Paint Politicians by Numbers

'Paint by numbers 4' collaboration by Candice Herne and Laney Robinson, 2007, exhibited as part of Mother Group Exhibition -Fragments, Dogget St Studio, Queensland, Australia

Acrylic petrol station number, acrylic paint, paper collage and ink on canvas boards, framed, 108cm x 108cm, $1800

This artwork was in response to Peter Costello's 2004 comment toward populating the country 'have 3 children, one for Mum, one for Dad and one for the nation'

The image of 2007 Australian Federal Treasurer Peter Costello, overlays small paintings and collages. This work of art is a humorous take on a 'paint by numbers' kit. This work expressed suspicion towards the 2007 federal government's number crunching approach to the value of maternity, birth, parenting, family and women. Producing another human being to populate the world is more than numbers.

"Rudd by Numbers' illustrated by Simon Letch, image from National Museum of Australia Canberra

We are currently staying in Canberra. Their is so many wonderful exhibitions to see. We went to the National Museum 2 days ago, which was wonderful. Apart from seeing many historical exhibits, they also had a Political cartoon exhibition, Behind the Lines, the years best cartoons for 2009. I was amused to see Simon Letch's work - Rudd by Numbers. It demonstrates similar ideas to artwork Laney Robinson and I did in 2007. On the weekend I'm going to indulge in a day with out dependants and intoxicate myself in the National Gallery, can't wait for that one! Candyxx

Natures Gifts

Thunderbox - Toilet New England National Park, NSW Australia

I can't walk past an old weathered timber wall without stopping to appreciate it's beauty. If only I could cut it out and hang it on my wall. Surfaces like these really make me want to paint. These beauties were holding up the thunderbox (old Australian toilet, wooden box on top of a whole, purely stunkard!) luckily the van is equiped with bathroom ammenties.

Up with the clouds

New England National Park, Little Styx River, New South Wales, Australia

In the previous post I talked about little Styx River here are some photos of the thick cloud and fog.

Nest Building

Here is a little series of pictures I took of a nest I made at little Styxs River, New England National Park a few weeks ago. The national park is 1600m above sea level. When we were their we spent 4 days in cloud and drizzle, it was cool damp and eeire. I kept on thinking it would have made a great movie site for Lord of the Rings. Lichen and moss draped every trees and branch. Their was so many twigs of lichen on the ground, which beckoned me to contemplate, create and play. Little Styx River is also famous for trout fishing. We were fortunate enough to befriend a expert fly fisherman who gave us 3 of his fresh mornings catch. Yum! I was suprised to find that their is alot of Trout fishing up this way and further south. When I think of Trout I automatically think Tasmania Australia. The township of Ebor and it's locals (town closest to Little Styx River) will proudly tell you it's the best trout fishing spot in Australia. Handy to know if your a keen angler.

Slight Malfunction

We have had major technical issues over the last 3 weeks now. The hard drive died on our brand new laptop, we lost everything. 3 towns later, Tamworth, Dubbo, Newcastle, and finally we it fixed.Thankfully we had everything backed up on a external hard drive we brought with us. Grateful for my husbands tireless efforts in preparing all techie contingencey plans. Alas all was not covered. We didn't bring software boxes (packaging) we only brought disks and codes (numbers) for installation just for a occassion such as this. You would have thought we had been super organised. Nothing would re-install and microsoft wasn't having a bar of it. We could have stubbornily demanded to be heard with lengthy conversations from one manager to the next, topped by expensive mobile phone bills and maybe we would have resolved our problem in another week. However we were completely over it and surrended once again to buy all new software windows, virus, inbox etc. We just bought all new software before we left jeez!!!!!!

Still installing software and getting organised again. Hope to be back on track soon.

Karen O'Leary

This morning Information Aesthetics on my blog list had these stunning images of pattern. These intricate, beautiful paper cuts are by Karen O'Leary imagine the process of this. The patterns are just stunning.

What's Showing on our Gallery Wall

We have claimed one internal wall (bathroom wall) in our caravan to act as our gallery wall. Every few weeks I'll post a New Exhibition of our gallery wall. We are trying to think up a name for our gallery. So if you have any ideas please let me know.
This is our first exhibition with all the things we have been doing over the last week.

What Ancient Philosphy Type Are You

I am a lover of philosphy. This morning the 'School of Life' one of the Blogs on my list had this fun little quiz to play,'What Philosophy Type Are You'
You can play here

It says that I live by the philosophy Stoicism lead by guru Zeno Citium.

My results:

Your recommended philosophy-guru is ZENO OF CITIUM.

Key fact: He taught in a stoa, the Athenian supermarket, and hence founded the school of philosophy called Stoicism.

Must have: An interest in everyday life, for it is there that you learn life's big lessons.

Key promise: An ability to face anything, no matter how disastrous.

Key peril: To be "stoical" is to turn your back on passion.

Most likely to say: "If you have integrity, no-one can harm you."

Least likely to say: "Forget prudence! It won't help you anyway."


Video talking about Stoicism




I can see similarities in Stoicism and the Pop Art Movement, both thinking and commenting on the everyday. I wonder what the Zeno of Citium would have thought about Pop Art.

Pop Art Art Movement

With the term first appearing in Britain in the early 1950s, "Pop Art" refers to different artists' interest in the images of mass media, advertising, comics and consumer products. In many respects it was influenced by the consumer boom that followed the end of the Second World War, and greatly coincided with the youth and pop music phenomenon of the 50s and 60s. It played a large role in the fashionable "swinging London" image and became a major innovative art movement of the twentieth century.

