The Creation of Dreadnought and Bert Two Not So Fierce Dragons

Dreadnought's construction took place in November 2014 during my time as Artist in Residence at Beverley Station Arts. As you will see he is made from a variety of materials...

Dreadnought takes shape:

Dreadnought gets plastered:

An plastered even more!

Now to give him a personality!

Painting is always the best bit of creating my critters, this is where they come to life, develop a personality and their story comes to light!

Dreadnought the Dragon was definitely no to be dreaded. He did not quite live up to the fiery reputation of dragons. He had never mastered the art of breathing fire, he occasionally managed a small whiff of smoke but had never been able to breathe out the long licks of flame that his grandfather Dread was famed for. Dreadnought had also failed to grwo wings or a long spikey whippy tail. In fact anyone who met him would be forgiven for thinking that Dreadnought was not really a dragon at all...

On my return to Perth I decided to create Bert... Dreadnought's father! Dreadnought is now a permanent resident of Beverley Station Arts.

Like his son, Bert is not quite the whole deal when it comes to dragon-hood. However, he is more dragonny that Dreadnought, having a long spikey tail and a pair of small wings. His wings are not big enough to allow him to fly and although the did manage to breathe fire once  it burned the inside of his nose so badly that he never tried it again...

Bert is also made from a variety of interesting materials

Bert gets plastered...

A covering of papier mache

Well and truly plastered!!

Now for the best bit!

Bert develops a personality!

Check out his beautiful iridescent wings!

More tales of Bert and Dreadnought to follow, watch this space...

The Creation of Dreadnought and Bert, not Quite Proper Dragons...

Dreadnought is a small critter created during my time as Artist in Residence at Beverley Station Arts in November 2014. as you will see he is constructed from a variety of materials...

                                     Dreadnought taking shape     

                  

  

Dreadnought gets plastered!

Beverley Station Arts Residency 15th - 30th November 2014

I am in the process of completing a two week residency at Beverley Station Arts, Beverley WA, This residency has been jointly funded by The Shire of Beverley and Beverley Station Arts. 

During my two weeks I have been running creative arts workshops with the local school kids age 8-10 years. In all over 20 kids have attended the workshops many have attended on numerous occasions. A total of ten workshops were run after school and at weekends. Attendance ranged from four to thirteen.

The works created ranged from small sculptures made from recycled materials to paintings and mixed media works. All explored the individual creativity of the participants. More boys that girls participated, which would appear to represent the gender mix in this age range in the town.

The finished works are currently on display in two of the shops in the town.

The artworks produced are imaginative, colourful and intriguing! 

Here is a selection of the participants' artworks:

The Bottle Bodies!

These pieces are constructed from plastic drinks bottles, newspaper, masking tape, polystyrene shapes and chenille sticks. The are covered with art papers collaged on with stick glue! 

These wee creatures are fun to make and each has it's own story to tell!

Jako and Rix are small alien creatures from the planet Obega Nexus in the 51st galaxy. They live a clandestine life here on Earth living in the undergrowth of suburban gardens and surviving on fruit and veggies which are similar to their native diet...

 Hobo the Crow-bow Is a cool dude, he roams the skies keeping a sharp eye for trouble below. He is a member of the Aerial Flying Squad and has a reputation for spying small alien critters lurking in the undergrowth...

Pauline the Parrot is another member of the Aerial Flying Squad she is known for her great ability to spot Zombies and being a skilled talking bird she can quickly alert her human colleagues as to their whereabouts... 

Rodney the Cheerful Zombie has had a hard time recently, Pauline the Parrot has been patrolling the skies over his hiding place in the derelict part of the old city...

Mary the Incredible Fairy, now what is her story???

Exploring Creativity at The Castle

Working with the members of the Castle Youth Centre is always a privilege the young people who frequent the centre are always enthusiastic and keen to try new things. The centre is run by Deb, Melissa and their colleagues. The Castle is a safe place where young people come for support and understanding.

I was fortunate to run two sets of workshops this year exploring creativity in the visual arts. The first series of workshops concentrated on abstract painting where the participants created their own artworks from colourful paint blotches. The resulting artworks were innovative and vibrant and expressed the ideas and inspirations of each individual.

The second series of workshops concentrated on the creation of 3D models made from polystyrene , chenille sticks and plaster bandage. Again the pieces produced were many and varied. Each participant created their own unique piece. 

Thank you Deb and Melissa!

Claremont Banner Winner!

The winner of the Claremont Banner for St Georges Terrace project is Freshwater Bay Primary School. One of the three schools I worked with during the project. Freshwater was the youngest group I worked with. They produced this beautiful colourful banner which will be reproduced and displayed on St Georges Terrace in July!