Reflecting on what was 2016…

Well 2016 has been and gone and it seems timely to reflect a little on what was great about it before launching into 2017 plans and goals. So here are my top 3 highlights for 2016.

The absolute highlight of 2016 was winning the prestigious Lysaght Watt Trust Art Award for 2016 with my photograph “Daily life: Under the Eiffel Tower”. This is my absolute proudest moment as a photographer and artist.

 

 

Another highlight this year was participating in the Taranaki Arts Trail and having my gallery/studio open this year at home…with my photograph “The Rejection of Ariadne” displayed under the Taranaki Arts Trail signage at the Gallery profiling all the artists.

 

Finally my third top highlight was organising and participating in “GARDEN – An ART Exhibition” which involved over 20 distinct and talented Taranaki Artists and showcased a wide variety of artistic talent from drawing to sculpture to fibre work and pottery, all with a garden theme, and was on display during Taranaki region’s Garden Festivals in late October/November this year. I was extremely happy with my own entry  – a photograph printed on linen.. Botanical Beauty.

So, all in all a really great year. I had other goals this year…a new book, a new improved website, but they didn’t quite happen…watch out 2017! It’s going to be busy….

ps.. “The Fantail Collection” of my curated collection of original vintage NZ art and collectables is also awaiting a new separate website so I can share my love of original NZ art in its own space…2017 is going to be very busy!

So, watch this space…its going to be another busy year this year and I hope that you also have some big plans and dreams to make 2017 the best year ever!

 

Opening week….

A few photos of the new Black Box Art Studio & Gallery all set up and open for business from tomorrow… Exciting! 

Opening day….

We opened the doors today – our first ever shop…it looked fabulous and it was great to meet so many lovely people who came in to see what we were doing and enjoyed the mix of my art and photography, the Fantail Collection, vintage treasures, Start Something kits and gorgeous flowers. The kids art/play area was also pretty popular with the younger crowd…

Here are a few pictures of the gallery/shop…

Today’s the day! Black Box Art Studio: Gallery & Shop on-line….

Today is a big day for me….for those who have been following my journey, you will know that today the Black Box Art Studio grows from a blog to also now include a website with an on-line store & gallery….Please have a look around…

http://www.blackboxartstudio.com

I have many of my images/photography/art for sale, in a range of price/size options  from a small (ready to display) photo block to a limited edition, signed and  matted image ready for framing, to large scale canvas print (by request) and a selection of original Mixed media art and full size original abstract paintings. I will be adding more each week.

And you can also check out The Fantail Collection on our website. http://www.blackboxartstudio.com/store/c15/The_Fantail_Collection.html

This is an exciting collection of original art by others. It has a distinctly NZ theme and the images are all selected by me to fit with Black Box Art studio’s eclectic style and to complement my own art. Many are vintage pieces by known, noted and in some cases, anonymous artists!

Please have a look around and let me know what you think.

Thank you all for your support and for inspiring me to continue.I look forward to your feedback and thoughts!

Sorry is the hardest word.

Why is it so dam’n hard to say I am sorry? It is such a short little sentence.

It shouldn’t be so hard…. Especially to say to those we love. Yet it seems hardest then.

Maybe the roses, greenery and rosemary picked from our garden, tied in a bow and left for them to find, will help me to say the three hardest words to say…I am sorry.

 

Smoke in the fields…

Smoke covered the fields. While the smoke was creating an interesting vista, the only clearly visible and somewhat strangely located item was a trailer parked in the field and seemingly abandoned. I also liked the line of power poles leading to the homes by the sea. I was glad I had my camera with me.

The changing city skyline and lego bricks…

I watched this group of older school boys…they were completely engrossed in building a city skyline entirely from white Lego bricks –  it was part of an interactive public display at the Auckland City Art Gallery recently. The structures that had been created by others so far were striking in their elegance, complexity and intricacy creating a fantasy city skyline of magical, wonderful, imaginary towering structures. It was also temporary, as each structure could be dismantled or added to by the next person and turned into something new and different, always changing and evolving – an interesting way to consider a city…

 

It’s a new day…

 

“Don’t you get bored photographing the same thing?” It was a question I was asked today. And I smiled. Yes, it is the same road that I travel almost every week, backward and forward. A road I know every well now. Travelling the same road along the coast for nearly an hour each way. But bored?…No! Every moment offers a new photo opportunity…different light, different weather, different time of day, different season, different focus, different mental state, different camera lens and settings…so many variables…so many opportunities to get that one image that is the elusive “one”.

So, yes, it may be the same old road. But for a million other reasons, it’s a new day…and a new photo.

That’s our role, isn’t it as artists…to look at the same old thing as if we are looking at it for the first time?

Reflecting on the new and shiny….

It is certainly going to be interesting!

Reflections of the church buildings across the road… as seen on the first of many stainless steel curving panels forming the exterior of our new contemporary art gallery and Len Lye centre. It’s currently under construction in our city centre – not without controversy I might add.

Will it last? Will it stay shiny? Will it rust in our sea and salt laden air? Will it blind drivers and pedestrians? Will it get too hot? What will our high rainfall do to it over time? Who knows…certainly not me….but who cannot fall in love with the idea of a unique, original, elegant building? I personally cannot wait to see how it looks finished. There is a place in cities for protecting heritage and old buildings and there is also a place for new and innovative approaches and fresh, risk taking ideas…the best cities celebrate both!

 

The romance of roses…is it dead?

As you know, I love roses. I love them even when they are dying, like these ones. There is something beautiful, yet slightly macabre about gorgeous red roses in their final stages of bloom.

Maybe it’s a cliché but roses really are like a metaphor for love in real life….first, the precious rose-bud like the thrill of new romantic love, then there is the full blown blooming gorgeousness of long-life-together-kind-of-love represented by roses in full bloom. Then, finally the graceful and bitter-sweet love found in appreciating something and thinking it beautiful through its final stages of life, while decaying and dying…somehow fragile yet still achingly beautiful. I am sure a poet wrote about it….