The Otago Art Society demonstration week is always a great experience. Some artists join for a few days, others for the full week of chatting, laughing and getting a bit of work done.
As most of us work alone in our studios, kitchen bench or spare room that has been taken over for the cause, it’s nice to share ideas with other artists and visitors. It’s always fascinating finding out how other artists make their work, their ideas about art and even more practical discussions around sourcing materials, framing and printing.
Some artist’s work I had been admiring for years but hadn’t met, so it was great to put a face to the work.
Demo week underway.
There was a bit of reshuffling as artists came and went. I moved from a wall space to space in the middle of the room, my wall-hung pieces can be displayed flat, so I left the wall space for artists with paintings.
The gallery was alive with chatter as we all got to know each other better. As proof that artists spend their time working hard and not out frolicking in nature or whatever else people think artists do, I discovered most of us suffer from some sort of upper back problems.
The result - a roomful of artists sharing their favorite stretches looking more like an exercise class than an artist demo, with a side helping of massage.
Haven’t needed it yet, but I ever damage my quads while making art, I’ll know how to stretch it out!
To balance out the stretches and exercises there was some yummy baking brought in. Scones, muffins, cakes and pikelets and cream, all the good stuff necessary for better artmaking.
This year we had artist talks as well. We all supported each other’s talks which took away the worry of putting on a talk and no-one turning up, it also made it a little less scary as we had already been chatting to each other.
A group of artists make a really good audience, as most already have an understanding in general of materials and how their own artwork is constructed, there are some really insightful questions. It’s great practice to talk about your art to a group of friends who understand the basics and are genuinely interested in the process and thinking behind it.
I find it fascinating how other artists work and the backstories - wow! When some of these wonderful people started sharing their histories I was spellbound as normally you get to know someone in a very limited context, a small slice of their life.
Artist talk - great fun
Sunday afternoon was pack down time, everyone chipping in to put things away. I lugged all my stuff inside to unpack later, tired but happy.
