Summer Roads – acrylic on canvas, 400 x 505 mm, 2016
I began a series of landscape studies last year based on some of the many (many) photographs I’ve accumulated over the years as a passenger, being driven from one place to another along Canterbury’s beautiful long and winding roads but rarely having the opportunity to stop and take a proper photo. So I have all these images of roads. And signs. I rather like the perspective of these slightly random through-the-window shots. They’re familiar; more like memories of having been somewhere and less like formal compositions carefully considered before painting (although of course they are that too).
First up is ‘Summer Roads’ which was based on a photo taken as we were driving into Takamatua on the road from Akaroa to Christchurch. I’ve posted the original photograph, the study, and a few WIP images below:
As we start the countdown to Christmas Day, now only a week away, I’ll be posting a few seasonally appropriate images that I created over on Polyvore. Wishing you and yours a very Happy Christmas, happy holidays and Happy New Year!
They finally arrived in the post… my samples of ‘Canterbury in Pink Light’ as a paper cup! My painting of the Canterbury Plains and Southern Alps was chosen to be one of the artworks in the current BioCup Art Series. I was thrilled when they contacted me earlier in the year and asked me to be part of the project. And now here they are, and they’ve started popping up all over the place… so far I’ve seen photos on Instagram of my cup design in Sydney and Brisbane. I can’t wait to see where they turn up next!
The Art Series is produced by BioPak, an Australian-owned environmentally responsible packaging company that supports and promotes New Zealand and Australian artists by printing their work on BioCups. The cups are available from cafés around New Zealand and Australia. Click here to see the current BioCup Art Series and read about the artists and their artworks.
‘Canterbury in Pink Light’ ~ soldAnd here’s a new feature image of the painting on my trusty travel easel
Wrapping ‘Monarch’ to take to The White Room auction
I’ve just donated my ‘Monarch’ painting to an art auction! The auction is being held next month at Art Metro in Christchurch (NZ) to raise funds for The White Room, a very cool creative space that brings together disabled artists, non disabled artists and interested people to share ideas, learn, and interact through their common passions and interests in the visual arts. I’m so happy they asked me to be a part of this year’s auction.
Click on the image to visit The White Room Creative Space on FacebookMonarch – acrylic on canvas, 405 x 510 mm, available at The White Room’s Art + Auction 18 November 2016
If you’ve read my last two posts, you’ll know that I am now involved in (yet) another social media website… Polyvore, a community that, in Polyvore’s own words, “disrupts the traditional e-commerce model by giving everyone everywhere a voice in shaping today’s trends and influencing purchases”. I discovered the site shortly after Etsy announced that it was going to take treasuries away (click here to see an old post that explains a bit more about treasuries). Over on Etsy, some of us were mad and some of us were sad, but there were also those who wondered what all the fuss was about.
Well, to some of us, the treasury was more than just a marketing tool; it was an art form. As well as promoting each other’s shops, we did things like A bird in the hand…
annacullart.etsy.com
…and I Regret Nothing (one of my last treasuries)…
annacullart.etsy.com
Going Going Gone is one I didn’t make. It was created by a team member in the Flash Mob who made personal treasuries for many of us as a farewell gesture. It features only my art! What an amazing gift. Thank you so much, Donna.
annacullart.etsy.com
At some point during the final days of treasuries, the Flash Mob discovered Polyvore, a place where treasuries are called ‘sets’ and the old familiar 16-square grid looks more than a little old-fashioned. Now we can edit images, resize them, remove backgrounds, and make really, really creative sets. They can be fairly standard magazine-style editorials about fashion, beauty, or home decor, or they can be quirky and arty and just about anything you want them to be.
Like Etsy, Polyvore is very group and community oriented. There are contests with themes and items to feature, and so it’s surprisingly familiar even as we learn new ways of doing things. My first set was based on the ‘in situ’ illustration I drew for my ‘Moon Over the City’ painting:
annacullart.polyvore.com
Okay, that’s pretty basic, but I’m happy with it and I love being able to style my art in sets. It’s way too much fun (which goes some way to explaining why there hasn’t been a lot of painting going on in the studio this month). Below is an example of a fashion set for an ‘I Love Paris in the Fall’ contest — I couldn’t resist using my autumn tree drawing in the background:
annacullart.polyvore.com
The opportunities for creativity are endless. You can use the images already on Polyvore — and yes, quite a few are sponsored — or you can import your own from any website (like Pinterest, Polyvore preserves the link to the site that the image came from).
I’ll sign off today with a set that has nothing to do with anything, really. It was for a contest that had to feature our “first device love in the Technological Age” and, for me, that was my trusty old tape deck. Thanks for reading.
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 