Time Out at Moreton Island

Last week I had the privilege of spending 5 days camping on Moreton Island with my partner Craig.  Getting away from everything (internet, phone, housework, day job etc) really recharges my batteries and gives me time out from thinking 'logical' and 'practical', enabling me to daydream a little and focus on the natural world around me.  This focus gives me the starting point for more conceptual-type thinking which doesn't come easily to me when I'm surrounded by day-to-day issues at home. 

Whilst at Moreton, I spent my time planning a small series of artist books based on my experiences there.  In particular I delved into the world of 'Haiku', an Asian form of poetry.  Haiku is loosely based on a 3 line poem of 17 syllables.  More importantly, writing and reading Haiku is like a spiritual journey - traditionally it refers to a season or some aspect of the natural world.  This journey is one of mindfulness and becoming aware of the smallest detail.  In my Haiku, I have explored the banksia flowers and the honeyeaters feeding on them; the feeling of my toes in wet sand; as well as the effect of bushfire and oil spills on the landscape.

This is my first experience of Haiku and I loved it.   Once the flow of writing Haiku started, I couldn't stop it - thinking about the poems as I swam and snorkelled (unfortunately there was no way of writing it down at the time!)

Here are a couple of samples of my first attempts (work in progress!), enjoy....

Banksia cones open
Black branches point to the sky
Beginning and end

Honeyeaters perch
On golden banksia cones, open
And rich with nectar

Sand Bubbler's burrow
Neat balls of sand surround it
Radiating out

Papermaking with a Bali Artist

Last weekend I had the privilege of working with Naruse, a Bali paper artist who is visiting as a part of the Papermakers of Queensland Berbagi exhibition.

We spent a very hot day at Noosa working with botanical fibres to create some interesting works, using the pour technique.

Naruse demonstrating a laminating technique

Embedding objects in a paper sheet at the forming stage, in this case raffia

I'm forming a sheet using the pour technique.
It was nice to play with water on such a hot day!

Conservation of the Species - my solo exhibition

For those of you who haven't been on my website for a while, I'm having a solo exhibition in May at the Richard Randall Art Studio at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens in Brisbane.  So exciting!

I've got my invitations done, see below.   I'm having drinks to celebrate, so please join me on Saturday 19 May at the Studio for a chat and view my work.  I've started planning a visual feast of prints, artists books, handmade paper sculpture and fibre sculpture.

I'm also publishing a book "The Magic of Monoprinting", a professionally printed 80 page book giving insights into my art practice and well as lots of beautiful photos of my colourful monotypes. The book will be available from early April and can be pre-ordered. The price will be approx. $30 (to be confirmed).

Today I have finalised my workshop program. Details are on my website.  I'm limiting numbers to 6 for each workshop so each person will get plenty of time to access all my resources, including my press "Thumper".  I am running the workshops between 10am and 2pm, so you can avoid peak hour traffic and will also cater for those with school-age children (or grandchildren!).

I'm having a 4 hour monoprinting workshop on the Monday 21 May.  This is a little longer than my usual 3 hour workshop, just to give you a bit more time to get into the printing and developing layers.

I'm also having an exciting 2 day workshop on 'Nature Journals'.  Over 2 days, we'll be inspired by the botanic gardens around the studio and you'll make an art journal with a nature theme using a recycled book and decorative papers.   On the first day we make our covers and pages - printmaking, papermaking, painting, drawing, stamping, collage and cutouts.  On the second day we assemble the pages and sew it all together.  It'll be heaps of fun playing with gorgeous papers, making your own textures and stamps from lino and other found materials. 

Check out my website for more information on the workshops and contact me to book in.   

Only 105 sleeps to go!

A mysterious business...

I recently worked in the studio on a series of monotypes for a group exhibition 'Southern Circles' with Tasmanian Printmakers, Hunter Island Press. 

My monotypes are titled 'A mysterious business' and are based on the migration patterns of the Tasmanian Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis).  This silvereye is a small bird that migrates every year north from Tasmania to the mainland of Australia, up the east coast as far north as Queensland.

There has been much scientific research into how and why this migration takes place, in particular as to whether their behaviour relies on magnetic fields or polarised light.

I pay homage to the amazing migratory abilities of this little bird, being only 13cm long but travelling over 1600 kilometres each year, creating a remarkable connection between Tasmania and Queensland.

The 2 images below are the monotypes that will be travelling to Tasmania in February for the opening at Church Studio, Franklin.

a mysterious business I
monotype

 a mysterious business II
monotype with solar plate etching

Papermaking On the Deck

Last weekend I spent 2 days making paper using botantical pulp.  I mixed cooked corn plant material harvested from my garden with recycled printmaking paper offcuts and added a dash of marigold flowers, dried lavender and geranium petals.  I also tossed in some banana and broccoli plant pulp from a previous cooking session.

