The latter half of this year has been spent transitioning from creating artwork with round mosaic tiles to painting with dots. This has been a very gradual process, with lots of practicing, but I feel ready to start 2023 with some confidence. Consequently, I have made a temporary amendment to my website header, until I update the whole website to reflect the new course of my artwork.
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| The End of an Era |
The rest of my time has been spent making small hand-crafted items and Swirl-StoNZ for the Christmas/Summer markets. I have also been practicing painting with dots, and a number of small practice pieces, like wall hung hearts, decorative pots, mugs and candle holders are amongst my market stock.
Currently, I am working on a second entry for the 2023 Harcourts Challenge, which is a scaled down version of a Great Barrier Reef painting, inspired by my visit there back in 2017. (A photo of the finished painting will be posted in January 2023). I have decided to paint this with dots, although it is quite fiddly as the canvas is only 30cm x 30cm, as part of the transition from dot mosaics to dot painting. The 'making a difference' is intended to be shown by a reef full of coloured coral and fish grading into a colourless version in the distance. It is meant to show that we (humankind) can make a difference to the future of the reef if we try.
On another level, my move to expressing artwork with the dot painting, rather than dot mosaics, is hopefully 'making a difference' to my creative productivity.
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The 'Art After Dark' event, hosted by the Arts Collective Whangamata, turned out to be a really successful evening. Held in the lounge of the Titoki Golf Club, it was a very glitzy evening, as many of the attendees adopted the dress code: Dazzle After Dark.
I exhibited three pieces of artwork. 'The 18th Hole, Titoki', painted especially for the event, and 'A New Approach' and 'Moonlight Glow' which both had an after dark vibe.
On the night, it was the 'Moonlight Glow' painting, with glow in the dark powders, that sold. A very enjoyable evening!
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| The 18th Hole, Titoki |
The Arts Collective Whangamata presents 'Art After Dark'. This inaugural event will be held at the Whangamata Golf Club lounge, 5pm-9pm on Friday 21 October 2022. An evening showcasing local art, live music, drinks and canapes. Dress in your most dazzling outfit, prizes will be won for the best dressed. Tickets can be bought from the Whangamata Information Centre, The Whangamata Golf Club, Collins James Accountants or committee members.
I will displaying some artwork (for sale) including a painting, specially done for this event, of the 18th Hole of the golf course as viewed from the lounge.
Have just completed this little orb sculpture, all made from polymer clay over a glass form.
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| Forget-me-not Orb Approximately 15cm diameter x 15cm high |
Forget-me-nots symbolise true love and respect. When you give someone these tiny blooms, it represents a promise that you will always remember them and will keep them in your thoughts. They are also considered a symbol of fidelity and faithfulness.
The reef or square knot tying the rope around the vase is also known as the Knot of Hercules, love knot or marriage knot. It is a strong knot created by entwining two ropes and is believed to be the origin of the phrase “tying the knot,” used when getting married, since it symbolises binding.
Just seen this article in the local paper - was flattered that one of my sand paintings (bottom right photo) was used in the images from last years Mid Winter Mingle.
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| The End Of An Era 40cm (16 inches) diameter |
This piece was created with the last of my handmade round mosaic tiles, marking the end of my phase of dot mosaic art.
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| Dream Lamp - shown in different lighting situations 15cm (6 inches) diameter |
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| Contemplation #2 20cm (8 inches) diameter extruded polymer |
I started this trial on 12 December 2021. Six months on, I looked at the tiles after cleaning off all the sticky residue from the black masking tape. There was slight yellowing of the exposed area on the white and purple tiles but this is not easy to see in the photo. The neutral tiles showed no noticable change to the colours but the varnish has attracted a lot of dust/dirt, so I would definitely not use varnish on items intended for outdooors.
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| Trial after 6 months |
Today turned out to be a great day, I sold two mosaic pictures. My ‘Poppy’ mosaic that was part of the ANZAC display in the Whangamata Information Centre and ‘Aroha Nui’ (with after glow) from the Whangamata Club. I'm feeling elated 😊
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| Poppy |
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| Aroha Nui |
I started this trial on 12 December 2021. Three months on, I looked at the tiles. There was no change to the coloured tiles. On the neutral tiles, the varnish has attracted dust but there was no change to colours.
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| Neutral tiles after 3 months |
Really pleased with how this weekend turned out. Here are some photos.
My stand in the Big Arts Day Out hall
Having just found out that a big arts event over the Easter weekend has been cancelled due to Covid (Omicron) restrictions, I am thinking more and more about selling online. As an addition to my mosaics, which I still feel need to be seen in the flesh to appreciate, I have been thinking about making decorative letters, words and signs. I was going to try these out under the name WhangaCraft, at the local Sunday market in Whangamata (this small outdoor market is still likely to go ahead, as there would be less than 100 people there at any one time).
However, for selling online, WhangaCraft does not convey what the product is, which is why I am now thinking of using the name 'A-Z & more'. The '& more' gives me the option to include anything else I fancy making along with the main idea of letters, words and signs.
This should be a great event over the Waitangi Weekend. I have two entries submitted for the Harcourts Challenge, this years theme is 'Looking Back, Looking Forward'. I will also have a stand in the other BADO hall, where I will be selling a selection of mosaics and Swirl-StoNZ. In addition, I will be demonstrating how I make the Swirl-StoNZ, and selling $1 raffle tickets to win the picture below. The winning ticket will be drawn at 3.30pm, half an hour before the event closes, on Sunday 6 February 2022.
I have searched on Google and cannot find any trace of 'WhangaCraft' being used as a trade name. I am posting this to mark my claim, as I may use this name for selling my creations, especially at the local markets. It seems appropiate, as my work will be
[I had to find an alternative to the CFdesignz that I had planned on using, as I have discovered that this is already taken]
I started this trial on 12 December 2021. One month on, I looked at the tiles. I did not photograph them because I could not be bothered to clean all the stickness off the surface of the tiles that came from the black tape but it was quite clear that there was no change to the colour of any of the tiles.
