takatu

We recently had our staff retreat at a friend's beach house at Takatu, an hour's drive north of Auckland. It is the most peaceful place, set in a valley surrounded by fields, bush and sheep. The beach is close at hand. You can see it from the deck! While we were there it rained constantly but it didn't really matter because the house is well designed for indoor and outdoor living. It was still great to just relax, reflect and chill out together.

I love their decorating style. Precious objects, artworks and books sit alongside collections of natural and found objects. Family treasures are lovingly and artfully displayed. It is relaxed.... it says comfort and home.... it invites you to kick back, unwind and let the stresses of the city fall far behind you.....

Stencilled acrylic on board by Rick Shanks

"Let us spray!"

We had to leave all too soon. Reluctantly we packed up and headed off just as the sun started to peek through the clouds!

paper art

I love art that involves typefaces, text, printing, books and paper. I have two limited edition prints from Sydney graphic designers me and amber. I love how they combine text with simple screenprinted images. The text and images enhance each other, working together to engage you in the art work as a whole. 

I am also captivated by the work of Melbourne book sculptor Nicholas Jones. He transforms books into beautiful, intricate art works.

This art form is as much about process as it is about the form - these books were conceived, born, loved, stored, discarded, found anew, studied, cut, folded and reborn. Through the act of stacking, folding, cutting, tearing, sewing the books, which I use, transmute, to produce objects or installations that throw new light on the book as an everyday commodity. These seemingly iconoclastic acts are employed to accentuate the beauty and tactility of the pages. 

Maya and Sam from Hideyo Designs in Tasmania, create origami sculptures that they fold and build from salvaged paper (usually old books from tip shops and op shops) and handmade paper. As each sculpture is made from certain pages from a particular old book, they become unique, one-off pieces.

So with all this amazing paper art inspiration, I've been constructing some paper art works of my own (although they are not on the intricate scale of Nicholas Jones or Hideyo Designs). When embarking on a new project or learning a new skill I embrace the mantra "start simple!" That way you attempt something that is achievable without being discouraged because it's too difficult. So I started with a simple diamond shape.

I had some small New Testaments that were the perfect size for folding into a diamond shape. My girls got them from Gideons when they started high school and as they cleared away the clutter of childhood, they passed them onto me. 

To construct a basic diamond shape, here are the steps I followed....

1) Take your book or bible and carefully remove the cover. Leave the paper and glue intact on the spine, this holds your paper sculpture together, then fold the pages into the middle into a triangle shape.

2) As you fold it forms naturally into a diamond shape.

 

3) Keep folding, it takes a while! It's quite therapeutic to while away an evening folding pages!  Use a gluestick to glue the two end pieces together to secure the finished shape.

 4) It also looks great hanging. You need to firmly glue the ribbon down the centre of the spine before glueing the end pieces together. (I used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon.)

Gorgeous, don't you think? They are so satisfying to make. Once you've mastered a basic shape like the diamond you can experiment with more complex shapes. I am now attempting a slightly more complex shape. I am also going to try folding the pages inside the cover of the book. The possiblities are endless!

auckland art & craft fair

This press release caught my eye.....

The Auckland Art & Craft Fair is a one of a kind, special event happening for the very first time on 24th July 2010. Designed to showcase a selection of New Zealand's best independent and contemporary Designers, Artists & Crafters selling their products direct to the public for one day only. At the Fair you will find products with an emphasis on quality, craftsmanship, creativity and style. You can purchase direct from the seller, knowing that you are supporting our local talent and you will be taking home a special piece that has soul.

Ever appreciative of the chance to enjoy the handmade, I went along with Beth & Mike to check it out. I loved the location in the Auckland Art Gallery lounge with it's Cut Collective murals on the walls.... but it was crazy!! People were squished everywhere. We started at one end but couldn't move or see any of the stalls so we thought we were going the wrong way...... so we started at the other end.... and no, still stuck!! Eventually we got in and had a closer look at the amazing selection of art, craft and design on display. Oh, so much to see! Two designer/artists that caught my eye were Sensitive Boyfriend and Devon Smith.....

 
Drus Dryden (sensitive boyfriend's alter ego) says, "I hang out on the intersection of sensitive and whimsical, and see what comes along. I'm a conceptual designer, so the idea is more interesting than the actual thing. So far I've made cookies, pillow cases, scarves, t-shirts, badges, ceramics, rubber stamps . . . you name it." His designs are fun, clever and quirky. They are also beautifully made and presented. His stall was laid out a bit differently, with postcard images of his designs displayed. It made it graphically interesting, you were drawn in for a closer look. My favourites? The eye catching pink knitted Winter condoms, the Giving Up Smoking gloves, the amusing Psycho chopping board with obligatory knife and the Stain by Numbers tea towel....

