Virtual Tart Graffiti Exhibition

I’ve long been fascinated by Graffiti. For me, good (real) graffiti is equal parts art, soul and rebellion. It speaks to the viewer.Unlike art kept under covers and behind frames with signs that say ‘please don’t touch’ it has a life cycle. It interacts with both man and nature.

My original graffiti pages. These were cut up to become the graffiti boards being exhibited on the Virtual Tart website this month.

Sometimes it’s face is changed by social intervention and the process of life and death are quick. On others mother nature adds her touches, changes colours, washes pieces away, continuous evolution causing the piece to change in relationship to time and climate. Like all good stories there is a start and an end.

 I invite you to be part of that.

A collage of images from my exhibition. Visit the Virtual Tart site to see each image in closer detail. All works are for sale. Email me for more information. To view another series of collages completed by me click here!

Graffiti Exhibition.

Remember these book covers? I mentioned a while ago that I was going to use them as collage boards.

This book covers and I have been on quite a journey. Having a project has been so good for helping me to over come my depression. I missed the deadline for the international signature exchange due to it and the fact that I had made graffiti collage signatures that now had no purpose became depressing too!

But I got over it! One day I picked up a craft knife and cut those signatures to pieces. There was no turning back after that!  I cut out interesting pieces of the collages and re-assembled them into new collages. Instead of graffiti pages they became graffiti boards instead. I thought the boards would be my contribution to the 2012 International Collage Exchange....but guess what?

"D" was still my companion and I missed the deadline for that too! I made 6 boards in one almost manic session and couldn't bring myself to make the other 7 I needed in time. I hit the deadline with only 8 done. Depressing!

All was not lost. Just recently I had an unexpected opportunity to do my first ever solo exhibition at short notice. Lucky for me I knew just what to submit! My exhibition will be on the virtual tart website through out May. Please drop by and check it out! I am pretty excited about my accidental opportunity.

Is it just me or do these boards look wonderful just like this?

One of the original signatures, sorry for the shoddy photo. If I still had the collage I would re-photograph it but it was cut up with all the others. I really recommend cutting up homeless works, it's so much better than having them collect dust and reminding you that you failed to meet a deadline...it's a bit like having the last word, there's something satisfying about that!

Map pieces for me represent the community. Recycled papers, walnut dye, thread, indian ink...

Below: One of my collages for the exhibition. It has the remnants of multiple collages with some addition details. This is a particular favorite of mine because it has the look and feel of weather collage. The image is not really of anything but I really like it.

It's titled "Side Street." All of the collages are named after places you typically find graffiti. 

The text says:

I looked for signs and wonders

I have desired fame, riches

In strange webs of fortune caught

Thirsting to be more than mortal

I was even less than clay

If you have an interest in graffiti or guerrilla type art watch this space. A new collaborative project is in the pipelines. It's a little bit DisCo, a little bit Erosion Bundle Project and a little bit like graffiti...

Portait of the artist. Exhibition day!

It feels like ages ago that I made my piece for Dale Copeland's exhbition (it wasn't!) and today is the launch day for the exhibiton. 75 artists took part from all over the globe and there are quite a few different interpretations of the theme. You can see them all here. or by going to the Virtual Tart link on my side bar.
My piece for the exhibition is below.

The mediums I choose are a reflection of me. The reflect what I care about, what I love and what I enjoy. The stitches and 'veins' of wire are symbolic of these things coming together in a bodily form.

I really enjoyed making this, especially the stitch work which was addictive! It amazes me what can be achieved with scrap fabric and the wire from a dismantled vaccum cleaner but these materials and colours put together are a 'bit of me.' It was a nightmare to photograph though!

I've been a terrible blog visitor/facebooker/tumbler/emailier these last few weeks. Busy, busy with end of year school things, Christmas preperations (the tree's up and lights are on!) the 4 birds and a tenancy inspection...I plan on redirecting atleast some of my attention to art and blog hopping soon! 

VD pages

It's been a while since I used my Visual Diary so the other day I reacquainted myself with old works and read the notes I'd written my self. Feeling inspired I spent some time doing prep work for the next ICE series. These are 3 pages from my visual diary, the collages are unrelated to the ICE collection I just mentioned. I  created them quite a while ago, at the time of my circle and dot experiment.s They've been floating about in a drawer for far too long and it's good to see them glued into my VD. I had intended for the bottom 2 collages to be part of my 4 weeks in Autumn series but they never got there because life 'getting in the way' instead!

Sometimes it is a struggle to evolve my work while keeping it true to me. I can't tear myself away from the nests, birds and ripped papers ( I love these ripped seeds!)

The map pieces are a new addition and I like the vertical lines in the top collage. I think I will explore the use of them a little further even though I naturally go for curves.

Speaking of the ICE series...Dale Copeland is currently in Bulgaria where she attened the opening ceremony for the exhibition of our collages in Bulgaria. She said that the collages are either framed in groups of 6 or bound together in books. How exciting!

Here's a copy and past of part of Dale's email to the group telling us where the collages are... "apparently they were excavating for an underpass and discovered an ancient street with huge paving stones. And the remains of a very luxurious house with mosaic tile floors, a fountain in the guestroom .... this is from Roman times, at the peak of luxury in their empire. What to do with this find? They built an art gallery around it! Your collages look superb there. And Bulgarians take art as seriously as they take history."

