WM and I arrived home around 6pm on Monday – I can’t believe it’s Thursday already. Where did this week go? Oh yes, washing (laundry for my American friends), a full-body massage (on Tuesday), knitting, reading blog posts and making art!
The good news, great news in fact, is that we now have our internet connected to another provider and it is fast enough for me to download your blog posts, even if they are photo-heavy! Even better news for me is that I can now watch the videos from my art course: which, of course, has inspired me to do some art work of my own! Nothing I want to share yet (sorry) but fun none-the-less.
The days have been warm and sunny so I have taken to spending a couple of hours in front of the computer catching up with blogs while the sun shines into my sewing room. Then I take my pencils and art journal outside; I have my lunch out there too.
When the shadows start taking over the backyard I move inside again, this time into the lounge (living) room on the western side of the house where I sit with my Kindle and read for a while before I turn on the television and knit. Ah, retired life: there’s nothing like it!
And now for the warning. I have checked this and this is not a hoax. It is so serious that the Australian government has actually set up a site which will check people’s computers as they log on! To keep it brief, cybercriminals have hacked into millions of computers around the world and infected them so that as of 9 July 2012 they will no longer be able to connect to the internet. These criminals have been found and arrested but there are millions of computer users at risk. You can read more about it at Hoax Slayer (the site I use when I want to check if something is a hoax or not).
Now, I’m sure you’ll want to check if your computer is affected (or infected). Go to this page and it will give you the site for your area; for my fellow Aussies the site is http://dns-ok.gov.au/. It took me less than five seconds to find out my computer doesn’t seem to have been affected.
Please, friends, I don’t do chain emails and I don’t pass on hoax emails. This one is genuine -- check your computer before it’s too late.
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Monday, 23 April 2012
Do you believe you can’t draw?
All my life I have had a fear of drawing. When I was about ten, I drew a picture of a horse. I knew it didn’t look right so I took it to my father for advice. “It’s out of proportion” he said…
… and that was it. I carefully rolled that picture, along with all my other drawings of that time, put a rubber band around them, and put them in the bottom of the sock drawer. When I was about thirteen or fourteen, the art teacher at school basically told me to “stick to maths” when I tried to make a (compulsory) poster for the upcoming school fete. My younger brother is one of those naturally talented people who draws beautifully and seemingly effortlessly, while I struggled. I watched him and convinced myself that “I couldn’t draw”.
In 1996, a friend convinced me to attend folk art painting classes with her. The classes were inexpensive and to stop her nagging, I decided to give it a go. I enjoyed it but it stirred up a longing in me to create something of my own. Folk art was just copying someone else’s creative work (as was knitting, crochet, embroidery and cross stitch for me at that time).
After a chat with Kym Hart (son of the late Pro Hart) while on a trip to Broken Hill, I enrolled in a landscape painting class in 1998. I nearly quit - the teacher knew nothing about working in acrylics; she was an oil painter and didn’t realise that one can’t mix a colour in acrylics in the height of summer then wait ten minutes for the teacher to return while the paint dries rock hard on the brush. But, unfortunately for her and fortunately for me, she became quite ill and we got a new teacher – one who not only knew his mediums but could teach and encourage.
I spent two years under his tutelage then, with his encouragement, applied to do a fine arts course at TAFE (I really only wanted to do painting but had to take the whole course not just the one subject). The entry requirements included a portfolio, an interview and a drawing test. I cried for the full hour it took me to make a poor copy of the still life in front of me but, somehow, the two teachers who interviewed me saw some potential and I was offered a place. Here was a God-given opportunity I could not pass up.
I attended TAFE for eighteen months until our financial situation pushed me back into the workforce. In those three semesters, I did three drawing classes (each three hours of agony long) and one print making class (which is heavily reliant on drawing). I struggled with each and every one of them – especially the life drawing and printmaking classes. Some days I had to force myself just to stay in the classroom and it was difficult for me to put a mark on the paper and keep breathing!
There have been some great drawing moments in my life. In 2006 I participated in this mural with a group of artists under the tutelage of Graham Cheney. It was drawn in graphite and charcoal on a white painted plaster-board wall. Some of my work includes the lettering and part of the building in the centre of the mural.
I have not really tried to draw since then. I still panic when I have to copy something. Older Grandson accepts my cartoonish drawings and can even recognise what I have drawn but I know my scribblings are far from “good”.
In March, DD and I attended the Craft Fair at Rosehill. A bubbly lady named Jane Davenport gave a demonstration on how to draw pretty faces. I watched that demonstration with great interest but only tried what I had learnt once.
Which brings me back to the distraction of the creative retreat at Gilburra mentioned in last Wednesday's post. One of the many creative activities on offer was “the paint shed”. I painted for the sheer pleasure of painting – at home, although I am retired, and have the materials, the easel and the room, I never give myself time to paint because there are more “useful” things to be done –- knitting and making quilts for charity for example. It was great fun to paint that weekend. But the thing that gave me the most joy was done using those big fat chalks used by children in a very limited colour range of pink, lemon, light blue, light green, light orange and light brown.
Look what I did (metre square – 40” x 40”)!
