used in packaging for sending work overseas and one of the reps remarked that you could just use plastic crating!

So having used up all my left overs, I was thinking why don't I get plastic boxes? Though if you think of the kind of boxes you buy in Kmart or the like...fragile! That type won't manage the distance home let alone to Perth and back. After a lot of internet searching (easy to find plastic crates to hire) I came across REFLEX equip (nothing to do with copy paper). Who stock, among other things security crates. I scheduled a time with Dougie to drive to Wetherill Park and look at the heavenly vision that is Reflex equip!

Example of the packing inside

all packed for Wagga

Start of my Honours year

Today is the official beginning of my Honours year at Sydney College of the Arts. The year has started off well if not busy getting ready for two exhibitions. One in Wagga wagga for the National Glass Art Student Prize and the other in Perth (yes Ken, PERTH) for Hatched the National Graduate Show.

No classes on Mondays, but I am Technical assistant for Susie Peck's Elective intermediate class from 4-6pm.

A small valentin'es poem by Neil Gaiman

One of my favourite writers put this on his blog today...it made me LOI (laugh onthe inside)

Roses are red,
Violets are purple,
Which is a very hard word to rhyme
And makes me happy that on February the 14th we don't traditionally have to give each other oranges.

Hatched

I finally got a letter from PICA (Perth Institute of Contemporary Art) and I have got in to HATCHED! YAY!  Opens on Friday the 20th April...

Happy Birthday Nana

CGS International Artists Exhibition

The Contemporary Glass Society (UK) are having an online 'International Artists exhibition'. I got in!
Check out my entry 'Into the woods' (like you haven't seen that!) and the other 43 artists shown here.
There are a lot of Australians in the line up.

I like 'Frozen forest' by Leigh Roberts, 'Forgotten threads of intimacy' by Sarah Davis (Hi Sarah!) and 'Soul of emptiness' by Pilar Aldana-Mendez and many more.