Innehållsförteckning för Issue 7 från Creative Artist

In this bold, colourful celebration of modern Indian textiles, Unfolding showcases an exquisite array of handcrafted textiles that stunningly reimagine traditional techniques within a contemporary context. Curated by WA artist Maggie Baxter, who has had an intimate connection with Indian textile makers for 25 years, this exhibition features handmade, finely-crafted saris, superb uncut cloth and street wear by 24 contemporary Indian designers. “It’s a really exciting time for textiles in India because designers continue to use ancient crafts that are deeply rooted in many of the villages. It could be embroidery, block printing or weaving – what they’re doing now is looking at it within a much more global context,” said Baxter. From intricately handmade textiles to digitally printed saris that repurpose traditional cultural motifs and the chic incorporation of…

In classical painting everything that’s there is there for a reason, a code to be read and understood by the viewer, a way of layering a work with meaning through a shared knowledge of symbols and their context. Shells for instance in religious still life painting can mean a number of things, from the Virgin Mary to pilgrimages, to saints or in secular works, sensuality and carnal desires. McGlennon layers his works with code, they aren’t passive, they invite scrutiny, decoding and engagement as the viewer discovers that both the foreground and the distant landscape are not just washes of colour but rich in absorbing detail. It is often said that in our post-post-post-modern times that all we have left in art is irony, that “truth” is a vague cloud…

I am a watercolour artist living in Somerset, England. I started my career working in forged steel sculpture, but this line of work became pretty impractical with two small children in tow, so I started to look for something that fitted in a little better around family life. I had no formal training in painting, although drawing had always been a large part of the preliminary work for my sculpture, and I have always loved drawing since childhood. I didn’t have a clue what to do with paint so I dabbled with acrylics and oils, but when I tried watercolour I knew there was no going back. I didn’t want my paintings to feel static and solid and found that working with watercolour gave me a lot of freedom artistically,…

I was born in Leicestershire, England. I followed the norm and studied art and music at college. After my studies I took up a career in finance. However, throughout a successful career I always felt unfulfilled. Two years ago I came to the end of a contractual role and I followed my instincts to draw. It had been twenty years since I picked up a pencil. The passion was stronger than ever. I could never draw in my spare time; it had to be all or nothing. I give 100 per cent in every piece I produce. For me it’s all consuming. It was a natural step and the right time in my life to undertake a course of full time study of fine art at degree level at Winchester…

When I was first introduced to soft pastels I remember thinking “I don't want to paint impressionistic, 'big stroke' pieces of art”. That's pretty much what I thought pastels would produce. There's nothing wrong with that either, it's just not the way I wanted to go. I had no idea that you could create intricate detail with pastels simply because I actually knew nothing about them. Someone showed me pastel paintings by certain wildlife artists and they literally blew me away. This was a new beginning for my art because I really didn't understand how to make a brush work and so I needed something that I could relate to. Oil, acrylic and water colour painters amaze me because what they can do is alien to me, but I understand…

A major international exhibition featuring two of the most significant artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries – Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei – will open at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne, in December 2015, and The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, in June 2016. Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei, developed by the NGV and The Warhol, with the participation of Ai Weiwei, will explore the significant influence of these two exemplary artists on modern and contemporary life, focussing on the parallels, intersections and points of difference between the two artists’ practices. Surveying the scope of both artists’ careers, the exhibition at the NGV will present more than 300 works, including major new commissions, immersive installations and a wide representation of paintings, sculpture, film, photography, publishing and social media.…

MATERIALS • Arches Aquarelle hot pressed watercolour paper: 140lb (300gsm)• Brushes: various makes: Nos. 00 - 8• Daler Rowney Watercolour Paints:• Cadmium Yellow• French Aquamarine Blue• Quinacridone Magenta• Alizarin Crimson• Sepia• Yellow Ochre• Indigo• Burnt Sienna• HB pencil and rubber Step One Lightly sketch in your composition with an HB pencil, drawing in all of the detail that you want. Mix your paints so that you have your main colour mixes: Quinacridone Magenta and Alizarin Crimson for the pink mixture and Cadmium Yellow and French Ultramarine for the green areas. Start by wetting different areas and applying varying intensity washes throughout your image. Then define any dark edges using a much thicker paint mix, adding a touch of Indigo to the basic paint mixture to darken it. I tend to work all over the painting at once, but you can choose to…

