Festival Girl: July 2010

Friday, July 23, 2010

Biennale of Sydney at MCA | The Beauty Of Distance | Review Kent Monkman, Brett Graham, Angela Ellsworth

On a cloudy afternoon in Sydney, I spent my lunch hour having a gander at the 17th Biennale of Sydney at the Museum of Contemporary Arts at Circular Quay. Check out some of the snaps I got to take before I was told to stop taking pics grr. Its not really FREE art if you can't share it is it?

Kent Monkman, The Death of Adonis, 2009:

Acrylic on canvas, 182.9 x 304.8 cm. Courtesy the artist and TrépanierBaer Gallery, Calgary

I could just stare at this Artist work for hours - apart from the beautiful colonial inspired era and ode to cowboys and Indians, the artist sneaks in some modern social commentary with a slip of a Louis Vuitton hand bag or bright pink silk stockings and pumps on a Native American Indian character is just delicious.

Mariana Vassileva, Just a Play, 2009:

150 cm x 80 cm, Syntheitc Material, Courtesy DNA Berlin.

A really delicate looking piece of work that is oddly confronting considering how peaceful and playful the symbol is supposed to represent.

Angela Ellsworth, Seer Bonnets I and II, 2008:

11,448 and 16,120 pearl corsage pins, respectively, and fabric by Angela Ellsworth.

Check out this cool article on Phoenix New Times blogs on her work:

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2009/01/artist_angela_ellsworth_channe.php

Brett Graham, Mihaia, 2010:

Sculptor Brett Graham's work is made of MDF, steel, rubber tires and carved wit Maori symbols represents a number of complex historical, political and cultural ideas in the form of westernised 'weapons of mass destruction.’ The work is a near full-scale Russian BRDM-2 scout car and ironically is really appealing and its highly texturised surface almost begs the viewer to touch it.

That was all the pics I could get my hands on via my phone camera before staff told me ' the MCA doesn't allow photographs' - woopsie, all for the sake of art.

Check out the website for more details and locations, but hurry, its due to end 1st August:

http://www.biennaleofsydney.com.au/

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Festival Girl Rates: Supanova Pop Culture Expo Sydney 2010

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Festival Girl Rates: How to make Art with Fruit

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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Festival Girl Rates: Supanova 2010 Pop Culture Expo

Festival Girl Verdict: 3.5/5

I went to Supanova Pop culture Expo on 20 June Sunday. For those of you who aren't from planet Geek - this is a essentially a pop culture convention where geeks come together to share their love for popular culture such as TV shows, Amine, Manga, Comic books, superheroes and of course the geekist and funnest part - COS PLAY

Yes I know this one maybe a little out of the crafty world sphere, but none the less interesting and v fun day. I got a peek at Eliza Dushku - for those of you playing tonight, she was Faith from Buffy the vampire slayer show and now from the TV show Dollhouse.

Check out the some crazy critters I managed to capture below:

Easily one of the best costumes of the day, the girl in red made her own costume, with matching red contacts, was a beautiful siren with a deadly appeal

What an Awesome costume - how the hell is he breathing?

Awesome, very realistic ala Resident Evil crew

The girl with the fan apparently took her the course of a few months to perfect her giant fan! Over a metre in length is a fantastic effort!

Loved this girls costume, so sweet looking - although its a costume piece, this is pretty enough to wear on a night out (for the very brave)

A bit hard to see, but the girl in purple had purple contact lenses - very freaky

Absolutely Adorable - Pickachu!

This Mario was FANTASTIC in the flesh, a true geek at heart, in an ode to 8 bit Mario

Life size Bender from Futurama - Could this day get any better?

Tru Blood bottles for sale (obviously, not REAL blood) but a Energy Blood Orange version of it!

Expense:

$25 - $400 Entry (higher end price is for VIP entry)

Dammit I missed it?!

If you'd like to visit this event, it will be happening again next year June 2011 in Sydney - check the website for more info: http://www.supanova.com.au/

Similar Posts:

Festival Girl Rates: Review of Biennale of Sydney 2010

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Festival Girl Rates: Quilt and Craft Fair 2010

Monday, July 12, 2010

How to paint your own Bubushka - Free tutorial

After weeks of staring at their blank little faces and collecting dusk, I decided to start on my next crafty project. I made the set below over a weekend. Well, I didn't exactly make it from scratch, but I bought the wooden blank bubbys from a store called Bubushkas and painted the set myself. This is my second set that I have made and is much much better effort than my first, so practise makes perfect. They are so delightful and really are a nice gift for all ages.

How I did it?

Approximate time to make: 6 hours (excluding drying)

Tools:

- Acrylic paint

- White matt spray paint as base coat

- Thin paint brushes

- Pencil for outlining

- Rubber

- Gold paint for accents

- Clear gloss spray paint for final coat

- Steady hand

1) Make an even base coat using white matt spray paint - make sure these dry completely before painting over.

2) Do some research and google some pictures of bubushka designs and ideas. For my dolls, I decided to go with some pretty contrasting vintage colours with red and baby blue for the majority of the dolls, with touches of floral motifs and pretty white lace look. Now, there are a ton of different styles and designs of bubbys that are available and really is only limited by your imagination.

3) Once you've chosen a design that you would like to work with, sketch it on to some paper, to work out the body shapes and basic design - this way you avoid putting too many pencil marks which can messy when you start the painting process. Try to keep the design similar from the biggest to smallest doll, so there is continuity and a theme between them.

4) Once your happy with the basic sketch, I suggest painting starting with base colours and with the biggest portions to paint - the hood and skirt and apron and work toward the finer details as you go. Let the paint dry before continuing painting layers, as you dont want any messy lines.This way the lines stay clean, especially around the eyes. As the dolls get smaller, with a steady hand, work on painting on details such as flowers, swirls or make up for the face. The eyes and mouth are the most important features so keep it simple.

5) Add some flecks of gold for a decorative rich feel, it adds a subtle dimension to your dolls.

6) Once your dolls are painted and dried, add a final coat of clear spray paint to lacquer the dolls. This way the paint doesn't chick and smug easily and makes them last longer when people pick up and play with them.