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The 2 vintage boxes above grabbed me today and got me thinking…. I found them on one of my trips to France in a little old messy antique/secondhand corner shop in Asnieres sur Seine. I kept them as an item I thought I would eventually sell in my vintage shop Ateliernostagi
Now, I find them too precious to let go of. Instead I’ve decided to use them in a future art project.
Look at those marks….
Life is too short to hold onto precious things and pack them away into boxes and cupboards. Waiting for the perfect time to use them or, pass onto family and friends, who really aren’t as interested in them as you are.
Enjoy and use them while your still here!
To me, they look like some sort of storage box that may have held wooden or metal letter stamps. Maybe a hold for jewelers burs, or counters…
What do you think they might have been used for?
Latest News!
At the beginning of 2022, I was approached by an interior design studio from Sydney, who asked if I would be interested in creating some artworks for a hotel refurbishment in Melbourne. It sounded like a good project and I was up for the challenge. Now, after many months of negotiations and studio visits I can finally begin creating the artworks. Over the next few months, I will create several large scale mixed media & textile artworks for the lobby and penthouse of the hotel. There will be lots of rust, mark making and stitch.
My first bit of creating for the New Year. I’ve been wanting to do some textile sculpture for years. I usually make sculpture with hard materials, like wood, metal and found objects. Working with textiles, I want to continue my story of hard and soft. I like the harsh coldness of metal and soft and subtle of textiles. Total opposites. A few years ago I did a series of sculptures made from concrete with embedded indigo and rust dyed textiles into the pieces.
This bundle of eco dyed textiles will be used with rusted metals and found objects to create, free hanging sculpture installations for a future exhibition.
You can see some more about my art and creative process @ instagram
The first layers of textiles were rust dyed then, paint and ink used freely to create marks and colour. Then I used gum leaves, weeds, agapanthus flowers, saltbush and more rusted metal on the following textiles.
If you are wanting to learn how to eco dye and make textile sculpture. This course from Fiber Arts Take Two is amazing. Creating with Courage is an online course by Clarissa Callesen who is a sculptor and installation artist based in the USA The course is based on creativity and exploration. Centred around found objects and recycled textiles you’ll create fabric forms that are pieced together to make your own fibre sculpture.
I created 4 more pages today in my little cloth book. Adding to this little book bit by bit each day, while in isolation.
Inside the little textile book I have been making from my previous post.
I hope you are well and safe at home if you are in a lockdown situation still. I’ve been finding it difficult to create with all that is going on, but I have managed to add to this little book bit by bit each day so far.
Hope everyone stays safe and finds some inspiration and snippets of time to create in these strange times💜🌻❤️
Too hot to go to the studio today (43 C – 110 F) so I’m working in the house studio. Messing up the the large table, workbench, I just painted for Xmas dinner. It will now become stained and marked until, I paint it for the next event, or next lot of visitors.
Making collage with vintage and rust papers.
The process of tearing and pasting helps me to slow down and be in the moment. Something I need right now after the rush of appointments and Christmas.
I’m using lots of old paper and pages from antique French magazines disintegrated from age and torn from the long trip back in my luggage, from Paris.
So, I have been using them in my mixed media and collage projects.
On one trip to France I bought home a heap of middle eastern cake papers. I think they were $1 a pack. So I got a mix of colours. They are great for adding pattern and texture.
The inside of window envelopes have great patterns for collage. I often use envelopes to make little books and peepholes in the book pages.
Collages finished today.
Collage 1. Delivery
Collage 2. The Carriers
Collage 3. Mardlarking. Thames.
Collage 4. Salvage
Recently, a very kind lady donated her mothers doilies to me, for my next textile, art project. Though I have found it hard, rusting and burying this lot, I was re-assured that her mother would be happy to know they were given to someone who would give them a new life.
I’ts been perfect weather lately for rusting and burying.
After a good soak with white vinegar I wrap some with wire.
Mostly, I just lay the the cloth under a slabs of metal sheets, left over from my studio build then stack on top of one another.
I like to get them all dirty by burying them and stacking a heaver tray and rocks on top. I leave them there from 24 hrs. or, many months until I get the look I’m after.
4 weeks underground. Final unveiling just before dunking in a sink of water and bicarb soda, to stop rusting process.
