Ko Nina Bagley koe

I have just hopped all over cyberspace visiting some of my friends wonderful blog sites. The sun is streaming in through my completely disorganised study, the coffee is hot, the children are fed and gone, my husband is away and I have a class scheduled this afternoon. I thought I would let you all know what I am doing at art school this year but first, I need to bring you up to speed with how I got here in the first place. I want to introduce you to someone very special in my life, someone I have admired from afar, someone I have yet to meet and someone who's life and work blows my mind on all levels ...



dear dear Miss Nina Bagley. About two years ago, I became interested in 'altered' art after scrapbooking quickly got boring. I did a few local classes but there was nothing edge-y, nothing outside the standard beading and floral arrangement classes. (Bbbbbooooorrrrrriiiiiiinnnngggg. Sorry scrappers and beaders but my nature is too crazy and these crafts were toooo limited for me.) Browsing through my favourite part of the library I came upon an altered art book which featured none other than Nina's work.(pronounced Nine-Ah, not Neeenaaa, but like the number 9, which is important even if we are only reading silently, it still is pronounced in our minds properly). I have always loved books, read at least five a week and browse so many more. I love paper, textiles, thrifting, making by hand, writing and photography. Her work encapsulates all the elements I love and then some. I still love the visual stimulation that mixed media gives and where I can, I try and use 'not art product' products to produce my work. She makes the most beautiful necklaces and incorporates poignant narratives that lift each piece to another level. I must own one of these one day.

Here is a piece of Nina's recent work and below is what is stamped onto the back. You can view more of her work and life on her blog at http://ornamental.typepad.com/ or visit her online store at www.ninabagley.etsy.com. I do such a poor job of presenting her work, she is far more poetic so please do drop by her blog and check her out. She would love to come to New Zealand and teach here, so register your interest if you'd love to do that. She has a workshop coming up in Melbourne, Australia including an intensive. I would LOVE to do that.
Below are more examples of her jewellery. I love the dolls. I have one remember. I love people and words in my artwork too.

NB: For those of you who might think "you could make that yourself Rachelle", well let me tell you, that sometimes it is not just the object you purchase when you buy a piece of art but you also purchase the artists 'hand and eye and concept' that went into the creating and making of the individual piece, this is what you pay for when you buy art. We pay for the hours spent gathering materials, the originality of an item, the hours and money spent taking classes and getting training, the hours spent refining our methods and let me tell you, most artists I know probably couldn't charge their true worth because few could afford them. (I hear you loud and clear India!)

My heart is always expectant as I visit these ladies via their websites. Every day I travel to the West Island and a wee farm somewhere on that continent with a botanical alchemist, then across to the USA and the small quiet place where Nina lives and works, to peek in on her studio and see what creative object she is fashioning. Sometimes they travel, and then so do I, vicariously through their lives. Funny isn't it, I would slap you for looking into the windows of my house, but via the internet we are all voyeuristic and encourage others to do so. Well, I hope it's inspirational voyeurism anyway.

I intro'd India Flint (website: http://www.indiaflint.com/ ; blog http://prophet-of-bloom.blogspot.com/) last month. India is a fabulous source of support and inspiration as well, with her wealth of knowledge in the textile department.

I hear regularly from Sandy Webster (website: http://www.sandywebster.com/), another American artist I met last year who works with mixed media creating boxes, books and baskets (some of her wonderful work is in the book "500 baskets").

I am also surrounded by artists at school in the form of my tutors which is one of the benefits of art school. One is immediately dropped into the centre of the art world. I find out what's happening, who's who, and get to be involved in some exciting things. But visiting Nina's and India's pages this morning is almost like being invited to tea and catching up on the latest and greatest. Be it creations, thoughts, events... Well, you get the picture.

Viewing Nina's work was very much a part of the reason why I am where I am today. I wanted to create in a serious manner, to take my crafting off the back element and move it into a more central location in my life alongside my other roles. It's in my blood to create and think and live and reflect. Having had an overdeveloped sense of responsibility (which I have totally cured based on the haphazard nature of my home and life these days) for all those years meant I did not value the role of being an artist, certainly not for myself anyway. It took me a few months before I could even call myself an artist (there is still a slight cringe too sometimes). After a brief chat with the main man in my life, earning a living is not my biggest priority anymore. Well at least not yet. Suffice to say, we live a simple life, do not have a mortgage, and earn a reasonable living. And nothing worse than pressure to kill creativity.

Today I discovered http://www.felt.co.nz/ -oooo, exciting. Like www.etsy.com but based here in Aotearoa. So my goal is to sell some of my handcrafted goods, to help appease the "second income guilt" that appears from time to time; and just a plain excuse to get making smaller pieces for marketing while diminishing my stash and the 'guilt' evoked from all my art stuff lying around.

