Ink and colour

A trip to the art gallery to spend the day lino cutting and printing proved a rewarding way to spend a day.

 

A blank page stared back at us at our work benches and thankfully some warm-up exercises viewing and sketching artworks in the gallery for inspiration, freed up the creative juices. We made the first cut and printed the base colour. But pulling my first print was rather disappointing. I figured though that there is always a plan B and incidental results of creative efforts often bring new delights.

 

moana & bird

My inspiration was Stephen Bambury's Red/Black/White - a square that inspired me. Being a lover of all things font, I decided to create a koru/lower case letter 'a' with the four colours. But this proved abysmally unsuccessful and so I started picking away at the lino surrounds. By the time I layered the second colour,  it seemed a bird head emerged out of the chiselled shapes. Totally unplanned but a 'relief' there was some design emerging. Entitled moana & bird (moana = ocean). Can you spot the vestige of an 'a'?

 

Drying creations and a room filled with happy printers.

Mati Rose class, signed and sealed

So excited as I have just registered for  Mati Rose McDonough's daring adventures in paint and life online course. I mentioned Mati Rose's book in an earlier post after coming across it at my local library.

So looking forward to doing her course after Christmas. I was blown away to see her offer a course online and for such a reasonable price. Her paintings are whimsical and fun and her use of colour fresh and light.

Will need to sharpen my pencils and clean my brushes...

 

Rustic collage

Preparing for the Craft Harvest market on Saturday the creative process kicked in and inspired me to upcycle some more rimu from a friend's old staircase. Bits of paper that I would normally throw away also suddenly came in handy  as materials for collages. The creative process is a slippery thing. It strikes when you least expect it. Some lino printed fantails that didn't work for one project seem to have found a use as well.

Built beauty

It was so pleasing to see our local Auckland Art Gallery | Toi o Tāmaki receiving international acclaim at the World Architecture Festival and being awarded Building of the Year.

This free public space is open 364 days of the year and is a bubble of refuge from urban routines. Many an hour is spent wandering around through its spaces soaking up inspiration.

Below, a part of Choi Jeong Hwa's Red
Plastic flowers, wire, dead tree
Commissioned 2011, supported by Molly Morpeth Canaday Trust

Photo by Nigel Adams 2011

 

 

 

All around

Walking to a meeting in the city I encountered this rather relaxed café nestled in a beautiful old villa, amidst the bustle of the traffic.. Sadly I had to hurry passed, but hope to stop by one day.

Then further down the block a building with a rather plain street façade, had this interesting grill along the side which just lifted it into another zone of architectural interest.

And finally, on my weekend shopping travels, I came across this lovely window leading up to a store with charming cloud like lights floating in the stairwell.

 

This little piggy went to market ...

Preparing for my next craft market, I thought I would try some crocheting. This craft seems to really  be making a revival! I still have and use a crocheted blanket I made from a bag of wool my mother had stored and that I found years and years and years ago. The blanket graces the bottom of my bed and is my cat's favourite spot to snooze in the morning sun.

My crochet hook has been in storage for quite some time! After digging around in boxes under the house to find it, its since been quite fun rediscovering a craft I thought was long gone.

A modern digital influence - kisses and hugs to grace a cushion cover...

'clasps' of crocheted wool for my electronic device storage sleeves.

 

Little ooglies - reborn

There seems to be a spate of weird and wonderful soft toys 'materialising' in craft books and on market tables around the place. The book "Made & sold" has some fun examples.

I played around with trying to make some odd looking softies from upcycled t-shirt and sheet material. Do my 'little ooglies' need arms?

 

Long live libraries

It feels like Christmas when I get back from the library with my haul of books for the week. We are so lucky in Auckland to have such an amazing availability of public libraries. There is nothing better than having to decide which book to plunge into next - oh the choice, the choice! Of course the greatest challenge is finding the time.

My latest inspiration is a young artist based in San Francisco called Mati Rose McDonough  who encourages her readers to "show the world your magic". Her book  "Daring adventures in paint" is a fresh and bright take on paint techniques for backgrounds on board. She mixes her media resulting in collages with colour contrasts that make her simplicity of design pop.

Her whimsy rubbed off on me and so I tried some of her suggestions.

Summer sublime

Crafting takes a break when the garden whispers and beckons.

adi & bert goes to market

Dipping my toe into retail before Christmas. Tough times out there for crafters, but it was a fun day.