Poetry commission underway

I have the privilege of working on a beautiful letterpress poetry commission at the moment. It involves poetry and I plan to do a single page of poetry, with two colours, and a cover.

Whilst I had set aside Saturday and Sunday of printing, I was lucky that there wasn't too much booked in for Friday as well, as I took several hours on Friday to start setting the type.

 This is the first large piece of work I have done really - and I discovered so many thing I need! I need a lot, a lot, of spacers. They are the metal bits you put between words and then some larger bits that fill out your lines so that you have a nice rectangular block to lock up. I need these spacers in each size of type I am using – in this case 18pt and 12pt.  As well as in 24 pt for between the verses and 36 pt for between some of the lines.

 I also need lots of lead line spaces as well - and luckily I had bough a box of them one time not really knowing why, and also a lead cutter so I could cut them to size! So Friday was a very long day of trying not to panic in case I didn't actually have enough of the things I needed in order to fulfill the order.

 It also feels different because the words and work are precious and special; and because I am getting paid for it as well. Extra reasons to try and get it so right.

Here, as I begin, you can see how many spacers I needed to fill out the lines - I used to think it was all about having enough type!

I had a moment when I realised the polymer plate of my calligraphy, to be used for the title, was actually much wider than the body of the poem. It seems you can't remember everything when you're learning. It worked out OK tho.

Beginning setting the type for the cover

And so to proofing!  I LOVE proofing. It shows you where the ink is going as well as all the mistakes you have made and gives you chance to fix things before printing for real. Here are some fun mistakes along the way.  The actual polymer plate, not just the lettering, was picking up ink - eek.

Nothing like an upside down letter or two. Or a mischosen letter or two!

Right at the end of the longest line of type, one word wasn't picking up as much ink. It  may have been the rollers were slightly imbalanced or the plate had moved a bit, but the easiest solution was to build the word up a bit from behind with some double-sided tape. Worked a treat.

The end of Day 1 printing using the stairs as drying rack. And why not I say.

And then because I hate to waste ink and there was a lovely grey still there on the plate...

I didn't even unwrap the type that I keep tied up. I didn't set it in the Adana or the Lightning Jobber. I just placed it onto the bed of the proofing press, rolled it with a roller, popped the cards on top and printed.

Very rudimentary and not particularly precise, but it did the job in the 15 minutes I had. I soooooo didn't want to have to clean up another plate and set of rollers just to play with these cards, so this was a good solution!

Next steps - printing the second colour and the cover...

Thursday Thoughts...

“The trouble is, you think you have time.” 

 Buddha

It is a thought worth pondering I think as we consider how best to use our precious time. Not only in  the big things of life, but also in the little things along the way, as I look back over the year since my mum died.

The words here ring with an edge of regret, a hollowness, or loss; of not taking opportunities.  I am not sure you can really live successfully with regret; but I think the words are helpful in terms of guiding or shaping some of our day to day decisions.

In typical fashion I head to the middle on this idea; I don't honestly believe you throw everything up in the air and do whatever you want to do right now, just because something might happen. Nor do I think you just sit there going oh I have plenty of time for everything I want to do or say so I can just put that off.

I do think the words might suggest that if there are important things to do or say, then do or say them now.  If you have a kind thought, then act on it.  Don't necessarily put off the things that matter; but find ways to incorporate them into your life somehow.

None of us ever know when we will run out of time for ourselves, or with others, so I guess it is just about making the time we do have matter.

Different stitching

On reflection, this year has been a year of teaching and of commissions. Both of which are grand; but both tend to see me working on work differently to the way I work on things when I am just creating and making from my heart and my head and my hands.

In the past few weeks I have carved out three hours a week just for myself. I have been attending 'sewing' which is all I can say; a group of women gather in a shed/studio and make clothes under the guidance of the amazing Narelle.

People alter trousers; modify and adjust existing clothes; follow patterns and make shirts; draft patterns off existing clothes and then sew new versions; and also draft patterns from an image. Amazing stuff.

I am sewing from patterns, drafting from existing clothes and modifying and altering.

Here is the first stage of my latest project. I am sewing a tunic style dress from a Japanese pattern book and have decided to add a few contrasts and a bit of hand sewing.

As I wandered around I thought I wanted to add some detail to the pockets and this is how they are looking.

The dress is the beautiful purple linen, and I like that one  pocket has a vertical detail and one pocket has a horizontal detail.

