Ecology of Paint

Ecology of Paint 1.2  Helen Reynolds

A series of paintings I am developing - called an Ecology Of Paint. A process of following the unconscious marks made while in the act of painting generates new subjects for further paintings.

Leaf Pod

c 2014 Helen Reynolds - Leaf Pod

Wiping Smears

I have been working through smearing as a process, and it has felt inevitable to address smearing as something that needs to be wiped away - an action that is so much part of my life. Here is the video that is part of my smearing research.

DROPs #1,2,3,4 at Shapeshifter

c2014 Helen Reynolds
DROP #1, DROP #2, DROP #3, DROP #4

Shapeshifter is open, and the DROPs are spinning and reflecting just under the bridge of the wee creek on the site. Open until March 16th (2014)

Cinema (cover)

c2013 Helen Reynolds

I loved working on the cover image for a new book of poems, Cinema, by Helen Rickerby.
Publisher Makaro Press has describes the book:

The poems in Helen Rickerby's Cinema look at the personal through the lenes of a camera and the world of cinema through the unfiltered eye. Meet the boy who learns to kiss from action movies, the girl made up of symbols and the director with the aesthetic of a sniper on the roof.

The fascinating part of doing the research for this image was looking at the changing gaze of women with powerful positions in the film industry - startlingly direct and challenging in the seventies, composed in the nineties and currently tending towards indirect and turned inward.

Fancy your own quality print of this? Jump over to Pledgeme and offer a donation (you might need to email the publisher - the address is at the bottom of the page). Lots of other lovely things to choose from there too.

Collecting DROPS

DROPS collecting on my work table
c2014 Helen Reynolds

My studio is terribly glittery at the moment, as the layers and layers of the 4 DROPS build up.

DROP #2 (in progress)

DROP #2 (work in progress)
c Helen  Reynolds 2014

I have been submerged into the computer for too long over this piece! But physical progress at last. This is half of DROP #2, a group of four drops I am getting ready for Shapeshifter

The Eastbourne Fruit Shop

c2013 Helen Reynolds

I have had fun doing some illustration for Eastbourne: an anthology. Eastbourne seems to have been filled with a huge number of brilliant and talented authors.

Twisting Glass

photo: Keith Grinter

Glass is such a beautiful material, and I have always dreamed of working with it. So here are the results of my first attempt! Keith Grinter gave a great two day workshop.

Christmas Cards

It has taken ages to find the right size envelopes for my Christmas cards, Emergent Snowflake. But now everything is ready just in time and these cool cards are available at my Etsy shop Outputdevice.

instruments

c2013 Helen Reynolds

an instrument doodle

Smoothing #1

c2013 Helen Reynolds

The broken finger means working simply; this week smoothing paint out one-handedly on paper and cutting out the sensual shapes

Encaustic Test #19

c2013 Helen Reynolds
Encaustic Test #19

The encaustic tests are slowly finding their own voice - but I have just broken my finger! Work will be slow for a while.

DROPS

c2013 Helen Reynolds

Just found out my proposal for these DROPS have been accepted for the next Shapeshifter exhibition!

Encaustic Test #12

c2013 Helen Reynods

Art is beautiful but it is hard

Encaustic Tests

c2013 Helen Reynolds
Encaustic Tests

playing around with encaustics, still figuring out what they can do. lots of  fun!

drop

c2013 Helen Reynolds

I am working on a laser cut sculpture of a drop of water this week - the multi colours help me keep the many different layers to cut in their right order while I work on it.

Studio Still Life #5

c2013 Helen Reynolds
Studio Still Life #5

A little pot of blue ink.

Studio Still Life #4

c2013 Helen Reynolds
Studio Still Life #4

A green plastic bowl that Louise was using for glue

studio still life #2

Studio Still Life #2    
c2013 Helen Reynolds

I have been going to a weekly workshop run by the excellent Marcel Baaijens, where artists with and without intellectual disabilities work at their art together. It is a wonderful creative environment (see a video where Marcel discusses the class here).

For reasons I am not yet sure about, I am loving painting still lives in the studio there - objects stained with dyes, nearing the end of their temporary lives, set on off-cuts of other people's cast off drawings.

Encaustic Leaf

c2013 Helen Reynolds

i have just started working with encaustics - beeswax mixed with damar resin. what a fascinating medium, there is so much you can do with it. i am working out how to do lots of new things. the soft, skinlike texture and translucency work beautifully in this leaf

Motu #1

c2013 Helen Reynolds

This is on cardboard - I meant it to go into a frame (all formal) but it looks much better propped up on the mantelpiece with all the other bits of art around it

Wet Collection #1

c2013 Helen Reynolds

Ponoko Article

Ponoko, the  innovative company where I have been getting my laser cutting done has posted a lovely article about my work here.

Paraparaumu Market

c2013 Helen Reynolds

Went sketching with the Wellington Sketchers at Paraparaumu this week.
Looking forward to the Worldwide Sketchcrawl on July the 13th

c2013 Helen Reynolds

Another drawing from the Auckland Art Gallery drop-in drawing day. This is the beautiful Venus italica by Antonio Canova

Apollo

Apollo

On a quick visit to Auckland I felt very lucky to be there for one of the Auckland Art Galleries Drop-In Drawing sessions. What a great programme! We were drawing in the Temples for the Gods exhibition and this is a sketch of Apollo by William Theed.

Black Petals

c2013 Helen Reynolds

Winter for White Cloud Black Mist

c 2013 John Wakeling

c 2013 John Wakeling

I was amazed when the Waitakaruru Aboretum suggested they could continue displaying White Cloud Black Mist over winter. During installation, the work had seemed so fragile and ephemeral I was anxious that it could blow away all too easily. So I popped up to visit and it has lasted really well - a few bits of rubbish have blown off, but most are still attached.