Back to Normal

Life has just settled into a normal pace now. I've been taking it easy. Went shopping, watched a few dvd's and played around with some creative stuff. I also caught up on some housework and have been cooking some pretty yummy meals. It got pretty hectic leading up to the exhibition and a lot of things were left for another day. I have been trying to work out where I should be heading now and trying to set a few new goals. I'm all over the place at the moment not knowing what direction to take and hoping for some sort of sign. I can see where I want to go but don't know how to get there.

Today is 'Meet the Artists' at the gallery. I find this amusing that someone would actually want to meet me hehehe. I'm just an ordinary everyday person who paints ordinary everyday things.

Will have to leave this post here as the computer is playing up. Its not responding to what I type. Very annoying!!!

The Opening

We had quite a nice turn out for the official opening of Peeking Through Someone Else's Window even though it was a cold rainy day. Mark (Julia's husband) played his guitar so we had some lovely live music while we enjoyed a glass of wine and some nibbles. I had organised a video to be taken of the opening and planned to put it on YouTube so all my overseas friends could share it with me. Alas :( the camera malfunctioned so it looks like it wasn't meant to be. I would like to take this time to thank my tribe for their ongoing support. I couldn't have done it without you. With a special thank you to Laura, Doris, Bev, April and my new friend Biggi for all your encouragement. You gave me the confidence to believe in myself and for that I will always be grateful. You hold a special place in my heart.

Someone else who went beyond the call of duty is my best friend Vanita who drove 4 hours to be the guest speaker at the opening. She did a fabulous job and I am eternally grateful.

I would also like to thank my Bob, formally known as my patron. He goes out to work, works real hard and never grumbles (well hardly ever) when I need more art supplies. (pisssst, Bob I'm out of canvas hehehe)

Sneak Preview

upon entering

to the right

the right wall

back right corner

looking down to the front of the gallery

Oh and here's one of the artists

To view more promotions go to http://www.gallerym.net.au/9.html

Its Up and Hanging

The exhibition is all up, yay. The lighting is done, everything is numbered, catalogued and ready for the preview on Friday night with the official opening on Sunday afternoon. These aren't the final pictures. Julia has taken some with her wide angled lens and I will post these as soon as I can. The gallery staff and volunteers have been such a help. A special thank you going to Ian, Dennis, Julie, and John who have really helped to make the exhibition look so professional. Gallery M is a wonderful gallery. It has movable inner walls so you can partition off little intimate areas in which you might display a particular theme. We used two movable walls to create a family area where the artwork is mainly portraits of our family and another area where Julia has more of her staged photographs where she worked with models on a particular theme. I will also be taking plenty of photos of the opening to share with you.

Setting Up

Its been a very busy day and I'm off to bed for an early night. I just thought I'd show you a few random shots of the work in progress. Check out my poor little car crammed full with art hehehe. Its taken most of the day to work out what goes where and what works with what. Its all sorted now and tomorrow we will begin hanging. I will show you more then. Goodnight, yawn.

All Packed Up

All my artwork is labelled, priced and packed up in our lounge room ready to go. All forms are filled in. The t's are crossed and the i's are dotted. Is it normal to feel a bit sad? Its like my children are leaving home. They are all part of me I suppose. They are the evidence of my struggles, my fears, my perseverance and my growth. They are the pictures of my journey and our home is going to be empty without them. Gee I sound so mournful hehehe. I am also very excited and can't sleep properly. Its going to be great to see all my work in that lovely uncluttered space. I must remember my camera tomorrow so I can show you how its going.

Peeking Through Someone Else's Window

The Gallery M newsletter for May is out and look who they are advertising. The opening is only a week away and I'm so excited weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Anyway, you know what to do, just click on the newsletter to get a larger version.

#29 and #30

Urban Script

mixed media on canvas

101.6x76.2cm (40"x30")

Street Culture

mixed media on canvas

101.6x76.2cm (40"x30")

Since posting these on my Red Bubble site http://www.redbubble.com/people/utam I have had a lot of favourable comments. Both have been featured in certain groups and a lot of people have put them on their favourites list. Wasn't sure how a bunch of old advertising poster pieces would be perceived hehehe. I had fun collecting them and fun creating with them and people enjoy them. What more can a girl want???

F I N I S H E D

I have finished my goal of 30 pieces for the exhibition with one week to go!!! No photo yet as the medium is still drying. It took roughly 8 months (not counting December as Christmas prep gets in the way). That's an average of one piece per week. It actually feels strange. I feel happy and lost all at the same time. I am going to give our place a much needed clean. Catch up on all those things I've let slide while I concentrated on my art. And then what??? What am I going to do all day??? What am I going to think about??? What am I going to talk about??? This hectic pace has become normal now hehehe. Tuesday and Wednesday next week will be spent hanging the exhibition. Luckily the gallery has someone who is an expert on hanging and making the whole exhibition look good so I will be listening to his advice for sure. Here's the link to the gallery if you want to check out what it looks like. http://www.gallerym.net.au/ When the next newsletter comes out there will be a write up about our exhibition which is on the website as well. I am going to make a cup of coffee now and put my feet up and see how that feels.

All Going Well

Everything is under control. I feel a lot better after my slip of confidence. I hope that's the end of the nerves so I can enjoy the exhibition opening and also the 'meet the artist' day. Delivery is 10 days away and I can't wait to see all my work in a nice white gallery space. I'm also looking forward to catching up on my neglected housework!

Fears, Doubts and Slipping Confidence

Have I really not posted since last Thursday? Time is flying by. Its two weeks until our work has to be delivered to the gallery. TWO WEEKS!!! There are still two more paintings that I want to do. One is part of the way through and the other one hasn't been started. I'm having trouble getting things to work for me as the fears and doubts are setting in. My confidence is slipping as the exhibition gets closer. Anyway I thought I'd share with you what I have been doing with the layers of advertising posters. This canvas is on the large side 101.6x76.2cm (40"x30")

some advertising poster, book pages, found paper, acrylic paint and some stamping

some altered paper and some tie dyed paper towel added with more stamping

more of the same, nearly covered the canvas

the canvas is all covered and now a protective coat of matte varnish is applied

once the matte varnish is dry I covered the whole thing with white gesso

water is sprayed on and I start scrubbing back the gesso with a toothbrush

a very light wash of black

then a very light wash of raw sienna to age it a bit

a bit more stamping on the boring bits