New year, new city and a new start

Well it has been a long, long time since I have posted anything and I felt I was very overdue. 2011 was a great year personally and artistically with several exhibitions and commissions a new house and the great big pivotal decision to leave my wonderful teaching job in Sydney to move to the sunny city of Newcastle to be with my one and only.

So a quick overview of 2011's achievements:

In October I was fortunate enough to be involved in the 'Artisans in the Garden' exhibition at the Royal Botanic gardens Sydney. This enchanting exhibition brought together 30 artisans and artists in the stunning Royal Botanic Gardens and the Lions Gate Lodge. The show had thousands of visitors over the week long exhibition and I received some great feedback from the show (plus i sold a few pieces - which is always great).

I currently have some pieces in a salon show at the painters gallery in Mona Vale organised by the lovely and talented Rachel Carroll . This exhibition allowed me to reconnected with many artists that I have not seen for a few years and it was great to see how they have all grown and developed.

I have worked on some fantastic commissions in 2011 and seem to have had a run of pieces that were commisioned as wedding gifts.

It is a real honor to be trusted with the task of creating a special personalised gift for a newly married couple. I love this kind of work and i always try to work closely with the clients and create the perfect gift for the couple.

Koru - new growth was commissioned for a young couple and the client wanted to include aspects of the grooms New Zealand background. We settled on the symbol of the 'double koru' which is a Maori symbol for change in life and the bringing together of two people. The design was filled in with my signature filigree designs. I really enjoyed working on this piece and was delighted to hear back from the client to tell me that the couple loved the piece.

Another wedding commission from the year used the calligraphy signature from the couples wedding invitation with a bit of additional filigree flair. This linked in with the couples existing wedding motifs while still creating a new, unique artwork for the couple.

2012 is looking to be an exciting year with many artistic possibilities. I am looking forward to having more time to spend on art and creating while getting in touch with Newcastle's extensive art community. Right now I am finding daily walks on the beach relaxing and inspiring. A few exhibitions are in the works for the year so watch this space for new work and shows.

The day the beach turned blue

Just last week I visited the beach on a whim and as I wandered up and down the shore I was amazed at the number of blue bottles that had washed up creating a huge bed of blue bubbles. It was like nautical popping paper there were just so many.

Normally I steer very clear of anything that resembles blue bottles at the beach (the result of a nasty childhood sting) but I was so fascinated by this phenomenon that I couldn't stay away. While there were thousands of bluebottles ranging from tiny shriveled blue airbags to clusters of tentacle dragging monstrosities there was also an array of other blue critters washed up on the beach that I had never seen before. There were small hairy blue disks that shared the same brilliant blue as the bluebottle (but without the scary stingers) and small spiral shelled creatures that spat out a vivid indigo coloured liquid when you poked them (and i poked many to see this exact response again and again ... probably a bit cruel now that i think about it).

While there were many blue creatures on the beach that day I was amazed to find that any subsequent seaweed that was washed up with these animals was also dyed a bluish tinge. It was as if the animals had passed some of their vibrant colour onto any other sea debris that came into their path as they took the trip from ocean to shore. Seaweed that I know to naturally be a dull muddy green was a dark vivid turquoise and strands of sea grass was spotted and streaked with blue patches.

I know that Tyrian Dye (a rich royal purple dye) was derived from sea snails and used to naturally dye cloth in ancient times. So the creatures of the sea have long been a source of that rare and rich blue/indigo dye colour that is so difficult to achieve in natural dying. Perhaps I have stumbled across some rare sea dying bath on Sydney's northern beaches. I have never seem this occurrence before and I don't know if I will see it again but I was very glad to have wandered along the beach that day and seen the beach turn blue.

The Red Coral Series

My most recent series of work has been inspired by Red Coral. These pieces are the largest I have produced to date and although they have been very time consuming and challenging I am very pleased with the final results. These works were well received at the recent exhibition Reflection at Depot II gallery in the Danks street complex Waterloo. Thank you to everyone who visited and supported this wonderful exhibition.

