5WAYS

Hanging an exhibition is an exhausting process which requires hard work, co-operation, assistance and a good eye. Fortunately we had a generous dollop of all qualities supplied by the 5 exhibitors, family members and friends -  resulting in a two day assembly - which eventually culminated in an extremely cohesive display  . .  A huge Thankyou



 

 

 Deciding where to hang each individual piece so that it works as a whole is not an easy task . . . thank goodness we all have an abundance of humour . . .

 Sculpture, ceramics, installations, paintings and wall art from various artists, with entirely individual ways of working, does not automatically work together  - without serious thought and lots of juggling . . .

Painting - Sharon Lee  

Sculpture - Lyn Derrick   

Installation - Lily Karmatz

Ceramics - Linda Back          Ink on paper - Kate Cooke

The past two years being influenced by Ikebana and the 'Do' has been an extremely enjoyable process . . .A mammoth thankyou to Lily, Linda, Lyn and Kate from me - and to my family for their endless support and good humor throughout - you are all wonderful.
Time to go home, recharge our batteries, and get our glamour-rags out for the Exhibition opening of 5WAYS . . .

Time . . .

Anyone who knows me well, will have heard my constant lament 'where has this year gone' . . .and this year is no exception. I have neglected to blog as life has been too hectic, but now almost ready for my next exhibition, I can leave a few words and pictures here to prove I have not been completely lazy. . . .though not as busy as some.

Workshops

Kieth Lo Bue workshop at Studio West End, Brisbane

Kieth is an American born Found object Jeweler and Sculptor, living in Sydney Australia. He calls himself a 'Stuffsmith' and when you see his work made from Stuff into Objects of Artwork . . . stuff acquires a whole new meaning.

I adored the man and I enjoyed the workshop - conducted at Studio West End here in Brisbane.

If you are interested Kieth has many web sites and Blogs. Well worth a look.

http://www.keithlobue.com/

Art in the Olives. Fantastic weekend of creativity and mmmmmmmmmmmm gluttony.

 

Myself and a few friends attended the festival to do some Basketry with Therese Flynn Clarke (Winner of the 2012 Caldera Art Award.) We sat on the side of the river, and trying not to be distracted by the scenery, sound of live bands playing music and the smell of food, we used random weave techniques to create sculptural vessels from numerous fibres and cane.

  

 

 Therese Flynn Clarke  Winner of the 2012 Caldera Art Award

The Arts in the Olives is a festival celebrating the creative arts. The festival is a collaboration between the residents of the Lost Worlds Valley and BADCAP - Beaudesert and District Community Art Projects and offers a variety of workshops.

Plenty of great accommodation on offer.

Wide selection of luscious food and operators - cheeses, wine, olives, pickles, sausages, honey and gorgeous baked delights . . . .

Huge selection of workshops. We all agreed we will do Blacksmithing next year.

Fingal Workshop

How glorious to share a week with friends at the beach. . . .being creative.

My latest work - printed, grounds and painted on 100% rag

   

  Sometimes, it is hard to remember we are here to do work! 

Could not resist doing a series of photographs with this huge jelly fish. 

Rusty Roo workshops

I have enjoyed weekends at the Roo with friends in my NEW STUDIO space. . .. (not as many as I would like as we have been busy building the new studio space and bathroom and the pottery studio . . .  .) look forward to the ones organized for later in the year. 

  

 Studio has windows on three walls and double set of doors - great light

Cameron with the help of my Father and Son hauled the mammoth press upstairs into the light filled space with it's wide veranda, with great views. (Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!! )

Cameron and I installed a new bathroom upstairs so that we do not need to go down and out when we need . . .. to go. It is Fantastic.  

Lily - Sculptural art in the Landscape                            Linda Wheel throwing on one of our two new pottery wheels.



Linda firing her pots in Rusty Roo pit. 

Opening the pit after a long slow burn over the week.

Example of results from Pit firing.

Lily creating Ikebana magic throughout the property. Example of my photography which was conducted into the wee hours of the night with the help of torches, wine and lots of laughter. . .

 Something to admire while drinking our wine and watching the sun set.

Flying Arts workshop

Gelatin plate workshop with Flying arts. Great workshop held at the state Library Brisbane

 

Something unrelated

Cameron and I recently attended a costume party . . . (We passed a group of small children on the way and it took all our considerable will power not to jump out of the car and scare them. . . . .  Then Mr Plod said NO!)

Beautiful pair ain't we . . . .NO?

PAPER Cut out - recycled - re-newed

OLD Books

Pre- Loved

Unwanted

 . . . .. . . DISCARDED





What a WASTE !




Wall paper Glue
Scissors
Brush
MDF

 

. . . . . . TIME

IMAGINATION . . .. . Altered . . . NEW from OLD

Time and the ability to communicate

China, July 2011
I always feel a certainly indulgence for this country, its people and their culture.
I love the exotic layering, the intricacies of their carving, the variety of plants, and the plethora of edible delicacies. However, until this recent visit I was unable to understand their language or communicate . . . .this lack of understanding meant there was a constant film of suspicion and hesitation, that we could never penetrate with sign language (Something we managed with positive and amusing results in Italy . . . but failed at, here in China)

For the past 6 months Brianna has been studying Chinese here at the University of Fudan, just outside Shanghai.
I have been full of admiration and highly amused when she has entered into exuberant arguments with the occasional dishonest taxi driver, who thinks he can hoodwink the tourists (us), or caught people discussing us not knowing Brianna understands their conversation ... until she answers their inquiry, or asks them a question in mandarin.


