"The Future of an Illusion"

"The Future of an Illusion" open

Helen Malone and I have just finished our collaborative book "The Future of an Illusion". This book is about death and the processes our bodies go through as they decay and some belief systems that surround this often taboo aspect of our lives.
Helen has blogged in wonderful detail how we approached our collaboration and our thinking around this topic. She has also outlined some of our research and books we both read and how this has informed our book. Please visit her very informative site if you are interested in these aspects of our first tunnel book together..

Some early experiments with decaying the paper were not successful as they seriously compromised the structural strength of the paper. However, adding straw to the wet coloured paper allowed some of the paint to be absorbed into the straw and create an uneven colour which I think showed the early stages of decomposition.

unsuccessful decay effects

very unsuccessful decay effects

getting there with straw

trying leaves

adding decay

dead end tunnel

Helen's outside tunnel

Jack"s outside tunnel

a look inside

close up inside

looking down inside

a side view

open box

closed with a skull

close up skull fastening

"the whole day through"

 

cover

It's always good to finish what you start even if it takes a while to get back on track. I started this little book when on holidays in Tasmania in 2015. I'd made a blank book using vintage pianola paper and an old 1900 Hobart Mercury newspaper I foundin an antique shop. Even though I made a start in Hobart, I was a long way from finishing the whole book.

let sleeping eggs lie

Each page is a new narrative based on found text from the old paper and personal experiences along the way. For example, the "sleeping eggs" page referred to the text but also a heritage chicken breeder we met in our B&B who was absolutely obsessive in his retirement plan to give the nation a new chicken he will call the Quombie. As you can see the responses are rather private but hopefully open ended so the images can be read in many other ways.

I like using this perforated paper because of its age and colour even though it is rather brittle. I often strengthen the paper by using gesso which also adds texture. I also used some fresh turmeric (the yellow bits) which now gives the book a lovely smell so I'll keep it in a sealed bag to help the smell last a while. It seemed appropriate and fits with the new foodie emphasis of Tasmanian tourism.
As the texts are quite small, it is a good idea to click on the image and enlarge it to be able to read the text. 
Enjoy!

art essentials while travelling

Most of my stuff fits into an old metal Faber-Castell pencil tin.

• I use water-soluble colouring pencils as they are more flexible in mark making possibilities, watercolour  wet or dry. I don't take a full range just my favourite colours and pencils like Derwent Graphitint.
• Other pencils include a charcoal pencil and a china graph usually red and black.
• I also pack a water-soluble solid graphite 8B pencil which makes a pretty good ink as well. This is also very good for doing rubbings of textures or text.
• I do pack just one or two plain colour pencils with Prismacolour my fav but any will do.
• A very fine propelling pencil 0.2 2B  and an ink Hi-Tec-C 0.25 both from Japan where they all write so small. These or similar would be available here and I also take a thicker Uni-ball micro with black ink.
• Water-soluble crayons and a white and red wax crayon are included.
• I use a couple of fine 1,2 watercolour brushes with the ends trimmed to fit in the tin but also to draw with.
• I usually make a couple of small books of drawing paper and take an A5 visual diary to draw in. Sometimes I gesso some of the paper in preparation for wetter, stronger drawings.
• A small ruler, eraser, glue stick and trimmer (not in cabin however) completes my art essentials.

You can see my specially shaped solid graphite pencil and water-soluble 8B pencils I use for rubbings.I take this little kit with me when ever I travel, even into the city on the train when I'm by myself. It comes out in cafes and parks when I have time to spare.

A bit like the way most people now use their mobile phones to keep busy.

Here's a little light-hearted book I made with my boarding pass.

I tried to sit still but I just couldn't.

rewards

When I travel I like to use the opportunity to start new work that I do in my hotels at night rather than trying to watch foreign television programs. I do this in small books of about 20 pages I make specially to fit in my backpack together with a very basic collection of drawing materials. 

