NGV Triennial

I went to the Triennial at the NGV. I have no words. Nothing I type here could possibly do it justice. Ron Mueck’s work Mass, is just astounding, the sheer scale of it, the curation and placement in the room, the colour of the walls…

You can see the scale by the person I caught in the photo on the top left, this person was a about 180cm (nearly 6ft). These skulls are huge.

I would encourage anyone to make time to see this exhibition. Impossible, as it is, to see it all in one day try but at least see some of it if you can.

Cheers,

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Better late than…

Welcome to the new year! Late, I know, but it is still January!

This year is certainly looking busier than last.

We spent New Years at Eden. It’s a beautiful place and everyone should stay away! With it having perfect weather and crystal clear waters I don't like my chances of having a private bit of paradise for very long. In fact the small town was completely booked out while we were there.

 

 

There is a little creek running through the block where we stayed and I think I scared a platypus! A very loud plop and splash in the water which can only have been made by a large animal in a stream with no fish, so I’m calling it (even if I have no photographic evidence).

I also saw number of different birds, Blue Fairy Wrens and European Goldfinch being the highlights for me. I tried so very hard to take photos and iPhones are good but not up to the task of capturing small birds darting in and out of dense shrubs. Or it might have been operator error.

Cheers,

Happy George

Recently I developed and illustrated a new character, for a disability service. Introducing: Happy George

This little guy ties in with some other promotional material and is soon to be launched on their website.

Happy George is a friendly frog who like to say hello to everyone!

Happy George is a friendly frog who like to say hello to everyone!

Happy George is technologically savvy!

Happy George is technologically savvy!

Happy George is being used on colouring in sheets and word searches which I also developed. These will be available for people to download from their website .

It was great to translate the linear to the rendered colour and build up a stock of imagery around it all to describe the world in which George lives.

He will also be in explanatory material on printed documents and certificates.

It was a great project. I had lots of fun testing out techniques I've not used for a while. And it was fantastic to see it so well received by the client. 

Hopefully the participants of the service like him too, because I'd love to do more of this! 

Cheers and chin-chin,

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Vote YES!

It's been amazing over the last couple of years to see the parade of unfairness and unkindness on all sides of politics in Australia. Less stealth like, which has been used in the past and more upfront meanness is really the hallmark of the last, I would say, four parliaments. 

The downright misogyny directed at Julia Gillard. Her parliaments lack of action on same-sex marriage. Kevin Rudd and his off-shore detention hell holes. Tony Abbott dismantling of the carbon tax and eating onions, raw, with the skin on. And then we come to Malcolm Turnbull, beholden to the right wing conservative to keep his bum on the big chair. These are just a few of the craptacular highlights of the last seven years (yes, seven years - four Prime Ministers in seven - count 'em - seven years. You can see my eyes rolling from space.)

Malcolm has bowed to the pressure of his party room and they've dreamed up a non-binding, non-mandatory, non-plebicite postal survey about same sex marriage. Rather than do their jobs. It is going to cost over $120 million dollars. 

As I write this the High Court of Australia are hearing a case against running the postal survey. So it may on may not even happen. But in the event that it does I'm nailing my colours to the mast.

YES : Love is love, let people marry.

So my birds for the weeks leading up to the non-binding, non-mandatory, non-plebicite postal survey (if it even happens) are all showing their support for changing the marriage act to be inclusive of all the people.

...and imagine, what the kindergartens of Australia would do with $120 million dollars instead.

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Sketchbook scrawls

Lately my sketchbook is all about people. Specifically the back of the head. Train travel and cafés provide lots of subjects, but staring at people can be a bit confronting, for both the stare-er and the stare-ee.

I've seen the panicked look on people's faces, the uncomfortable shift in their seat, hunch of the shoulders and the blush as it creeps across their skin when they realise they are being drawn. 

The back of their head, though is way more non-confrontational and it gives me practice at size, shape, form, hair, fabric, bags, phones, ears and sometimes, even hands. Phones often give you cover, people don't notice anything when they're on their phones, so occasionally I get a face. 

These are untouched photos straight from my sketchbook, no fiddling with lighting or brightness etc. I usually post this sort of thing on my @hilary_cresp instagram if you're interested.

