A stone carving of tarāpuka, the black-billed gull. This endangered bird was one of many that nested near the Ashburton Bridge during the summer of 2023-24. On Christmas Day, I photographed one of the birds and then later created some lino-cut prints. And then from the lino-cut print, created the stone carving.
I made one print onto some reclaimed Oamaru stone and then using that image, carved this sculpture of the gull out of the stone.
Have you seen this bird too?, Oamaru stone
I thought an alternative name for this sculpture could be Jonathan Limestone Seagull, but this species of gull does not appear to spend much time at sea. It prefers to nest on the braided rivers, but if there is a danger of flooding, they have been known to rest on farmland instead.
Have you seen this bird too?, Oamaru stone
Have you seen this bird too?, Oamaru stone during the carving process
A collection of lino-cut prints of tarāpuka, the black-billed gull. Printed on different colored papers and assembled like an Andy Warhol inspired poster, the work has a handmade driftwood frame to give the birds a home amongst the river debris.
Have you seen this bird, original lino printing block
The tarāpuka (black-billed gull) that featured in the photograph, Have you seen this bird? is repeated here in linocut prints. A reflected silhouette of the photograph was transferred to an offcut of lino and then carved. The resulting linocut was then printed with blue and white inks on a range of colored papers. Finally the resulting images were pasted to a board as if they had been put up on a billboard on the street to advertise an upcoming event. The handmade driftwood frame completes the work and gives the birds a home.
Lino cut for Have You Seen These Birds? and Have You Seen This Bird Too?
On Christmas Day 2023, I captured several photographs of these birds. It was a challenge to get a good shot. The nesting area was fenced off to protect the birds and they were very energetic.
I’ve mounted two prints of the photograph on the sides of a piece of reclaimed post to give the impression of a lost pet notice.
Have you seen this bird?, photograph mounted on reclaimed wooden post, approx 150 x 150 x 400 mm.
I have made other works based on this photograph. A collection of lino-cut prints, “Have you seen these birds?” and a stone carving “Have you seen this bird too?”.
For several millennia, flat earthers have been without strong support for their worldview and now, finally Flatlas is here. The figure of Flatlas, a mythical cousin of Atlas, kneels on an orb and balances a flat earth map above his head.
Flatlas, copper, clay and wood
Inspired by art history and ancient myths and legends, Flatlas, is constructed from air dried clay, painted with fake copper paint. Balanced precariously above his head is a hand etched and weathered real copper engraving of a world map. Flatlas is supported by a reclaimed wooden post and he sinks into a turned globe giving an inversion of the traditional Atlas sculpture.
Flatlas, copper, clay and wood
Flatlas, copper, clay and wood
Flatlas is being exhibited in the Ashburton Society of Arts 60th Annual Exhibition at Ashburton Art Gallery from 1-26 July 2024.
I joined the Hakatere Ceramics and Pottery Club at the beginning of the year and I entered six pieces in their exhibition as well as creating and donating a tile for the group project.
You are here, Tile
My, You are here, tile is a reasonably accurate hand drawn scale map of the Ashburton District featuring State Highway 1 (red), State Highway 77 and State Highway 79 (yellow) as well as the major roads and rivers. It was created from a slab of Whitestone clay with the features inscribed and painted with oxides and underglazes and then fired with a clear glaze.
You are here, Ceramic Tile, approx 200x200mm
You are here tile, before bisque firing.
Tiles, Hakatere Ceramics and Pottery Club group project in their From the Earth exhibition at Ashburton Art Gallery.
Nest vessel, Blue vessel, House of neglect, Hexagon Vase, Flying pig money box, Ring; ceramics.
Nest vessel
I squeezed clay through a cookie press to create fine coils and formed them into a nest shaped vessel. Colored with red, blue and yellow underglazes and fired with a clear glaze this pot won the Best Novice Hand Work in the exhibition.
Nest vessel newly formed. Clay
Nest vessel, after glazing and final firing.
Blue vessel
My first attempt at creating a vessel on the wheel, this simple pot has a turquoise glaze.
Bowl and blue vessel (right), first wheel work prior to glazing.
Bowl and blue vessel (right) after final firing.
House of neglect
A slab work tower resembling a ruin decorated with black glaze.
Hexagon vase
A slab work hexagon shaped vase with oxides on the exterior and black glaze interior.
Flying pig money box
A functional sculpture of a hollow flying pig with a slot to accept coins. Coins can be retrieved through a hole on the underside covered with a ceramic stopper.
