yesterday

yesterday i did three important things. 1. i glued the hanging key holes on the back of the large sargasso piece. i did not take any images because watching glue drying is boring.

2. i also did a test hang of the tractor piece in my studio.



it took 2 hours from start to finish and i learnt a lot of things that will help during the real install of the show. i think it looks pretty good.

this is the first time it has really been totally finished.

i think it hangs off the wall nicely, with just a small gap at the back.

3. the next thing i did was unpack all the badges from the photographers.

then i put magnets on the back of them.



and i worked on the installation of the badges for the exhibition.

i have been saving these cardboard squares for at least 5 years now. they are a packing material that i collected because it looks useful, (this is very unlike me)

but they have come in handy, for this display.

in the exhibition the installation will be in a horizontal rectangle, but the space i had available in my studio was a vertical space. there will be a bit more space around each cardboard square in the real installation. i like that the squares reference a product display but are a bit rough.

and this is me exhausted at the end of the day, but i was able to cross three things off my list.

finally, some progress on the badges.

finally i found the motivation to finish off the badges for the exhibition. i started these way back in october last year. and since then they have been sitting around staring at me, waiting patiently for me to do something with them.

i have been doing the drawings for the badges slowly over many weeks, and then i was busy finishing off the 2 other large tile pieces for the exhibition. then last week, somehow the torture of not making out weighed the torture of making. sometimes that is what i need before i can actually get on with making.



this was my kitchen table, badges ready, stencils ready.

i spent an hour or so sandblasting these, and while i was doing that i had a brilliant idea about how i might display these in the exhibition.

i have been saving a box full of these cardboard squares for about 5 years now, thinking they will come in handy for something one day. that day is here! each badge has a magnet backing that holds the badge to the cardboard. the cardboard is then pinned to the wall with a finishing nail. there is a simple rough beauty to the badges and the cardboard, so i think they are a perfect match.

i go to the photographers next week to get the large 130 tile piece photographed as well as the finished badges, i will post those professional shots once i have them.

cardboard gallery and real gallery layouts

my to scale cardboard version of the gallery i have my exhibition in next year has really been helpful in letting me plan and visualise the space and decide how much and what works to make.

the other day i spent some time doing these layouts for the gallery manager, the image on the left is the actual gallery wall (artworks on the wall are not mine but what was in the space at the time i visited) and the image on the right is the to scale plan of what i will make.


wall 1 will have 2 glass panel wall pieces, one will be made up of 36 tiles with repeated imagery stenciled onto them , and then a larger image stenciled over top of that. the second piece will be a collection of small glass 'drawings' in black and white, like paper of old tools and farm equipment. i have started making the 36 tile piece, i have not started the black and white piece yet.

wall 2 will have a long shelf on it set a bit lower, at table height and it will have a collection of bowls, and cups on it as well as plates hanging on the wall. these items will be made of twisted canes, colour overlays and have drawings stenciled or enamelled onto them. i haven't started any of this work yet.

wall 3 will have the piece that i think is the main piece in the exhibition. it is an image of my grandparents harvesting celery that will be etched into 130 glass tiles. i have started making this piece but have a lot of work to do. i wanted this one on the end wall so you can see it from a far distance away and then walk up close to get the detail.

wall 4 will have 200 of my glass badges installed onto a metal backing plate by using the magnetic brooch backing. they will be arranged in a garden row like pattern - 20 rows of 10. i have these made and almost complete, i hope to be done them very very soon.

wall 5 will have an installation of rear view and side view car and truck mirrors. each mirror will have some imagery etched into the glass, i am not sure what format they will be arranged in that will depend on the mirrors i can find. i have not started this one yet either, i think it might be the last one i do.

so there you have it my exhibition is planned and made out of cardboard and paper. now to get on with the real thing.