Isn't it wonderful when the art drought finally ends? I've been having a great time working on my pieces for Kim's book. I am the 4th person to work in Kim's book. Kim, started it off with touchhing and thought provoking ANZAC themed piece, Alicia was next with a spread on the misfortune of those who found themselves underground in the Portland tunnels. Lisa J was the 3rd person and she created a stunning piece about immigrants coming to Baltimore seeking a better life but instead finding drought and hardship. So far we've each completed a piece about a historical event that took place in our own areas so my piece is about the Battle of Gate Pa. This is one of the most signifcant land battles to have taken place on NZ soil and Gate Pa is about 4 km from where I live. Here's what I've done so far....
The Queen's movement vs. The Kings movement. Maori intelligance vs British artillery. This is the Battle of Gate Pa.
My spread is not yet attached to Kims book but the work so far is largely secured to the backing cloth. As you can see I am working on the Maori part of my book and this will be followed by the British story and lastly by the story of Archdeacon Brown and his wife who befriended both sides.
The blue face is a Maori design from a silk scarf. It's non-traditional in colour but I loved the fabric so much I had to use it. The blue face has been stitched around in black thread. I didn't intend on doing so much stitchwork when I first decided on the silk but I took it with me to the hospital and had plenty of time on my hands! I am quite pleased with the results as I was trying to reflect the tribal war and wanted rustic looking detais for the page. The face piece doubles as a book cover which you can see open above.
I was incredibly pleased to find the leather offcut with wonky eyelets in the scraps basket at a second hand shop. It was meant to be here! It was a pale (ugly) grey so a bit of black shoe nugget was dispatched to give it an older mottled look.
The Maori design at the bottom was black and white originally so I gave it the coffee treatment to stop it from being so bright. I was at the 2nd hand shop looking for appropriate Brittish piece when I came across a tatty tourist tea towel. Perfect! I really wanted to incorporate traditional Maori art on my page but it is perfect in design, symmetrical and lovely even lines. Not my strength at all. Thank goodness for tatty tea towels!
The photo to the left shows the fabric flaps lifted up to reveal the area where I envision the factual information will go. As you can see from the pic I've already made a start on the inside of the book cover.
It wouldn't be my blog post without the close up photos...
Thank you again for all the well wishes recieved.I've just started visiting a few blogs again and hope to visit more tonight and tomorrow. I miss seening what everyone's been up too! My son is still unwell but well enough to be home. I'm learning to balance my time better and channel some of my energy into my artwork. It's certainly proven to be a sanity saver for me this past week...and surprisingly productive too!
