art related happenings

A lot to post – it may all come in one go. I have just come from one of the Sunday talks at the Auckland Art Gallery that are happening while the Rita Angus exhibition is on. Today’s speaker was Principal Conservator, Sarah Hillary giving an illustrated account of her research into the diverse range [...]

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Georgia O’Keeffe

I picked up this book at Ponsonby Books a couple of weeks ago and started reading it last night – and it is great, inspiring. “Portrait of an Artist, a biography of Georgia O’Keeffe” by Laurie Lisle. I haven’t read much on this artist but so far I am very intrigued by her story, [...]

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Trust the Process

Our studio space is confirmed at long last! Just waiting for the lease to be completed, and the painting and partitions to be done.
Meanwhile at Painter’s Project on Monday afternoons, Matthew has given us two chapters from the book ‘Trust the process’, one about Mistakes and Distortions  – ‘errors are harbingers of original ideas because [...]

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Wolf Kahn Pastels

Today I headed to Borders with my 30% discount voucher and bought this book, Wolf Kahn Pastels. I need to read something about this artist whom I first saw on an artist’s calendar years ago and whose paintings I love for their colour. Without reading anything of him, why he paints and what he [...]

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Auckland Art Fair 09

Auckland Art Fair 09 returns to Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour from May 1-3. Amy, Sue and I have booked to hear the keynote [...]

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Art collecting stakes can be high, so who’s a safe bet?

Media Release from Random House NZ
With thousands now attending Auckland’s biennial contemporary Art Fair from both here and across the ditch, there’s never been a better time to be a contemporary artist, collector or art lover says arts patron, consultant, writer and retired lawyer, Warwick Brown.
In our recent history never have there been more [...]

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Portrait of the Artist’s Wife

The other thing I do is read, read, read – I have just finished a book called ‘Portrait of the Artist’s Wife’ by Barbara Anderson. I got it off www.swapclub.co.nz where I get a lot of my books, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Spent the glorious day at the beach reading it yesterday.
‘Winner of the [...]

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The Big Picture

“Legendary art commentator Hamish Keith returned to much-deserved national attention last year when his television series and accompanying (Godwit) book THE BIG PICTURE seized the imagination of New Zealanders. The high-rating show and bestselling book rekindled fresh enthusiasm for the complex and fascinating story of our art heritage and cemented Keith’s stature as one of [...]

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Bad Art or bad art?

An 1997 article by Philip Hensher in ‘Modern Painters’ magazine provided a good group discussion this week.  Talking about bad art being popular, and what distinguished Bad Art from bad art.  And we were all left wondering, are we doing bad art or Bad Art?
Matthew was the tutor this week, and after an introductory week last [...]

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Holy Trinity

I am now starting the third version of this painting, the second of which you see here. The first was just the doorway, the second as you see it, and the third is the whole church. I painted over the first one, and am not happy with the second one still. Third time lucky I [...]

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