newst pieces

there are a few art competitions deadlines coming up, and this is a great motivator to get some artwork that has been in the works for a while.

this piece is made to fit on a backing board that i had a friend make for me. i have had it for a while but have finally decided to use it, and i am really liking it.

 

this is a collection of small squares that i have been working on that are part of a new series about exploring my local area.

 

and these are the photos from the photographers. i went to a new person to get my work shot. i like the results, a bit of drama in the lighting but i think it works. and i never would have thought about shooting black on black work, on a black background but it seems to work.

this is the final image of the favourite 4 smaller squares, again drama in the lighting and a black background.

 

i also got this piece re shot at the photographers, to see who it went with mirror, and again i like the result. although it does not look like mirror, it does give the same feel as how the piece looks at times when you live with it, as it changes all the time in the light and as you move around it.

so now is the waiting game to see if i am successful and shortlisted for any of the art prizes. and if not i have at least made some new work and some new discoveries in photography of the work.

also in the studio...

deb and i have been busy preparing for a concept presentation for a public artwork. this involves brainstorming ideas to fit the brief, writing a concept, getting quotes to make a budget, and working on a timeline for the project.

it also means making a model of the artwork and preparing for the concept presentation where we have to pitch our idea to the panel.

our idea is called 'the space between' and it is a concept for a public artwork that recognises practices of forced adoption. 

the idea being that we use black granite, and get a large 1.5 m x 2 m rock and get it split into 2 parts. these parts are set close to each other, highlighting the fact that they used to be one unit, like mother and child, or family and individual. there will also be a large soft round boulder that will be a seat for people to sit and and share their stories and support each other.

the artwork will be located near the river torrens in adelaide, and we have just found out that we were successful in our pitch. so that means that at the start of 2016 deb and i will be busy wandering around a quarry looking for the perfect stones for the job. we are very excited to be working on this project.

recenlty in the studio

i have been in the studio trying to make a few new pieces before the end of the year.

I have been using mirror and using the sandblaster to removes areas of the mirror from the back.

 

i like the affect but i am not sure if it is too hard to see. 

maybe the images need to be simpler?

these are professional shots in the studio. its almost necessary for this work to be able to see it properly.

i think i need to keep working on this idea, its not quite there yet.

but there is something....

this image above worked quite well. one mirror is the positive of the image and the other is a reflection and the negative of the image. i find it really interesting. this is hanging in my house now - trying to see if it is working. but i think i will investigate the reflection, positive negative again in my work.

i have also been working on a 3 panel black fire polished piece

here is the studio image of it.

and some detail images

i have entered this one into an art competition. i find out in the new year if i was successful.

around the studio

things seem to be moving slowly lately. lots of different things on the go, but progress seems to be happening slowly. here are a couple things i am working on.

deb and i had a brainstorming session making foam templates for a potential new product. a good start but more to do.

 

this is a mirror that i have sandblasted an image through some of the mirror. i like it but it is tricky to get a good view, not sure what to do next. a few ideas, but more time and resources are necessary.

this is a bronze compass that we had cast up for a commission

 

it was to be installed last week, but the site is not ready yet,

 

so it will sit in storage for a few weeks until the client is ready.

bike track public art commission

deb and i have been working on this commission for about 6 months now. we were approached by the council to come up with an artwork for along a bike path.

 

we decided to utilise the fence alongside the bike path and attach some custom made art signs to it.

 

we made some smaller panels with parts off a bike on them.

  

they are scattered along the bike path

and lead you up to the weather vane we made.

the weather vane is made up of a custom made metal cone that is counterbalanced by a set of bicycle forks and a bike wheel. it spins in the wind, and is set in a zig in the bike path.

the large panels create a segmented image of a bike or two. they are made using sign writers vinyl on the powder coated metal signs.

 

installation was pretty easy. we riveted these signs to the fence using brackets around the fence verticals.

we think the finished job looks pretty good.

 

overall its not a deep concept, just some bright safety colour and imagery of bikes along the bike path, with a spinning element.

 

i will post some professional images once we have them. might need to wait for spring sunshine.

concrete drawing update

the concrete drawings have been completed and ready and waiting for over a month now.

they are wrapped up in the warehouse awaiting the go ahead for the install.

 

this was supposed to be mid May but the project has been delayed - but it looks like we might begin the install next week.

 

in the meantime we have had some glass sheets laminated.

 

you can see the 3 layers of glass and the 2 layers of laminate in this cross-section.

 

although small these units are precious, costing almost $1000 each! just to make. then we carefully shaped each one to fit inside the bronze buckets. this laminated glass will become the "water" in the bronze buckets sitting on the "water" concrete drawings.

 

we have also had this tall sculptural "ladder" unit made. 

 

it has been powder coated, and will be installed with the concrete drawing and a bucket with glass water on top.

not long now.

artwork and scaffolding

while i have been unable to use my right hand for much that does not mean that nothing is happening. luckily for me i work with someone who doesn;t mind doing more than her fair share when required and my brother is visiting for a couple months. so we have 5 good hands between the three of us.

deb and i had a small job that needed installing for the city council. we enlisted adam's help and deb;s partner joe to get the install done. my job was mostly watching, documenting and a bit of safety bunting positioning and a tiny bit of painting. 

the first part of the job was to erect the scaffolding. this took a fair amount of time as it was going to be set up for a 4 meter platform, and Adam had never worked with scaffolding before.

 

once it was up we rolled it into place and leveled it. then the safety bunting went around. 

this was especially important as we were installing in a popular kids playground area. 

 

the job we had to do was to install 3 windsocks on top of 3 wooden posts that were already in place. we also had to paint some lines and numbers on 10 metal poles that were already in place. 

so adam and deb climbed up to the top of the scaffold with a large stainless steel pole and drilled holes, bolted it in place and secured the windsock in place. 

 

then we had to move the whole set up to the next location, making sure not to run over any kids or families in the process.

and again install the stainless steel pole and windsock. joe and i were on safety, making sure no one entered the safety zone for a ball, and making sure adam and deb had everything they needed.

after the second windsock was up, we relocated to the third and final wooden post, but had to reconfigure the scaffolding. not so easy to do but adam and deb and joe were pros at this point

the final windsock is in place and we can pack down for the day. it took us most of the time to set the scaffold up. but after that smooth sailing. 

more photos of the final artwork in a week or so when i get to documenting it properly.

but it was great having adam's help could not have done it without him.