In the beginning....
Since coming back home to Australia, from five years abroad, I have had the opportunity to do a lot of soul searching and have discovered my true passion. I love to 'create'.
Whatever I put my hand to, I manage quite well to create lovely things, but it was never 'it'. It just seemed out of reach.
As I relaxed and recovered my footing back in my home country, I rediscovered my spirituality which I had cast aside, and now know I am truly on my path.
Here is what I discovered. I enjoy reusing objects, either discarded or from nature and making them beautiful. I was very inspired by some art classes I took and the projects I had to complete. I actually enjoyed creating installations. Never having much to do with them previously I didn't know what they were about. Now I do..... now I am addicted!
Which materials to use?
While logging onto Facebook one night, a sad little sea creature tangled in fishing net popped up in my newsfeed. At first it made me sad, then angry. I delved into this a little deeper and saw it's a very sad and terrible tragic way to kill our sea life. The further I dug the more and more I wanted to do something. Then I came across a site called GhostNets Australia that are active in cleaning up the beach, sourcing materials from people on the ground and creating Art from the waste.
It was like an awakening for me! I want in on this too! I want to spread the message and I want to create Art that teaches. I fell in love :)
I live in a seaside town. It's fishing industry is huge. And it's use of fishing nets is well, MASSIVE. So the broken, old, even some newish looking cut off parts, is kept at the local recycling plant, or the DUMP. Mounds and mounds of it. So my lovely artistic mother and I went to the DUMP and began cutting off pieces of net, rope, and taking as much twine as we could, or that would fit in her suburu!
This stuff is hard to cut! I had a knife and mum had steel scissors. Well after a few hours we filled up her car and headed home. We had blisters on our thumbs, were red with salt burns and our hands were swollen. But my passion remained and I love looking at our first haul.
First creations
My first creations were a little disappointing, but I had to play with the materials and get to know what they do. I had to get the correct tools for the job and set up the foundations for the pieces.
I did a Squid, it looks like a brightly coloured Rastafarian lost his hat and dreads.
Then I made a starfish. Well its still not finished because I lost heart. I couldn't use the branches I had sourced because they were breaking and not extremely bendy like vine or bamboo. So with a little help from my artistic mother's know how, we went to the hardware store and bought wire, plastic ties and chicken wire mesh, and mum paid (phew). I am the epitome of a struggling artist.
Then late that night there was an advert on television for the local show. I thought 'hmm maybe I could create something for the display competitions'. So I took what little money I had, about five bucks, and went to the local opportunity shop. I wanted a face, I was thinking teddy bear, mask something along those lines. Then I spotted her, OMG she was perfect. With a huge smile on my face I bought this makeup doll thingy that kids must use to play with it's hair and paint its nails and I ripped it apart. Then my future was sealed!