This piece really excites me with the intense rust and black marks.
Such gorgeous delicate lace work crochet in this doily.
Rust n dirt with tiny black marks and colourful hand embroidery.
Rust with the contrast of beautiful hand embroidery peeking through.
A lovely bundle of vintage rust material ready to go for new projects.
I’ve spent the past week working on a new series of paintings. A parcel arrived in the post with big tubes of colour, I hadn’t used before. What could be more motivating to get me back in the studio, than, new art supplies, especially after weeks of medical and physio appointments getting in the way.
I didn’t want to open them and make dents in the big chunky tubes. When I finally did, it was quite confronting, to play with colour I knew nothing about. I took the plunge, slapped it on, moved it about, without thinking too much. Enjoying the colour, texture and flow of the paint. The process, I knew would take care of itself. I just had to be present, stand back, look and go back into it.
Quickly, I came up with the first layer which I was very happy with. Of course, I went back in with more layer’s wanting further depth and richness.
I now, look back at the photos, taken at the start of the process and maybe, I lost the freshness, freedom and flow of the marks I had at the start. Maybe, I didn’t need to go any further…
I believe sometimes, the essence of the story is at the beginning and “nothing else” is needed to tell it.
Back to the studio to play more, or leave alone.
A small selection of artworks available from my studio. To see the artworks below and more, please go to the Art section in the menu on the left.
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For postage outside of Australia please request a quote. Please contact me info@outlook8studio.com prior to purchase with your address and I will quote you the extra cost for shipping to your location.
It’s a chilly weekend in Melbourne, hope you are all keeping warm xox
If your heading into the Healesville area over the next couple of weeks. Check out Healesville’s newest art gallery and arts hub.
YAVA Art Gallery & Arts Hub was recently created by Yarra Valley Arts members so artists/community can show their their work, attend workshops, talks and more…
A very contemporary modern space for artists with plenty of wall space for solo exhibitions too.
Why not come up have a browse of the latest exhibition, grab a coffee or wine and sit out on the gallery balcony overlooking the beautiful township of Healesville.
Latest Exhibition.
Artists in show:
Jenny Davis
Jerry Osadczuk
Christine Caferella-Pearce
David Miller
Cathie Berry
Bev Hardidge
Ernst Fries
Agnes Szetey
Amanda Ruck
252A Maroondah Highway
Healesville, VIC, 3777
Gallery Opening Hours:
Mon: 11 am – 5pm
Tues: Closed
Wed – Sun: 11am – 5pm
T: +613 5906 1149
E: info@yava.org.au
Exploring objects and textiles is keeping me away from painting in the studio at the moment, but that’s ok, because I’m not just a painter…..
Today, I have been working with time and nature but, now it’s too hot to do anything much, as the temp in the valley has reached 39 Celsius and getting hotter.
I get torn between contemporary and lush, extravagant. Old bones, textiles, rusted wires, watch faces, bits of stick with moss , vintage cosmetic bottles and handmade French influenced, embellishments are on my bench.
Memories and feelings keep flooding back from my times spent in France. Especially touched by Versailles palace and other places in Europe and England. Old history feeds my creativity.
Old rusted wire and found textiles are twisted and sewn with gold threads and remind me of couture and Versailles decadent history.
Formed into fragments that will probably be part of something else.
This one looks like a weird kind of bird.
I’ve also had the de-clutter bug lately so its feels liberating to use up stuff Ive been hoarding for ever.
To all my family, friends and followers. I wish you all a very “Happy & Joyful Christmas”
May the the “New Year” ahead bring you happiness, kindness, peace and good health with plenty of creativity. To those struggling, may your healing journey be short and you find your inner harmony, peace & renewed physical health swiftly. Jenny Davis 2018.
Update 2018! Since writing this recipe in 2014, Ive been using this homemade Gesso recipe, for 14 years now and haven’t had an issue, with ageing, layers coming apart, seepage, changes in colour etc. on any of my artworks. I use it with both oil and acrylic paints. I also seal my papers with it when, making books, sewing on paper, paper for collage, painting with paint, inks etc. As to the quality, I find the homemade isn’t as white, but just as good quality, as professional artists Gesso. I also use store bought gesso too, if I’ve run out and for convenience. My version is more gritty, than store bought, but if you sandpaper in between coats, I find it’s not an issue. For me, this recipe is just as good as, the store bought and if you use archival PVA/Elmers glue, it will make it all the more stable, for longevity.
