simmering projects

Graham Fletcher, untitled collage, 2009

A nearly full-time teaching workload this semester has kept me away from my lovely studio, but that doesn't mean I haven't been hatching ideas. We have three Pania Press projects lined up for the second half of the year when I'll only be teaching one paper at Massey.

Project One: 

A catalogue for an exhibition by Graham Fletcher at Melanie Roger Gallery in July 2013.

We produced a limited edition catalogue for Graham for his 2007 exhibition The Eternals. Each of the 45 copies (now sold out) contained an original drawing by Graham that corresponded to the 45 sculptures in the exhibition.

The limited edition catalogues for Graham's forthcoming show will each contain an original 'post-it note' collage, produced in 2009 while Graham was completing his Doctorate in Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. I was working on my PhD at the same time, and one day I popped into Graham's studio and saw a wall covered with cut-out pages from National Geographic magazines with brightly coloured post-it notes obscuring details of the image and text. 

When I asked about these unusual works, Graham told me that they were inspired by a curious discovery he made while researching at the University Library. When he checked out a PhD thesis by Peter Shand, 'Adrift on an Ocean of Affinities: Modernist Primitivism and the Pacific: 1891-1984' (1997), Graham noticed that certain images reproduced in the thesis were concealed by post-it notes asking readers not to remove them. The hidden images were of ceremonies and objects sacred to Aboriginal people, including a small woven basket (beneath the green post-it note below), which appeared alongside paintings by Australian artist Margaret Preston.

Graham responded to this novel act of censorship and concealment by cutting pages from National Geographic Magazines depicting various cultural groups from around the world, and then hiding the identities of the people depicted with post-it-notes, twink, marker pens, or a combination of all three.

I'm in the process of writing a lengthy essay for the catalogue that draws a connection between this series of collages and Graham's paintings in his ongoing Lounge Room Tribalism series. 

I'll keep you posted on developments as the publication date draws closer letting you know how you can go about buying a copy if you're interested.

I'll be back soon with details about our second Pania Press project for 2013.

the old days

The clear out of the basement at Jack's folks place has been like stepping back in time. How cute are these old Woman's Weekly's from the late 50s and early 60s!

anatomy lesson

The next meeting of the writer's group I belong to is taking place in the surgery. It seemed appropriate to use these fantastic anatomical drawings from the 1940s to make the invitations for the meeting.

It's funny how the inside of the human body doesn't seem nearly as gross when it's drawn in all these pretty colours!

small finds

A posy of 1960 Anzac Day poppies - the early kind that were made of fabric.

A worn out Mary-Lou.

A box of beautiful hand-carved Chinese figures that Jack recalls admiring in his grandmother's china cabinet. Some of the carvings have moving parts while others are static.

 It's such a treat to come across objects like these tucked away in cupboards.

 Have a lovely weekend!

yellow and blue rooms

I've set up my morning writing space in the yellow waiting room of the surgery. The light is lovely and a nice breeze comes through from the door. 

In between the writing and crafting rooms is a small space painted a lovely shade of blue. The sliding hatch on one side indicates that it was intended as a reception area for patients, and on the other side there is a small built-in bed, which I'm guessing is where the kids were given their jabs. Ouch!

I've decorated the blue room with toys, vintage finds and art works by Karl Chitham (the red cardboard building and yellow harp) and Graham Fletcher (the blue and beige abstract panel from his Mistints series)

Little remains to be done to the surgery, so I'm now looking forward to working away in this lovely building, very contentedly indeed!

paper dolls etc.

The great sort-out of the Ross household continues. It's turned out to be something of an epic job. Fortunately though, in among the hundreds of dusty boxes in the basement, I come across some lovely bits and pieces. Favourite finds during the weekend include two paper-doll sets owned by Jack's sister Anne. One is a My Fair Lady set and the other is a 'Costumes of the World' set. I had a fun afternoon playing dress ups.

In a box with a wonkily drawn crayon sign saying 'KEEP OUT - I MEAN IT' I came across these dear little matchbox cars and trucks. I like the fact that they're scuffed and well-used. I'm not one for keeping toys in boxes to preserve their value. They're made to be played with as far as I'm concerned! Anyway, they're now arranged as a convoy on my window-sill.

Have a lovely week.

the waiting room

The lemon coloured waiting room in the surgery is housing the many books that we've sorted through so far before they head off to new homes. In the meantime, I couldn't resist hanging a few things on the bare walls, mainly collages and other works on paper in my collection that I'd been meaning to get framed for ages [left to right: four assorted collages by Graham Fletcher, a drawing by Emma Smith, Merope, and a print of the statue of Pania of the Reef in Napier, which inspired the name of our publishing imprint, Pania Press.]

This imposing oil painting from Graham Fletcher's 2006 series Heads has a wall to itself on the opposite side of the waiting room.  When the books have been cleared out I plan to recover the squabs for the two bench seats in a length of Sanderson linen I have in my fabric stash and use the room as my morning writing space.

moving in (part 2)

I've done some rearranging and I think my new workspace is pretty much good to go. 

Here's a tour of the main room:

This little autograph book from the early 1900s was found by Jack's Mum in a box. We don't know who its owner was. It's full of poems, proverbs, and well-wishes, written by many hands, as well as a selection of line-drawn caricatures and half a dozen pretty watercolours, including this lovely rose-stem.

On the other side of the room I've set up a Lundia shelf to store my crafting bits and pieces and I've also made use of the old dispensary cabinet to house the Pania Press archive of publications.

The photo above has cropped the 'Pa' from the gorgeous Pania Press wallpaper bunting my sister made for our recent book launch, which now hangs in the window overlooking the garden.

I'm not generally a fan of weapons, but I made an exception for this rack of toy guns made by Jack's Dad for the four Ross kids.

My toys are enjoying the view from their new position on top of the shelf.

Now it's about time to get busy making things again before the looming new semester begins to claim all my attention.

moving in

This dear little building (the former surgery run by Jack's parents) is in the process of becoming my new studio. Having had to confine my crafting activities to tiny spaces and corners of rooms in the various places I've lived over the years, the prospect of having a three room 1960s building to play around in is just too exciting for words. 

It's taken a couple of weeks to sort and clear the contents of the sizeable examination room at the back. I've removed the old blinds and let the light flood in and I removed the squab from the old exam table so that I can use it as my new crafting table.

The first part of the moving process involved transporting my art and craft books and children's picture books from our flat across the road to their new home in the built-in shelves in the surgery. It's very nice  to be able to see my books all together in one place.

I'll have more pics to show you as I continue to set up the new space, which will be the headquarters for Pania Press and Mosehouse Studio as well as my writing room. 

This is the lovely shady spot directly behind the surgery with a little book-shed containing lots of classics. On fine days I can take my tea breaks here with Jack who has his own little building on the other side of the garden where he spends his mornings writing. Not a bad life really...