January PlantBank Residency & Workshop.

Arriving at the Australian Botanic Gardens at Mt Annan in SW Sydney this week on Monday afternoon, January 4th I was amazed to see how green it was & stopped by the lake on the drive in to take some photos!

It had rained most of the day but I took photos of two different Casuarina Species that I noticed on my last visit when one of them was flowering.

Casuarina

On the road into Plantbank at the ABG Mt Annan

I was delighted to be back at ‪#PlantBank‬ catching up with people back early from Xmas Holidays... rather quiet compared to usual but very pleasant for settling in, finding studio space to set up and seeing where projects are at here at Plantbank.

Below are Seedpods collected in the Whitsundays by Australian Botanic Gardens Mt Annan Director John Siemon last year.

I took loads of photos of them on the first evening & drew them last night! Have been wanting to find these pods for ages.

From Wiki:

Entada rheedii, commonly known as the African Dream Herb or Snuff Box Sea Bean, and as the Cacoon Vine in Jamaica, is a large woody liana or climber. Their seeds have a thick and durable seed coat which allows them to survive lengthy periods of immersion in seawater.

Match Box Seedpods collected in the Whitsunday Islands, Qld
by ABG Director, John Siemon.

Matchbox Seedpod

Below: capturing Match box seedpods with quink ink in my 'new' studio.

First a quick journal drawing ... had to use the 60 cm x 22 cm journal to fit in these pods 50 cm pods ... wanted to capture the form by tracing! They're designed for tracing!

60 cm x 22 cm journal

The second version is slower in execution having thought through what I'm after.

Journal on left and work on paper on right.

After taking loads of photos  of the Matchbox Seedpod at ‪#‎Plantbank I worked on Digitalart interpretations like this one below.

Digital art.

Art the moment I am also preparing for the 3 DAY Workshop from January 16 - 18 here next week.

A few have chosen the option of doing a ONE-DAY only workshop and others are travelling from as far as Western Australian & Canberra. I'm really looking forward to running this workshop & one here also in March during the Exhibition I'm holding of my artwork.

Bookings for Plantbank Workshops are though my ONLINE STORE: 

http://seedartlabstudio.bigcartel.com/products

2015 Artwork

Some artwork from 2015 at a glance.

And from Instagram the BestNine Images from 2015 at my gallery, as voted by the number of likes per image: https://www.instagram.com/sophiemunns/

Wishing you all a wonderful 2016! 

Sophie x

October 3 : FANDANGO Mark-making to music workshop... Tweed River Gallery

October 3 is the date of a wonderful all-day workshop I'm thrilled to be offering in collaboration with Marilyn Reeman at the stunning Tweed River Gallery and Margaret Olley Arts Centre in Northern NSW. 

When Marilyn, whom I knew through The Sabbatical Home on Instagram, contacted me with the idea for FANDANGO which was a workshop focusing on the use of ambient and varied forms of music as a prompt for mark-making I was delighted given its a process I've used in my workshops (going back rather a long way) to start each session.     

10 years spent learning Piano growing up, & being from a musical clan (of singers in particular), has long influenced my art-making ... so it wasn't hard to see how this could make a wonderful collaborative workshop and get others enthused.

Marilyn has designed the morning of music to free participants up to really enjoy mark-making and for the afternoon I will step up & introduce the Seed Story with a collection of seeds and pods to give further focus for the mark-making... for making experimental and free organic drawings with these wonderful seed forms for inspiration.

Anyone interest in more information or making a booking PLEASE NB that full payment is required to have a place in this workshop ... first in first served!

BOOKINGS + further INFO:

marilynreeman@gmail.com

Please note:

NO bookings will be taken by 

Tweed Regional Gallery.

BOOK SOON ~ Avoid disappointment!

Click on this Flyer to read a larger version.

when:     Saturday, October 3^rd 2015  10 am - 4pm

where:   Frances Mills Education Workshop

        Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre

           2 Mistral Road, Murwillumbah 2484

what :       Join us for a wonderful day-long Workshop being guided by

                 Marilyn Reeman, Nature inspired artist, textile designer & teacher

                 & Sophie Munns, visual artist & facilitator ~ Homage to the Seed

In the morning Marilyn will introduce you to the extraordinary way music can evoke & guide your mark-making... the atmosphere from sound and rhythm spilling onto your page with your hand moving in response to deep listening. Within minutes those who’ve never experienced this process before will begin to relax, to unwind and to find what comes when the emphasis shifts from careful copying of what you see in the world to literally drawing from within your own being and finding the magic of rhythm, texture and energy in your lines tumbling onto the page.

During the afternoon Sophie will bring some of nature’s remarkable seed pod forms to your attention and you will continue to work with free mark-making approaches to make lively ‘drawings’ based on the wonderful world of seeds as your starting point.... using all your senses to capture the spirit of one of nature’s most potent symbols... in homage to the Seed!