Before stitching.

Sewn onto the front of the dress - sadly the purple is not a good colour in the photo; it is a beautiful violet colour really.

I bought this nice oatmeal coloured linen top but found it was a bit short. So I decided to add a bit of length front and back in a contrasting colour. And at Narelles' suggestion, I added a little something to the pocket to bring the whole lot together so to speak.

And my first attempt ever at drafting a pattern from existing clothes. I loved my pair of loose, linen pants with a stretch band waistband and together Narelle and I worked out how to re-create them. So happy!

The bottom photo shows the colour best; the top photo shows the trousers best. Laugh.

So at the moment, this feels like some of the most creative work I am doing, and I am enjoying it oh so much.

Stitching and the art of orchids

As for everybody right now, the world is busy and focused. I am trying to finish a couple of commissions before the end of the year and they are taking a fair bit of dedicated time. Which I may say, is kind of hard to find in amongst our other commitments to places and people, but slowly slowly we will get there.

So I don't have much to show for my art at the moment, which is why this blog post is all about the art of my dad's orchids, with a little bit of stitching.

My dad is an amazing grower of orchids. He tries to always have at least a couple in bloom all year round and at the moment, they are excelling themselves.

They always make me smile when we visit.

This tiny wee white one is a stunner. The flowers are about 1-1.5cm long.

Lots of lovely gorgeousness to go around...

Dad has the art of growing orchids down pat; I think it's best if I don't try to emulate him but just stick to my own art and just enjoy the results of his!

Thursday Thoughts...

“Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement.” 

Jackson Pollock

I think I gravitated towards this one because it challenges me a bit and makes me want to think.  I don't think I agree with Mr Pollock here - although in part I do.  I do think the outcome is the statement and that what the finished work says is important; but I also believe that the technique, and the process also contribute enormously to the statement that can be made at the end of it all.

Perhaps it's the old art and craft divide again; but for me, every decision I take along the way has to hold together; has to give the final work integrity; and has to add to the wholeness of the piece.

If I am am going to burn book pages and leave behind words about feminism; then the book I burn should be a feminist book, not simply a garden guide or a travel book.

If I am making a book about WWI; then the paper I use is aged and fragile - not pristine and white.  Every step of the way I consider materials and techniques as a way to enhance the final piece; to enable the book or the piece to hold together and not simply be the result of an idea that used whatever I had on hand without much thought.

Perhaps what he is saying that it doesn't matter which technique you use, because whichever technique you use is capable of making a statement?

Time for Change - grids, quilts, bandages, watch parts, burning - every decision taken adds to the integrity of the piece.

McAuley House

In my last post I wrote about the work I had done for McAuley House in Melbourne, in this post I want to share more of the stories and the art in the new building.

As you walk in you are met with this hand-crafted neon light. Using the word the women felt best represented them, it shines - strongly but gently. I love it.

Art is an absolute feature of this building - the visionary who pushed and persisted throughout the project to make sure that art and beauty were integral to the new building is a remarkable person. The art just gives the building soul and spirit and makes it a beautiful beautiful place to be.

A huge mural by Lucy Lucy and Kaff-eine, runs along two wall sin the entrance area reflecting female icons (like Rosie the Riveter) and women of so many faiths and cultures.

In the dining room is this amazing enamelled stencil of a bouquet of flowers - it is huge and you can see how it wraps around a corner...

By Jessica Kease/23rd Key it is called simply "Bouquet".

A famous Italian graffiti artist Alice Pasquinin was visiting Melbourne and they were able to invite her to do a guest piece on a door. Called "Unveiled" is the woman covering her face or revealing it?

One of the board members won a chunk of money on a tv show and donated it to the project so that individual works of Aboriginal art could be placed in each bedroom (there are 25).

Nooks for peace and quiet have been built into the building; and there are words everywhere as well...

Inside is a winter garden as well - of when Melbourne is too cold to enjoy the outdoor gardens and balconies. A stunning place to sit and rest.

Looking in from the outside

And on opening night, the bedrooms included storyboards that told of some of the women's stories.  Trigger warning for family violence in the words that follow.

We heard from one of the survivors who had gone on to thrive, to study, to be reunited with her children, to be independent. And brave.