I am studying Visual Arts & Design at Whitireia Polytech in Porirua. I am in the first year of the degree course which is a total of three years full time. Being a mother is my other full time role. My big creative energy this year is reserved for three major body of work pieces for exhibition.

Last year was my first year, dipping my toes into the water (actually I threw myself into the deep end and scrambled about madly). It was crazy but helped build a foundation of skills including design, drawing, and research.

Some of the areas I want to explore this year include:

* Finish. Getting those products looking a lot more professional. Also being able to articulate my work, process and identity preferably in my own native tongue with song and protocol also moving into the centre of it all.

* Marketing - making a living as an artist. Ideas I want to explore are workshops, marketable small goods, and travel. Maybe group exhibitions from time to time, but I don't like the way galleries dictate - I don't know enough in this area though I do work in a gallery, so I guess that's what I need to find out as well.

* Te Reo Maori, tikanga and waiata. Finally my language. With Wednesday mornings and all day Friday for self-directed learning and studio-based work, I am wanting to develop my ability to communicate in my own language.

*Writing and storytelling, bookmaking.

* soft sculpture, cloth folk, and mixed media weaving. Loving the work of Danny Mansmith here. http://scrap-dannymansmith.squarespace.com/

* a series on prominant Maori figures "Villain or Hero?" including Brian Tamaki, Tame Iti, Te Whiti, Whina Cooper, and other Maori leaders who have fought for their ideals and people, and been demonised for it. Much like Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela and Ghandi - it all depends where you're standing and what you're standing for.

* the Swamp Queen (based on my great grandfathers Yugoslav heritage and his life here in New Zealand as a gumdigger in 1905) - a costume using felting and dye techniques learned from India Flint plus costume construction and deconstruction which is part of my major this year.

* Intensives with Nina and at the Aotearoa Textile Forum.

* Technology: yup, no avoiding it. Using digital media as part of the art making process. I love sound installations. At Pataka, Porirua's city art gallery, there is an exhibition currently showing that has giant photographs of people's face. They were captured using slow exposure so are slightly blurred. They represent the many faiths of the world. The artist photographed them praying and recorded them, so a slide show shifts the face and the voice of each person praying is also heard. It's evocative to say the least. Even if you are not spiritually-minded, it would be near impossible for this art work not to impact. Something intimate about faces and voices. I love taking photos and so am looking forward to learning how to manipulate images even more and the various applications of applying images to various surfaces.

My degree is a Bachelor of Visual Arts and this year I am majoring in Textiles both 2D and 3D. My tutor Deb Donnelly is great. She has a passion for textiles, a background in fashion and continues to enter shows with her wearable art designs.

My school is the local community polytechnic, not the flashest of campus (that would be Massey and Victoria University's) but it's certainly not lacking in flavour. Porirua is polynesian central in the Capital with a high percentage of Maori, Pacific Island folk - it's a melting pot for all cultures. So my school has lots of mum's, young folk who don't meet the criteria yet for university, people who do not want to be dictated to and want freedom to follow their own directions. We also have a writing school, drama and performance school including dance, a music school, architects school, and multi-media school as well as the visual arts department. We also have a strong jewellery department that is part of the art school and is led by reknowned artist Peter Dekker/ I believe Whitireia has the potential to be one of the best art schools in the country due to the diversity of its peoples and it's location in Porirua.

It's make up can be colourful. Sometimes the administration doesn't flow like it could, the staff are vague and the student body frustrated. I seriously came home with head aches and feeling depressed some days last year because frankly, it was a shambles at times. But the upside of that, is FREEDOM to develop in any direction I choose to go. That is what I try to focus on. I am so absorbent sometimes though, and part of my learning is negotiating myself through this process in the most peaceable manner I can. I am not patient but trust me, I am learning. Deb is helpful here. She has a calming nature, as do most of my colleagues.

So I look forward to posting work as it develops. I know some come here to view art works so I should be able to appease that more as time goes on this year. Just right now, life is so much more important. Balancing the kids, home, sanity and responsibilities. Who has time for art?

To dye for ... a workshop with India Flint

Okay. So I thought I had this photo thing a bit more organised. I had planned it so that all the photos would appear in order however between downloading, trying to avoid double-ups and only being able to download five photos at a time, I still ended up with my photos all over the place. Anyway, here they are random and all.