Materials provided. Cost: $125 for the day + Lunch ~ byo or enjoy the Gallery Cafe. 

NB: Online links for facilitators:

  Marilyn Reeman’s artworks & Instagram Gallery,
            
  Sophie Munns on Instagram

We'd love to hear from you if you wish to know more.

Cheers,

Sophie & Marilyn!

PLANTBANK WORKSHOP SYDNEY MAY 2015

WORKSHOPS + NEW WORKS

Hello to wanderers who happen to pass this often neglected spot in the blogosphere.

After a period of slowing down to recover from a winter virus followed by a week of tech glitches I'm happy to say things are moving again. 

I've given new life to the ONLINE STORE I set up earlier this year called SeedArtLabStudio at Big Cartel.

One of the New Prints available in two sizes UNFRAMED

When adding these to the Store I divided the artworks into related series... one lot are seed photos, most are digital altered artworks and photos that are highly layered and 'hybridised' images. I've often painted in that manner over 2 decades so it was an interesting extension of my work.

Online Store: http://seedartlabstudio.bigcartel.com

The other work I've been pursing of late is planning and running workshops. With the development of the Seeds through An Artist's Lens workshop for PLANTBANK in May Ive been able to run this at SeedArtLab Studio which is at my Brisbane home plus begin to make plans to offer it at other venues.

Michelle Auer

The two images, above and below, are from last week's Studio Workshop. Michelle and Debbie were returning from the previous month to add another day to their new experience of exploring Seeds visually. Michelle brought this Hand-bound Journal she had made using pages from our previous class... that was incredible to look through and I really loved the idea of using pages from a specific time in a new book.

Deb below surprised us with a huge stack of Photos she has taken on theme... nature, leaves, seeds, bark and so on. Stunning! I was incredibly thrilled to see how beautifully she captures her subject and the flow through of thematic material. She had described herself as a beginner so it was fantastic to see the strength of her aesthetic awareness. She was able to reference some imagery in her tasks that day.

Deb Davison

It has been an interesting process working out how to schedule home Studio workshops seamlessly, without chewing up too much time & focus. I slowly hit apon the idea of going away from the studio to run bigger workshops in venues for other organisations for the most part... then being able to work at home with small groups, only on demand, rather than doing that highly constant scheduling, like clock-work, once a week ... go, go, go. The result has been brilliant. Small groups... 2 to 4 people... plenty or room and time to get to know each other. Artistically it is actually really fulfilling for me in this set-up as I can join in, pull things out to look at I've been working on plus generally bring a more alive energy to the studio without the pressure of constant grind...............................................................

Speaking of other venues ... I'm returning to Sydney in September for another PLANTBANK Workshop at the Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan.

I've put a map up here... its been very confusing for some as to where this Botanic Garden is. It is sometimes mixed up with the National Australian Botanic Gardens in Canberra... understandably.  

Sydney has three gardens... one in the City overlooking the Harbour, Opera House etc, near the Domain. It was established early on in the settlement of the City.

Mt Tomah is at the Blue Mountains due west of the city and is a spectacular day trip for being in that location.

Mt Annan is virtually on the Hume Hwy, the link between Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne...and close to the very early established Agricultural region for Sydney at Camden. The grounds of this Botanic Garden are huge and contain all Australian Flora. 

Plantbank was opened on the grounds in 2013 although its actually housing 30+ yr old NSW Seed Conservation projects. One can get here by car or train/bus... although due to the extensive grounds a vehicle sure helps.

I made the notes below for my Instagram posting last night:

SYDNEY Mid Sept ... who'd like to muse on seeds in Australia's most exciting #biodiversityhotspot contained in a NEW architecturally awarded facility known as #Plantbank at the @australianbg in south west Sydney???. Leave your contact deets/email here so I can send INFO... One day only is possible if you have a long drive & can't stay nearby. Bring a friend or bring yourself for a totally unique opportunity that will likely blow your mind & leave you with so much to think about! Definitely an OPPORTUNITY that will speak to both BEGINNER dabblers with the curiousity to learn much more and ESTABLISHED/seasoned creatives keen to respond to something very exciting and timely that is central to future challenges and #needtoknowagendas! Text your email to 0430599344 if that's best for you!

You can check out the FB event site here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1475346906115018/
at the FB page of Australian Botanic Gardens Mt Annan.

Images from Plantbank residencies:

Melaleuca globifera

Waratah seeds and pods - Floral Emblem of NSW

X-ray seeds

In fact anyone who would like to know more can write/text & also follow my Instagram feed which keeps posted on such things + updates very regularly.

A recent blog post about the workshops can be read here!

