Thinking pink....

"I adore that pink! It's the navy blue of India," 

 Diana Vreeland

Detail shot of 2 pieces in the "Think Pink" show titled 
 LEFT "Tickled Pink" & RIGHT "Pink perfection"  by Sai-Wai Foo

I am taking part in "Think Pink" a group show at the Firestation Print Studio in Armadale. The theme is anything to do with pink. 

The show will be raising funds for the Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) from 22nd October to 4th November.  It is being run in partnership with the Pink Lady Art Exhibition (see link for previous blog post) The official opening is on Saturday the 27th of October from 10am to 12pm - morning tea!

I have 3 pieces in the show and again fabulous birds are the subject matter,  this time a pair of flamingos and a very over the top parrot! 

"her signature colour was pink..."by Sai-Wai Foo

I have always had a fondness for pink. To quote Shelby from Steel Magnolias  "pink is my signature colour..." It's a film that can still reduce me to a quivering sobbing heap! If you haven't seen it do there's lots of big hair, southern accents, Dolly Parton, a bleeding armadillo cake & Shirley MacLaine is awesomely grumpy.

Truvy: What are your colors, Shelby?
Shelby: My colors are "blush" and "bashful."
M'Lynn: Her colors are "pink" and pink."
Shelby: My colors are "blush" and "bashful" Mama!
M'Lynn: How precious is this weddin' gonna get, I ask you?

Love Miss Foo XXX
 

Firestation Print Studio

2 Willis Street

Armadale VIC 3143

Gallery Hours: Wednesday - Saturday 11am - 5pm or by appointment

Workshop Hours: available for booking, 365 days a year. 
Below are images of the studio & gallery space.

 

 

Mini the wonderdog wanted to have a sticky beak in the studio

 

ships and sealing wax....and a sneaky cellar door visit

I have a piece in the Yering station Sculpture prize which is part of the Yarra Valley arts programme. I have just returned from setting it up & of course I had to stop by the I  cellar door wine and produce store.....  Also I am really rather partial to the Yarra Valley Farmers' Market Held on the third Sunday of each month 

Future Market Dates

October 21st, 2012

November 18th, 2012

Open 9.00am - 2.00pm

the website http://www.yering.com is great and even has a handy driving instructions

"ships and sealing wax. of cabbages and kings" by Sai-Wai Foo

The sculpture is a balsa wood sailing ship with sandal wood cut-work sitting upon a pleated paper cabbage. All contained in a glass dome. Based one of my favourite Lewis Carroll poem. I have always been a bit partial to "the Walrus & the Carpenter" full text here. 

"ships and sealing wax. of cabbages and kings" is the resulting piece born out of a moment of panic! I have to admit this was one of those pieces that didn't come together until the last minute...again the pressure of the deadline really helped. I didn't have a clear idea of what I was doing or where it was going until the 11th hour.

I've linked the Disney clip of the poem from Alice in Wonderland & also the Kevin Smith "dogma" take on the poem's subtext. Enjoy!

 

the Disney version 

 

Matt Damon as Loki in Dogma (1999) written by Kevin Smith

Love Miss Foo XXX

 Work is on show at Yering Station from October 28 to 2 December 2012 

see below for invite or website for more details http://www.yering.com

 

Finders Keepers market & other bits and pieces!

After my visit to the Finders Keepers in April this year I was really keen to take part in their next event. So I am happy to say that I have a stall at the upcoming October market, it opens of the Friday evening & runs all day Saturday! Going from the last market it should be a busy, fun market. Here's are the links to the designer directory  and the Facebook invite 
Just a gentle reminder the when the market is on it will be just over 2 months to Christmas.... seriously it feels as like it is just getting faster & faster!! ARGH!
If you can't make this market there are always my regular retail stores see my facebook for the listing of stores that stock my work.

Also I will be taking part in Markit at Fedsquare again on 25th of November... by that stage it will be exactly on month before Christmas so the panic should really have set in eep! For both markets I will have market specials and stock exclusively for the markets so pop by & grab a bargain - it is a reward to getting your chrissy shopping done early!

Also if you are thinking about getting portrait of your fluffy creature for yourself or as a gift you can contact me on pleatybunny@gmail.com if you want a quote or have any questions.

I love working on commissioned pieces as the subjects are always really fun and I do like the reactions I get to the finished piece! 

Here's are some images of comissioned work that I have completed recently: 

"Pinot"

Pinot looking handsome!

Pinot the handsome - a commissioned portrait of a very loved and handsome Chi/Jack Russell. The brief was for a portrait with airmail collar, I think he looks rather dashing with his starched collar and his little pearl button!

"A bad bad Bunny"

"A bad bad bunny" - a commission for a birthday gift, the brief was for a sweet but bad-ass bunny who had a bit of attitude witha vintage map paper collar.

"Oliver"

"Oliver" - a gift for a fresh baby, request was for a sweet looking bunny with patterned blues

love Miss Foo XXX

Fur & Whiskers group show and new work

UPDATE: images of the opening can be viewed at my Facebook page

"The Origin of Fur and Whiskers" is a group show that I am taking part in this month. It's  looking to be a fun show with a mix of diverse work, I had a sneak peek of the show when I dropped off my work over the weekend. 

I'm submitting 2 works for this show the first is a series titled "The animal in you" made up of a group of nine portraits. Unfortunately due to the size of the gallery the full series will not be on display. I was thinking how animals are often used to describe personality traits. There are so many animal based idioms. The full series is made up of a series of a group of 9 using a shadow portrait as a base.

