Tricia Smout's Language of Nature

Imagine what 12 twelve months as the Artist in Residence at the Brisbane Botanical Gardens could look like. Tricia Smout has spent this year doing just that and the grand finale of an incredible, hectic, creative, collaborative and artistic year is the Language of Nature exhibition. If you haven't had a chance to visit, the celebration of her 2012 residency kicks off on 6 November open from 10am-4pm each day at Richard Randall Art Studio. The studio is located at the Brisbane Botanic gardens and the exhibition finishes on 14 November.

Tricia has posted descriptions and photos of her amazing year on her blog - and it has been a year of collaboration and sharing this opportunity with so many groups, encouraging so many artists to participate in her year as A-i-R.  My favourite part of Tricia's year has been her unwaning enthusiasm and passion for inclusiveness, and the 495 flowers of friendship. Tricia's blog contains so many photos of how 2012 has been shared with so many. Congratulations Tricia on being such a fantastic ambassador for the arts, and the way you've inspired so many of us to be part of your year. Everyone is invited to this celebration so come along and hope to see you there.

Parks, Plaques and Chocolates

For his birthday, the WMBM got to return to Auckland with his goddess, warm himself in the sun while she rubbed and printed fabric, and be amazed when our friends arrived for dinner from Brisbane.  I know he feels ... blessed. Me too.

 

 

 

 

 

Surreal at the Art Gallery

We wandered up hill to the Art Gallery - loved that it is so easy to navigate the centre of Auckland and most things are within an easy walk, hills notwithstanding. What a wonderful space and clearly in the knowledge we were visiting, the surrealists were out in force. Before we knew it the day was half gone and we were heading off to the nearby park to do some .... rubbings. The descriptions below are mainly from the Museum - the visit one of the highlights of our trip!

Just wanted to touch this ... and explore all the pipes and supposedly empty spaces

 

This is a small section of "Monkey's revenge" by Richard Killeen - and the cutouts that comprise the piece are never ordered int he same way each time it goes on display ... full of history, technology

 

The Simplest Surrealist Act is actually created by silkscreen on plexiglass - by David Hatcher - each letter is in isolation from the next rather than spaced - so the act of reading the phrase from the second Surrealist manifesto is rather hard to read as an optomestrist's eye chart.

 

we were all here once ... weren't we? 

 

 

From the balcony

 

Section of World Map was turned into a puzzle and created by Swedish artist Oyvind Fahlstrom - which he created as a do it yourself interactive. The cartoon pieces carry messages about suffering and corruption. Could have spent a very very long time here ...

 

Man in a Bus (left) and Woman in a Bus (right)  were created by Alison Duff in 1961. She used concrete for the modelling because of the cost of bronze casting - too expensive. Took a long time over the way she has represented the body - beautiful long lines and exquisitely proportioned.

Embroidery and Quilts and the Auckland Museum

Leila Bridgman's embroidery is on display in the War Memorial section of the Auckland Museum. There are many textiles created by women in the war, some who were prisoners. From the war to more peace-filled times on the lower levels, the quilt (bottom) of their Majesties was quite a contrast and surprise.  My absolute favourite quilt was  the tivaevae taorei (patchwork quilt) that was made and designed by Mrs Kaitamaki in 1969. It was interesting to see the influence of the missionaries (quilting) incorporated into the tapa cloths. On display way above our heads, the tivaevae was the most beautiful textile in the room. Definitely untouchable, and not a white glove in sight.

 

 



 





Silk and Kimoyes

I "discovered" a place at the Brisbane Quilt show last weekend (simultaneously discovered by about 5000 others) with beautiful bolts of silk. I could not be tempted by some of the most exquisite, hand painted, 1940s and 1950s pieces - until this. Hand stitched - it should have been a criminal offence to cut it - luckily I got over myself and brought a metre home to look at, fondle, admire, enjoy and share. Really enjoyed Kimoyes silks ... felt like I had travelled somewhere special in that tiny, challenging space within the Convention Centre.

Textiles and the Auckland Museum

This quilt was created from British army uniforms by an Anglo-Boer soldier returned from the war. It is beautifully stitched - and the colours remain vibrant even in the dimly lit museum space.

 

 

This scarf was part of a group of items donated by Nobuya Kinase - who had expected to die as a kamikaze pilot but survived because he stayed behind to train another group and his original group left on 26 April 1945. The embroidery is exquisite. The military exhibition (level 3 of the museum) is tastefully sombre - it was hard not to feel overwhelmed by the imagery.

 

 

A sewing basket from the time of European settlement of (now) Auckland



 

 

Flax - the ultimate resource

 



Strolling Ponsonby Road continued ...

While in Auckland earlier this week, we walked in search of the unusual and found a gift shop - The Garden Party -  with so many different and charming items for sale. I managed to score an art diary - in the scrabble genre - while WMBM and I decided these re-purposed fine bone china teacups were definitely different.  I'd almost forgotten what old-fashioned strip shopping and family owned businesses looked like.