Updated photos

I've just gone through and updated some of the photos of works in the Exhibition blogs, the pieces with prices posted are still for sale.

If you happen to be in Wanaka over Labour Weekend, I have sent 3 pieces (Regrowth and 2 musically themed works on canvas; Vibes & Al and Stunt Double) down to be hung at Rocky Point Pottery, a venue involved in the Taste Of Taras Tour. They will also have pre-release copies of my wife's debut solo trumpet: TONIGHT ON TRUMPET.

Packing down...

It will be with some sadness that I venture into Mills Reef today and start to dissemble the Forest.

Though I consider Inan Dout a nicely cohesive body of work which I am happy to of offered, knowing this is the last time I’ll see them all together as a unit brings on some melancholy. (Hanging Family of trees back up over the hole in our lounge-wall may help though!)

But never fear! They will live on as a virtual family in this blog - as I intend to keep on bringing you tales from inside the forest. There are still stories that need to be told about some of the pictures and the unsold pieces will be going on new adventures…

FAMILY OF TREES

The price of Family Of Trees caused some interesting reactions on opening night, which is not surprising as it is a little higher than any of the other paintings prices.

The story behind it is this: I painted this painting for my wife Sonia in 2006, it has special significance to her and it hangs in our lounge.

During the time I was painting towards this exhibition she remarked how well Family Of Trees would sit amongst the new paintings but, she joked, the only way I was allowed to show it was if I put a price-tag of $35 000 on it... so I did!

The Red Giant

This one came with a wee poem:

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The Red Giant stood firm

his long toes buried in composting cast-offs

drawing sustenance from the memories of his fore-fathers

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The Red Giant stood tall

his arms extended, wielding massive living sponges

scrubbing the sky

THE IF NO SRIED SET - the secret revealed

This one had people scratching their heads and asking me what the heck I was going on about.
I just told them they weren't looking at it the right way and needed to change their point of view! Head-turning art....







I'd love to know the proper name for this effect, I usually call them 2-way paintings or bi-image art.
It works very well on corrugate, on the odd occasion I've done whole pictures this way, which are great for hanging in hallways - as you'll see one picture as you're walking up & another when you're walking back again (for instance once I did a sun/moon 2-way picture, one image for the morning and another as you head to bed in the evening, )










The added bonus with these words done this way is they all most make sense front on!

Some paintings have a story

There's a few stories that need to be told about some of the paintings, I'll start with CHELIFER (for no particular reason). I came across this little fellow in a story in a bee-keeping mag when I was helping a friend extracting honey. He's a pseudo-scorpion found in New Zealand (as well as other parts of the world) which caught my attention, as I never realised we had any type of scorpion here!

The story goes that a Katikati bee-keeper observed Chelifers killing and eating Varoa mites in one of his hives. Varoa mites have of course been causing all sorts of bother for bee-keepers world-wide, so finding a natural predator is kinda helpful!

The article in the magazine theorised that because the timber used in making hives has become so cleanly cut, with advances in milling technology, that there are now less crevices in the timber for the tiny beasties to make a home in.

So in the end it was about wood, which is why this painting is part of the exhibition.

OPENING NIGHT

What a great night! Thanks to all those who came along, shared beautiful wine and music and took the journey inside the forest.
We had stands of bamboo everywhere to create the illusion and people even had to push their way through an alley-way of it to get inside!
The atmosphere was just right and reactions to the art was great.

I have posted pictures of all the pieces with details included of the paintings still for sale.
A huge thank you to the awesome team who help me set up, to the irrepressable Self Righteous Brothers and to the staff of Mills Reef.

Cheers Grant.

LONG TRIP HOME was hanging in the restaurant at Mills Reef to tempt people downstairs to the exhibition.

A previously commissioned piece.

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1. BOB SOUGHT SHADE

Acrylic on hardboard

215 x 370mm

interior

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2. PARADISE AND THE PATHWAYS THERE

Acrylic on sign-ply

1840 x 2015mm

exterior

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3. NATURE IN IT'S PLACE

Acrylic on sign-ply

235 x 235mm x3
interior/exterior

$520

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4. REGROWTH
Acrylic on sign-ply

315 x 555mm

interior/exterior

$440

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5. CLOSE-UP ON PARADISE
Acrylic on sign-ply

320 x 550mm

interior/exterior

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6. OLD MAC

Acrylic on sign-ply

285 x 550mm

interior/exterior

7. IN VERTIBRATE
Acrylic on corrugate

200 x 280mm + ponga frame
exterior
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8. CHELIFER

Acrylic on sign-ply

300 x 300mm

interior/exterior

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9. TRUNCATED TREES

Acrylic on corrugate

210 x 435mm

interior/exterior

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10. THE ENIN CARPET TREE
Acrylic on corrugate
360 x 540mm

interior/exterior
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11. GREEN TINTED SPECTACLES

Acrylic on sign-ply

595 x 1200mm

interior/exterior

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12. THE RED GIANT

Acrylic on sign-ply

540 x 1265mm

interior

$1875

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13. ID NO AUNT

Acrylic on corrugate

515 x 1015mm

interior/exterior

$1950

14. ODE TO THE FALLEN
Acrylic on canvas
455 x910mm
interior
$850




15. FAMILY OF TREES
Acrylic on corrugate
400 x730mm
interior

16. THE FOREST INSIDE
Acrylic on sign-ply
135 x 270mm + baby corrugate frame
interior/exterior

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17. ONE TREE

Acrylic on hardboard
330 x 390mm + frame
interior

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18. THE IF NO SRIED SET
Acrylic on corrugate
650 x 850mm
interior
$1250






19...THEN HE REMEMBERED HIS HAT!
Acrylic on hardboard
150 x 150mm
interior

CLOSE UPS

A friend came around with a decent camera today and took some nice shots, loving those close-ups!!!

the intentions of this blog

So far I have been giving some previews of artworks that will be in the exhibition INAN DOUT.