The result of these exchanges is mostly enjoyable. We have discovered the people’s delightful quick humor, interests and some of their opinions. . . qualities not obvious or accessible, on previous visits.
On numerous occasions we have approached, or been approached by what appears to be stern faced individuals who appear to be obstinate, troublesome and rude. However, with the introduction of Brianna’s use of Mandarin, their expressions are instantly replaced by radiant warm smiles.
Consequently we have spent many pleasant occasions exchanging ideas, opinions and information with people we meet . . . . I also think knowing we have months, allows us the freedom of leisure and time to spend on being friendly.
.. . . . Also if I am honest, I must admit, it helps when we want to haggle.
Once Brianna starts a fluent and friendly conversation . . . Items that were originally quoted as being of an asking price of say Y500 will be reduced to Y100, with a smile and no uncomfortable haggling or serious reluctance . . . . come on!, who could not appreciate such miraculous results? . . . .. . . especially when the object of our desire is a new brush . . . . . . ceramics, jewellery, books, carvings, paints, paper cut outs . . . . . Brianna has a blog where she posts her thoughts - a good read www.poiseonarrows.blogspot.com

She has managed . . . relentlessly studied/ labored over . . . 5 subjects, to develop a proficiency in Mandarin. . .(to the extent whereby, if I am not looking, I think she is another Chinese person . . . . a wee bit disconcerting considering our name is LEE )

mmmmmm! Yes, we will need a huge reduction in price to acquire the many, many, many 'things' we covet.

Sharing of PLACE

We have always been aware of the need to make as little impact as possible on this piece of land we have claimed as OUr OWn. We have endeavoured to maintain the uncleared vegetation, while starting a re-planting program, so that we may maintain a diverse environment, that will sustain us all.

Some times it feels like a terrible swim against a current of - ' not my problem'

So when I was recently approached to submit some work for an online gallery, concerned with the study of Human-animal relations - A shared environment, I was more than thrilled to do so.


What an incredible diverse wildlife we are lucky to share this land with.

Animals, People - A share environment

10 - 13 July 2011, Griffith University, Brisbane


Some of the most challenging and exciting new work in Australian studies has emerged from the Fine Arts. In Honour of these human-animal artists, and their subjects, the Australian Animal Studies group has developed and online gallery. The gallery aims to promote the artists and the animal issues they care deeply about.

http://www.aasg.org.au/gallery

The Australian Animal Studies group and Environmental Futures Centre proudly present the 4th Biennial Australian Animal Studies Group Conference 2011 on; Animals, People - a Shared environment.


This conference will bring together animal theorists and scientists from a broad range of academic disciplines with representatives from non government and government officials from several nations and representatives from industry, to examine the interrelationship between human and nonhuman animals from cultural, historical, geographical, environmental, representational, moral, legal and political perspectives.

A very worth while study . . . .

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Friday night we had a lovely evening with friends . Cool breezes, crystal clear skies, with lots of good food and laughter . . . The skies were so clear in fact, that Cameron and Warren, being members of the local fire brigade, hopped into the car to vamoose down the road to see if the red glow in the sky, was a raging bush fire. NO, it was the glow from the city . . . along with Stefan's beams meandering across . . . it made us remember we are actually only a short distance from the fast lane.

When we first started establishing the Rusty Roo,(http://www.rustyroo.com/) we though of it as a place, where city people would visit to escape the hustle and chaos of their hectic life style.(bear in mind that that included US !! )
However, as we insinuated ourselves into the life of the area, more and more we began to realize that it is a place that even the locals like to drop in. . . . . and stay.
Without appearing too crazy, I have to say, that I feel it is the spirit of the land. You feel the peaceful vibes permeate through you, creating a complete aura of oneness with the place.. . . . do I hear giggling ?
Any ideas !!! Conjecture ? WHAT THE !!

So okay, no more along those lines . . . but, I do have to add that at long last, after almost 10 years, the wild life are loosing their wariness/fear of us. This lean toward being friendly is resulting in numerous sightings of various birds and animals throughout each day. For some time I have been document a timetable of their visits, which is starting to show a pattern. Each species appears to have a schedule . . . . I am now wondering who is in charge of their time table? . . . and is it the same when were are not in residence ?


Early morning the Black cockatoos arrived. They looked fantastic against the blue sky.
By Saturday mid morning there was a heat wave spreading up from the land. It was as if a moisture suck had started, which was resulting in the air feeling like a heavy layer of molasses.

Strangely this haze was accompanied by a hot dry breeze. This combination was confusing. Even the wildlife seemed perturbed by the atmosphere and the usual time schedule of visits was abandoned, as they made their way willy nilly up to the house, to enjoy the relief bought about by the water mist, created when we put the sprinkler on the grass.
By mid afternoon the air was whiter than a, Beijing pollution induced fog.

Saturday night the air was clear again, as the heat lifted. Though it was still balmy and we couldn't believe that only a couple of days prior we had been comforted by a roaring fire.
Cam and I took our evening drinks and the bean bags out to the grass area at the side of the Rusty Roo. We sat/layed in the dark watching the stars listening to the night visitors closing in around us. At one stage the snuffling snorting sounds were so loud and close, I turned on the torch to see what was not more than a meter from us . . . Cameron thought it was hysterical that I wanted to sit out in the dark . . . but, then wanted to know exactly what was out there with us. We were in the midst of friendlies; 1 huge possum, an owl and 6 wallabies, all enjoying a feed of the moist grass and seed . Magical !
We have four workshops happening between here and the middle of October. The long week of Indulgence with various facilitators, Water colours with Mia Clarke, Ikebana with Lily Karmatz and Mixed Media. The long weekend & water colour are full, with only 2 places in Ikebana and 3 in mixed media remaining.If you are interested email me for information.
Then, we close in November, with a break until March 2010