These are Deb's pieces. Deb spent a lot of her time organising the workshops but managed to pop into class, wrap a bundle or two, and her results were fantastic. Look at the colour she achieved on this piece. Remember, these are all natural results, not toxic chemicals, no special equipment, just a pot and some botanical matter (leaves). Deb is my textiles tutor during the year but she is so much more. She extends herself for us, her students, is passionate about textiles and works hard to create opportunities for us to learn. And she cares! That makes a difference in an academic setting for me, slow poke that I am. Actually that pink sample is another lovely lady's called Lyn and the flowers used to achieve this great colour were bougainvillea flowers according to India. Sorry Lyn - It's just that it read Deb's silk but I guess this was a piece of Deb's silk used by yourself to dye. I am such a muddlebrain. Forgive me. Thanks India, I stand corrected. Nothing worse than not crediting folk for their work.

Some samples of the other ladies hanging on the line to dry.

India demonstrates how to pound flowers and make prints on silk. Pansies look esp nice. India rolls a bundle with some secret ingredients inside, ties it up and pops it into a pot.
Here is the finished piece just freshly unwrapped with some of those secret ingredients. Check out the prints that are left on upper part of the fabric. The leaves are still attached at the bottom cause this has just come out fo the pot.
Dear Cleo. She is a prolific artist. Lucky she is so nice or I would feel awfully insecure around her. She just motors along and manages to achieve so much. We share everything, coffee, materials, ideas, enthusiasm, passion for handmade stuff, our lunch (yum, thanks C), ice creams, blue cheese, silk, felt, whatever. She's my buddy and I just feel so darn blessed to travel on my art journey with her. Did I also mention she is a mother of three small children and a busy supportive husband?

This is backwards and higgledy but this is a metal roasting tray with fabric soaked in salt water, a few of those rusty bolts my son and I found wandering along the railway tracks last year in Paekakariki; and some plant matter. Left to do its own thing for a few days, kept damp and voila...
A sample of my work. A bit muddy but definitely a two print of an old metal grill thingy. Also the faint markings of a red onion slice to the far left. I love these metal marks and am already working on this to develop it more. It just grabbed me, making marks this way and using old pieces of metal. Hello Trash Palace, here I come.
A sample of mine. Nuno felted merino wool and silk tissue, dyed in onion skins. Simple but I was pleased with this result.
Hiding behind my sample is Trish who is tutoring this year at TLC in Wellington doing textiles. (I would love to play more with some of these new friends. No wonder woman create art groups. She was wonderful, helpful, encouraging and highly organised. All her samples were displayed with lovely little tags containing her notes on a big display board. She sat carefully stitching and piecing her work together and was such a delight. No frenzy for her. I'm looking forward to coffee soon and taking her on a personalised tour of P-Town and all it's delights (Trash Palace included). I wish I had photos of her work, it really was something.
A close up of my felt piece.

Giant heart stones at the Waikanae River.
Seriously these were big heartstones. I never saw them until I visited Nina Bagleys blog, and now I see them everywhere. My boys sometimes collect them for me and I made a body of work with some in them last year.
This weird looking bird was so big and arresting. It looked like a vulture from afar. The picture doesn't do it justice but I just had to pull over and take it's photo. I'm guessing it's a shag of some kind. If you know, let me in on it will you. It was on the streetlight just outside the Kapiti campus.
Ok, so India introduced us to the idea of documenting our daily walks with botanic collections of windfalls. These could be collected randomly or with some pattern as one walked along. Here are some of my finds from the Nikau Palm Reserve bush walk located on the other side of the motorway from the campus. I found bark, moss, a fern frond, a something-phyte (a plant that grows on another plant, sorry Deb, can't remember what you called it) - an epiphyte says India, twigs, leaves and an old beer can I dug out of the ground. Nicely rusted up. Bundle it up, boil it, leave it, unwrap it. I don't think this particular bundle worked to well (too impatient, unwrapped everything on the first day, learned though that things are better left to do their magic over time) but I did love the idea of recording journeys this way. Will be working on this concept and developing it a bit more. Just thought it important to also inject here that we were well informed about collecting protocols, protecting native species and so forth. I loved the beer can.

One of my bundles. Look how the wool and string just soak up the colour.

