It's Not Art....

I thought I'd revisit an issue that I still feel is important... the whole aspect of Public Art, what is Art, and how much say do we have in the Art we get in our towns...

The voice-over is taken from an interview on The Bat Cave - YVFM 99.1, the music is Richard Bone's Far From Yesterday, and the images are all from my photography archives.

Old favourites revisited

As an artist, I'm always finding new ways to be inspired. As a photographer, sometimes I'm caught short, not always having 'fresh' images to use for new art.

Then I realised, good photos needn't have a 'use by' date. A good image can be timeless in its own right, or be useful as the basis for a bit of artistic experimentation.

We've all seen HDR images (probably until you are sick of them), or photos that gain a new lease of life with a bit of a 'lomo' work over. But with some very basic photoshop skills, many images can be revamped in new ways.

I've been 'slicing and dicing' some of my old favourites. cutting the images up and rearranging them in semi-geometric ways.


It's not a new thing for me, having been a fan of 'mosaic' images - one main image being made up from 100's of other photographs that I have taken. These are a crowd pleaser, always catching peoples attention at exhibitions.

I've attached a couple of samples here, maybe they will inspire you to dust off your files, and flex a few photoshop skills to fulfill that creative urge that makes artists restless....

Make a comment on how you have re-done some of your previous artworks :)

The older the better

Maybe because it's my age, or just plain stubbornness, but I love showing that old things still work. And that not only do they still work, but they are imbued with a rare cool/funkiness factor that demands attention.

Part of the combined exhibition that I'm in with Kayleen are some photographs taken with 'old tech'. Cameras from the 30's, 40's and 50's, old films and pinhole lenses.

I still have (and use) my first ever camera, a box brownie that was also my father's first camera. Nowadays I need to re-spool some 120 film into it, as 620 is long gone.

I also have a Kodak bellows that needs 120 film, and a wonderful bakelite Kodak Baby Brownie from my father-in-law. That takes 127 film. Which can't be got in Australia, but can be imported from the USA.

The other day I was given another family camera, a Vest Pocket Kodak model B. This also takes 127 film. So I loaded it up and everything seems to be working as it should.
It will take a while to use the film, as I feel that such old equipment should be used to take photographs of older things.

I will keep you up to date on how it all pans out. Meanwhile here's some images taken with the other antique cameras.

Enjoy.

Painting as Pastor speaks

We watched the seeming chicken scratches on the large screen mounted behind the Pastor slowly, oh so slowly change from random lines and blobs into the face of Jesus as he endured crucifixion. Local artist Kayleen West painted unseen behind the screen as the Careforce Pastor gave his message on the sacrifice of Christ to end the pain of sin for the sinner.
It was powerful to be reminded that good (a holy God) overcame evil (hatred for people like you) in the ultimate plot twist - just when Satan was crowing over a crucified Jesus, he lost the game by that very death.
I feel humbled to know that in a small way, 'I was there' as my sin kept Christ on that cross, and Jesus was motivated to go through all that because he loved me.

I only met Kayleen a month ago, via facebook, and in that time we've put on a combined art exhibition at Monbulk, entitled "I Have a Dream". The team at the Monbulk Dream Centre, 17 Moores Rd Monbulk, went out of there way to set up their facility to show our art. Picture rails and lights were installed just for the exhibition.
I have a range of photography works on show, and Kayleen has both oil and watercolour paintings on display. All are for sale.
It's open Tue April 6th and Wed April 7th between 1 pm and 4 pm. Drop in and say hello!