the studio is dead...................... long live the studio

The new studio... This is the new home of AP....a bigger space but poor lighting.  One small thing to fix,,and back into printmaking.  It has been some time since I have worked in a print studio. Only one work of any consequence....Marking time..  But things are starting to gain momentum 

Exhibition opening at the Federal Gallery

Well what a great evening. The work had its time in the Sun. The Gallery was packed and the punters were excited to see the work. Good stuff all round. I feel happier about putting the work away now. Here are a number of photos from the evening. Marty gave a delightful speech to open the show beginning with.....Graham's my best Friend.  I have had a number of phone comments throughout the day and a steady line of visitors on the Saturday. Great stuff

A Few Weeks work.

Well the show is going up in Whanganui. I was not overly excited about showing the work again but once more into the realm of the critic. A couple of weeks have gone by since my last posting; having said I would comment every week it has been some time between drinks.  I had  received some criticism about having a blog in the first place.  Thankfully as an email and easy to delete. The gallery is at the local polytechnic and will only be opened for two days. Seems a lot of work for a relatively small time in the sun, but interested staff  and students from school will have the opportunity to see the show before  being packed away. I am sort of over the work now; it is amazing how quickly everything fades into the distance The new print  is going really well. The mark is changing with each series.  I am targeting the white space within the work and now creating a more open isolating image. Working with the marching girls is a great deal of fun.  I am on target to have the work ready for the One Night Stand which opens and closes on May 29th.Will have an image ready to view in anticipation of a weekend in the studio.

Leigh and I went to Wellington to bring the show home. Although I had received a number of supportive comments it was rather sobering to bring the two crates back with me as well as the loose prints. Lorene had suggested I contact Mark Amery about the work but it does seem rather pointless now that the show is down. Sitting in a pub in wellington watching the world go by. What better place to watch the people of wellington than in Cuba street. 

 

Never one to let an opportunity go by I took a number of photographs of two Irish Dancers busking in the main street. Definitely these images will add to the work I am currently starting. (A new Zealand clubs idea...Marching, Dancing, helping...girl guides, marching teams etc). I have yet to begin the next work It is all ready to begin sitting in my studio waiting for the hand of the master... 

Went to the City Gallery for the second week and again listened to the Forty-Part Motet by Janet Cardiff. A truly magical installation that never fails to give each time I listen tothe music.  In the Deane gallery was a video

Tino Rangatira Tanga . The first time I saw this I was deeply moved. The second time I felt saddened for  Richard Kake forever trapped in his own dying. The worst type of ground hog day imaginable. When I left the room the video was beginning again. Tomorrow sees the beginning of the week a completely new set of resolves. Let us see what eventuates 

the next week.

Well a great week.  A whole process of working through ideas, developing thoughts and pushing into new areas I have set up three major projects. Firstly the wing mirror project. This has been dormant for some months but has now resurfaced as an interesting project that is well worth developing. The initial idea has come from my partner Leigh: her wing mirror drawings have led me to the investigation and practicable applications of working with the wing mirror to create her  idea of looking backwards moving forward. The primary function of a wing mirror. Having visited a number of second hand dealers and car wrecking yards I have found that the best to use have been Motorcycle mirrors which are in great abundance and relatively cheap. ( $10.00 each imported from China)

The photo shows the beginnings of an exploration into both mono-type ( with leigh) and silkscreen ( mine).  The graphic quality of the black and white silkscreen  does allow for an immediate visual reading. The images are silkscreen images of photographs are night shots of crowds of people. Most of the images focus on foot movement and group shadow. A project worth exploring.  

The second idea comes from a recent post from yet another blog site with an enormous press . If you will excuse the pun, most impressive. I have always wanted to produce really big woodcuts. This press develops the seed of an idea.

The third is really in response to the show at the Tweed River Gallery.Here I am relying on  earlier work that was never fully resolved. Over the last week I have been finding the uh- ha image. You know its the idea or the image that says I need to be made.  While I am not really sold on the idea of Marching Girls' I am looking at finding that unique image that pushes the print into that next realm. It is difficult to explain but relies on the intuitive instinct that sums up the fact that it has some merit in exploring.

So three ideas that will sustain the creative flow. How exciting.  The three photos are some of the ideas I wish to develop. The print is drawn up and ready to start. Tomorrow will be the day. 

New Work

Not one to let the grass grow under my feet I am wanting to begin new work and maintain the work ethic and to honour my practice. I have the opportunity to exhibit in an International Show at Tweed River Art Gallery in Australia. Work for this show needs to be completed and ready to post by July.

 I have been working with a reinterpretation of Maori dolls over the last couple of months. In fact they have been popular with the punters. A series of small drypoint prints have emerged from work needed for a Xmas show at Solander Gallery. I have completed three prints to date and have more in the waiting to be drawn. This I am sure will be the basis for new work as I am interesting in exploring aspects of New Zealand that helps define our contemporary culture.  I have always been fascinated by the notion of Marching girls' and briefly explored the idea Marching girls,on mass,moving through a defined space: completing a series of choreographed movements but  keeping within a controlled area.  The idea of space, and regulated and informal movement  became an important aspect of my Masters work.  This will be the basis for new work.  

  

Revisiting the show

I revisited the show at  Solander with my teaching staff and received favorable comments about the work. While nothing has been sold I feel that the show contains an honesty that is reflected in both the individual prints and the theme the work portrays. A group from Victoria University want to use one of the images for their weekly publication, Bandwagon. While I have agreed to let this publication use the image I feel that may be the extent of the notoriety the work receives. I have a  cabinet full of images that have yet to have their time in the sun. Who knows what Journey this work will have before it is consigned to the plan file cabinet.

Images from the opening of Life Journey

Life Journey

Having a exhibiton of my recent work has helped me to get this blog up and running. I am not sure for how long but as with all blogs it is my intention to add a weekly comment.

The show " Life Journey' is the culmination of four years of consistent work developing a thematic study in producing a number of large drypoint prints. I have been working in various places over the last four years setting up a number of short stay studio places. The most recent studio, AP, (Aramoho Printmakers) has been my spiritual and physical home last three years. A single garage converted into a print studio overlooking the Whanganui River. An Idyllic setting and the perfect place to work.

The exhibition is in Solander Gallery in Wellington and is on show to the public until the end of the month. The opening evening was somewhat disappointing with a small crowd attending the launch. As with all artists and their openings I expected a large knowledgeable crowd lining up to buy the work. Sadly this was not the case. While all comments were supportive and a few notable people turned up for the event the evening was rather flat.

Arriving back in Whanganui feeling rather depressed it was a really great to get back into the Print Studio and print up different work for a client.

Already I am thinking about the next body of work. Not one to be down for long in my mind I have already packed the work away and consigned it to the plan file cabinet where all the other work sits.