To all those who reinforced the lie, I have only one thing to say:
… and that was it. I carefully rolled that picture, along with all my other drawings of that time, put a rubber band around them, and put them in the bottom of the sock drawer. When I was about thirteen or fourteen, the art teacher at school basically told me to “stick to maths” when I tried to make a (compulsory) poster for the upcoming school fete. My younger brother is one of those naturally talented people who draws beautifully and seemingly effortlessly, while I struggled. I watched him and convinced myself that “I couldn’t draw”.
In 1996, a friend convinced me to attend folk art painting classes with her. The classes were inexpensive and to stop her nagging, I decided to give it a go. I enjoyed it but it stirred up a longing in me to create something of my own. Folk art was just copying someone else’s creative work (as was knitting, crochet, embroidery and cross stitch for me at that time).
After a chat with Kym Hart (son of the late Pro Hart) while on a trip to Broken Hill, I enrolled in a landscape painting class in 1998. I nearly quit - the teacher knew nothing about working in acrylics; she was an oil painter and didn’t realise that one can’t mix a colour in acrylics in the height of summer then wait ten minutes for the teacher to return while the paint dries rock hard on the brush. But, unfortunately for her and fortunately for me, she became quite ill and we got a new teacher – one who not only knew his mediums but could teach and encourage.
I spent two years under his tutelage then, with his encouragement, applied to do a fine arts course at TAFE (I really only wanted to do painting but had to take the whole course not just the one subject). The entry requirements included a portfolio, an interview and a drawing test. I cried for the full hour it took me to make a poor copy of the still life in front of me but, somehow, the two teachers who interviewed me saw some potential and I was offered a place. Here was a God-given opportunity I could not pass up.
I attended TAFE for eighteen months until our financial situation pushed me back into the workforce. In those three semesters, I did three drawing classes (each three hours of agony long) and one print making class (which is heavily reliant on drawing). I struggled with each and every one of them – especially the life drawing and printmaking classes. Some days I had to force myself just to stay in the classroom and it was difficult for me to put a mark on the paper and keep breathing!
There have been some great drawing moments in my life. In 2006 I participated in this mural with a group of artists under the tutelage of Graham Cheney. It was drawn in graphite and charcoal on a white painted plaster-board wall. Some of my work includes the lettering and part of the building in the centre of the mural.
I have not really tried to draw since then. I still panic when I have to copy something. Older Grandson accepts my cartoonish drawings and can even recognise what I have drawn but I know my scribblings are far from “good”.
In March, DD and I attended the Craft Fair at Rosehill. A bubbly lady named Jane Davenport gave a demonstration on how to draw pretty faces. I watched that demonstration with great interest but only tried what I had learnt once.
Which brings me back to the distraction of the creative retreat at Gilburra mentioned in last Wednesday's post. One of the many creative activities on offer was “the paint shed”. I painted for the sheer pleasure of painting – at home, although I am retired, and have the materials, the easel and the room, I never give myself time to paint because there are more “useful” things to be done –- knitting and making quilts for charity for example. It was great fun to paint that weekend. But the thing that gave me the most joy was done using those big fat chalks used by children in a very limited colour range of pink, lemon, light blue, light green, light orange and light brown.
Look what I did (metre square – 40” x 40”)!
To all those who reinforced the lie, I have only one thing to say:
I can draw! So there!
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
my first ATCs
ATC = Artist Trading Card
I have long been interested in this form of miniature art. I think I was still teaching scrap-booking classes (around 2005) when I first heard of them. I have seen them made in paper, mixed media and fabrics but I've never seen a knitted one (now there's a challenge, Lynne!)
I have long wanted to make some but, for the past couple of years, my practical side has been getting in the way of making art of any kind. Craft is okay, my inner critic is silent if the article under creation is of practical use; but "art for art's sake": forget it!
Just about every time I have thought about making art during daylight hours, I have felt that it would be such a waste of time. Only in daylight hours, you ask?
At night, when I can't sleep or just before I fall asleep, I think of great ideas for all kinds of art projects. In the bright light of day, all my ideas float away like mist or just seem too silly or impractical.
But there are a few reasons why that changed on Saturday:
- My new studio - I just feel more creative with all that space around me (if I ignore all the boxes still in my old study screaming for me to sort through them).
- I have been quite ill with a heavy cold, including awful sinus pain and headaches. I didn't have the energy or enthusiasm to deal with boxes of stuff!
- My new-found interest in quilting; it means I have been looking at new blogs and one that has really been inspiring me is Kate's Arty Bits Blog. Kate has been making ATCs and she keeps inspiring me.
- I want to be creative but I have come to a impasse with my latest quilt: I don't have either the fabric or the thread to go ahead and haven't felt well enough to go to a fabric store to change that situation.
- A simple decision - I decided that I was going to make an ATC and "Miss Critic" could take a hike. I know, from past experience, that once I'm in "the zone" I can't hear her anyway so I just had to get past that not-so-still-small-voice!
So, on to the actual art making...Who knew that something so small would actually take a couple of hours to make; if you count gathering supplies, making decisions, cutting, making more decisions, assembling, making more decisions, re-assembling, making more decisions, gluing, labelling and cleaning up!
