Whakapapa: Get down upon your knees.

I hope you didn't think I'd gone AWOL again and given up on blogging! My intended bloggathon was rather short and I haven't created a thing in weeks. Strangely enough I don't feel frustrated by it like a usually do. I'm still in a good space and can feel myself moving towards a big creative spurt and when it comes I will devote myself to it! Life's been busy with kids, picking an education path for next year (one child is starting college, my sons starting intermediate and my youngest is in her last year of primary) and there's been some big decisions made. Throughout the process I was aware of the 'ripple effect' I kept mentioning in my last ICE series and the whole nest concept. I guess even though I wasn't creating I was still applying an art idea to life. BTW my next ICE series is not far away! I've been ticking over ideas for it so watch this space! 

Yesterday the kids and I went to an art workshop held at the Tauranga Art Gallery and hosted by the Dyslexia Families Support Group. We really enjoyed ourselves and you can see the artworks we created below.  The exhibition the workshop focused on was Reuben Paterson's Whakapapa: get down upon your knees.

My son's artwork. We all had to combine the same sort of mixed media elements to create our own work. The colour pencils we used were just awesome, soft and chalky with the colour strength of pastel. Lovely!

My 9 year old created this work, she has talent oozing from her ears and blew everyone away with her creation.

My eldest created this piece. She has cerebral palsy and creating this by herself was a real achievement. Go kiddos!

Yes, mine. Totally out of my usual zone but fun all the same!

The cover from the exhibition booklet and a pic from the inside. This page shows the true scale of the artworks created by Reuben Paterson and the man himself. Impressive!

Reuben's work is inspired by his own Whakapapa (family) and he used his fathers ties, Kuia's (grandmothers) party dresses, wall paper and hawaiian shirts as his inspiration. Two other elements that featured strongly in his work are the Koru (from his Maori heritage) and Paisely (from his Scottish history.) I really like they way he was able to draw so much from his own ancestral lines.  In addition to this he also uses international design history in his work and lashings of...glitter! The glitter thing threw me, I didn't get it, until I read more about his work. The glitter provides more than a textural base and pretty sparkle. The artist uses them to create the association of wealth. One example of this in design history are the interiors of churches, which sparkle with luxurious panels, paintings and ornate carvings. If you want to read more about Reuben Paterson's work you can see his website here.

Fragments, Vestiges and Remains- Kim's book

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!