I may fit a couple more in but, with only a week to go before the opening, I still have more painting to do and of assembling of pieces also, so I wont make promises.

On Friday the 9th of October, after the launch, I will work on posting the entire body of works, along with names, sizes and prices (of those on sale) on this blog. Any questions or indication of interest can be posted in COMMENTS - see button below.

TRI OUT is a piece I sold maybe a month ago at the Bethlehem Art Show. I wont actually be showing it in the exhibition, but I thought I'd post it as several of the works I've been working on today are of the same shape and style. It's a format I'm quite happy with and has an almost Japanese feel to it.

cheers Grant

The joy of press photos... NOT!

Standing outside in the rain today getting pictures taken for my Press Release. (If you look closely you can see it dripping down the top of the picture!) The painting in shot is ID NO AUNT, an indoor/outdoor corrugated piece. What does the name mean? well, I'll tell you the answer to that later on, unless you can work it out for yourself...

A rainy day in Katikati

Not the nicest day for painting today, so I've taken time out to preview a couple more offerings from Inside The Forest.


This is one of the little ones that will be in the exhibition, an indoor/outdoor piece; most of which will be mounted on a backing board painted dark blue; a Resene colour - Valhala - great name!. So (after a little tutu in photoshop) it will look something like this:




Just a nice little picture, nothing malevolent here, or is there?



I wasn't going to put RED ONE (working name) up yet, mainly because I havn't finished painting it, but seeing all those images of the eerie red sky in Sydney it seemed kind of apt. I'm playing with the arrangment of an earlier piece but giving it a different feel, the piece is about 1 meter high and will be on a red backing board. There's a wee poem that accompanies it, but you can't see that yet!!


Better get back to painting,
till next time... Grant

believe it or not...

I just remembered an article I heard on the radio a few weeks ago; New Zealand scientists are developing a giant filter to get co2 out of the air to be used in developed areas.
They are a big flat surface with lots of little filters (that can be taken off and have the co2 extracted) that will be held up in the air by a large collumn - so they decided they should be made to look like giant 2D trees (I kid you not!).
Their only problem is they need to find ways of sequestering (I think thats the right word) the co2 underground once it is extracted.
The obvious question to be asked is WHY DON'T THEY JUST PLANT MORE TREES???

I've yet to name this one, it's on sign-ply and (unlike Long Trip Home and Bob Sought Shade) it is able to be hung outside or inside. I enjoy the composition of it, the way the tree takes up most of the picture only allowing glimpses of the background, the shape of the tree too, like some ancient monolith offering itself up for sacrifice. Note the shed and cleared fields in the background, all very pretty and innocent looking but do they speak of an early end for our friend? The composition and the idea of spiritual homage are elements that will be explored deeper inside the forest....




ODE TO THE FALLEN is a retro canvas piece being offered for sale in the exhibition (for indoor display only).
It is a survivor? from my 07 exhibition Wrinkles And All and showing it again brings to mind certain questions about the value of art; will the fact that it has been shown before dissapoint viewers? (do they come expecting all new works?) does the fact that it didn't sell the first time decrease it's value? or, working on the principle that any particular piece only needs one person to love it enough to buy it and maybe that person just didn't see it last time, mean it's value should remain the same? Should I get a better camera? (that photo looks a bit blotchy) Am I spending too much time asking myself silly questions instead of getting in the shed and painting??
The last question, methinks, has the most current value! I'm off to the shed...

LONG TRIP HOME is the 'poster picture' for the exhibition and one of two commissioned pieces on show.

It was painted a year or so ago for a lovely local couple Tony & Anita Allen and I was stoked when they agreed to let me display it and use the image...

I think it's a fine example of my corrugated treescapes and has the unusual (for me) inclusion of a recogniseable tree-form in it. Generally I stay away from painting 'location' pictures, suscribing to the belief that artworks should should be a window to another imaginary place where the viewer finds their own connections without me dictating to them. Undoubtably the beautiful landscapes and native trees around me influence my work but I like the paintings to find a 'life' of their own. That's where I am at the moment anyway, maybe you could call it 'outsider art'! That'd fit in nicely!

the use of self-applied pressure...

Many artists I know only work to their full artistic potential when there is a dead-line of an Exhibition looming. This may not apply to all artists but it certainly does to me! Only a couple of weeks to go before Inan Dout - inside the forest - and I still have most of the pieces to finish and there’s still one more I’ve yet to start!!


But, as Bob Dylan sings; “it’s all good!” and I’m looking forward to showing a cohesive body of work aiming to intrigue and engage the audience.


The majority of works are painted, with acrylics, on either sign-ply or my old friend corrugated colour-steel, the idea being they could be installed either indoors or outdoors (in a sheltered position).

…soo I’m planning to preview some of the pieces here, with a bit of background info, before the Exhibition Opening and then get the whole lot up after that.



BOB SOUGHT SHADE (pictured) is going to be the first piece you see in the exhibition, I felt it was a nice way to lead viewers into the show. The background is inspired by a favourite holiday spot of ours up north and the subject, Bob, is a dodgy old chainsaw sculpture of my own creation who has made guest appearances in many of my paintings.
In the title I am imagining that in seeking the forest for shade he is also on a journey back to his spiritual roots, trying to get past the fact he was hewn from a rotting, slater-ridden, old shelter-belt tree and find something deeper...



....feel free to apply feedback.


Cheers Grant…