 Today the women move in to their new accommodation. There is  communal dining room; and a small kitchen if you want to cook for yourself. There is a recreation room if you want to join together and chat - with sewing machines, and a visiting dog. Each room has a fridge and a kettle and a balcony and an ensuite. Beautiful surrounding to re-establish value and worth when you feel pretty low, and your world has tilted.

I think McAuley House has set the new benchmark for homelessness in Australia and I hope many others take the vision forward.

There is much still to do but McAuley is doing a lot and we need to continue to support them!

Words on windows...

During the week, Barry and I had the honour of attending the opening of McAuley House - new custom built housing for homeless women in Melbourne.

I had been commissioned to make work for the windows of the Meditation-Reflection room - a sanctuary space where women can sit and reflect, ponder, dream, think...

It is a remarkable piece of architecture this building - so beautiful and light, using bold colours (many chosen by the women who are currently housed in the old accommodation) and the challenge for me was how to create a quiet, calm and serene space with the vibrant colours around and the extraordinary city-streetscape outside the floor to glass windows?

The room is the very top one on the right here.

On my first visit, this is what I had to base everything on...a pano of all the windows, no colours yet. I chose to work with the middle seven.

My brief was to put "words on windows" and so I had to work out the 'what' - which words to use? and the 'how' - which processes and colours and materials to use to create the sense of tranquility I was hoping for?

To gather the 'what' I went down to Melbourne and spent some time with a group of homeless women who were living in the old building.  We spoke a lot about how they wanted to feel when they were in that space - what sorts of things mattered to them in there, and what feeling did they want the room to help create or evoke in them and in others?

So they pelted me with words (figuratively only - they were an enthusiastic and energetic bunch!) and I wrote each word on a card, gave them some stickers and asked them to vote on the most important words.

I was a bit stunned when the word which clearly got the most votes, the words that expressed best how they wanted to feel in that room was 'brave'. I almost wept.

I also gathered some words from one of the Sisters of Mercy (who run McAuley House) and it was wonderful to see how much overlap there was.

I had some of my words.

My other plan was to use the word 'peace' to anchor the space; and I wanted to write the words 'peace' in the 16 languages that were spoken by the women being housed in the past twelve months.

That way, I hoped that many of the women from non-English speaking backgrounds who entered the room, would see the word peace written in their language, and feel welcomed.

You have probably seen my many experiments , here and there along the way on what was for me, a massive piece of work. I learned so much as I went along and had to really back myself and my decisions, and develop a whole heap of new skills and understandings.

Exhilaratingly exhausting could well describe it, especially from such a distance.

So I flew back down for the installation and again learned heaps about applying signage to windows.

At the end of installation day.

On Wednesday we visited the building and the room - and again I teared up as I stood outside. I wasn't alone. I had been told by somebody that as the nuns visited a number of them shed a tear; and words I heard were "beautiful words hanging in the sky" and "they will give great encouragement and comfort to women for years to come".

What an honour to be able to offer these brave women  a sanctuary space; and those who work with and for them as well, a place to be calm, to be quiet and to be peaceful.

The work is called "In Peace and Stillness" and here is the statement:

Within this space for meditation and reflection, the central band of two lines displays words for peace in the 16 languages spoken by women of the service at the time I visited. I hoped to make the words familiar to women of many cultures who will visit and live here.

The floating words come from a workshop I did with some of the women, and reflect how they hoped to feel in this room. They are melded with words of wisdom from one of the Sisters of Mercy.

The words are written in a calligraphic script I designed which is flowing and gentle. The words are sized to fit each window, and to be small. - to not shout or be overwhelming, They requires stillness and time to contemplate and absorb them.

In peace and stillness.

The next post will share more of the magnificent building and the stories of the women.

Thursday Thoughts...

"The act of reading is a partnership - the author builds a house, but the reader makes it a home". 

Jodi Picoult

This is another one of those simple, elegant truths I think. It reflects what happens when we make and view art as well I think - between the maker and the viewer, in a sense, a new piece of work is created.

Books clearly do provide a structure, a form, an outline; and yet what we as readers bring to them is all the stuff that fills them up and fleshes them out and makes them so very personal.  Whether that is our experience, our belief system, our dreams or our fears - oftentimes what we bring to a book makes our reading and interpretation of it different to the next person's.

I really like the simplicity of the analogy of houses and homes; we all know the difference between the two when we see it and feel it whether we can describe it fully or not.

A house, 2007.

A home, 2016.