Solo exhibition coming up in May.

Have penciled in a 5 day solo exhibition in the last week of May 2015, at the new basement gallery in Barrack Street, Perth. More details coming soon.

 

Link to video 'Janet Pfeiffer Artist' 2015

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153011069587420

Exhibition Invite to Swan Valley

Whats going on in the studio today?

Today was a good day in the studio. It is always difficult to get out of the house with one thing and another that needs to be done. The two things that always hold me up are things I need to do on the computer and housework - never-ending and it continually sucks up time I need to spend in the studio.

Perth is horribly hot and muggy with 30 degree heat and thunder storms.

Anyway, enough of the excuses, I got there, and thats the main point!

Currently I am working on a number of canvases, moving from one to the other allowing for drying time and to avoid overworking an image. I am re-working an image of insect-nibbled -gum-leaves which are on a large canvas by using pastels over the acrylic paint to boost the colors, then spraying with fixative to fix the chalk-like soft pastels in place. Next I want to out-line each leaf with a fine point 'Sharpie' pen for more emphasis. It is close to being finished.

I have applied the gold-leaf to the King's Crown on my 'King of Kings' artwork. Not shown in this picture as this was taken beforehand. The edges of the gold leaf are very ratty even though I tried to create clean straight edges! Next I will need to bring the explosion of color right behind the crown to finish it off. I want it to look like an explosion of colored fireworks going off! This artwork is part of a series that was inspired by a live concert of 'Handel's Messiah' which I reluctantly went to see as I was given free tickets...it was overwhelmingly amazing!

I have another joint exhibition coming up in March. Today I played around with abstract shapes and lines on a number of small 12" x 12" canvases. The firey reds and yellows were inspired by a friend who dropped by the studio to chill out and do some painting with me.  I decided to create a set of four. I enjoyed the bold shapes and solid colour blocks with a hint of the underpainting peeping through. These paintings have a primal feel to them. showing here is the first one. I will try and remember to photograph the others tomorrow as a set.

It's Been a While!

Hello, I am back...by great demand! No not really. You never really know who cares whether you write a blog or not, but I am back because I am determined to get this whole blog-facebook-website thing happening in unison.

Where did those last 6 months go? Regular updates of my studio work have been regularly posted on my FaceBook business page 'Janet Pfeiffer Artist' and I keep in touch with friends and family on the FaceBook 'Janet Pfeiffer' page including sharing of quotes, words of wisdom and things that make me laugh. 

Art Market outside Roasting Warehouse, Fremantle Dec 20th 2014.

I've managed to keep my website reasonably updated and am currently trying to work out how to insert a slide show of my artwork. Meanwhile there are text msgs and of course the never ending trail of interesting emails from groups all over the world. Oh! And Linked-another of those valuable networking tools. Considering I loathe sitting at a computer for hours I'm not doing too bad a job!

Anyway, life happens and you realise that family, children, health and friends actually do matter most and following closly behind is your job, home, car etc and then the rest of the stuff of life fits in where it can.

This year as I start to think about where I am with my work and where I want to go, I can see that the stream of creating artwork and the other stream of art and healing that I am passionate about are starting to come together more...sort of.

At the moment I am cleaning out my art studio. I am discovering loads of dead moths and cobwebs along with dried up paints and mediums! I'm making sure everything is at my finger-tips to create the works that I am currently thinking about and planning. ( a possible series on Handals Messiah) Also clearing a space for students, and I am pulling out all my works and asking myself, what I can group together for a small solo exhibition in local restaurant, home, salon, my garage, wherever I can? I have done this in the past but not for a while. I'm asking, what best represents what I am now trying to communicate?

"Wild Blooms" 

Encaustic Art by JPfeiffer

Alongside this I am going into my second year of study for an advanced diploma in transpersonal art therapy. I hope to combine this healing work with my InterPlay Leading and expressive art. Currently I'm practicing on my friends for free, so if you want get in touch with your creative self, call me!

I am going to try and keep this blog going as well as my Facebook business page. Apologies to my readers for being out of the loop, but sometimes it is a lot to get my head around. I have so much more to say but I will leave it here for now and fill you in with more as we go. If you are a follower, let me know and share any insights and ideas you have. I would love to hear from you!

It actually does feel really good to have made a start again Yaay! :)

    

Facing the Business (busy-ness?) of Making Art

Starting a Mixed Media Mentorship 4 week on-line workshop with instructor Lisa Cyr. 

Been wanting to do this course for a number of years now and I think it is time.

