Gracie Hagen.

When starting a new project, it’s wise to find some inspiration to get your wheels moving and clogs ticking. Artist Gracie Hagen’s photography has some great resemblance to some of the idea’s I have brewing in my head for this project.

Her project ILLUSIONS OF THE BODY (NSFW) really grabbed my attention. She captures her models posing the best the can to look flawless and attractive, and then she gets them to do the most unattractive pose they can. This says SO much about the human body, our flaws and imperfections and how we can disguise them etc. She’s definitely an artist model I will be using for this project.

THIS ARTICLE has more information on Hagen’s Illusions of the body.

Evaluation.

 This project went crazy quick for how much was put into it. Blogging, research and building a website in three weeks…oh, plus a trip away for a festival. I’m well worn out and plan to sleep for an entire day. Sad thing is, I’m not kidding.

I enjoyed this project overall. It was refeshing compared to the first semester which was two very long projects running alongside eachother. I was in need of something short and sweet. I was able to keep drawing and creating during the project too which was nice. To be honest, the project brief inspired me to draw more, fancy that. I wanted to create new fresh pieces of work just for my website. I’m pleased with how my website is going, it’s currently on hold for developments until I purchase my domain and upgrade. I look forward to continuing working on my forever changing, growing and developing webspace. One thing I wish I’d done is maybe more logo planning digitally and not by pencil on paper. I feel like I might’ve been able to come up with something more suitable for my space if I had done that.

Spark Hamilton Trip: Wednesday.

Since my final full day in Hamilton was spent resting up due to walking a bajillion miles for the two previous days, I only went to the Social Media Club in the afternoon. I originally planned to go the the Art of Ta Moko, but I took an afternoon nap and missed the time I was planning to go in…oops. Lucky for me, I have seen traditional tattooing at the New Plymouth tattoo festival last year.

The Social Media club was a bit different to what I expected. I was thinking it’d be a handful of information on how to use our Facebooks, Twitters, Instagrams etc to really get ourselves out there, but no. What did happen was, I walked in to a table of beautiful glorious food and crammed some into my mouth before sitting down to hear Kat Jenkins talk about Crowd Funding. Kat has used crowd funding in the past to help get her prjects up and started and build a support network.  I managed to take some notes, but they’re a little jumbled and I don’t know how to share them properly. What I did get from Kat’s talk is that you should keep in contact with the people who support you through your kickstarter. Always update and let them now how everything is going, And be polite!

Spark Festival overall wasn’t quite what I thought it would be, but I found Darren and Derek’s talks to be informative and relevant to my practice in different ways. Social Media Club was a little more confusing for me, but Kat was a great speaker. She seemed to have a really great personality and what she shared was definately news to me!

Tuesday: Spark Festival Trip.

Tuesday was an exploration day for my little group of troopers. We went around to an illustration gallery, Soul, (website here yo) which was exhibiting Jane Galloway…We wandered through Casabella lane, took a walk down to the river and then finally made it to our lecture at Wintec.

Derek Henderson is a New Zealand born international photographer who talked about his practice, what inspires him and answered the many questions that were given to him. Unfortunatley I was unable to get a good picture of him from the back of the lecture hall, so sorry about that. Anyways, Derek talked about how even though he is a fashion photographer, he actually isn’t interested in fashion. He just loves taking photographs. He pretty much views his commercial and personal practice as the same, so photographing for commercial stuff is just as enjoyable to him and photographing landscapes and portraiture. 
He said a few things that grabbed my attention especially, so I’ll share them with you here to get a brief idea of some of the things he talked to us about.

“Sex Sells.”
“In this world we live in, It’s all about the dollar.”
“Reflect the age you live in.”
“Negative things inspire me:
And lastly, “I’m sympathetic to everything I photograph.”

After seeing Derek’s talk we hang out for a while at the Backpackers and then went out for dinner and drinks. Overall, a brilliant day and even though I only went to one talk I did so many other things I found just as fantastic.

