Artists of Australia
Inspired by the colour and texture of the outdoors -
Inspired by the colour and texture of the outdoors -
I am passionate about creativity - and I also believe that creativity comes in all forms. For some it is gardening - others its knitting, weaving, ceramics, collage, painting, jewellery making and so much more. For me it is the fact of creating that is important and appreciating it all. Visiting Pauline was an opportunity to chat to someone who also honours this in others and in fact has created her own space in Ballina to sell both her work and others in a space called Creative Artisans Gallery. As all artists know it is so hard to find places that will accept and sell their work - particularly new emerging artists/ craftspeople so it is a delight to find someone who has created a 'not for profit' opportunity for them. Pauline herself makes some extraordinary fine work from painting on porcelain to very fine beaded work. Does your garden influence your work – either in what you create or how it affects you? I think it is the serenity it gives me most of all - I can sit here looking over the lake with a coffee and work for ages. I also sit out on the verandah– depends what I am doing. At present I am working a lot on fine glass beaded earrings which is means very small beads. I love fine work - I also create soutache (Soutache is a narrow, flat braid in a herringbone pattern usually used as the trimming of drapery or clothing. Soutache bead embroidery utilizes the **soutache cord** differently by stacking the cord in multiple layers and stitching them. In soutache bead embroidery, the soutache cord can be curved into different patterns, not only creating a stable base for adding beads, but a stunning piece of soutache jewelry). My jewellery takes a while to make – depends on how smoothly it goes and one tiny piece can take up to a day to make. My grandmother was a dressmaker. She learnt in Malta and and came to Australia and worked in the ‘sweat shops’ on the machines in Sydney in the 1950’s. It was probably hard work but I think she loved it as she got out to meet other people. My grandfather was an electrician working on the ships and submarines. My dad could turn his hand to anything – I think it was the era – you had to learn to mend and create new from old. I think it is an art we have lost. Mum knitted and crocheted – unfortunately they are both old now and don’t do it anymore. Mum would love working in the garden but dad is more practical and likes veggies in the garden too. Do you have a favourite corner in your garden? I love the little courtyard behind the kitchen which is a little suntrap and I have fish in an urn so I go out there every morning to feed them and there and lots of pots with flowers in there. It is a lovely area and I can look out from the kitchen over it as well. What is your favourite plant or flower? I like carnations – they are quite an old fashioned flower – I think I love the scent. I am very susceptible to flowers that smell too strong but these have a subtle scent. I think if I had to choose a colour today it would be cerise carnations but I do change my favourite colour all the time. As you can see I don't have any carnations in the garden though - but I have some beautiful purple orchids. How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? It keeps me sane! I work on fine things and always have done fine work – even the ceramics were too thick for me and that is why I went on to work on porcelain. I can focus on it - my mind is always running a million miles a minute and this slows me down and is like a meditation and it slows me down. For me it is relaxing. Tell us about your career journey to date – did you always want to be an artist? I went to school in Western Sydney suburbs and I did art in kindy and I remember it like it was yesterday – I went to a catholic school and the nuns were requesting pictures to send to a missionary in the Congo. I painted two nuns sitting in a canoe silhouetted and it got picked to be sent over there and I remember that so well. Art wasn’t a big thing encouraged in my school – not like today. My granddaughter has skills in art I believe. I didn’t know I had the ability to paint until later in life – about 10 years ago. I went to work after school and wanted to work in computers but I couldn’t get in so I started accounts work. I then started a craft shop in the 70's when I had my girls. It was tiny, but I loved it so much. Didn’t make much from it, and it was a lot of work, but it was huge fun. I guess I was always drawn to creative pursuits. Not long after that we moved in 1987 and came up to live in the Northern Rivers. I used to be on the committee for the Trinity Art festival and in charge of bringing in artists and artisans to do demonstrations in the hall. A friend of mine is a china painter and kept encouraging me to come and learn. So I eventually went for half a day a week and I started learning and just loved it – it is quite an unrecognised art form here in Australia. with very few people specialising in it. I started doing different things with lustres and experimenting and the teacher really led me along. She does incredible work - her name is Louise Hopping. It isn’t like painting on a canvas as there are so many steps to get to the end result. You can’t put a paint on top of a paint and you need to keep it down to as few firings as possible. Now I do a lot of the beading work and enjoy that – I get my beads from America usually as I can’t get all the colours I need here. I would have loved to source them from Japan but they aren’t supplying them and now I can’t get much from USA either. From my painting course we went for a week-long course in Bowral and learnt different styles of porcelain painting and I also learnt jewellery making there. That was when I started learning about porcelain jewellery which is also fascinating . My pendants sell well but I think people think earrings might break – I want to make a few more things to hang on the wall. I love texture and that is why I add things to my work- so it looks alive. I opened the Creative Artisans Gallery in 2014 with a partner with like-minded ideas – we made things so looked for a place to sell them. Council was happy to have us there and have been very supportive. We like to support local artists and craft makers. I think we have a great mix of things in the gallery – we have people coming in all the time and even artists come in to see what other artists are doing in this area. I think being in the same boat has helped me to create this Creative Artisans Gallery and make it work successfully. It is a 'feel good' shop – people enjoy coming in. Could you talk us through your creative process? Pinterest is a great inspiration for me for my jewellery and it starts off the creative process for me. I have heaps of ideas waiting – there are so many things I want to make. Sometimes a stone will start off my creative process on a piece like this moonstone I have here that I am working on. I use Swarovski crystals and pearls in my work – and it can sometimes just grow organically. I just start to play with a piece, and I keep working on it till I am happy with the result. I don’t sketch things first – with beading though you need a graphing pattern so that you can work it out. I have spoken to Kim Toft and I love her work – she has given me permission one day to look at turning some of her fish paintings into jewellery. I love the vibrancy of her work – fortunately she likes my work so hopefully it will work out. What has been your most crucial tool to grow your creative business? The Gallery has given me more incentive to create – a place to put my work out for people to see and buy which is a lovely thing. What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started your art? Probably how to paint on porcelain – it is not easy. It is hard to get it really even – I had a year break and when I went back I finally cracked the knack! It is like anything it takes a lot of practice. What’s been the best thing that has happened to you since you started Meeting similar like-minded people – it has been a gift and a way to meet some lovely people - we chat about creativity and I love that. I am the owner of the Creative Artisans Gallery and it has been going really well this year and I am working on a website now for it as well. I find visitors might well buy things from the website that they saw while visiting the Gallery. I have assistance in a number of areas of the Gallery from people who have joined the group. We also have workshops that some of our artists run for the public. Do you have any projects coming up you would like to talk about We are part of the Quota club and we have a table for the shop and offer to people who want to participate – it is in August. There is also the Hospital Auxiliary at the Ballina racecourse that we have a presence at displaying some of the art from the Gallery. We also go in with the CWA when they have their event in December. We also donate to Rotary and I always want profits to go to a charity in the area. Follow Creative Artisans Gallery on Facebook Website https://www.creativeartisans.org.au/
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Kay KnightsI am an Australian artist who is crazy about her garden and I'm inspired by the colours and contrasts in my backyard. I truly believe that Gardening is Art - I believe that many Artists are similarly inspired in their gardens. This Blog is for me to go and meet some of them and share their gardens and art. ArchivesNo Archives Categories |