Acting as a reaction to abstract expressionism, Pop Art emphasised the kitschy elements of popular culture to downgrade the elitist art culture and the seriousness that surrounded it. It marked a return to sharp paintwork and representational art and glorified unappreciated objects and ordinary business. In doing so, it aimed to make art more meaningful for everyday people and came to target a broad audience. Although it gained many supporters for the way it was easy to comprehend, critics saw pop art as vulgar, sensational and without merit. Along with Minimalism, Pop Art is regarded to be the last modern art movement.

Pop Art made its way to the United States in the 1960s with the help of groundbreakers Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. Roy Lichtenstein became a household name for the way he used stencil-like dots, thick lines, bold colours, and thought bubbles to represent the comic book style and used the grand scale of billboards to display his work.

Bundjalung National Park, Beach, Pebbles, Pippi Shells

We have been in our caravan now for ten days. We have had some maintenance issues already. As we drove out the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday we noticed the Caravan break controller in the car was not working so we stopped off at Kunda Park 15 minutes from home to get it checked out. 1.5 hours and $300 later all was repaired. We were finally off. Our first stop was Tweed Heads. We stayed over night at a caravan park which was under a main road. We did a load of washing. And moved on the next morning. We were glad to be out of their.Many people ask us have you made plans about your trip? Where are you going? To that we say we just don't know. It's all a bit scatty at the moment we are just going with the flow at the moment and settling into Gypsy life. It's all very new and a little unsettling. However we'll get the jist of it soon.

Our next stop was Bundjalung National Park. A popular place for surfing. Beautiful beaches, with spherical sea sponges, smooth pebbles, 1000's of pippi shells and black rocks that stain your feet black. We saw dolphins riding the waves this morning. I was concerned as their was no shade from trees. However the weather has been beautiful and the sea breeze kept things very cool and calm. It was nice to see that some National Parks still provided wood. We stayed 2 nights.

Today we had to drive into Coffs Harbour to take our 4month old TV back to WOW the store we bought it from in Queensland. The TV had no sound. The service was excellent and they gave us a brand new one. No waiting for repairs etc. For the next 3 days we are staying in a Family Resort Park with every fun thing you can think of for kids, opposite the beach. Catching up with the washing and still sorting bits and pieces we need to fit out the caravan and make things a little easier. And we are going to plan a little route west from Coffs.

Candyxx

A new journey

We have packed everything. Put it into storage and are now calling our caravan home.We are set up in our backyard for the next 4 days to work out how we are going to pack the caravan and Holden Rodeo. We have settled in very quickly and the children are sleeping well through the night. It's really hot here today, especially as we have set up the caravan in a hot spot unshaded from the trees. So we have the air conditioner on and it works well. Luxury! We are not roughing it that much. I'm thankful we decided to get a van with a big fridge as I did a big fruit and vege shop this morning and everything fits in including the beer. We are heading off on Wednesday and hope to set up our first camp just over the Queensland NSW border. I'm thinking it will take a few weeks to get in the swing of things. I have now started researching some places I'd like to see. I spyed in the newsagent on the weekend a farming magazine which included sweeping landscape photography of Buffalo farms in Australia. I was in amazement that these kinds of things are in Australia. I am really excited now to think how many things I am going to see and experience right here in my own backyard, stuff I just never even thought of. Candyxx
p.s when I get adobe photoshop on my laptop I'll post some pictures

Drawing tendrils and veins for new art work

pen drawing and graphic design by Candice Herne preliminary stages of new work

I've been working on new art work to go with my "Postcards from blogland" series. I'm not sure how this will fit in yet or if it is finished. Looking at it now I can see a trunk coming out of it????

Tendrils and veins have been a linking thread through my work for a few years now. If you click here there is some artwork I did last year for a exhibition I did at Brunswick St Gallery in Melbourne a painting titled "Reclaim Regrowth" covered in pink embroidered leaf veins. A series I started about Nurture verses nature looking at natural order and how it relates to life and popular culture. I remember framing my work at school with drawings of vines with flowers, it seemed so natural and easy, I just did it with no thought. I'm taken back remembering this about myself. As humans and/or artist do we eventually come full circle and unconsciously go back to what feels natural about ourselves?

How to make your art project interactive and fun

Lately I have been asking myself, What do I want to do to have fun, laugh, smile, be child like, release my inhibitions? I am realising I am becoming an absolute bore so serious all the time. With a need to get things done, move forward, over achieve, and come up with plans and goals. Ironically for me, this is fun fun fun. A brain storming boot camp with a catchy introduction of "trade not aid, learn how to tie knots with the hill tribes of Africa" would be something that would just turn my beating heart into a ray of sunshine and turn those laugh lines into deep valleys. I'd really like to loosen up a bit. So this morning when I clicked on Passion Pages blog "the fun theory" I was over joyed to see the post. The inspiration is definitely one of fun and smiles. However for someone like me, it leads to more contemplative thought, on how I could make my art projects more fun and interactive. Maybe I should interact more and leave the how to's to someone else. ahhhh! Nope that would be no fun. I just can't help myself. Here's to having more fun!

St George Bank, Green Dragon Art Prize Grand Winner, Wendy Brown

Wendy Brown with her winning artwork Six degrees

75cm x 1m canvas, made from Charcoal, synthetic polymer, and shellac

I'm excited to announce that my friend Wendy Brown was named Grand Winner of the 2009 St.George Bank Green Dragon Art Prize. Wendy received $2500 prize money and and her artwork will hang in St.George’s Brisbane corporate office.

Wendy's winning entry, Six Degrees, is a compilation of images reflecting a hectic life interwoven with cultural diversity and secret aspirations.

Congratulations! Wendy, my mouse is dancing for you.

To read more about Wendy's exciting win, and the St George Bank's, Green Dragon Art prize click here

candyxx

Sterotypes and how they influence society.

what does a mother with 3 children look like?

quote by Shannon Connaty 2009