I managed to score the last one! I love the key at the bottom - 1. Bleach splatter 2. Spilled milk 3. Mushroom sauce 4. Chicken gravy 5. Hazelnut gelato......

  

Devon Smith's art works, prints and jewellery are stunningly drawn and crafted. I had spied her work at Swonderful in Wellington so it was great to see it again. Her images are original, detailed, delicate and sensitive but with an edge!

So beautiful.... my very own miniature original painting to wear. I love the packaging with it's ribbon and "D" wax seal.

Other purchases worthy of mention are......

.....a lovely lavender bird from Birdspoke

....and this gorgeous crucifix from the Ferrit. All purchased with specially printed market money designed by Devon Smith. I would show you but I spent it all!!

blanket statements

My gorgeous friend Melissa Gregan recently had an exhibition blanket statements to launch her range of embroidered artworks. Melissa is an amazing person - full of fun, life, creativity, with interesting ideas and observations bursting out of every pore of her body. She embraces life fully and has a million ideas and projects racing around in her head and taking various shapes and forms in her craft room. Melissa's designs have heart. They capture the little things about what it means to be a New Zealander. They are delightful, whimsical and can have a quirky twist. She uses vintage blankets and fabrics, beautiful designer fabrics, vintage buttons and trimmings. Her embroidery is meticulous. She spends hours making sure each piece is finished to perfection. The exhibition was a summary of her latest ideas, embracing aspects of kiwiana, nz flora and fauna and so much more......

The Southern Cross image is one of my favourites. It says "home" to me.

It's the finishing touches and details that are a signature part of all of Melissa's artworks. I love the addition of Guide and Scout badges. A great reference back to the traditional Girl Guide and Scout blankets that we would wrap ourselves up in at camps (well I did back in the day!). These have a modern day use as laptop covers.

Cigana Cafe was the perfect setting for Melissa's artworks. There was a lovely mix of vintage glass, china, furniture and accessories that made a natural home for them.

Photo by Beth Peters

Congratulations Melissa. It was a wonderful exhibition. I know how much thought, time, love, creative energy, patience and work that you put into it. So proud of you!!

Cre-8

One of the most inspiring things that I've been involved with lately was Cre-8, an arts based project with the primary aged kids at St Paul's. For several weeks the kids were involved in creative workshops working on ongoing projects to produce something to exhibit or share in film, photography, music, song, art works or sculpture. This creative extravaganza culminated with an exhibition in the Crypt at church.

RE:CRE-8 sculpture workshop
The very beginning of the bible tells us that God was the original creator of everything..... and he created us to create. The RE:CRE-8 kids were asked to recreate something God created, from stuff that man created. First they drew some ideas of what they wanted to sculpt and wrote down the stuff to get their parents to help them find. Then they brought that stuff along to church, and got RE:CRE-8ing.

The world as I see it - film and photography workshop

Being given a disposable camera, each of the kids were given the task of photographing favourite aspects of their lives - a place, a person, an activity... trying to capture a feeling or moment, so you could feel it too. Then they were encouraged to talk about it, why they took it, what they were trying to convey, what they like about the photo. Then this was made into a video. The point of this all was to get them thinking about photography and film/video - how it enables us to share our points of view, relate to each other through experiences, and convey different feelings. But most importantly the point of the exercise was to encourage them to have a go - we can all be photographers and video makers. It is accessible and it is fun!

Zine workshop

Each participant in the zine group picked a topic they were passionate about. They collected, collated, photocopied, cut, pasted, written and drew pictures with the intent to share what they found interesting about their topic. The zines were reproduced with multiple copies to give the kids the opportunity to share their work with lots of different people who might not get to interact with their work usually. Copies were available for 50c, with proceeds going to World Vision.

How cool is that? Selling copies of your own zine while still at primary school!

Photo by Beth Peters

Photo by Beth Peters

Photography workshop

On a gray and drizzly Sunday morning our artists had just 20 minutes to venture outside and capture these images around the church building. Our artists loved experimenting with light, zoom, angles and patterns, each one of them expressing their individuality and unique perspective of the world around us!

Photo by Stacy McIvor

We had live performances from the Cre-8 kids musik group, who performed their original song "It's a New Day." They composed and practised it in three one hour sessions! Amazing!!

And then the gorgeous music/percussion group made up of 5 and 6 year olds performed. They had been talking about cool creations - things they love, created by God or by people and the kind of sounds they make. They then presented a response to these things through poetry, rhythm and sound. They stole the show!

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." Pablo Picasso (Spanish Artist and Painter. 1881-1973).

The kids truly embraced the concept of creativity, engaging in the workshops with great gusto. They could hardly wait to get back to church each week to work on their projects. They were proud to see their work exhibited in a "proper" exhibition. As you can see, it was stunning.

Quotes from Cre-8 programme in italics

Exhibition photos by Samantha Wee