Adding details

Really concentrating on details this week and bringing everything to the front. It is a matter of quietly working through the various processes. I enjoy this part although it can be scary as sometimes it can go horribly wrong. One of the applications was hastily removed with a hose-down on the driveway as it was just not working! The advantage with working with cloth, dye, textile pigment/paint is that work can be washed - try doing that with a traditional painting!

Here the headstones have been more defined.

The back ground inside the collapsing house has been further worked on. This has turned out well, although it is rather hard to see any difference in the photos.

Another great day out on Wednesday. Back into Wellington to attend functions and exhibitions at Te Papa as well as getting to see the galleries which were closed last Tuesday when I visited. I always come home feeling inspired, and eager to get on with things.

Pulling it all together

I have now added all the elements I think are necessary to this piece and now need to pull it all together. My favourite way is to print out an image of the whole piece, place a sheet of tracing paper on top and start sketching in details. If done in pencil this makes it easy to amend and adjust. From this sketch I can then start applying the ideas, which are bound to change but it does give some direction.

Tracing paper placed over the top of an image, and some details added.

Tracing paper lifted off the image. The details are now up-side-down.

The saddest times...

It is no secret that New Zealand is suffering at the moment. The mine tragedy on the West Coast of the South Island has everyone in a state of national mourning. For those directly involved their worlds have crumbled along with their men and our thoughts and support must be with them. And those that worked so tirelessly towards a positive outcome need our support too, they did their very best in such dreadful circumstances.

It seems unfair that life still goes on and like everyone else I am suffering from time acceleration and am constantly wondering where time has gone. My hairdresser came today for the usual 4 - 5 weekly trim, and I swear blind that she was here just two weeks ago!

On Tuesday I took myself off for a day of gallery crawling, and the movies, in Wellington. I thoroughly enjoy these outings but I must remember that many galleries are closed Tuesdays (and Mondays)! However I still had plenty to see, and a lecture at Te Papa in conjunction with the European Masters exhibition was excellent. Not only did we hear the history of selected pieces but also about the application of paint and techniques. The movie wasn't too grand but I did have the luxury of the 300 seat cinema all to myself!

Some progress on my piece this week. I have added some headstones to the left of the figure. I sourced these from a photo taken in a cemetery on the Chatham Islands. There is no wording left on the stones but one headstone nearby had a date of 1802 and is possibly one of the earliest European graves in New Zealand.

The headstones have yet to be further defined at a later date.

The broken headstones.

Line of fire...

This week I have added some rifles to my latest piece. I searched the Internet for a simple recognisable outline and then made two lino cuts, one for each direction.

The test run on a scrap of fabric. I have re-painted the bottom rifle to get a better definition.

Positioning and masking up the areas to be printed. The right hand prints are my test sample. Lino cuts resting above the areas to be printed.

.... and the final outcome.

Making art...

I actually don't like working on a messy table, but sometimes it just happens!

I have been working on the boat this week. It may get some more attention further down the track but I hestitate to do this too early. It is better to balance things once other details are added.

Wet Saturday

After a marvellous week of fine weather when time in the garden ruled, it rained on Saturday. This was somewhat of a relief as the garden needed the rain, and I was able to return back to work again.

In an earlier posting I mentioned that the initial dyed background in my latest piece would receive further treatment and almost disappear. The beginning of this has now happened. I mixed some white textile pigment (this is always very dense so that it will stay white when printed on to dark fabrics) with a textile medium. This thins the density and makes it almost transparent.



The photo shows most of the background obscured. The grave stones on the left have yet to have the freezer paper template removed.

Discharging Shapes

I have been quietly making progress this week working on the elements I wish to introduce into my latest piece. This piece is to be called Dis-cord and is a companion piece to Co-Existing.
I am using one figure in this piece, and made a start by discharging the base colours with this shape.

Simple newspaper template to define the shape. I have also marked the eye area for future applications.

After discharging with Thiox.

And then I discharged a boat!