I can hardly believe one of my collages, created on my lounge floor is now in such a place!

Quite a few visitors have said they want to do the collage exchange next year and I really hope you do. Put some time aside and commit to this project because it really is worth it!

Last but not least, the fabulous Donna Watson of "Layers" has put together a wonderful post featuring collage artists, nests and poetry. Perfect! Donna even did me the honour of featuring one of my collages...thanks Donna! You can see the post here.

And the winner is.....

CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!!

PENNY from the blog "With My Boots and Sketchbook"  is the lucky winner of my ICE Celebration giveaway! I used the old fashioned lucky dip from a bucket method to draw the winner.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to comment on my collage series "chain reaction" and to all those who liked my art enough to want to enter the giveaway! MWAH!

In case you missed it last time here's what Penny has won.

 While on the subject of the International Collage Exchange here's a preview of the official postcard that Dale has put together. It serves as an invitation to the exhibition's opening as well as a momento of the exchange. Each participating artist will recieve atleast one in their package of fantastic collages.

Cheer's Dale!

Very soon I will be able to link it up to the online exhibition going live on April 1st.

Another exciting thing happening in blogland, although completely unrelated to ICE is Seth Apter's
 BOOK GUILD.
This is an event happening on his blog each Sunday now that 18 amazing Secret Sunday's have gone by and that project has finished. Thanks Seth!

Knowing the quality of Seth's posts (not to mention his art!) and can be fairly certain that this is something you don't want to miss so click on over to his blog and sign yourself up!

Oh, and don't forget to grab yourself this snazzy little thumbnail for your blog and enter his giveaway while your there!

Balancing Act ICE # 6

International Collage Exchange 2010

Collage series: Chain Reaction

Collage title: Balancing Act

Number 6 in my 'Chain Reaction' series is ' Balancing Act' and I've drawn from 2 places of importance to me. Nature is one (of course!) and the second being my theory of scoiety being a nest (which was the theme of my first collage exchange series.) School's have a lot more responsibilty apon there shoulders than to 'just' educate our children. They have a responsibility to provide a safe environment (nest) for the education to take place in, a place of hope, emotional wellbeing and joy. If our children are fortunate school is a great place and it's a time of good learning and personal developement but sadly, in the case of some schools there are many children (baby birds) that fall from the nest and are left with the inability to fly as far as they could have. It's a balancing act. In nature us humans often upset the natural balance of life, we take to much and give back too little. The scales are tipping and a chain reaction is set  in place. Each day we have a responsibility to make decisions that help to keep the balance right and when we do that nature takes care of the rest,which I think is the most important balancing act of all.

School book image, NZ King Fisher and NZ's smallest Wren, library issue slip, thread, recycled book text and scrap list paper.

Below are the other 5 in the series so far. There will be 13 when the series is complete and number 7 is currently under construction! I had the idea playing in my head, inspired by a comment Seth made on a previous post and then when my husband bought me home not one but two more nests I took it as a sign! I am so lucky to have these nests and I love each one of them... I will post photos of the two new additions when the collage is completed. If you want to join the exchange get your skates on and visit the virtual tart website for more info. Dale Copeland does a fantastic job of hosting and co-ordinating this exchange and I recently came across this interview which was filmed in her studio. Just awesome!

Portait of the artist....an Invitation from Dale Copeland

Portrait of the Artist
An exhibition on the Virtual Tart site, September 2010.
If you're interested in being part of this exhibition, please let me know at dale @ tart.co.nz (remove the spaces)

Theme: Portrait of the artist. Any medium, any size.
It's a virtual exhibition, on the Virtual Tart website. So you send only an image, not the actual work.Send a big enough image to be used in print as well as on the Net.
Entry fee will be $15. (cheque/check or PayPal is fine)I'm open to suggestions, but at present I think the best 'prize' system might be to have viewers vote, and the 25 images with most votes are put into a PERMANENT Portrait of the Artist exhibition on the Net.
In this world of fleeting fame and transitory images, is that a good idea?And we're looking at producing a booklet with images of those 25 artworks..Get an image of the artwork to me by the early August, 2010.
You can send the image by email or on a disk or as a posted photograph.
To: Dale Copeland
7266 Surf Highway
R D 37
Okato
New Zealand

International Collage Exchange 2009-2010

I've decided to start my collages for the 2010 International Collage Exchange (ICE 2010) early. I have even managed to surprise myself with that! They're due March 20 2010 so there's plenty of time for anyone reading this too sign up too. Just go to http://virtual.tart.co.nz to get all the details.I have started early is because the last 2 years I have sent them around March the 15 and only started them in Feb. There's not a lot of flexibility in a time frame like that! Another reason is because I have just finished 4 years of Art study I am suddenly finding myself without a specific goal or deadline to work towards. I don't want to stop creating so ICE is a perfect goal and excuse! I have created my first collage, which I will photograph tomorrow and I finally got around to photographing the fabulous collages I received this year (on my birthday no less!) and put them into a slide show. I hope you will enjoy it, I definitely love the collection! Dale Copeland, the hostess with the mostess, does a great job at ensuring each participant gets collages of a similar style and quality to what they send. That says a lot when she has the artwork of over 120 artists to sort and send as well as an exhibition to organise and an ICE postcard to get printed! Way to go Dale! Please check out her collages, assemblages and hand bound books here.