Hamilton Day 1: Monday 11/8

On Sunday, our class bussed (is that a word?) off to Hamilton for a week away at Spark Festival. We spent Sunday night exploring and having a good time before having a really bad nights sleep in our rickety backpackers bunks…The sleep was only bad because I was too hyper to sleep well, so.

Monday we woke up early to go to the 9am mihi at Wintec. We got to see Rob Thorne perform for an hour afterward, and then we proceeded to the nearest mall for coffee and shopping. I bought the CUTEST jersey btw, not sure if you guys wanna know, but I did. The group of explorers and I ended up heading back to the backpackers for a well deserved break before heading off to our first workshop with Darryn George.

Darryn George. sorry for the blurry pic, this was the best I got.

Darryn George is a contemporary New Zealand painter who shared some words of wisdom in his gem of a workshop. Let’s just say the hour long session went by very quickly. His lecture was on building networks around your practice, which is a topic we’ve widely covered over the past month. He gave us questions to ask ourselves about our practice, shared a few of his experiences with dealers and listed the important people we need to connect with ie; Media, writers, the Press, Social Media, Our art institutions, at dealers, collectors, public art galleries and funding agencies. One thing I really picked up from his talk was the point he made on self confidence. He said, if you don’t believe in yourself, nobody will. So that’s super important!
Anyways, I found the talk really informative. He was very organised and spoke clearly.

We went to the RAMP gallery exhibition after Darren’s talk and because it was so busy, we didn’t stay long. The artist exhibiting there was one was one was saw last year at the Adam’s Gallery in Wellington. After the exhibition we wandered into the Flying Burrito Brother’s for a Mexican dinner. I’d never had Mexican food, and I think I may have fallen in love with it. I had the vegan fajita’s and oh my gosh. I’d die for that food again. I have to put a picture here to show it’s impressiveness.

So, Monday was a great day. We got back to the Backpackers and watched the Rocky Horror Picture show. A number of us sang along and really embarrassed ourselves, it was great.

The struggle with presenting.

my website home page and contact page designs.

Am I the only one who feels like they’re about to collapse for every second they present to a room full of people? Most likely, no. The problem with me is that I’m a worrier.

If I practice my presentation the day before, it comes out stuttery or slow on the day. If I don’t practice, it comes out fast and all over the show. I don’t present better or worse for either one, so today I briefly thought about what I would say but with zero practice…unless you count the hundreds of repetitive lines going through my head on the bus this morning.

The worst part about the presentation anxiety, is that it’s only been an issue this year. I think the pressure is starting to get worse in the fact that I have to show my peers and tutors how I’ve made the most of my time in each project. It’s scary, and I can’t help but look at how well my classmates have done when they present and I begin to lose all confidence before it’s even my turn to get up and speak. It’s something I have to learn to get over, and keep feeling proud of my achievements. My practice is unique, just like everyone else’s, so why do I struggle with showing people what I’ve created? I have no idea.

But today I had to present the last two weeks of work I’ve put towards my website. And yes, that’s why I’ve been blogging like mad, it’s part of our marking criteria, ha (not that this is being marked just yet, but w/e.)

I did okay today, despite my weak knees and shaky hands and I was so blown away by the variety that came out of my classmates. Every website captured the artist’s brand and personality and it was an awesome feeling seeing all my peers with proper websites! Now I just have to wait to purchase my domain for my website and I’m away. Hopefully I can do this soon, so I can continue to develop and improve my work in progress. 🙂

Now, Spark Festival on Sunday….I’m so excited I’ve already planned my snacks to take on the bus ride. That probably sounds lame, but I’m that ready for this trip.

The importance of social networks.

Lucy the blogger.

An important point that’s been really talked about throughout this project has been the importance of social networking.
Millions of people all over the world use the internet on a daily basis. They log into their Facebook accounts, send some tweets and check out their favorite blogs. They shop online, read the news, check weather updates…Everything is accessible on the internet. So why aren’t you?

