Sunday, June 27, 2010

Handcrafting an Artists' Book

In our next project at school we will be attempting to make our own Artists' Book. I don't as yet know whether it will be digitally, handcrafted or both.

Dorothy Simpson Krause, an American artist and also a teacher in the art of handcrafting artists' books, has published her own step by step book called 'Book + Art' (Handcrafting Artists' Books).

I highly recommend grabbing a copy.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

City of Fire


This is the result of some Photoshop experimentation on one of my paintings and photos.

Queen of Art Marketing

For those of you who haven’t as yet heard of Jane Davenport, let me introduce you to the person that I have now come to consider the “Queen of Marketing”! Well, it’s no wonder as Jane happens to be the daughter of yet another high-powered woman, Liz Davenport, who is a top Australian fashion designer. Jane grew up cutting her teeth in fashion photography and during this time she found her own niche in the photography field.
I first came across Jane in 2006 when my husband, then the editor of Digital Photography & Design magazine, covered her work in the magazine. He was blown away by not only her photography but the way she presented her work and her whole marketing package. Jane has since gone on to work her way into every aspect of the marketing field of her art and has built up quite an empire.
Love her work or not, there is no denying that Jane can teach us a thing or two about how to climb the ladder of fame by keeping abreast of the leading edge of advertising/marketing and just exploring every avenue available.
To view article about Jane
Jane's Website

Monday, June 21, 2010

Art Education in America

I thought I might share some interesting information. I have been working through our collection of art magazines and I read in a couple of letters which were addressed to the editor, in the September 2007 issue of 'Art in America' critiques of the teaching of the visual arts in their school system. It seems that our TAFE course has it all over them in some areas.

One letter was from Melany Terranova, an experienced artist of over 30 years, who had attended the Art Students League (NYC), and Scottsdale Artists' School. Her letter was one of dissatisfaction with the lack of subjects taught and topics covered in the visual arts. Specifically, she had yet to find a program that encompassed enough skills needed in addition to the primary art skills to succeed in the arts world. The missing areas were; social, computer, photography, writing, marketing, negotiating and financial skills. In other words they lacked those skills needed for professional practice in the real art world of business. She also went on to make the claim that this was indeed a huge problem for American aspiring artists trying to launch their careers because these were the areas that often determined success or failure.

In the same issue, yet another complaint was made, this time from a frustrated teacher, who saw a great need to teach his students the skills to develop their own personal vision by gaining a real understanding of creativity. Claude van Lingen from Austin who had taught at the School of Visual Arts, New York, and at the Johannesburg College of Art, South Africa, recognized the overlooked area of creative thinking and so then he took it upon himself to design a course for first year students that introduced them to the process of not just creative thinking but also the related area of problem solving. By means of a combination of both traditional and non-traditional methods, materials and approaches, he urged students to find their own style rather than work in the style of their teachers. He considered the individuals as an artists in the making, each coming from a different background, with different talents and varying views, living in ever-changing times.

The above two discussions got me thinking about my own growth as an artist and the range of skills I still need to develop.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

My peacock super imposed onto my web of life


Two of my images which have been photoshoped

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Latest Image


On the stone path

My work and I


I have super imposed myself onto my works. Painting-"Stone Path"/Photographs I did in Greg's class/Drawing from Kirsten's class

Original Photograph by Lee Friedlander



My interpretation on the Lee Friedlander photograph

Interpretation of Lee Friedlander's photo

This is my take on Lee Friedlander's photo. This was an assignment for Geoff's class.