For the past decade or so, I have worked with an amazing group of women artists at the old schoolhouse in Badger Crk. Victoria. We meet up weekly to paint, throw around ideas, experiment and play with new, unusual, materials and techniques. This time is invaluable to me, as it, gives me a break from the usual, business side of making art and gets me out of the studio. We chat about our work, share ideas and discuss what’s happening in the world and our lives. Mostly, it’s just a whole lot of fun, mucking around with good friends who happen to love making art.
Lately at the schoolhouse I have been working on some mixed media pieces with paint paper, cloth and thread.
I use thread and needle to make marks through the artwork.
Each stitch leads onto the next, weaving over the painting.
Found papers intermingle with rotted and rusted cloth.
I like to use off- cuts of textile, paper and patterns and throw it against slabs of paint and marks.
In the above artwork I am enjoying the contrast of the piece of vintage cross stitch, I found in an op shop once.
I just let the stitches wander around and find their own place in their own time. I’m not in control and use the thread, as another tool to make marks.
I don want to make embroidery’s and my mistakes can be my jewels.
All these artworks are in progress and not yet finished. Some may just be experiments for fun and to learn from.
I started this blog back in the early 2000’s as a sort of diary, to document my work and creative life and to give something back to others.
Going through some of my old posts recently, I was able to pin point, some pivotal moments in my life, of where my ideas and artworks originally came from, why my work and arts practice has changed and how, it’s evolved over the years, to where it is today.
After visits to Europe, UK and an arts residency in Spain, in 2005, I especially noticed some changes in the way I was working. Though I have always worked between disciplines, painting was always my main form of expression. I was becoming more dissatisfied with just painting and found it hard to do any creative work for awhile. Then, after a 3 month stay in France 2007, I realized I could no longer, only use paint, to express my ideas.
This led to a series of experimental installations, videos and a book of photographs. Touched by Dada and Surrealist ideas, I had to re-access what I was doing as an artist.
The installation and video below “Parisgrit” was shown at Tilt Gallery, in Melbourne in 2006. I can see quite a few interesting elements in it, but it’s way too long and very noisy. Maybe someday, I will get around to re-working it and revamping it into something else.
By looking back over my old blog posts or (diary entries) I find it helpful, to reflect on the areas, where I can make improvements and expand on previous ideas. I can also see where, my ideas have come from. I get a glimpse of how & why, my artwork, techniques and materials have changed over time and maybe where I could be heading in my arts practice.
I found an old army blanket from my childhood and couldn’t resist it’s raggedy worn, loveliness and further rusted it. Leaving it in the elements outside for a few weeks.
It can take ages moving pieces around to get the right composition.
then sometimes it just happens straight away.
Adding more marks…
The good thing about using a stretched canvas as a base, I can stitch right into it.
New Paintings, sculpture and more available in the Gallery Some are already framed others are ready to hang with all hardware attached. Shipping included in the price!
I am influenced by abandoned and derelict spaces, vacant industrial sites, structures, old walls & graffiti. The paintings below are about the connections and contrasts of imperfections, found in the urban environment, highlighting, insignificant marks, weathered surfaces.
Small Abstract Oil Paintings. Still & Interruption.
I spent a lot of time trying to get the surface just right, on these 3 paintings, as I wanted each piece to stand on its own, as well as, together as a whole. I also wanted to convey a feeling of stillness. A space to sit awhile.
The 3 below have colour and movement. I feel they are not yet resolved and will probably work back in with more layers.
I’m enjoying, the smaller scale paintings at the moment, especially after all the large ones I did over the past year for my “Wallmatter” exhibition.
Its a whole different way of working. Large paintings have huge sweeping strokes, where the whole body is involved. Smaller artworks allow me to come in close and are not so hard on my body. I can work longer on them, without too much pain to my back and neck.
To construct my 3D objects, I have used various methods: eco rust and Japanese Shibori dyeing, molding, casting, curing, sanding, chiselling, engraving, embedding, propagating, tearing, burning, sealing and finishing. To create the pieces, I combine hard and soft materials: industrial concrete, found packaging, lichen, moss, seaweed, vintage glass, cloth fragments and rusted found objects.
A huge thank you to everybody who attended the opening of my new exhibition Wallmatter last Saturday. A special thank you to all the people who helped me pull it altogether and make it a special day. I feel so blessed and encouraged with all the support shown for my artwork and the new friendships I made.
Wallmatter continues until Tuesday August 16th at The Memo, Healesville Victoria. Free Entry. All artworks are for sale.
A few photos I took the next day as I forgot my camera on opening night.
An installation of paint, concrete, rust and
textiles, inspired by imperfections and
weathered surfaces, linking to the abandoned
and neglected spaces found in urban and rural
environments.
“Surfaces and objects touched by time tell a
story and are a raw reflection of their environment.
I want to highlight the significance of a random
mark, or the crumbling texture of a wall in an
underground space. They are evidence to a
previous time in history. My abstractions are
investigations into marks and traces left behind
in the urban and rural environment.”
– Jenny Davis, Artist
3 new paintings, well, it’s actually one painting, a triptych, I did for a recent art prize. Each painting was made with acrylic paint and small areas of oil paint on birch cradled boards.
I love using boards for painting. The surface is much more forgiving than canvas. Perfect for the spontaneous, mark-making and material layering I tend to do. I can scratch, sand, scrape back, engrave and it won’t tear, or break like canvas.
If I could get larger cradled boards and still be able to lift them, I would be very happy. The size of these boards are 50 x 50cm. each. Overall size 150cm. x 50cm.
About Crut
Communication to the masses. Text in the environment can mark territory, give control and can validate those, who don’t have a voice in the mainstream order. Through mark-making in the environment everybody can be heard. I see beauty and at times, desperation in the messages, found in the streets, and in the abandoned, underground and derelict spaces. Layers of tagging, graffiti and found marks on weathered surfaces tell stories about the past, present and future. Aesthetically they can be beautiful, even though they may have been painted illicitly on a wall, or other surface’s. My abstractions are investigations into, marks, traces and messages, left behind, in the urban and rural environment.
As mentioned in my previous post, here are some photographs from my published article in “Sew Somerset Summer 2016”magazine on, how to make your own mixed media collage’s, from vintage, Pulp Fiction paperback books or, any other damaged books.
I love reclaiming and re-using, old tattered books that would otherwise, be tossed in the garbage giving them a new life and a new meaning. Instead of them being destroyed and forgotten.
I collect discarded objects and litter from the streets, along with items people would otherwise throw away and use them in my art and installation work. I physically dismantle my collected items, and then reassemble them, with the intention to reconstruct its purpose, from its earlier meaning and appearance.
My artworks are little mixed-media collage’s, created from, vintage “Pulp Fiction” book pages, old linen cloth, thread, paint, coloured pencils and ink.
As a thank you to all my readers Use Coupon Code PUBL0616 for a 50% discount on this magazine when you checkout at Stampington.com, and buy four (4) or more copies of the title. Click on image below!