Cheers all!

Sophie

New Video + Seed Survey + Workshop = busy times at Seed.Art.Lab

Hi again,

      It's Sam,

I'm here for another exciting work day with Sophie after a very long road trip holiday over Xmas and the New year. 

My second time coming back to work has been just as eventful as my first last week. Unusually, last week we got together on Saturday because both of our personal commitments during the week had as running around like mad people. We decided to just run a work shop where we kind of did our own thing. We started off with sepia ink, painting with twigs and experimenting with different textures using seeds. 

All day Saturday I had a creature of some sort bouncing around my head so I let it out. I was quick to grab some water colours and some of Sophie's white ink. I could not of been happier with the end result. The picture below lets you have an exclusive sneak peak into the making of my creature and what happens when Sophie and I are working in the studio. Next to it is another one of my creature known as a 'Wispa'.

Sophie and I  were hard at work creating last week! An enjoyable 
peaceful time where we could both relax after our busy weeks.  

To see more of my artwork you can click on to  My Tumblr OR if  you are interested in any of my work feel free to email me here  and if you'd like updates on what i'm up to, you're welcome to like my facebook page.

We started  work today with a much needed staff meeting in a very creative and quirky cafe called the Shutter + Brew.

Sophie had fun distorting the picture to emphasise how quirky and unique this cafe really is!

Sophie and I talked about our survey that we set up late 2013.  Unfortunately we were very distracted with holidays and my being away so now we are back there is ONE WEEK to go before we will draw the prize. 

ENTER HERE to fill out the SURVEY FORM which will be sent to us with your answers and email address.

The Survey is really worth while ... and all results will be a great help in establishing understanding what people know about seeds  and current issues ... a very useful thing for the work of the Homage to the Seed project.

Just by filling in a few questions for us, you could win an original artwork by Sophie. You even have a chance to be in the running for the same prize if you share her new video! Enter Survey here.

I also want to tell you about the WORKSHOP Sophie has coming up on Wednesday 29th January. 

Because this workshop has not been publicised but arranged quickly to suit keen participants... we can offer a LAST MINUTE truly special price of $100 if you confirm HERE NOW and pay on booking ... there's two seats left at $100 each... normally $130 for a whole day starting at 10am.


DAY:   Wednesday, 29th February

TIME: 10 am til 4.30 pm

WHERE: 48 Meemar St, Chermside, Brisbane

WHAT YOU NEED: bring lunch to share ... morning + afternoon tea provided.

                                   Art materials provided + you can bring your favourite art mediums   

                                   + art journal/drawing book if you have one in progress.

FOCUS FOR WORKSHOP: 

Choose and research a favourite rainforest plant/fruit/seed pod ... ask Sophie re this!

You will spend the morning exploring various printing, drawing and painting techniques using any or all parts of the plant as the subject matter. 

In the afternoon you will work with these exciting approaches and ideas to produce a concertina style artist's book made from fine watercolour paper. 

Concertina book created by Barbara at 3 x 90 minute workshops I conducted
during a mini-Residency at Springbrook in December : Read more here.
Barbara had not created anything like this before. 25 yrs since leaving school
where she had not experienced being encouraged artistically. It was really
impressive seeing her observation shills out to good use... art classes would
could easily bring considerable satisfaction if she decides to continue on.

The work will then be documented onto a NEW Tumblr site celebrating seed and plant biodiversity...  for the purpose of building a body of colourful, informative work based on Australian plant species that can be shared with others. It will be important to know or discover the botanical name of the species you plan to work with... there are many places you can get information online if you are unsure about this. There are 2 Mac computers available for doing research in the studio.

Several participants booked in already have some work experience in the Botanical realm... not necessarily with art-making however. This  class is for anyone interested in learning more  ... no previous experience is necessary but of course is welcomed too!

journal pages from Springbrook

There is one last thing to share... 

Sophie has just had a VIDEO produced by the Global Crop Diversity Trust which was released this week. 

It takes 3 minutes to watch and is a survey of her various artworks with an audio recording of her work on Seeds and Biodiversity. She wrote all about this at her STUDIO blog here.

              To WATCH click on this U-TUBE link here:
    HOMAGE TO THE SEED, THE CROP TRUST AND ARTIST SOPHIE MUNNS


Anyone who shares this video for Sophie will go into a draw to win one of her recent watercolour works... so please leave a message here or email us if you share this online anywhere so you can be in the draw for FEBRUARY 1ST!

NB: SURVEY + VIDEO SHARE prize
is a water-colour work from this series!

Have a good week everyone and I hope to talk to you all soon!

Sam

Bookings NOW open at this table...

I have spent nights lying in bed over the years yearning about the cafe I would open. I practiced on everyone I knew...especially in my Melbourne years where quality food was both abundant and affordable through brilliant markets.