Red Coral Fan, 2010, embroidery thread on paper, box framed, shadow mounted, 78cm x 98cm (SOLD)

Red Coral Branch, 2010, embroidery thread on paper, box framed, shadow mounted, 96cm x 111cm (SOLD)

Coral is among the most ancient gem materials used for adornment, evidence of its use dates back to prehistoric times. Red coral (or corallium) has been harvested, mostly in the Mediterranean seas, for use in high-end artwork and jewellery for the last 800 years. Recently the sustainability of red coral harvesting has been questioned as the accessibility of new coral is declining as underwater supplies are exhausted. Coral reefs are one of the most endangered ecosystems worldwide. Bacteria, pollution, net fishing and the increasing temperature of the oceans are causing growing concern for the reefs.

The red coral series consists of a range of coral forms, created using a delicate freeform embroidery technique. The conscious use of the colour red reflects upon the practice of harvesting the coveted red coral and also borrows from the many psychological associations with the colour - danger, passion and blood. The pieces are presented like delicate organic specimens, carefully pinned to the wall, available for close inspection and study.

The red coral series explores the beauty and fragility of coral reef systems. The work reflects upon the use of coral as an adornment for our homes or ourselves. The decorative pieces we treasure as a keepsake of a holiday or a beautiful specimen on the wall is in reality a lifeless skeleton of a once thriving organism. The tradition of collecting fragments of the natural world for display in our homes is common but we rarely stop to reflect on the ethics of the practice.

Eggshell art

I stumbled across these amazing drilled eggshells and i had to share them. Created by Slovenian artist Franc Grom using a tiny electric drill he painstakingly drills these amazing intricate designs into blown eggshells. There is an average of 2,500 - 3,500 holes in each shell.

Book Sculptures

Recently I have become fascinated with book sculptures and artist books. Here are a few worth a look.

Gallery opening reflections and pending travel

last week our recent art tree exhibition opened at Complete Framing Gallery in North Manly. The opening was a great success, as they always are. It was packed full of people, great company, old friends and good food. What more can you ask for? Well I suppose a sale would be nice, but plenty of time for that. It was great to catch up with people and see their new work. So many people have gone in new exciting directions and produced great work. Feels great to touch base with the art world a little bit again. I have felt very stale lately and need a good kick to get me going again. Seeing everyones new work was just the push i needed to get myself thinking about my next body of work.

The two pieces that I have included in the show area actually works that I created while back at uni at COFA ... but i have only had them framed in the last year. These pieces started their life as an instillation artwork where I had many small oval disks mounted directly onto the wall. After their first showing at my Uni Grad show in 2005 they have been sitting in a box under my bed slowly being forgotten. I rediscovered them when i was showing a friend a dyeing technique and I remembered that that I had used the technique in that series of works. I pulled them out from under the bed and they loved them. Straight away they suggested that; 'these are great, you should have them framed'. So, always being one to take good advice I put them into series of 5 and had them framed. I must say i was quite happy with the result, I wish I had of thought if it sooner ... i wonder what other art treasures are collecting dust under my bed?

On another note, next friday i am off on an overseas adventure to South America. This long awaited trip will take me to Ecuador, The Galapagos Islands and Peru. Can't wait! Looking forward to some serious trekking, diving and doing lots of other stuff along the way. Hopefully this trip will help to get my art making hat back on and inspire lots of new work! Nothing like seeing a different culture and breathtaking scenery to get the creative juices flowing.

All about me

Well here i go, writing my first post in my new blog. Look at me go!!

I have created this space mostly as a way to have regular updates on my life and workings as a visual artist and also to keep a document the more significant happenings in my humble life.

As for who i am and what i do... i am a secondary school teacher by trade teaching; Visual Art, Photography and Textiles and Design at a creative arts high school in Sydney. I am only relatively new to the teaching game (a few years in) and i am still ironing out the wrinkles in my working life but on a whole i love what i do and i relish the challenges and joyous experiences my work presents me with.

I also practice as an artist and try to exhibit my work whenever the opportunity presents itself, and lucky for me that has been pretty regularly lately. My artwork is mostly textiles based but i dabble in painting and drawing when i can. I have been lucky enough to work with a very inspirational artist group called 'the art tree' these last few years and they have given me the confidence and opportunities to exhibit and sell my work alongside a great range of other established and aspiring artists. Our latest exhibition Together opens June 17th at Studio 4 (see art tree website for more info www.thearttree.com.au).