Here we are. Sorry India, she was reluctant to have her picture taken but I wanted a record of my time with her so Cleo and I cajoled her to stand still and wallah! She is tall, quietly spoken, has a cheeky gleam in her eyes, and I felt honoured to spend time with her. Not easy in a room with other folk who also feel this way. I appreciated the moments we shared. She returns to Australia to a fully booked year. I hope she returns next year. I would love to take a felt workshop with her. All her clothes have her special treatment, she is visually unique being statuesque and dressed in eco-printed silk clothing. So earthy. The Maori word for guardians of the land is Kaitiaki. Having come to know India and her thoughtful and intelligent use of the lands resources, I think she is kaitiaki. Nau mai haere mai India of the West Island. You are always welcome here in this other land of yours. I love that she gets a wee tattoo every visit to Aotearoa too. And today I found out she plays the sax. Mmmm, so bohemian. My new favourite word and concept, BOHEMIAN.
Ok, I was nervous about taking her photo on the first day so sorry it aint great India but here she is in all her finery introducing us to her work samples.
Some more of India Flints samples. How privileged it was to touch her work, spend a week with her and come to understand the spirit that creates these pieces.
Here is Cleo on a botanical collection wander. She tucked up her skirt, kicked off her shoes and waded across the river to collect old red bricks that were hiding in the stream. This is what makes her lovable. Earthy.
We had to wear closed shoes for safety purposes. These are not my most comfortable walking shoes so I didn't stumble along the river bank for long but it was long enough to stumble across the most amazing amount of heart stones. I mean truly look at the size and perfect shape of this heart stone. I see these shapes everywhere now. I do love my burgundy shoes with the little strap though. $6 from the family store and they were brand new. So................. there they are, as promised, some of my pics from the week long workshop at Whitireia Summer School, Kapiti Campus with India Flint, Australian artist. India was generous and patient as twelve-fifteen women crowded around hungry to learn about dyeing with plants and esp her prized ecoprint technique for SEVEN days (Glory, did we get our moneys worth). India is not just an artist, she accurately describes herself as an alchemist. We were taught the various properties of plants, the chemistry involved using natural ingredients as mordants (salt water, vinegar, and old metal bolts to name a couple), ... (oh, mordants are what make the dye stay in the fabric so it doesn't wash out later); shibori techniques and a cool way to twine our own string using natural fabric bits and pieces. Some parts of the workshop were difficult because I am a slow learner. I need to observe, get the information then have space to absorb and experiment. I found that if I maintained a slow pace and concentrated on learning a few techniques well, then I would get through the week and feel satisfied with my own gleanings. And I did. I used to be so eager (desparate?) to learn that I would get ahead of myself but these days I work when I want, break when I want and take in what I can. I tell you, I enjoy myself a heck of a lot more too. It was a hot week, at times too hot to be standing over a pots but still the anticipation of opening all these bundles of silk, cotton and linen was like Xmas morning. I kid you not. Sighs and 'ooohs' were to be heard as ladies crowded around to see the results as the dye bundles were unravelled. I loved it. I learned that a lot of colour can come from onion skins. Wrap up an old iron bolt found when meandering along the train tracks, tuck a few bits of onion skin inside, bundle it up in a piece of silk, cotton or whatever, tie tightly with string, drop into a pot with more onion skins, boil for an hour, turn off and leave in the pot for at least a day, and wallah! Beautiful green/yellow/black one-of-a-kind fabric. Of course, I was chucking in silk thread for my sewing box, wool for knitting and anything else white I could find. Blueberries give an amazing amount of colour turning whatever purple/mauve, and raspberries go a beautiful cerise pink which just glows on silk. Since coming home, I have had a pot of onion skins on my stove constantly. It doesn't smell. Just rinse after dyeing and dry in the sunshine and no smell. Other highlights of the week included Kapiti ice cream (flavours: pavlova, lemon meringue pie, fig and date, and a berry one) plus their amazing blue cheese (mmmm, love blue cheese); skiving away one morning to hit the local op shops and finding a vintage little purse with bakelite handles and a few sewing implements tucked inside; lunch with India and Cleo under the shade of a tree on a wee hill with rockmelon, blue cheese and organic yummy brown bread (India says this particular bread can go bad and make you literally lose your mind, we ate it anyway) ... says India " about the bread.If rye grains go mouldy they generate a psychotropic chemical which can make you hallucinate and send you nuts. Only natural antidote is dairy product, which, I guess, is why Latvian cooking (loaded with rye) is also loaded with generous amounts of milk, butter and cream"; travelling with my dear art friend Cleo every morning and evening for our 40 minute drive to and from Kapiti; seeing the South Island and Kapiti Island enroute to class; the bush walk through the Nikau forest; a toast to dear Sir Ed Hilary (RIP) and my first taste of strawberry champagne (nice but I don't think I'm a champers girl esp at ten in the morning with no breakfast); and a wander along the Otaki River where I found an old piece of steel and giant heart rocks. I so wanted to bring them home but really, they were too big. So I photographed them instead. Anyway, have a lovely week ahead. I aim too keep working on sifting and sorting my art materials (honestly not fun but looking forward to the results). Ok, apopo ra. Until tomorrow ...I've noticed these postings are becoming novels but I am enjoying spilling some of the cool things that are happening in my life onto these cyberpages. I hope you enjoy reading them. Let me know by leaving a comment below (click on 'comments' just below here next to the time posted). It's nice to know who's perusing these pages and what your thoughts are.