I love Gesso paint and use heaps of it in my work. It’s gritty, chalky and can be applied to artwork to give a translucent or opaque look. It’s also very expensive so I decided to make my own.
Gesso is used for many things such as a primer for canvas or on paper to give a good base for painting, drawing or mixed media work. When making collage I use it as a gluing medium to stick on papers, in-between, painting and drawing layers.
The recipe below makes 2 litres of Gesso paint
( If not using straight away, this Gesso will last approx. 4-6 weeks)
Homemade Gesso
PLASTER MIX
1 cup Plaster of Paris or fine white plaster powder
1 cup of PVA or white glue (archival if available)
1 cup hot water
PAINT
3 cups white acrylic paint
UTENSILS
Container, cup and mixing stick or spoon
RATIO: 1-3
Plaster Mix 1 – Acrylic paint 3
Method
To make the plaster mix. Add the plaster to the hot water and stir ( Safety purposes: always add the plaster powder to the liquid, not liquid to plaster, as it will blow up into your face and always wear a dust mask)
Dust Mask
“Plaster of Paris” and cup
Hot water and mix
Next add the PVA or white glue, stir.
Finally add the white acrylic paint and mix. ( I used some acrylic powder paint I had and made it up with water) You can use any kind of acrylic paint or colour .
Result
I was very happy with the result. The gesso is translucent with the gritty bits I like. You can also do several layers of gesso to give a more opaque appearance. It covered my canvas very well with only 1 coat. When adding more than 1 coat you can sand in- between to give a really smooth surface for detailed work .
2 litres of Gesso
Gesso on stretched canvas
Gesso on paper
© 2014 – 2018, Jenny Davis. All rights reserved.
I grew up in a “make do and mend” family, where nothing much was thrown away and would be mended or, re-purposed into something else, therefore, many of my textile pieces are hand- made, created from antique & vintage sourced materials and may include, discarded, abandoned, found objects. I have been working with textiles all my life. My mother was a dressmaker and as a child, I would collect the fabric scraps and make wall hangings and soft sculpture.
“TurkRedghost” series
Sometimes the antique textiles I work with, seem to yell at me, but mostly, they lay silent, as I make my own marks alongside, others gone before. Ragged bits, old and new stitching, tracing marks left behind on old textiles are a reminder, of a time when women, had many obligations and few choices. I feel comfortable, as I stitch, tear, dye and reinforce the fragmented pieces. Somehow, I hope, in a small way, by reclaiming and reworking the textiles, I can give a voice to those women.
TurkRedghost 1
TurkRedghost 4
TurkRedghost 3
TurkRedghost 2
After exhibition blues has hit! I’m all painted out at the moment, but still enjoying some textile pieces Ive been playing around with for a while now. Looks like some old photos and found objects will make their way into the project too. Please see “Spaces Below” exhibition details in the sidebar on the right.
Ragged bits , old and new stitching, tracing the marks left behind on, 120 yr old textiles.
Memories and ghosts from the 1800s, remind me, as I work, of a time when women had many obligations and few choices.
A time when, women were completely controlled by their fathers, brothers and male relatives and their sole purpose in life was to find a husband, reproduce and then spend the rest of their lives serving him.
If you were to break free, you would be crucified, ridiculed and seen as “not normal, insane, bullied and tossed aside.
The textiles from the 120 year old quilt toppers I work with, sometimes, seem to yell at me, but mostly, they lay silent, as I make my own marks alongside others gone before.
I feel comfortable, as I stitch, tear, dye and reinforce the fragmented pieces.
Somehow, I hope, in a small way, by reclaiming and reworking the textiles, I can give a voice to those women.
Just like in my own life, when I was powerless, art gave me a voice to express myself, where once I had none.
