BVA316 Studio Practice 16/10/19

BVA316 Studio Practice 16/10/19

Intuitive creative play  and some anecdotal thoughts that lead me on the journey towards my degree. 

 Penny's  Pony Ride - starting with a wooden jewelry mannequin I added a small porcelain dolls head and its arms and legs - the arms became the merry go round - and I tried a few different hair pieces - just for fun.
I was exploring found materials for a carousel - I ended up making a bigger piece with a cake turner and created a more recognizable merry go round for exhibition two.    Penny's  Pony Ride was discarded as it didn't fit with the overall project theme but serves as a creative play example.

preparing work for exhibition two.

The Carousel Trap - exhibition two 

In creating artwork I think about how I create art, often with little or limited planning I work with materials and see what might work or an idea springs to mind what to try out.  Of course things don't always go as planned or envisaged and can change tack like a racing yacht.  Once I became aware of the way I work and how it falls into a category of 'creative play' my methods and results make more sense.  I wondered if being left handed actually had anything to do with the way I create or that being the youngest in my family of brother and two older sisters and the age gap meant I played a lot by myself. 

I come from a creative family, both parents could paint, Dad was a real outsider artist having no formal training.  His surrealist pictures were always interesting.  Mum took painting lessons in her 50's and she produced some nice landscapes as well as learning woodcarving.  She was a textile genius being able to sew, knit, spin yard and make lace.  My parents came from an era when nothing was thrown away.    My sisters are both creative, eldest sister works magic with floral arranging and has a massive garden, she is also a collector of all sorts of interesting things, her home is a bit like a museum visit.  My brother has a collection of family memorabilia and is a man of the land.  My middle sister is closest to me creatively and spiritually.  |She gained her degree in visual arts and design in 2010 through Otago Polytechnic and Eastern Institute of Technologies Idea School.  She is a qualified landscape designer and works as a florist and plant specialist at Nichols in Cromwell.  Not bad for a bunch of rural catholic kids from Central Hawkes Bay - we grew up under the beautiful Ruahine ranges which were an inspiration for early photo experiments, I have had a camera since age 10 and have an amateur interest in photography.

I could always draw pictures although primary school didn't really bring out the best in me creatively, I found it difficult to conform - I remember one time we had an art  exchange with students at a primary school in Mykonos , Greece.  Out teacher had a sister who taught as a school teacher  there - we had to make a picture of what we thought their houses looked like based on a geography book - the other students diligently drew and painted pictures but I insisted on a collage style where my house had an opening door and windows!  What a rebel, but I can tell you the picture was sent with the others and I was very proud so see a photograph of my picture held up by a student in Greece.  I think in the late 60's and early 70's we were given a lot of free reign to try different things out within the primary school curriculum.  High school years was at a private girls boarding school that only offered sewing and music as creative options, but although I couldn't take art classes I made some pocket money by drawing and selling illustrations to students or a gifts, themes of pop stars and cats and dogs were popular.  I made a design for my oldest sister's wedding invitation.   I had a phase of making kit set models or knitting, tapestry etc to break the boredom of boarding school evenings. I took piano lessons until year 9, I was too undisciplined to carry on and wanted to focus on my academic work.

As a young mother I would spend time making and playing with my son, we spent a lot of time together and it was just before home computers were available so you made things and read stories or made them up.  Music was important, more so than television.  Fairy tales and adventures were wound into everyday life.  My involvement with pedigree dog showing also influenced my style of art and creativity.  The dogs made great subjects and I started really photographing, painting and drawing them in the late 1980's.  Meeting my husband in 1990 sent life into an amazing new direction, had never thought I'd marry but Dave changed my mind on that idea.....

Dave is a creative spirit and we share the love of camping, boating, fishing, cafe frequenting and he can build and interior decorate.  He's been known to draw and paint  too so I think creative minds work well together.  When Dave's work took us from place to place with five moves since 2004 I ended up without work and he encouraged me to try a course at EIT 's Idea School in Napier - I completed the 12 week Introduction to Art and Design and I was so pleased I did.  It was there that my creative play and intuitive style really emerged and I really connected to the 3D form in ceramics and design.    When we shifted to Invercargill in 2016 I took the opportunity to start my degree.

I have had a theme of creative play style anthropomorphic characters emerging and developing to create a body of work over the past three years.  Rabbits and dogs are central figures - my hunting past and pedigree dogs influenced this as well as exploring family and fairy tales.  When creating on a spiritual level it is like I am channeling someone else at times, I often work late a night especially when Dave is away travelling with his work.  One of the magical things that happens when creating this way is adding eyes and expressions, they really do take on a life of their own.

Rabbit before painting - learning to work with new materials such as air clay and Sculpey - my favorite as I don't have easy access to a kiln so this was the next best thing

the headpiece for a central figure in year one - the pointer represented the English side of family I descended from

bodies were all old jewelry mannequins which made perfect bodies to create heads and dress to.

exploring some character heads


some characters didn't make it - this one from 2019 covered a barbie doll body - the coating didn't adhere well and it ended up in the bin.

This character changed - using a barbie doll body I added a head and fur - ended up changed into another character - all part of the creative play process.


Two characters have emerged that are firm favorites and stars of my installations
The story of Tango Mango and the Poogies began with the idea of Victor Barco and the Poogie Hunters which featured in the first two exhibitions.    Every good story needs the VVH - Villain, Victim and Hero - the back story gives my work context and is fluid.  So It really doesn't have a beginning, middle and end as in a traditional narrative.

In my studio - installation pieces being prepared for the final exhibition.  Tango (who has an odd resemblance to Loudermilk) is the fantastic monumental centerpiece and the highlight of creative, intuitive play.  The mannequin was abandoned and in a poor state, so it was stripped down back to the fiberglass body - after looking at it for a few weeks I decided that holes might be cut out and it could form an unusual diorama setting.   I love dioramas - Joseph Cornell is my historical hero.  

Once I had dealt with the inside spaces and given a basic lining I set about making a costume - honestly it was so much fun, I had a stash of fabrics and embellishments given to me and some of my own collection - the head was another challenge - I used chicken wire as an armature and started with tape and paper mache, then switched to  plaster cloth after using it at the Activity Centre.  The eyes were added and built around - all from imagination, and memories of Irish Terriers I used to own.  Their wiry faces are comical and some had ears that would never sit still.  There is a sense of nostalgia when working this way.  Acrylic and metallic paint , fur fabric for eyebrows and beard and sealed with a gloss finish.  The dioramas have perspex covers if needed for display - this creation is totally portable.

The altered suitcase to hold Pickles Poogie and his playhouse - a metaphor for my creative play and nostalgia.  It is completely close able and lockable for easy transportation to various sites.  

View of  my studio,  waiting to be packed up for the final exhibition.

So that is a blog about my creative practice and how I approach my work, it might take a psychiatrist a bit to explain me but I consider myself a unique  artist, not breaking new ground but approaching it in my own way.  I have stories to tell and this is a way to share them.