29 October 2016

'A New Approach'


This is my entry in the 2016 Hibiscus and Bays Art Awards exhibition, being held at the Estuary Arts Centre, Orewa. Below is a little more information about the piece.

When I first started this mosaic, towards the end of 2014, I thought I would title it ‘A New Exploration’. This does not relate to the flower in the picture so much but to my first exploration into a new way of creating mosaic artwork with round tiles. The design is from a print on canvas, which I chose to use for my first experimentation. However, the close up view of the flower with the layers of petals and the deep colouring do also give a sense of exploration.

After moving home and doing a number of smaller mosaic pieces in between, I finally completed this artwork in time to enter it for the Hibiscus and Bays Art Awards 2016. When I filled in the application form, I put ‘A New Approach’ down for the title, as I had forgotten what I was originally going to call the artwork. Once submitted, I could not change it.

Although there has been a slight change of name, this does not change the fact that this piece was the starting point for a new approach to my mosaic artwork. The use of different sized round mosaic tiles has now become my signature style.

This artwork is made up of around 7,000 handmade tiles. They are colour blended, cut and baked from polymer modelling clay. After gluing all the tiles in place, on the canvas, it has been grouted with coloured acrylic gel medium. It took well over 150 hours to complete. 

28 October 2016

Opening night of the Hibiscus and Bays Art Awards

Attended the opening night, which was very busy

General shot

Me with my picture above
Now that the exhibition has opened, I will post a photo and the details about my entry - see next post.

18 October 2016

Mission Bay Art & Craft Market - Monday 24 October

Monday 24 October is Labour Day and the bi-annual Art and Craft Market will be on at Mission Bay. Once again I am having a 'Studio Clearance' to make room for my new mosaic artworks. There will lots of small pieces, mostly jewellery and some small artworks, which would make ideal Christmas presents. Start shopping early and grab yourself a bargain, as most pieces will be priced to clear - I disparately need the space!

05 October 2016

Submission accepted for the Hibiscus and Bays Art Awards 2016

I was thrilled to receive the news that my latest dot mosaic artwork, submitted for the Hibiscus and Bays Art Awards, has been selected for the exhibition.

01 October 2016

NZMA - a new way forward

Members of the New Zealand Mosaic Art organisation
This was all very last minute but earlier this week I become a member of the New Zealand Mosaic Art organisation, just in time to attend their Symposium and Workshops being held today at the Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa. I had attended the opening of the NZMA national exhibition last night and already met some of the members. Today turned out to be an interesting and exciting event, being present as this organisation (mainly on Facebook) voted to move forward and become a National organisation.

I have always been drawn to stained glass/mosaic work, particularly contemporary styles, but was not sure how my polymer clay mosaics would be received. From the members I spoke to, they were appreciative of anything mosaic, and several actually used polymer clay. I received many complimentary comments on the photos I showed of my dot mosaics. Unfortunately, as I only joined last week, it was too late for me to enter anything in this current exhibition. I will have to be patient, as the next national exhibition will not be until 2018, in Whangarei.

I now feel quite inspired to continue with my dot mosaics, and become involved with this group (as the Auckland Polymer Clay Guild is no longer running). There may even be future opportunities to demonstrate/teach how to incorporate polymer clay with more traditional mosaic materials. 

So many ideas, I just need to decide what to start next - but first my studio needs a thorough clean and tidy!