JENNY DAVIS — SPACES BELOW
Wallmatter, Oil paint on canvas, 140 x 180 cm
‘Spaces Below’ is a visual and textural descent into the abandoned, the derelict, the vacant and the forgotten. Through her utilisation of forlorn industrial structures, stained and crumbling walls, acts of graffiti, redundant signage, and portals giving access to meandering subterranean systems, Jenny Davis evokes a unique vision at once spare and lavish, material and ghostly. It is a vision that elevates the significance of random marks, stress fractures and other imperfections, while enfolding the viewer in an atmosphere of chromatically gentle and strangely opulent decay. The abstractions that haunt these works are investigations of the many traces that run like hieroglyphs and riddles across the surface of neglected structures.
Davis’s subterranean life began in childhood. Drawn to ‘small spaces’ where she wouldn’t be disturbed, she would play in drainpipes, on vacant industrial sites and in newly constructed buildings, often working discarded materials into makeshift furniture and decorative objects. After an arts residency in Barcelona in 2005 and a visit to France in 2006, Davis steered her arts practice toward spaces reminiscent of those early childhood memories. In researching and documenting understructures, abandoned buildings and marks left behind in the built environment, she found ‘beauty in decay, random marks, aerial perspectives, graffiti and weathered surfaces’. Ever attuned to the narrative and oneiric possibilities of timeworn surfaces, Davis’s latest exhibition creates an altogether seductive immateriality from abrasive mediums such as cement, iron and rust.
Davis’s practice spans twenty-five years and encompasses painting, sculpture, drawing, collage, photography, book arts, textiles, installation‚ video‚ sound and virtual worlds. Her artwork has been exhibited in Australia, Germany, France, Spain, the UK and the US and is represented in numerous private and public collections. She has received awards and residencies both nationally and internationally, and her digital artworks have been projected onto buildings in Times Square, New York and in 2017 at The Venice Biennale 57. “La Biennale di Venezia” in Italy. Davis currently works from her studio in the Yarra Valley region of Victoria, Australia. By DR. Ewen Jarvis 2018
Wallmatter 5, Acrylic, shellac, pigment, sealer on canvas, 122 x 92 cm
For more information please contact
Dr Ewen Jarvis
Curator
Yering Station Art Gallery
38 Melba Highway
Yarra Glen Vic 3775
P + 61 3 9730 0100
M + 0400 894 646
My next exhibition,”Spaces Below” is an installation of new & older paintings, linking to found, instantaneous marks, surfaces and fragments. Subconscious notes and messages, snatched from urban and rustic environments when passing through. Also includes, a series of framed images, shot in the city and outer suburbs of Paris, France.
(Please see details of “Spaces Below” exhibition in the sidebar)
I’m still amused and amazed, how one little idea can consume, inspire and provide enough fodder, leading to many forms of expression.
Seasons Greetings to you all from Outlook8studio and all best wishes for a peaceful 2018. Many thanks for all your support over the years !
When I first started painting, the thought of stretching my own canvas was frightening, but after a few attempts of stretching a canvas it came to me automatically. I was able to make canvases for half the price of store bought ones. Also, stretching your own canvas can trigger off the beginning of the creation through the hands on process of doing it yourself. Hope this helps.
Materials and equipment
Pre- made stretcher frame/ or self-made
Canvas material cut 10cm approx larger than your stretcher frame
Canvas staple gun
How to Stretch a Canvas
Lay your canvas on a flat surface wrong side up then lay your stretcher right side down on top of canvas. Pull the sides of your canvas up and round to the top of the stretcher.
DIAGRAM 1 Secure the 4 points with staples or tacks to create a diamond shaped wrinkle in the canvas. Check diagonals and adjust the stretcher for squareness before going further.
DIAGRAM 2– Secure the canvas to the stretcher with staples approx. every 6 cm. around the edge, working from the center points outwards. Pulling the canvas as you go. Continue working out to the corners in this pattern. Do not overstretch the canvas. When applying tension, the canvas pliers should not be forced to pull the canvas in place. The tension of course will become greater as you work towards the corners.
FOLD– the corners under; as neatly as you can, leaving no exposed tab that maybe caught and damaged. Staple or tack excess canvas that wraps around to the back of the frame.
HINT– Once finished and your canvas and is not as tight as you would like, fill a small spray bottle with luke-warm water and spray the canvas on the back. Once dry your canvas will be as tight as a drum. Happy painting!
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