Studio Insights - July 2024
CREATE: What I’ve created/done & what I’m working on.
INSPIRE: What art has inspired me.
LEARN: What I’m learning to develop my practice.
PLAN: What I’m planning next.
CREATE: QUACK! (And shop launch)
‘Hermit Ducky’ | ‘20 Ducks Contemplating Constraint’
July was a busy month with the launch of my official online shop, and a group exhibition ‘Rubber Ducky’
I’m usually quite focused on creating for my upcoming art shows, so I found it quite liberating to work solely on other endeavours this month. I’ve been wanting to create an online shop for a long time - I felt quite accomplished to get it finally setup. It was a great learning process implimenting everything (squarespace made it easier) and I really enjoyed working on some branded packaging extras. Thank you to all those who supported me by buying some prints already!
Online shop OPEN NOW - Prints available
The Rubber Ducky was an absolute blast and great success! I was very happy with what I produced and so excited to see all the amazing work others created for this exhibition. It was a simple premise for a show, but you can tell that everyone had so much fun creating (including myself). I loved that the whole theme was just not taking it too seriously. I personally found it so enjoyable to create work that I didn’t ‘care’ much about - to not take it too seriously and just experiment. I've definitely gotten bogged down trying to create ‘perfect’ paintings for shows in the past.
I might have to include some ducks in future paintings…
‘Rubber Ducky’ - on NOW until 9th August at DYED Studios - 193 Victoria Street, Wellington.
INSPIRE: Original art!
This month I was inspired to grow my collection by purchasing my first ever originals
I made a pledge at the start of this year that I would start investing into more art that I love. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for years - but as you know, original art is expensive (still often underpriced) and artists aren’t usually known for their deep pockets. It’s a strange feeling pricing my own paintings outside of my budget. Fortunately great art outweighed sensible spending this month, and I’m all the ‘richer’ for it.
As luck would have it I found myself a couple amazing opportunities that I just couldn’t turn down. I purchased a beautiful wood-work piece ‘Tan’ by Christchurch artist Glen Turner as part of his yearly ‘mini’ sale. I’ve become close with Glen over the years exhibiting at the Christchurch art show, and have wanted to pick up a piece of his for a while. It’s not my ‘usual’ style, but I find his work so calming and satisying to look at - The precision craft and care that goes in is inspiring.
I also purchased a piece in the Rubber Ducky exhibition ‘Cronenduck’ by local painter Sam Balzer. This painting caught my eye across the room, I was in awe of the creativity and elegance in the gruesome flowing ‘duck’ parts. I love how utterly terrifying and bold it is.
I’m also just generally unbelieveably inspired by literally everything being produced at DYED Studios - the range of talent coming from the artists there is something else. Make sure you check them out if you are in Wellington.
LEARN: Blocks/Calendar
This month I’ve been developing a new block system to organise and break up my projects throughout the year. Each block consists of 6 weeks with a clear set focus and deadline, followed by a ‘fun/experimentation’ week. What is a fun week? Put simply, I’m not allowed to work on anything I ‘need’ to do or that ‘matters’ towards upcoming shows, and instead must try new things. I’m hoping this will force me to explore outside my comfort zone a bit more, without the pressure of falling behind.
I’m still experimenting with this system and adapting. It was great to have a clear deadline to work towards, something that is very difficult without an art show happening. In practise the fun week wasn’t all that fun - it transformed into mostly admin… Next time I’ll make a clear plan for what new thing I’ll be trying.
PLAN: Tasman National Art Awards
I’m excited to announce my painting ‘Dead-End’ was selected for the upcoming Tasman National Art Awards exhibition. I’ll be taking it over for the opening awards ceremony on Saturday 28th September in Mapua, where the winning pieces will be selected.
Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances I wasn’t able to exhibit at Quirky Fox this month like we had hoped, but I plan to hopefully join them for their next exhibition.