I finally got to test out my new couching stand and hydraulic jack press, made by my father-in-law Alan.  They worked beautifully. 

I also took some advice from fellow papermakers and resist dried my paper at night, this prevented the paper from curling too much because it dried slower in the cooler weather conditions.  As a final step, I ironed the papers to remove any remaining moisture and to flatten them.  Having some recycled paper mixed in with the botanical pulp also helped to reduce shrinkage and curling.

I'm very happy with the paper I produced and I had a great time working out on the deck with the ipod music up loud.  The repetitive nature of scooping the pulp and forming the sheets was heaven to my soul.

Now I just need to give the deck a good clean to bring it back from a working area to a beautiful deck again!

the vat, mould & deckle, and couching stand

my new hydraulic jack press,
great once i figured out how it worked
(sorry guys, most girls don't know how to use a jack...!)

the stack of finished papers !

Starting the year with a rush....

My 2012 has started with a commission! My first monoprinting commission..... and given that my printing sessions are somewhat unpredictable, I spent today in the studio determined to end the day with enough prints that may appeal to my buyer. 

The concept behind these works is the LaraPinta Trail, a long distance hiking trail in the Northern Territory.  I used imagery of the Australian Ringneck Parrot who frequents that area (and most of Western Australia).

I'm pretty happy with the results, 10 prints in all. The first few were overprinted on some scrub-turkey ghost prints so they look quite different to the remainder which I printed with 2 dominant colours representing the outback landscape.

Now I need to start work on my monoprints for the Southern Circles exhibition, a print exchange with Tasmanian printmakers.   I've got my ideas all worked out, I just need to start printing.  Keep an eye on my blog for the results!

The first print ....

Establishing my colours and images for the new series....

A successful print, with about 4 layers

Return of the scrub turkeys

This week in the studio.....

A turkey here.....



....a turkey there,



...turkeys in my garden everywhere!

Mixed Emotions

This week I visited Redland Art Gallery at Cleveland for a talk by Dr Kathy Townsend, a participating scientist for Judy Watson's artist-in-residency on Heron Island in 2009/2010.

Dr Townsend talked about the impact of human generated waste on sea turtles - plastic bags, balloons and other bits of plastic are eaten by turtles and it can kill them.  I really enjoyed her talk even though it was not about the art itself and I got a lot out of it.  Unfortunately I was left very uninspired by Judy Watson's art works - her layering process was interesting but I didn't feel that her artworks had much impact.  Judy was present at the talk but didn't introduce herself or speak - very disappointing and makes the artwork and the process of creating it seem cold and detached.  I would have liked to see some artistic passion! Perhaps I need to go back and have another look when I had more time.

A big surprise was the prints by Carolyn Dodds.  Her detailed linos were beautiful but I particularly loved her artist books and mixed media works - using frottage, photocopies and collage.  She also uses a lot of thin papers like Japanese rice papers which she hand prints using brayers and other tools.  A very inspiring body of work.

I recommend you visit this exhibition, its on until 29 January (the gallery is closed between Xmas and 8 January).  Together Judy's and Carolyn's works will inspire anyone who loves printmaking.

Below is a Utube video of Judy Watson's artist-in-residency at Heron Island. 

Coochie collected

My big news is that both of my monotype artist books that I created during my residency at Coochiemudlo Island in April 2010 have been acquired by State Library of Queensland for their artist book collection.

I created 2 books at Coochie, my 'Lost and Found' series, inspired by the diversity and fragility of the island's tidal mangrove environment.

So my books will outlive me and I can visit them at any time.  Truly wonderful!

NSW Southern Highlands

We recently returned from another motorhome holiday, this time to the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands in NSW.

This was a great opportunity for me to collect plant materials for my monoprinting.  Several years ago, whilst first visiting the Blue Mountains, I collected a few sprigs of a beautiful fern which I have since discovered is called 'Pouched Coral Fern'.  This fern looks great in my monoprints and I was keen to collect some more, as my original pieces had fallen apart from many runs through the press!

I collected pieces of the fern from a public park in Katoomba, storing the fern in a small phonebook and layers of newspapers.  This means the fern will be dry when I print with it.  Sometimes this storage technique doesn't work as the dry plant will fall apart in the first run of the press, but I've had success with the more robust ferns using this technique.

I'm looking forward to using them in my monoprinting, and sharing them with my future workshop participants.  Luckily I always leave enough room in my luggage to bring my goodies back!

Exploring (note the scarf & raincoat!)

King Fern

There's a forest down there somewhere...
I'm at one of the many lookouts in the Southern Highlands. 
There was zero visibility due to rain, mist and fog!

One of my monotypes featuring my favourite, 'Pouched Coral Fern'