MATERIALS • 2B and 9B pencils• Graphite powder• Mechanical eraser• Putty eraser• Tortillon• Bristol paper (or any paper of similar quality and smoothness of texture)• Cotton wool• Camera A self-portrait is a challenging subject. This is how I have approached it: I work from one or maybe more photographs. To get the level of detail in the work a photograph is the ideal tool to record the facts. It also means the subject hasn’t got to sit still for hours on end. Copyright laws allow the use of another person’s image if it is just for practice. However, this is a complex area and I am no expert. I would advise that if the work is to be sold it is best to have permission from the original artist. Step One Determine the scale you prefer to work…

Like many artists before me, life has been interesting to say the least. I have countless stories to tell of humour and horror, blessings and failures. But through everything, for me there has been one constant and one thing I have always had faith in – Art. From as early as I can remember, I was drawing Renaissance ladies in gowns, long and flowing, fragile fingers and arms; their womanly beauty and magical auras saturated my little mind and imagination. As I was growing up, my mother, who passed 22 years ago, painted with china paints until the early hours, and the smell of the turps and linseed would drift into my room as I slept … it was a beautiful smell. It meant that mum was creating a new…

I started drawing when I was seven years old. It came naturally to me while other children my age seemed to struggle with it. Creating works of art gave me great joy. When I was 13 years old I was asked to give a live drawing demonstration inside a local shopping mall. I was overjoyed when a crowd gathered around me and I was able to show everyone what I could do. I went on to study formally and I obtained a Diploma of Commercial Art in 1988. With this, I ran my own business as a commercial artist in Margaret River, WA, for a number of years while developing my painting skills in my spare time. After moving to Queensland I set my sights on just painting and working…

From 18 September 2015 until 7 February 2016, the NGV’s Ian Potter Centre will feature the Rigg Design Prize, which celebrates the most interesting objects and furniture designs being achieved in Australia today. Showcasing seven of Australia’s leading contemporary designers, each artist will present a body of work in seven dedicated spaces. This thought-provoking and inspirational exhibition celebrates the designers, their process and practice creating objects of beauty, skill and meaning. The shortlisted designers for the 2015 Rigg Design Prize include: • Adam Goodrum (NSW)• Brodie Neill (TAS)• Daniel Emma (SA)• Kate Rohde (VIC)• Khai Liew (SA)• Korban Flaubert (NSW)• Koskela (NSW) in collaboration with the weavers of Elcho Island Arts (NT) The triennial prize, the highest accolade for contemporary design in Australia, awards $30,000 to an Australian contemporary designer displaying outstanding creative achievements in design production.…

Nestled alongside the harbour at Sydney’s iconic beach suburb of Manly you’ll find this cultural hub, which began in 1930 after Manly Council supported the idea of a gallery as a cultural focus for the area. Passionate committed citizens, including artists, historians, and politicians, were the driving force behind the gradual development of the collection into a gallery. Manly Art Gallery & Museum (MAG&M) was the first metropolitan-based regional gallery in NSW, and is one of 40 public galleries in the state. Manly Council and the MAG&M Society fund the ongoing acquisitions and conservation program of its significant and valuable art, ceramics, photography and beach objects collections. Manly Council owns more than 1,300 paintings which depict the life of Manly since the early 1800s through lithographs and drawings, right up…

MATERIALS • Faber Castell Polychromos pencils• 1 x Caran D’Ache luminance white pencil• Pencil sharpener• Canson Mi -Teintes black paper• White Gouache paint,• Fine paint brush• Soft brush to sweep paper of pencil crumbs• Eraser• Workable spray fixative For this demonstration, I have chosen a beautiful photo of a gorgeous nineteen year old cat called Mochko. I took the photo when he was enjoying the last rays of sunshine for the day. He is old and has health issues, and so this portrait is now treasured by his human, and will remain in his collection as a memory of his best friend. This is one of the most beautiful things that we can offer as artists - to immortalise our fur family, and people. There is a natural flow that you will find in your style ... no style…

I was travelling around Armidale, NSW on an early morning in July when I stopped a few times and took a few quick photos. From this I formed the composition and chose all cool colours and one warm one for the painting. Step One After a sketch, the painting started with a very thin wash of colours to cover the canvas, then I was wiping out some paint washes and correcting the painting to get the composition to sit. Note that the tree to the right was wiped out and moved as well as moving the main focal point tree down the painting. Step Two When the wash is dry I paint back over the sky with the foliage in the background to keep it cool and cold, and then…