Cheers and chin-chin!

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Birdies everywhere!

I've been a bit slack with the blogging, but busy is as busy does and because not everyone has Instagram here's what I've been doing...

As you can see Birdies have exploded from my pencil and have taken a life of their own. Up to all sorts of adventures. Hopefully a wonderful and generous publisher can see the potential and gives me a call. I have so many ideas for what these little darlings can achieve, you just never know what they'll do next!

Cheers and chin-chin!

To market to market…

Last night I went to the Craft Victoria seminar on market readiness, and I learned so much I though my brain was going to burst!

There were two speakers Penny Min Ferguson of MinPin and Leah Jackson of Leah Jackson Ceramics, a well as the person organising the event from Craft Victoria, Kim Goodwin. They all spoke well, clear, concise and open about their experiences and the tips they’ve learned from going to markets and building their businesses. Lots of guidance on having a successful market experiences - even if you don’t make money out of it… 

To be honest, I knew a lot of this stuff - BUT I hadn’t been able to put it together in a coherent package enough for my tiny brain to see how it worked. But this seminar showed me, which was awesome! And they liked my tea towels - they have excellent taste.

I just need to decide what I really want my business to be. But I really need to thank the wonderful Aniquah Stevenson for her advice in doing this seminar, she is awesome and her work is great - check out her new website http://www.aniquahstevenson.com

Time for a tune, Hilary Cresp, 2016

Time for a tune, Hilary Cresp, 2016

In the last couple of weeks I’ve sent off a few illustration agency submissions and to a literacy agency.  But I won’t hear from them anytime soon, they get hundreds of applications and it takes long time to view them, and they only get back to those they want to see more from. So we wait.

AND...mark the weekend of the 11-13 November in your calendars! ArtSpace8, where my studio is, is having and open studios with a group exhibition and market stalls (so I can put what I've learnt into practice), with new work on display and some product for sale. More details to come!

Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of birdies lately…and one in particular got a bit of a run. I listen to a podcast called Stupidly Big - they do a segment called 'Shiver me Tingies' : what makes you feel good in a happy friendly way like, slipping into clean sheets or hearing the sound of a champagne cork pop. I was part way through making it when, they mentioned on the podcast that someone had already make them something. So I was in two minds as to sending it to them, but in the end I did - they loved it and (with my permission) made it their avatar for Twitter. YAY!

Shiver me tingies, Hilary Cresp, 2016

Shiver me tingies, Hilary Cresp, 2016

Don't forget that you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram using the @_essayer handle or sign up for my mailing list.

Cheers and chin-chin!

Some you win…

Last weekend I had my work Unravelling in the Derinya Art and Craft Exhibition (DACE), and although it didn’t sell I did have lots of positive feedback.

After picking it up I’ve put it on one of the gallery walls attached to the studio space here in Artspace8. It looks great (even if I do say so myself) and I haven’t got tired of it.

Unravelling (1,2&3), pencil on paper, Hilary Cresp, 2016

Unravelling (1,2&3), pencil on paper, Hilary Cresp, 2016

The intricacies of doing a piece quite this large is a challenge but one I’m willing to take up and I have a lot of this on my mind so I think it will form the backbone of a new exhibition. 

At DACE we did make a purchase… Eddie Zammitt and Travis Price collaborated on a limited edition print, which ticked our fancy. It’s a beautiful image well executed by a master of the genre. I love it.

I also took down the exhibition Endless, at Frankston Art Centre (FAC). It had been up there for a while and made a few sales, which was great. The curator there was really supportive as well as being pragmatic, which is of great benefit as I am not alone in being somewhat unsure of myself, so a guiding hand is wonderful. She gave me a couple of leads which I will follow up in the coming days.

Currently, I am working on a groovy little picture book. Hopefully the magic publishing fairy sees it and loves it as much as I do… and publishes it. I haven’t got a title yet but it will be finalised in the coming weeks.

Birdie, Ink, Hilary Cresp, 2016

Birdie, Ink, Hilary Cresp, 2016

I used the little darling in a screen printing workshop with Tim Growcott, a fabulous textile artist. Held at Oak Hill Gallery, Tim showed us how to make a screen using photographic emulsion and print on a carousel. The following week he showed how to strip a screen and placement printing - but I missed that day… :(

Cheers,

On success and deadlines...