"Re-Wards" is the latest of one of these books which I work back into once I get home.

The subject matter is often my new environment, the airport, the plane, people I meet anything that I find interesting or amusing.

On our last trip to Vietnam, I noticed quite a large group of ladies at the airport in Brisbane who all seemed to know each other and looked alike although not in a normal uniform but clothes that were of a similar type. They all appeared to be well "hoisted".
Later when we picked up more passengers in Sydney, more of these ladies joined the group and I assumed they were maybe going to a conference. My curiousity got the better of me and while in the queue for Customs I started a conversation with one of them.
They were all going to Vietnam as a reward for the excellent sales work they had done for a company and were off for an extended week-end of pampering and shopping at the company's expense. They were as high as kites in a cyclone.

The  company specialised in custom fitted lingerie which the ladies organised  to sell at parties. As the young lady told me, "think of us as ladies selling Tupperware for the Titties". 

Well.... had to start a new book that night.

Naturally, I did stray away from this particular subject but it was how the book started. I'll post a few more interesting drawings for you to ponder.

Who would have thought the process was so simple?

"a still life"

One of my New Year resolutions is to "finish some of my projects before starting new ones". I started this book last year but it was never finished as other priorities overtook me so I've been busy and got it done. I'll put up a few of the little mixed media pages and if they tickle your fancy, you may be tempted to check my Weebly site. 
"a still life" plays with the words and takes a light hearted look at life and death. I have taken abstract symbols from everyday life and juxtaposed them with those referring back to illness or injury - which can lead to a very still life.

In this one off,  I have made the book deliberately ordinary and used low cost and recycled materials (and Kraft paper again) from my studio to fit the idea.

new year greetings

I thought starting this year with a new idea it might get me off to a good start after all the festive indulgences. Not a brand new idea, but one I haven't visited for many years and then not for this purpose - make and give away some drawings with words to mark the start of the new year..

My tiny little  drawings have been laminated in little plastic pouches like an ID card (a previous use) to make them very robust and durable. A friend of mine had an early version of this hanging in the light in her window space but it fell down into her garden where she found it several months later none the worse for wear.

They have a little hole and string attached so they can be suspended, pinned, swinging in the breeze or pinned still to a noticeboard. This highly portable work is double sided but on quite thin paper so that the reverse image is ghostly visible in the light. The words could make the work a bit personal but I think open-ended enough to be interpreted in so many ways that nobody will worry.

If you would enjoy a little different imput to the start of this year, let me know and I'll pop one in the mail for you.

written - a little book of boats

book cover

written

it was written

and found wanting

ships of wonder

that gave

something

a dread

in spite of

the hope

and promise

you were torn apart

A sample from "Written" , a collection of 10 small, exploratory drawings I made around the idea of boats and migration.

The quality of the scanned pages was excellent so that the archival inkjet pages allowed me to make a small edition.

Happy Christmas

Illawarra Flame Tree Blossoms

The Illawarra Flame trees have lost all their leaves and are absolutely beautiful in bloosom this Christmas.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a healthy, creative year in 2016.

"portable" notes to Finland

front cover

Just recently I sent a little book I made while travelling in Vietnam, off to a special friend in Finland. We have never met but have sent each other little books for a while and I think I have got to know her a little through her books. Her art is so different and spontaneous, it gives me a buzz and encourages me to loosen up more.
This little book I have just sent  Carina Granlund is a little pocket size book, a little smaller than A5, into which I draw every night in the hotel while I am away . I let the new exciting experiences influence me to explore different possibilities and sometimes add ephemera like tickets or scraps of text and labels as concrete evidence of making contact with different asspects of the new culture.
When I get home I work back into some of these but also use the "Notes" as memory starters to start additional drawings to document my trip for me, I don't think they would be of much use to anyone else apart from their curiosity value. 

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I hope Carina enjoys the book and as usual look forward in anticipation for what she might send me.

the whole cover opened up