Okay, so to be fair, I don’t have all the big social networking platforms. And even if I do use some, half of them aren’t professional or even for my artwork. But it’s so crucial for as as emerging artists to have our own space online to showcase our work and provide contact information. How many young people nowadays go to the phone book to get a hold of someone? No, they go online and grab your details off of Facebook. So wouldn’t your potential clients find it easier to do the same?

The internet is the fastest and easiest way to find out information today. But if you’re going to have an online presence, you have to be professional. Don’t post daily selfies to your Facebook Art page…why would anybody do that? I don’t know, you get the point. Be social, reply to comments, start conversation and use your manners. Make sure you don’t abandon your account, keep it updated so people stay interested. Create an online portfolio somewhere, or just upload your work to as many social media accounts as possible. So many people find work or clients through their social media accounts….you could get the job of your dreams one day just because you got some notice on Instagram! And if you aren’t computer savvy, it’s alright. Some social media accounts can be easily accessed through your phone.

Majority (actually, all of them I think) of the guest speakers we’ve had visit over the past few weeks recommend that we use social media accounts to showcase our practice. I agree entirely on that point, considering how easy it is to be seen on an online space. We shouldn’t be scared to get our work out and seen by people all over the world, we should simply appreciate the fact that social media makes that so achievable.

 

Workbook.

Some bookwork pages.

Okay so, I’m really glad our tutor decided they will be assessing our bookwork because I really enjoy doing my bookwork and take pride in it. I guess what I’m saying is I like for my tutors to see it…I don’t even care if that makes me sound like I enjoying showing off cos I wouldn’t even be ashamed if that was the case. Anyways…

Throughout all the blogging and all the drawing and all the website creating(sounds like a lot to do in three weeks, right?) I’ve been working on my documentation. This means I’ve been researching into website platforms and the pro’s and cons, I’ve been doing logo/icon concept designs, I’ve been looking into websites I like in dislike (Website critiques I’ve already posted about HERE and  HERE. )

Right now I am currently working on the final touches of my website before I have to present it on Friday. I created some thumbnails to work from so I knew how to get a website design I was happy with. I combined a lot of my thumbnails into my final website (not that it’s really final…more like a work in progress).

So above are some snapshots of my most recent work pages. My screengrabs of my WIP and thumbnails, my comparison of wordpress and squarespace and lastly my website content and logo concepts.

Today’s drawings 5/8/1014

Sunnies. Pencil and editing.

sketchbook creature creations.

Keeping busy with creating content for my upcoming website.

Ben Pearce 5/8/2014

Ben Pearce is a local artist, sculptor and designer. He currently works for David Trubridge as his marketing manager. ((  David Trubridge’s website and Ben Pearce’s website ))

Ben came in today to talk about his practice as an artist and marketing manager and had some important points to share with us on some self marketing tips and busting art ‘myths.’
Ben’s Art Myth Busters were all relevant to us as students, because these are myths we have ALL heard…some of these myths I’ve even heard from a couple of tutors! Haha, oops?

Ben Pearce’s Art Myth Busters:
1. Artist’s are arseholes.
Ben assures us 98% of the successful artist’s he’s met are highly social and down to earth people.
2. It’s hard to make it.
There are a lot of ways to get seen and make it. For example, entering competitions or using social media.
3. It’s who you know.
Well actually, this one ISN’T a myth. You gotta get to know the people you want to work with.
4. You don’t need a dealer.
Sure is good to have one though.
5. It’ll happen when the time is right.
Wrong. Until you have momentum, you are your own dealer/promoter/accountant.
6. Lastly, the world has enough artists.
There are a lot of empty walls out there that could have your art on them. There’s not enough.

Ben didn’t just talk about the myths (and busting them) he also lent out a few more general tips that work for him. A few would include; keep up with your drawing, invest in an awesome camera and find ways to advertise yourself.