It's been an interesting month. The print put into the local art show sold! Which was unexpected and wonderful. Having no expectation of selling, and printing it for the purpose of getting ready for my own exhibition made this a bonus... and YES, I'm putting together my first solo exhibition.

The studio where I work has a gallery space attached and I've booked myself in and created a deadline. I've even told other people about it so, it is on! 

Dates are to be confirmed but regardless, everything that is to be framed needs to be completed by the end of August. eek! Only a couple of weeks away. 

If you want to be kept informed just sign up to my mailing list or follow me on twitter (@_essayer).

The works will all be about the washing. Yep, I still haven't got it out of my system. Hopefully this will purge it from me and I can approach the laundry with the same disinterest as the rest of the population. But I doubt it. The washing is always there, another load to wash, another to hang out, another to sort. It never f**king ends. You can never retire from the washing. 

Pegs though, are a fascinating bit of kit. Simple, effective, ubiquitous, useful and (dare I say it?...) essential.

Hand study : Roma i

Hand study : Roma i

Hand study : Olivia i

Hand study : Olivia i

Hand study : Rex i

Hand study : Rex i

Hand study: Rex ii

Hand study: Rex ii

AND... This week I'm the featured artist on the Illustrators Australia website. YAY!

I Got the Image in Me...

I've had an image in me, burning a hole in my brain, for quite some time and like anything, it needs to get out.

With the opportunity to prepare for a local art show in the works, I'm using it to justify sending the time on it. 

It was always going to be a lino cut. Funny how sometimes, you just know... sometimes it's clear and not right unless it's done that way. Other times of course you can puddle around for hours trying out different mediums, formats, compositions. Not this time.

I've done a small version to test out my technique and it seemed to go well so I'm looking forward to getting it finished and seeing it all.

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Melbourne Art Book Fair

Recently the Melbourne Art Book Fair was held and I went to the opening night at the NGV. It was a crowded affair with many beautiful books on display and for sale. It was a fantastic opportunity to see books from boutique and micro publishers as many of these type of publications a not held in bookstores. They're even hard to come across in independent bookstores.

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I'm still processing some of the things I saw on the night, and I might discuss the later in other posts. Needless to say though the hall looked gorgeous, we are so lucky to have this available to us... (And I bought a tote bag! I love a tote bag.)

Website

As you can probably see I've redone my website, this time with Squarespace.

I transferred the last two blog posts to this format which is why the dates on both are the same.

Using the new platform was an interesting experience. I'm not technically illiterate but still found it challenging. I think the evolution of 'help' pages in the tech space in general is continuing to be a growth area. And trying to get my .au domain to point to the right place was fiddly, but I did it!

The industry seems to want us to do it all, which I think is the way to go - we then get to have more control in our own presentation on the web, and they try very hard to make it available to a broad audience, but have yet to hit a way of cutting through. I don't know what the answer is, it would be impossible to try and cover all bases of technical proficiency and platforms... and cultural differences (even if we all spoke the same language, semantics are everything) I don't envy their task at all. 

In general though, having used a number of platforms now, this experience has been the best yet. Its clean and simple design, although not intuitive enough for me yet, is the easiest I have had to use to date.

Now that it's done though, I can concentrate on making more art!

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Mother's Day

I received an email from one of my sisters last week which took my breathe away with its simplicity and generosity of spirit. Sometimes it just takes a good idea and a bit of motivation...

St Kilda Mums is a  charitable organisation which provides help to mums who find themselves in trouble. Their project for Mother's Day is From one mother to another and your job is to make up a toiletry bag with all the essentials, send it in to them and they'll make sure a mum in need gets something she needs.

So with an open heart I built a couple and sent them off today. I shared it, like my sister, with my own friends and now they're involved too! It's not too late to  contribute, I reckon they won't even care if you're not a mum yourself and just want to help.

You can get more information from their website http://www.stkildamums.org/home/ and http://www.stkildamums.org/donate/from-one-mother-to-another or check them out on Facebook or Twitter

Thank you St Kilda Mums, you're ace!

From one mother to another

From one mother to another