Sneak Peak

As I have mentioned previously, I have been working on a series of six femme portrait drawings on linen. This is the first to be completely finished, others are a work in progress. As you can see the work is moodier than usual, and the girl less beautiful, but for me the greatest change is that with these works I've loosened up, a lot! The background is marked from mopping up pigment from the previous work, stained with ink and highlighted with various shades of soft pastel. The figures have been stitched with a single thread (well two if you count the bobbin thread). The tension was terrible to start off with, and I found I liked the underside far more than the side i was stitching onto, so if you click on the image for closer inspection you will see loose loops of thread. I have also included a fair bit of beading, which I particuarly like, as well as buttons, and minature flower buttons in provocative places. The others are quite different to this one, but as a series they link together well; femme, colourful, gritty, textured, hand drawn, sewn, playful xx.

Drawings on Linen

The past few days my mind has been in a peculiar and emotionally draining place. I feel like I'm on the cusp of a whole change in direction, artistically and spiritually. I've been listening to new music, playing with new materials, going new places, thinking new thoughts and talking to new people. I can't quite put it into words, but I am being challenged, the boundaries are being pushed, and I'm craving something more than what I have come to accept thus far.

In light of this, the series of six female figurative portraits I am doing for uni and hopefully to exhibit at Kickarts all are far more experimental and hopefully thought provoking than previous works of mine. All the works are on cream or cobalt blue linen, primed with gesso and drawn with charcoal, water-soluable pencil, watercolour, ink or whatever else is handy. They will be embellished with various textiles. All you can hope for as an artist is to, challenge the viewer and represent what it feels like to be human in some way. Inspired by the emotiveness of Egon Schiele and Gustauv Klimt, I hope these upcoming works may be a bit more captivating, in a way I was never able to in the past.

Image by Egon Schiele

Semi-Permanent Submission

As you already know I have applied for a place in the Semi-Permanent book of 2009, and created two new artworks to submit for judging.  They represent the direction I am planning to go with my artworks, that is with a strong textile base of seductive portraiture.  Cross your fingers and toes for me xx.

- Grandma's Birthday Blanket

- Heartbeats

Just my imagination

So I have been working non stop on the artwork you see above, it is my submission for the open Cairns Regional Gallery exhibition, which I shall submit tomorrow.  I'm not really sure where it came from, I haven't really done anything like it before, but in hindsight it makes a lot of sense, it is a way for me to mix my love of crochet with portraiture painting/drawing.  The concept was inspired by the 'drunken monkey' as Buddhists use as a metaphor for the mind.  Hundreds of thoughts enter my mind within a minute I feel sometimes, and it probably isn't that good for me.  Having said that, as I often think about, often the thought of something is the most exciting part, anticipating a great event.  This is where this girl is at, it is her aura if you like.  Wish me luck in getting this piece picked xx. 

New artwork

I'm not sure I'm happy with this one, but alas it has been along time since I have shared what is going on behind the curtains artistically.  This is a sneak peak of what is to come xx.