[kid's self portraits]

Very exciting! Last term, my son's Grade 2 class painted self portraits which are now all mounted onto a board ready to be delivered tomorrow as their group entry for the local Youth Art Awards. I think they did a fantastic job!

  

The children were asked to draw a self portrait expressing an emotion, either:

Happy, Sad, Surprised, Angry, Shy, Excited or Scared.

Artwork Description:

As a class, the children have found that everyone is a little bit different, but they have learned to fit in together and work as one. This piece shows this in a visual way. They also explored some new art techniques in applying salt to watercolours to create interesting patterns as the salt absorbed the water in the paint.

Awards night is on 19 October.

[cool 'Ness]

My youngest son has done a sculpture for the local Youth Art Awards next week. He made a foil structure in the basic shape (you can see his mini-prototype in the background of the photo above), and then put papier maché over the top. Once it was dry, he painted a layer of undercoat and then did the final paint job. 

It's called ‘Trashy the Seamonster’, not ‘Nessie’, which would be kinda cool.

[arty blog catchup]

Been very slack in the blogging world the past month ... too busy to stop and share all the amazing projects I've been working on ... not to mention packing for and going on a week's holiday on our little speedboat in Southern Moreton Bay. The weather was just perfect and I so wish I was still sitting bobbing in the ocean. But alas, reality has returned with a resounding ‘Thump!’

Just a quick photo catchup on what arty activities I've been up to these past few weeks...

Stage Prop for my son's Year 7 classes ‘Salvagé’ Recycled Fashion Parade performance: 

(I made the prop, but the kids did the painting under my supervision. Turned out so much better than I was expecting, and the smoke machine on stage looked fab.)

A 40th Birthday Card/Frame (with quilling embellishments): 

A Quilled 50th Birthday Card/Frame: 

...and opening night of my first group exhibition ‘Dare to Do Square’ at the Pine Rivers Regional Art Gallery at Strathpine in Brisbane: 

Above: My piece ‘The Meeting Place’. The exhibition is on display until 3 November 2012.

[animated knots]

I was browsing Pinterest (as I quite often do) and found a link to this great website with animations on how to tie all kinds of knots! 

There are decorative Celtic knots, boating and fishing knots, a sheepshank, a trucker's hitch, and even how to tie a Windsor knot on a tie (this site literally has the lot) – and all in a simple stop/start animation that makes it so easy to follow.

Maybe I might expand my knot-tying repertoire of a half hitch, a reef knot (or a granny knot when I go the wrong way) and a basic slip knot for a fishing hook? Who knows, it might come in handy when we go out on the boat next time. :)

[fingerprint bookmarks]

Art with the school kids is back again ... today I'll be making some very cute bookmarks with the Grade 2s. 

It's been great to collaborate with the teacher and find ideas we can do with the kids.

How cute are these little fingerprint animals... 

And here are the tools I used...

was so nice to take out all the fancy cut scissors and the colourful stamp pad and start using these again too!

[muscle cars and the lady in the hat]

Struggling for time and inspiration to do things arty, I thought I'd get a bit of culture from Artscape 2011 on ABC (iView of course). Sometimes I find the toffee-nosed arty types a bit too much to bear, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the featured artist, Ben Quilty, was just your average 'down-to-earth' bloke, who painted portraits of his mates, and cars, notably his Torana. The way he slaps on the thick paint (by the cartridge) is amazing to watch. It just looks like a big mess, but you step back and can see all the contours, movement and the whole image takes on it's own energy and life.

Elwood Torana No. 7 (2003)

Paul's Falcon (2009)

Ben also happened to win the Archibald Prize this year, for his portrait of artist Margaret Olley (pictured below with Ben and his two kids). It's not the first time her portrait has won the Archibald - she was the subject of William Dobell's 1948's winning portrait. Sadly Margaret passed away in July this year, aged 88, but she was there on opening night to celebrate Ben's win.

[choccywoccydoodah]

Wow! What these guys do with chocolate is a-mazing – and the entire cake is edible! Sculpting with  choccy-goodness, the chocolatiers are not just cake makers, they are true artistic geniuses; I guess it's safe to say their Mums didn't tell them not to play with their food. 

Here's a little teaser video...

Catch the series if you can on ABC iView. 

[a night out with the Monsters]

Very early in my career I had the privilege of making a few props for video production, and enjoyed every moment of working on set. I'm fascinated by all the amazing things that go into behind the scenes of film and animation, and know that what we see on screen is just the 'tip of the iceberg' to what really goes on.

Last Friday night, I had the pleasure of meeting one of Australia's most talented artists in the film industry, John Cox. He was at the opening of his regional touring exhibition of 'How to Make a Monster' at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum at Petrie (located adjacent to North Pine Country Park, where they have the markets).

All I can say is, "Wow!" He has been a pioneer in the industry of animatronics, and sculpture, and his credits include an Academy Award for his work on 'Babe'. 

As you enter the Museum building you are greeted by a motion-sensor animatronic eye that blinks and looks you up and down ... which is a little bit unnerving. Full-size Gorillas from 'George of the Jungle 2' stand guard at your side, and a fibreglass dinosaur sits on a table with clay for the kids (and big kids like me) to sculpt and make your own monster. There are two other exhibition spaces, including a couple of video presentations on how they made the props for 'Racing Stripes', 'Komodo' and 'Peter Pan' — we didn't get time to see everything Friday night, so we'll definitely be back for a another look.

The one-legged animatronic parrot from the movie 'Peter Pan'.

If you have an opportunity to go to this exhibition, I would highly recommend it, it's FREE and on until 29 January, and perfect for the kids on school holidays as there are lots in interactive activities. 

To find out more about the monsters at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum, check out this link.

(Also, you'll see some of my work at the Museum too, as I've done the Museum's external banner signage, and some of the internal exhibition signage on their regular displays.)