horsehairy photos

There's been a change of plan. I still have the MECHANICAL EQUITANT and will have it for a while yet; I'm taking the photo for the catalogue now. Actually i've taken it. Many of them, i'm sending a CD full and that's just the good ones.
It's taken me quite a while to get pictures i'm reasonably happy with; details are easy enough but along with close-ups i was asked to send pictures of the whole thing. Partly that is a challenge because i lack the space, but also has to do with technicalities associated with not having quite the right equipment, and i won't bore you with those. But eventually things worked out okay, i think. Though only after rather a lot of trial and error, and the purchase of a big roll of paper (which i'd wanted anyway) and 500 watt halogens (very cheap) and a second visit to bunnings to get a replacement globe cos i must have accidentally touched one of the globes which you can't touch.



The lights came only after hauling all the gear (camera, tripod, sculpture, giant paper roll etc) in the rain down to project artspace (it was maintenance week) and building a wall of plinths that was really rather dangerous. And then rebuilding it, and then a flat battery.

I confess i'm a bit of a 'pixel peeper,' it really gives me a thrill to be able to zoom in on a photo that's really clear and sharp. I've been doing an awful lot of peeping in the past few days.

I think part of the problem was that i've had photography done for a catalogue before, in a photography studio by a professional photographer. And those photos are so good!! Very close to perfect, i reckon. Proper equipment, studio, and most importantly expertise and experience makes a huge difference. The quality of my photos doesn't really even approach those, but i think they'll do. I hope. Maybe i'm too fussy. But these photos actually look pretty sharp when viewed at 100% which is about a metre tall (vertical orientation). Or at least a lot of them do, at least on-screen. Previously i've had trouble getting that when it comes to pictures of big stuff, so it feels like a real accomplishment. Of course it's likely that no-one else will notice....

So these are some of the pictures, though i've sent many more than this. Easier that way.




It has been a real learning experience, i'm all set for next time! As long as it's not summer - i don't think i could bear the 1500 watts of heat.

stitched assemblage

stitched assemblage on canvas, originally uploaded by me-jade.

This is cardboard, handmade paper, paperbark and mixed media handstitched on a canvas stretcher, it needs a bit more stitching on the bits not in the picture.

the Underlay and the Overplay

from 'variations on the underlay and the overplay', originally uploaded by me-jade.

some more bits from 'Variations on the Underlay and the Overplay'

soft scissors

from 'the underlay and the overplay', originally uploaded by me-jade.

This little piece is from a suite of constructions called 'Variations on the Underlay and the Overplay.'

It sort of illustrates my aforementioned interest in making hard things soft. The scissors (in the upper frame bit) are tranformed into a little cushion sort of thing, their destructive/ constructive powers become comforting....or perhaps negated.

The piece that hangs down is also a quilted drawing on fabric....a drawing of a piece of surgical equipment, used for anaesthetizing. So it is something that prevents discomfort.

in the collection of the Wollongong City Gallery.

double bind?

round the double bind, originally uploaded by me-jade.

I came across a strange thing the other day whilst googling myself to see if SPECTRESCOPE came up (it didn’t). On the second page I came across a ‘result’…. somebody elses blog…so of course I have a look, and find a picture of an artwork that had won me the Meroogal Womens Art Prize last year, ‘Round the Double Bind.’ (illustrated above) This in itself was not especially strange, the prize is run by the Historic Houses Trust of N.S.W and the piece is now in their collection, so it is easy to find a picture of it on the net.

What was strange was that it was that the blogger was a Christian man from Nashville (his blog is WonderDawg); his blog had nothing to do with art, the post my work was illustrating was titled ‘Double Binds of Men’ and was about mens issues in relation to the Church. I imagine he had googled ‘double bind’ and lo and behold, found a picture to illustrate his blog! It is a little ironic as it won a womens art prize and I am certainly not religious in any way, shape or form! He has acknowledged me as the artist and given it the correct title, so I will not complain ….it was just such a strange thing to find! And coming from what is, to me, such a far-flung kinda place.

I suppose he never expected that I might come across it…I suppose he will never read this, but then again....i came across his post, so you never know.
I have a habit of linking odd things together myself, as any readers of spectrescope would probably realise, so it seems only fitting, I suppose, that this strange linking has occurred with my work, despite me!

spectrescope 2

spectrescope, originally uploaded by me-jade.

Spectrescope from a different angle.