Latest NZAG challenge

Here’s my entry in the latest NZ Art Guild challenge, which had to involve memory in some way, and only use two colours plus black and white. I drew the pears from memory, so that’s the inspiration part.
Title: Purple and Yellow Pears
Size: 20cm w x 23cm deep
Medium: Acrylic on white AS Modigliani paper. Black, white, Windsor Purple and Deep Cadmium Yellow acrylic paints.

Anyone for half a pear?

Michelle Ward’s GPP Street Team Crusade No 28 is about “portion control” – using part of an image to create interest and mystery. Last month we were challenged to really explore a shape, I chose the pear. You can see some of the images I created here, here and here. I have kept using last month’s PEAR shape, and have been making new images on watercolour postcards. This way, I get to do the Crusade, and keep up my stock of postcards for sending off quick notes to people. Win win! For these three I used acrylics, gesso and Stazon ink pads, acrylic stamps and handcut stencils and masks.

Pears for charity

This pear painting, inspired by Michelle Wards Crusades, is now being exhibited in Auckland at the Bruce Mason Centre as part of the LIFE Exhibition and Shave for a Cure. A generous portion of all sales from the exhibition will go to the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation of NZ.

Tomorrow night some donated paintings are being auctioned in a gala event. Some of the artists are even having their heads shaved for sponsorship money. How brave is that? I was especially keen to support this event because when my cousin Dean and I were 14, he died of leukaemia. The sale of my pear painting is one small way I can help stop that happening to someone else.

Crusade 27: Shape Up

Michelle’s challenge for Jan 2009 is to explore just one shape – stencil it, mask it, stamp it, gesso it…   It didn’t take me long to decide on the PEAR for my shape. It’s a shape I was using in some figure paintings about 3 years ago and the idea of rediscovering it really appealed.

I spent today in my art room and made stencils, masks and a stamp. I played with spray paint, gesso, acrylic paint and Indian ink. I am so excited my what I’ve done that I want to make an art quilt featuring a pear, and do a big painting using the pear shape as well.

I like the ones where the pears are not so obvious; I think this is perhaps my favorite.