"animal in you series" by Sai-Wai Foo

I quite like the ambiguity of the silhouette, I did find myself imagining the types of people these were once there animal totems had been assigned to them. In there series there is a 'stubborn goat','top dog', 'show pony', 'spring chicken', 'bird brain', 'black sheep', 'curious cat', 'night owl' and a rather 'bull headed' lady.

"A Good Looking bird" by Sai-Wai Foo

The second piece is titled "A good looking bird" again playing on oft used vernacular to describe a good looking woman. The piece is an paper assemblage of an ostrich in a glass and steel housing. She is quite glamourous and fun to make with all her pleats, pearls and sequins, not to mention her lovely long eyelashes! She is housed in a steel & glass container, she kind of reminds me of the witch Mombi in Return to OZ.

Image from Return to Oz (image from http://oneofeachblog.com/tag/return-to-oz)

 
The show opens on 5th of October and is at Off the Kerb gallery founded & run by Shini an old school friend. It's really nice to renew a friendship that goes back to well let's just say quite a few years.  Shini is one half of a very talented set of twins I went to school with. They are both very talented artists in high school however did not pursue their creative careers until graduating from"sensible" degrees!  Shini made the jump to art school her sister Dhini moved to fashion; up until last year had her own label is now head designer for a fashion brand. It's great how both girls ended up in a creative field as I could not imagine either of them being very happy in "sensible" non-creative job!

Pop by the opening!
Love Miss Foo XXX

 Off the Kerb Gallery

The Origin of Fur and Whiskers

5th October - 19th October, 2012 (Opening on Friday 5th October 6-9pm)

Opening Hours are Thurs & Fri 12:30pm-6pm, Sat & Sun 12-5pm. Entry is Free.

66B Johnston St, Collingwood, 3066
9077 0174

Pink Ladies & parrots!

I'm taking part in the 5th annual "Pink Lady Art Exhibition" its a Bayside local community event that is a fund raising event for the Breast Cancer Network Australia. It's a nice way of getting my work to a different audience and more importantly supporting a good cause.

The exhibition is based around the 5 elements as a theme, as much as I love a theme I have to admit I was stuck for a bit. I decided to explore the "lady" element of the exhibition  and do something that was fun and tied in with my obsession with all things fashion.

The resulting work a flock of three fabulously coiffed and groomed parrots express their personal concerns about the elements in their own unique way. Paper assemblages made of original ink drawings are hand cut and coloured with water colour pigments, pleated vintage book papers sequins and pom poms these fine ladies are the fashionistas of the feathered kind.    

EARTH “forget taupe or beige, the only earth tone she cared about was spray tan…”

FIRE “fiery temper? Clearly they had never been in her way at a shoe sale…”

WATER  “she didn’t mind the water so long as her mascara didn’t run…”

Love Miss Foo XXX      

 

Opening: Friday October 26th 7-9pm 

Opening Preview – Entry $15 donated to Breast Cancer Network Australia!

Exhibition: Saturday October 27th & Sunday October 28th 10am-5pmFree Entry – All Weekend!

Awards Ceremony: Sunday October 28th @ 1pm

Bayside Arts & Cultural Centre (Brighton Town Hall)

cnr Wilson & Carpenter Streets, Brighton, VIC, 3186

(MEL Ref 67 F10)

tickets for the opening night preview or more information go to http://pinkladyart.com.au/

Old books, paper pleats & an artist book exhibition

** Update... the show got a write up http://melbourneartcritic.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/this-is-not-a-book-review/ thanks Mark from Black Mark.
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I have a lovely stash of vintage books which I use for my artwork. I was trying to work out how to store them as they are really quite beautiful & came across this amazing sculpture.

"Book Igloo" is an  installation titled Home by Colombian artist Miler Lagos. It's made up of lots of old books. That's it I want an igloo, I want one now.... insert foot stomp.

Here is my current storage system for books...piled on the floor & while I was trying to take a  photo the wonder dog decided she wanted to get her fluffy self in the picture.

I have been working on a piece for an artist book exhibition here are a few snapshots of my work in progress.

 

 
It uses cut & pleated book papers in book form with vintage leather used for outer binding.  I love using old books as the quality of the  paper stock  is a real pleasure to work with, it folds easily and I love the foxing and patina that the papers take on with age.

The pleating & folding is something that I have been working with for a while; shadows formed by the pleated paper remind me of fabric ruffles and petticoats.
The piece is titled "The early bird gets the words...."

To display I have made a basic book supports, I think I will be making more of these as they are quite fun to make. The Powerhouse Museum has a brilliant section on their website outlining a series of conservation techniques - here's the link to the conservation resources with step by step guides on how to make book supports amongst other conservation techniques. 

My version of the book support 

The cardboard support is covered in tailoring horse hair canvas;  it's a heavy weight woven interfacing, used in tailoring jackets in particular lapels, collar and fronts to give firm body and stability. It used to be made literally of horse and goat hair but now its normally a mix of nylon/wool and other fibres. It also has a lovely colour & texture which works with the overall look & I have an acrylic box to house the finished piece. The material is a nice link between the textile look of the book.

Work in progress

The item will be on display at Artisan Books  which specialist in a books, periodicals and exhibition catalogues relating to art, craft, design and culture; as part of the 7th Annual Artist Book Exhibition, 11th of August - 8th of September. This exhibition explores the boundaries of how a book is defined, focusing on the books as a sculptural form.

Pop in and have a look!

Love Miss Foo XXX

159 Gertrude Street
Fitzroy Victoria  3065
AUSTRALIA

Hours:

Mon-Fri: 10.00-17.30
Sat: 11.00-16.30