Horatio Crow

I am still working on my funny long-legged crow! I spent a lovely day yesterday working in a friend's studio, with two other artists. I LOVE the sense of creative energy that happens when artists get together! The more I work on this sculpture, the more of a character he becomes! I now think he might end up as a bit of a Victorian gentleman, with top hat and cane.

I have a long way to go... but am really enjoying the process.

I love crows! I love how they are smart, social and stand out in the landscape! They are like moving silohuettes... So I decided to use this image as inspiration for a sculpture. Of course, my crow has to be Different! I imagine him with very long legs, stripy stockings, boots and a waistcoat :) I have been working on him a little bit every day... here is my progress so far..

Being an artist is all about faith, I think. Faith that the project will turn out as you imagined it. You have to have a clear vision in your mind's eye.. and work toward it, solving problems as you go.

A Visit to the Art Gallery

Recently I visited the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia to see the Triennial Asia Pacific Art Exhibition. I usually find something that fascinates me and this time I was not disappointed! I walked into a room dominated by a large, intricately detailed and sparkling mural. I stood at gaze for a long time! It was very beautiful and at first I didn't even notice that it illustrated hunting scenes.

Everyone who knows me knows that I love shiny, sparkly things and years ago I thought I was so innovative by including beads and crystals into my paintings! Well, there is nothing new under the sun! Raqib Shaw, the artist of the mural, had encrusted his work in coloured crystals! I loved it! He also seems to use 'gutta' to outline every detail. The effect is enthralling...

Here are some quotes about Raqib's work: "Raqib Shaw’'s gloriously opulent paintings suggest a fantastical world full of intricate detail, rich colour, and jewel-like surfaces, all masking the intense violent and sexual nature of its imagery....Shaw's unique technique, where pools of enamel and metallic industrial paints are manipulated to the desired effect with a porcupine quill, meticulously enhances numerous details within the paintings, such as coral, feathers or flowers. Every motif is outlined in embossed gold, a technique to similar to ‘cloisonné’ found in early Asian pottery..." (published by http://whitecube.com/artists/raqib_shaw/)

I feel deeply inspired by this artist and I think I would like to use more crystals in my own work in patterns and perhaps fairytales. Imagine Cinderella's coach in jewels!!

Long, long ago...

Long, long ago... in a land far from here, I told my parents that I wanted to become an artist! I've always been a maker, always drawn pictures, always thought I could make anything. So off to Queensland College of Art in Australia for three years, inventing myself as a commercial artist. After graduating college, into an economic climate of high unemployment, I struggled to find creative work. I was too young and undeveloped to strike out on my own then and I eventually ended up working in office administration. Then came child-rearing, home-schooling and family committments. Although these factors affected the time I had to develop as an artist, I managed to spend years experimenting with different media and learning to be computer literate in a changing world.

One year, a friend of mine began an Arts degree and during a conversation with her I discovered the notion of focusing on an idea and developing it with research and experimentation. The object being to create a cohesive 'body of work'... language that was strange to me coming from a background of design briefs!! I chose circular design ... and have never looked back for the last six years! I have been delighted with pattern and geometry ever since. I have branched out from mandalas to symmetry, tesselation and free floral designs. I have studied a great variety of subject matter from ancient celtic work to islamic patterns to ground-breaking work from artists like M. C. Escher.

My studies continue and I currently work full-time as an artist. I have at long last begun to 'live a creative life' and savour every moment. I have begun this blog as a record of where I have been, where I am and where I am going... I hope you will join me on this wonderous road!