So, you have already seen this - the beginnings of my first applique block:
Well, it seems I'm working on a series for the first time in my artistic life. Here is Saturday's version made from scraps of long finished scrapbook pages (I can't bear to throw away anything that might be useful, hence those boxes that need sorting!):
And I was taught never to mix patterns (see Miss Critic - you are not always right!)
Lesson learnt: Cut the background papers slightly too large and trim them back later!
And here is Sunday's softer, less 'realistic', version:
Verdict: I'm not 100% happy with what I've produced (what artist ever is?) but I've made a start and making art makes me happy so "Take that, Inner Critic!"
Friday, 1 May 2009
Bendigo Woollen Mills shade card
Finally, after emailing Bendigo last weekend, my shade card arrived yesterday! Some gorgeous colours - I want them all!!
PS Hope you like the new look here! The black background felt a bit too heavy for winter! I need to think thoughts of spring. Cold is my worst enemy! Tee-hee!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
edited to remove the rest of the post; to all who did visit my 'additional' blog [thanks C], especally Delighted Hands, Bells and Lara who left comments, I have decided to remove the blog from the 'public domain' - I need it to be a "real" journal and already I've found myself editing my thoughts for public consumption. So, apologies if you were keen to go this journey with me; I'll try to remember to put any great revelations or productions on this blog instead!
PS Hope you like the new look here! The black background felt a bit too heavy for winter! I need to think thoughts of spring. Cold is my worst enemy! Tee-hee!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
edited to remove the rest of the post; to all who did visit my 'additional' blog [thanks C], especally Delighted Hands, Bells and Lara who left comments, I have decided to remove the blog from the 'public domain' - I need it to be a "real" journal and already I've found myself editing my thoughts for public consumption. So, apologies if you were keen to go this journey with me; I'll try to remember to put any great revelations or productions on this blog instead!
Saturday, 1 November 2008
Useful or just 'artsy'?
I read this quote from Delighted Hands and it resonated so loudly with me:
Back in the mid-90s I had a burning desire to create something new from scratch. I knitted, crocheted, embroidered and did folk art. All crafty, all using someone else's patterns. I wanted something original. A trip to Broken Hill and a brief chat with Kym Hart [son of Kevin 'Pro' Hart] just fuelled my desire so I enrolled in painting classes. My first teacher, God bless her, only painted in oils; I'm allergic to turps so I painted in acrylics. I nearly quit but we got a new teacher - he was very encouraging and I developed quite quickly under his tutelage so much so that I did a Fine Arts course at TAFE.
I went back to work and my painting dried up. Then I discovered scrap-booking. This satisfied my artistic side - working with colour [my passion] and design. But I taught scrap-booking for a while and had to to produce pages to specification and my love turned to hate. I admire Carol's work but just can't bring myself to get out the papers, the glue, the photos and the embellishments again! It's so messy and requires so much work space.
But knitting continues because knitting is clean, portable, sociable [if one is not knitting lace!] and useful [to come back to my opening quote from Cynthia]. But does knitting satisfy my 'creative' urge? Mostly yes, because I knit from my head; I invent shapes and colour combinations that please me and sometimes challenge me. However, sometimes there comes a longing to be original; perhaps to take knitting in a direction it's never been before - but where that is I don't know!!
it has to be useful--one of my problems with things artsy-what is it for?!!!!
Back in the mid-90s I had a burning desire to create something new from scratch. I knitted, crocheted, embroidered and did folk art. All crafty, all using someone else's patterns. I wanted something original. A trip to Broken Hill and a brief chat with Kym Hart [son of Kevin 'Pro' Hart] just fuelled my desire so I enrolled in painting classes. My first teacher, God bless her, only painted in oils; I'm allergic to turps so I painted in acrylics. I nearly quit but we got a new teacher - he was very encouraging and I developed quite quickly under his tutelage so much so that I did a Fine Arts course at TAFE.
I went back to work and my painting dried up. Then I discovered scrap-booking. This satisfied my artistic side - working with colour [my passion] and design. But I taught scrap-booking for a while and had to to produce pages to specification and my love turned to hate. I admire Carol's work but just can't bring myself to get out the papers, the glue, the photos and the embellishments again! It's so messy and requires so much work space.
But knitting continues because knitting is clean, portable, sociable [if one is not knitting lace!] and useful [to come back to my opening quote from Cynthia]. But does knitting satisfy my 'creative' urge? Mostly yes, because I knit from my head; I invent shapes and colour combinations that please me and sometimes challenge me. However, sometimes there comes a longing to be original; perhaps to take knitting in a direction it's never been before - but where that is I don't know!!
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Roses!
On Saturday night, my former art teacher came for dinner. He had planned to bring wine but we don't drink, so he brought me these beautiful long stem roses. The colour is so wrong! They are deep red, almost black, but no matter what I do I can't get the colour of this photo right. Roses are such beautiful flowers so enjoy them anyway!
And yes, he has talked me into going back to art classes - looks like there'll be less time for yarny activities in my future!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)