Instead ... now I have tables pushed together in my studio, waiting for any of you who can come and join workshops, or events, or just share a coffee.

TWO SPACES LEFT THIS SUNDAY.... PLUS MONDAY'S 5 WEEK COURSE HAS ONE SEAT STILL AVAILABLE.

SO of course I cooked my class a delicious soup last sunday .... the recipe found through a heavenly blogger at My New Roots hanging out in Denmark these days. Maybe I'll be too busy to make the recipes of my dreams but I will always search out good artisan bread and have delicious fresh things on hand for my Homage to the seed workshops.

Go over to the post I just wrote for a longer story.... and see what friend Marilena brought me for a belated birthday visit... might have to make one of her recipes and try out one of her spice mixes on a recipe for the class this sunday. Another friend Karen popped in the previous week with treats that I forgot to photograph... spoilt I was!

Because Wendy, who's hand this is below, saw my Dorothy Caldwell Post about the May workshop I attended she asked to make  a book in the afternoon at Sunday's workshop. Whilst others keep painting and printing and testing ideas Wendy prepared the large watercolour paper  for the book she made to take home and work on. SHe is currently studying art and has been pursing all kinds of thingS in that context... so it is sure to be used!

As a lover of artists books I was totally up for this afternoon extension. Workshopers are asked to bring visual diaries to work in anyway! I like to promote ongoing work for everyone...not just those who are dedicated already...and a visual journal is therefore crucial!

More images soon.. have been so busy painting...but not taking shots!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Winter Workshops start this weekend @Percolator Gallery in Brisbane

Come in out of the cold (yes its even been cold here in Brisbane this winter!) and delve into some new ideas... 

Kicking off this Sunday at the new studio... there are dates available for anyone wanting a place in the workshops. The 5 week course has been filling up with two places left now... so be sure to email or call  07 3262 4296 for more info and dates.

colour reverie...

In the last month or two time for painting has been slim due to competing factors. Rather than not paint at all I took all pressure away from the valuable time I did find for paint ...  suspending need for outcomes  instead I was led purely by feeling my way through some nebulous interior space. 

Ever sensitive to the pull of the inner it was such a delicious breathing out after last year's haste and deadlines. This way of painting I am much more at home with... even though it's not a good match for the contemporary notion of "getting on with it". Too many exterior demands and motivations kill painting for me ... I really do prefer to give the ideas time to surface... and I need to work repetatively with impulses to make them part of my vocabulary or language... a way has to be found into the rhythm that works ... quite simply.

What I present here then is some of the contents from this most uncontructed time ... essential reveries in certain colour realms.

 close-up section

painting on a humble canvas board 25 x 25 cm

the next are a series on 20 x 20 cm canvas boards... 

These are also on canvas boards below - 20 x 20 cm. They were started however about a year ago when I sat and painted stripes on these boards as a kind of meditation... they were simply colour exercises on the one hand...in another way they were wordless colour poems. I often work with colour in this way... putting down colour stories that I need to inhabit ... like being in a certain kind of room for a while!

These striped boards I pulled out the other night very late and proceeded to add the layers of oval forms ...like capsules with the spaces in which to glimpse what exists beyond.

Here I've returned to another preoccupation ... painting with a syringe which of course, if you've tried it, is absolutely frantic... the paint tends to come out so quickly and haphazardly that it's an effort indeed to control the flow of paint... Its taking me rather a long time to even work out what I think of this technique... what I might do with it.

close-up of work with 2 layers of line work. Try clicking to see more closely the effect.

I became rather engaged in the colours of this work ... a different direction to what I generally work with.

untitled  60 x 60 cm  acrylic and ink on linen

Below are two works in a similar vein ... meditating on seeds ...

breaking the surface up with this horizontil line ... an impulse

that is purely intinctive.

Untitled  40x 40 cm acrylic and ink on paper on canvas

Untitled, 60 x 60 cm - pigmented ink and acrylic on linen

The last one a canvas 120 cm x 40 cm ... pure whimsy... unfinished ... unresolved ...awkward ... the colours speaking to my uncomprehending mind asking for attention. Really... it was enough just to put down what I had and walk away... leave it for later when maybe it will speak to me. Its definitely still in its gawky adolescent stage!

The camera works ... the downloading mechanism is quite mystifying though... Ive not figured it out properly at all. Not to worry ... Im just glad that I got this far ... loaded up some work. Yeah! Its late... gotta go! Before I do... talking about colour. I have workshops coming up soon which I have written about at the other blogs and put on the sidebar to link you to the details if you'd like to know more.

Visit the homage blog here to read about it!

Ciao,

Enjoy the weekend you all! Its a long weekend here. Driving up the mountain Sunday... with my camera!