Flying pig money box, after final firing.
Ring
A fleur-de-lis extruded from a cookie press and joined to a coil of clay formed this large wearable ring fired with a black glaze.
Ring, after bisque firing, prior to glazing.
Ring, after black glaze firing.
The Hakatere Ceramics and Pottery Club’s exhibition “From the Earth” is at the Ashburton Art Gallery from 18 October to 19 November 2023.
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Rock/Paper/Scissors (approx 60x60x8cm)in Ashburton Art Gallery
Creating the hand shapes representing the traditional Rock, Paper, Scissors game with paper and scissors was fairly straight forward, but carving the Rock and Scissors from rock was much more challenging and time consuming. The soft limestone Paper rock was deliberately used to give the softer look for Paper, but I sourced a couple of harder rocks from the river and chiselled away at them for Rock and Scissors.
Early in the carving process of rock Rock and Scissors
The rock Rock, Paper and Scissors are carved on all sides
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Rock/Paper/Scissors (approx 60x60x8cm), top view
Exhibited
Rock, Paper, Scissors was entered in the Ashburton Society of Arts’ 59th Annual Exhibition and was available for sale at the Ashburton Art Gallery from 4-28 July 2023.
Did you know there was once a $20 million game of Rock, Paper, Scissors?
In 2005, a Japanese Corporation decided to auction their artworks and had the famous art auction houses compete for the privilege with a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. You can read about it on Artsy or listen to a podcast about it on 99% Invisible.
This year, I joined Hakatere Ceramics and Pottery Ashburton to learn more skills and make art with clay.
Pocket is a handwork piece that I formed after the noticing the canvas pattern left from rolling the clay. I carved the stitching and added clay for the stud features and after drying, I bisque fired the piece.
The club held a Raku Firing day and so I glazed Pocket with a copper glaze on the studs and another glaze I have forgotten the name of. Raku Firing is exciting. The work is heated to over 1000 ºC and then quickly removed from the hot kiln and placed into a combustible material and starved of oxygen to produce a myriad of colors in the glazes and black where the clay was unglazed. The results are often unexpected.
Pocket, ceramic, approx 20 x 20 x 4 cm
Pocket has been entered in the Ashburton Society of Arts’ 59th Annual Exhibition and is available for sale at the Ashburton Art Gallery from 4-28 July 2023.
The feijoa is one of my favorite fruits and the feijoa plant has attractive red flowers. We have four young feijoa plants in our garden and they are starting to produce large fruit.
Feijoa, acrylic 20 cm x 30 cm (framed)
This diptych of the flowering feijoa plant and a large feijoa fruit has been entered in the Ashburton Society of Arts’ 59th Annual Exhibition and is available for sale at the Ashburton Art Gallery from 4-28 July 2023.
Feijoa, acrylic 20 cm x 30 cm (framed) in the Ashburton Art Gallery
Back in May, I built a mailbox for the Ashburton Society of Arts to save them the annual cost of a PO Box.
Postbox, front, reclaimed materials sculpture,
Constructed from the frame of an old microwave, pallet offcuts, a roasting dish and the rubber from an electrical cable the mailbox not only saves in the cost of new parts, but also saves these items from the landfill. The PVC tube is round on the front and rectangular on the back and was sculpted into this unique shape with heat. Painted postbox red, the mailbox is attached to the fence at the Art Society’s Gallery and Studio at 53 Short St, Ashburton.
Non-flat Earth, papier-mâché, approx 50 x 50 x 50 cm
Myths and legends tell the story of a flat earth traveling through the heavens supported on the backs of elephants and a turtle. Same here, but with a roundish earth.
There are some conspiracy theories floating around suggesting that the Earth is flat. I have traveled around the world and observed that it is in fact round. Well, roundish.
Hindu mythology has the earth supported by elephants or a tortoise/turtle or both or a snake. North America has a legend of a ‘Great Turtle’, which upholds the Earth.
Combining the facts with the legends, I have recreated this model of the Earth. A Non-flat Earth is based on Non-flat Earth Unpainted, but with a hand made globe, in a different medium – papier-mâché, and painted this time.
The book of Job in the Bible says the Earth is suspended over nothing.
He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
Job 26:7. NIV
While this lines up with the science, my globe has to rely on the backs of elephants and a turtle for support.
Non-flat Earth was entered in the Ashburton Society of Arts 58th Annual Exhibition and could be viewed (and purchased $900) at the Ashburton Art Gallery from 5-29 July 2022.
