A lot has happened over the past twelve months with my art - and everyone else's. As some of you know, I've had the most horrendous time with new neighbours and with all artists, it's our environment that can inspire us or make our muse take a hike for a long time. For me, I found I couldn't work due the hostility of my next door neighbour's wife. She didn't like me doing anything around my place; from reading to gardening, to do the laundry, I wasn't allowed to do it while she was around... pathetic and very childish.
Then, one of my art friends - Geoff - suggested I try out doing my self-portrait. I'm not very good at painting people, and so it had never crossed my mind. So, I grabbed a piece of Masonite, sanded it down and painted it orange and then tried my best to draw a picture of me. But it didn't work. So, I scrubbed it and painted over it green, put on some music and painted what my mind saw when I closed my eyes when the Red Hot Chili Peppers thumped through the speakers of my stereo. The initial white outline didn't look much, but I took it from there. Four months later, I had a finished work of art that I was happy with; and I cleaned off a new piece of Masonite, painted it up and started on a new painting that evening and haven't stopped since.
It's now December and I'm working on my sixth piece this year. I have about four original pieces and two others that I have fixed up from my archives that I rushed when I did them. I'm so proud of the paintings I've done and that I've achieved so much and come so far.
Also this year, I posed for Geoff as a model for a collection of work he was painting. There were four paintings he did and had hung in Barsoma's in Fortitude Valley. I had posed in March, when it was still warm and the paintings were shown in July for a week or so; along with a few others of his from his collection he had done.
A few months back, I went to an art opening at the Logan Art Gallery and chatted to Annette Turner (who used to be our Curator) and she asked how my work has been going. I told her what went on; and that I did my first self-portrait and she was impressed.
I have been knitting still; just not as fast as I usually do in Winter due to the warm nights. So, I have lots of nice knitting yarn still sitting around waiting to be used in a bag here at home. Also, I have learned about a few things about my outsider art that's a bit sad. My first tree that I attached my yarn bombing to in Kookaburra Park on Park road has been removed by the Logan City Council. They fixed up the gardens and the park there - giving it a facelift - and that tree was taken out in the process. So, there went the first tree. I'm not sure about my other tree projects as I haven't checked on them lately, but it's been a few years since I did any yarn bombing so I'd say they've seen a lot of the weather and are most probably gone by now.
More recently, I've taken up a very old hobby that I thought I'd never take back up again: sewing. Mum and Dad bought me a Elna 1000 Sewing Machine for my birthday in October and I was kinda disappointed. However, after looking at it for a week, I thought that the saying about having lemons you make lemonade rung true; and so I did. I had noticed that books I was receiving through the mail were either smelly or stained and wondered if this problem could be avoided. And so, my idea for my Book Baggies came about. I've been perfecting them and making sure they are lovely and bright and in just the right fabric for everyone to use. And I've been taking one everywhere with me to use as a prototype in a lovely eye-catching colour. And now, my PayPal account is up and running, I'm hoping it will be easier for people to contact me about them.
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| 'Lost Pages' - a painting about Writers Block. |
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| All four paintings I had done by mid-year. |
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| 'Chained to the Sink' - an artworks I did at a knitting worship in Sept. |
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| 'Melting Flowers: A Retrospective' - My most current work. |
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| 'Message In A Bottle: Part 1' - From my Archives |
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| My New Book Baggies. |
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| 'Flower Power' - From My Archives |
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