Another two out of three!

Contemplation - SOLD

Found out today that I have now sold two of my three entries in the Annual Members Awards exhibition at the Estuary Arts Centre, Orewa.

Earlier in the month my first Swirl-StoNZ necklace and earrings set sold at the exhibition and now my sculptural piece, titled 'Contemplation', has sold. Both purchasers have taken the items, so they are no longer in the exhibition, which means I am unlikely to get the People's Choice vote for either of these two entries.

My 'Poppy' mosaic picture is the remaining entry. The exhibition finishes next Sunday, 3 September 2017.

'Contemplation'

Contemplation
approx. 15cm (6 inches) in diametre
polymer clay mosaic

I started creating this piece while thinking about the next large mosaic picture I was going to do. I had no plan, just tiles made in the colours I wanted to use, which I placed as I pleased. It was a bit like doing a 3D jigsaw puzzle with no picture, just fitting the pieces together as I went along, but quite relaxing. While I was doing this, I kept trying to think of a title for the finished piece, and came to the conclusion it should reflect my state of being when I made it. This also seems appropriate as there are different meanings to the word ‘contemplation’, which reflects the fact that this sphere has different levels of complexity in its design. Most simply it is covered with round mosaic tiles; these tiles vary in size; several colours have been used in the design and there are various shades of each colour; the random placement of all these elements creates a complex organic pattern, which I hope both mesmerizes and soothes the viewer.

'Poppy'

Poppy
30 x 30 cm (12 x 12 inches)
polymer clay mosaic

This mosaic was one of my entries in the 2017 International Polymer Clay Awards, the results are yet to be announced, on 16 August 2017 (USA time). This year, the competition had the theme ‘To Boldly Go’ and I have interpreted it in terms of war. In the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, artificial poppies are worn on Remembrance Day or ANZAC Day, to commemorate those who bravely died in war. Poppies bloomed in between trench lines and ‘No Man’s Land’ on the Western Front, due to the extreme ground disturbance in warfare during World War 1. This is because the poppy is a coloniser, an annual plant that boldly goes forward, spreading itself by growing on disturbed ground.

'Watching the sunrise over Rangitoto'

'Watching the sunrise over Rangitoto'
102cm x 40cm (40 x 16 inches)
polymer clay dot mosaic

Here it is, my first large 'dot mosaic' artwork. It is made up of about 6,935 tiles and took over 150 hours to complete. Each tile has been handmade, from polymer clay, and glued in place on the canvas before being grouted with coloured acrylic modelling paste.

 

The story behind the picture: One morning when I left home early, I saw this beautiful sunrise over Rangitoto from the beach reserve at Browns Bay [Auckland, New Zealand]. I immediately thought this would make a great picture, as I love this view, and I will so miss it when we relocate. I took some photos on another day, for reference purposes, particularly to show the outline of the vegetation that I planned to use in the foreground of the picture. There happened to be this couple, sat on the edge of the reserve, in one of my photos, and so I decided to include them in this picture for added interest.

 

Here is another photo taken with different lighting, although the colour is not so true, it shows the textural surface of the tiles better.

 

Counting the tiles: I knew someone would ask me how many tiles were used to create this picture, and I was curious myself, so I spent several hours this weekend counting them. Here is my counting copy.



Counting the tiles

I was only going to do it once, so I wrote on a photocopy (two A3 sheets joined together), numbering each tile as I went, just in case I lost count. The thick black lines mark blocks of 500. I am fairly sure I counted them all and, give or take a couple, there were 6,935.