final days at new pacific studio

leaving for asia in 2 days. wanted to pull together the disparate work i have done here and make something cohesive, but i will have to be satisfied with my book of “short stories” as i see them – since they don’t much relate to each other. but now that i have indulged completely my hyperactive and overly curious mind, i feel the urge for a specific project coming on – something i can sink into and go deeper with. have some ideas for india and especially berlin – where for 3 months i will vibe off of the current art scene and also review what i have done in my year of “discoveries” – maybe to make an exhibition or work on a book about this journey.

going from rural new zealand to hong kong, shanghai and then new delhi – will be about as much contrast as you can get!
thanks so much to my host, kay flavell, for her commitment and dedication to sharing the arts and culture of the pacific ~ 

another solar print worked into the book

no leash, no lead

i know – i am all over the map – literally, figuratively, creatively. and in that way, this trip is exactly as i had hoped – allowing me to indulge in the diversity of experiences, to fling open the doors of possibilities and see what comes of it. i do admit though, with the constantly changing world around me,  there are moments when i doubt my ability to stay focused now on any particular track, and fear that my A.D.D. has finally taking hold of me.

but there have been many times in the past, particularly when preparing for a show, when i have used a choke-chain on my work – giving it a decided yank on the leash should it veer to the left or right.

this is not one of those times.

my first solar plate etching

i’ve posted an image from a workshop i took in wellington at the solander gallery on solar plate etching - my first foray into printmaking. i’m hooked, but must wait until i have the right tools to take this technique further. appeals to my abstract mark making side – working fast and loose and seeing what nature (the sun) will make of it.

work, NZ

back to the book pages – combining images i’ve collected along the way (most of these coming from PILOT –  a great art/design/fashion mag out of new zealand) mixing them up gives them a new and different life. working both on the wall and in the book suits different moods and gestures and one starts to flow into the next.

collage, paint, pencil on paper

wanderings on paper, nz

allowing myself these meanderings has meant a new body of works that i wouldn’t have expected. but without any pressure from galleries, etc, i am free to play. at  times i wonder if there’s any kind of rhyme or reason to it all but then i put on my headphones and get back at it…staying curious and as open as possible – always asking myself if freedom is the point, then how really free am I?

in process drawing with collage

detail of wall drawing

mixing it up in NZ

mixing collage and maori-inspired tattooing

still cutting and pasting and drawing – from whatever references turn me on. cut up these earlier paintings, now trying them in different ways. i like the new incarnations and will keep coming back to these book pages altering and building up the complexity.

collaging book pages

for some reason feel compelled to return to the book format with my work so far at NPS. was seduced by some great new zealand design magazines at the auckland airport, and have started cutting and pasting with some of the images, combined with drawing and painting. feeling a bit rusty after 6 weeks away from any artmaking, so now just finding my ground in the southern hemisphere.

collage, pen on paper

new pacific studio, mt. bruce, new zealand

am now 2 weeks into my residency here and life is easy and relaxed. after 7 months in europe attempting to speak various languages, it is a relief to have english as the first language. i’m posting a few of the images of life as i see it in my peaceful rural home.

view from the train heading north from wellington

kia ora - the maori greeting

the house, cottage and studio at new pacific studios

wellington, new zealand

flying over the coast of new zealand

a few images from my days in wellington – have moved on now to my residency and will post soon.

loved this quirky mural on the side of a building

rugged coast of north cornwall, england

must be my anglo-celtic roots, but i love this landscape most of all. despite the driving wind and rain, i walk as much as my cold wet skin will allow, and only turn off the coastal path here in cornwall when threatened with being blown off the cliff. there are a few of us diehards out here in the strongest winds, and only a brit could smile in passing and above the gale force shout “beautiful, isn’t it!”. indeed, it is astonishingly beautiful.

the main word that comes to mind here is “atmosphere”, and there is a longing to define visually something as elusive and ethereal as the word implies. the constantly shifting light changes so dramatically, that before i’ve even reached for my camera, the moment has passed.  but as a short term visitor and not a resident artist, i might be content with musing on the light alone, without needing to manifest anything into form and color.

coastal path, st. ives, cornwall

last days at valparaiso, spain

the days are waning here at valparaiso (paradise valley) which always starts to feel like a mad scramble to finish what i started. it has been an excellent stay here – we are pampered and well fed and cleaned up after – all in the name of supporting the artist and therefore the art.  i encourage anyone to apply here – it is a class act and to top it off, food and lodging is gratis!

i’ve embraced cardboard now as a reliable and economical substrate, and appreciate robert rauschenberg’s comment that there be no hierarchy of materials. each is beautiful in its own way. i will probably mount these pieces when i show them, not sure how yet, but i love the simple and humble surface of the cardboard and will revisit again i’m sure.

this will be my last residency of the year, and from here i will move on to spend some weeks in cornwall and then return to boulder for the holidays. i will chew on all that has transpired these past 7 months and then venture out again after the new year, chasing perpetual summer down to new zealand and beyond.

with huge thanks to the foundation valparaiso – beatrice, pilar and marie-laure ~

acrylic, graphite, toner on cardboard