This online workshop is for artists that are looking to create a professional portfolio of work. The instructor will work one-on-one with artists, refining their skills to create professional works for the fine and commercial art marketplace. In addition, discussions regarding personal outlook, growth and development will help each attendee to explore and expand upon their own creative process as well as establish successful business goals for the long term.

 http://www.artistsnetworkuniversity.com/courses/mixed-media-mentorship

Next Encaustic (hot bees wax) Workshop

Encaustic #2 Workshop

Thursday 21st August 2:30 - 5:30pm

Robertson Park Studio

176 Fitzgerald Street

Perth

Using collage/photos/fabric

Pouring wax and pouring shapes

Using and iron to fuse and smooth wax

Masking straight lines

Masking off shapes with tape

Cost: $65 workshop - includes all materials. Just bring an apron.

Limited to 4 people

To secure your places, payment can be made as a net bank transfer:

For bank details email janetpfeiffer@mac.com

Our last Encaustic Workshop in July got off to a great start with 5 participants who had the opportunity to become familiar with the safety, properties and experience of painting with wax. They created some beautiful and inspiring work by simply exploring playfully with the materials provided, as a no stress introduction to the medium!

Images to be added soon!

Encaustic Workshop Soon!

One more thing I forgot! I will be away mid July so I'm planning to have an encaustic (hot wax) workshop for 4 people only. If you are interested and any of these dates and times below are suited to you, then please let me know ASAP and we'll make it happens!

Cost: $65 first workshop - includes all materials. Just bring an apron and a snack!

(Follow up classes will be $45 and you BYO materials)

Limited to 4 people per workshop 

Robertson Park Studio

176 Fitzgerald Street

Perth

In this Encaustic workshop for beginners we will be discussing how you can set up an inexpensive and safe environment to get started at home. We will practice several ways to apply the melted bees wax and I will introduce you to some of the 'special effects' and how to add other media to the wax including colour. You will have plenty of time to experiment with the materials provided and explore your own ideas. Please bring small sheets of cut up cardboard or off cuts of wood to practice on. If we all work small to start with, we can practice lots of different techniques without using up the wax too quickly. Any rigid surface is good as long as it is porous for the wax to adhere to. Size 6"x 6"" or less.

https://www.facebook.com/janetpfeifferartist

More on Facebook than blog for now!

Since breaking my foot after Open Day at Robertson Park I have not been able to drive to the studio. I have not even picked up a paintbrush! I had to cancel a number of competitions I was in the process of working towards. I'm thankful I didn't get the AIR at the hospital otherwise I would have let them down. For now I am focusing on my Art Therapy Study and planning my next InterPlay session for another professional development day ( youth care school chaplains) which can all be done at home while resting my foot.

Currently I am communicating most of my news through my Facebook page

You can now look me up on

https://www.facebook.com/janetpfeifferartist

Open Studio in the month of Mad May!

This month has been and still is... insane! ! I will have to catch up with blogging next month. Have lots of news but no time to tell you!  Meanwhile getting studio ready for my first open day at Robertson Park. Would love to see you there!

Come along this Sunday 25th May and see what we get up to behind closed doors! You might like to buy some art, book a class, and have a cup of tea and a chat with the artists. Bring a friend or two. We are situated in a lovely park next to the tennis courts, where you can go for a Sunday afternoon stroll, if it isn't raining :)

                  

Following Sunday is the 'Ducks for Depression' auction at Houghton Winery so pop that in your diary also if you have a space. We want to raise all the money we can for mental health research, especially as there are so many suffering and needing support.

Home Again

Oh dear, you should see my table in my studio at Rob Park now that I have arrived back in Perth and emptied my car.... or rather, you should not see it! There is a mountain of art materials and tools in bags and boxes and baskets piled up to the roof!

I couldn't face unpacking it all today so I stayed home and finished off my Art Therapy homework and also some preparation for an InterPlay workshop I am leading for a Spiritual Directors Professional Development Day on 16th May. I am really looking forward to this opportunity. It will go from 9 - 3:30 pm and will include 4 x 45 min sessions. 

After my struggle in the Beverley studio the other day, I had to surrender to the fact that the polyptych is now back to a diptych with the focus being on the last two panels only. It took me a while to realise but the message came through loud and clear once I let go of what I thought was a great idea. I'll get back to work on these last two panels as soon as I can find my table again!

At the Rob Park studio's the four of us artists are preparing to open our studio's up to the public on the 25th May 2014. One of the artists, Sarah is organising the advertising. We will each do a letter box drop of a 100 odd invites, tidy up our spaces and make them 'public friendly', and get our current artworks and works in progress out on display and priced. Hopefully we will all sell some artwork or gain some students. It will be my first official open day with Rob Park and I am looking forward to it. 

One of those damn disappointing days...artistically speaking.

When you have an unsuccessful day, hop into bed at 6pm and write your blog!

I don't know what it was about today but everything I put my hand to didn't work the way I had hoped.

I just wasted materials and messed up my studio. One of those days where I would have been better off doing something practical like cleaning up the house,  washing or maybe some gardening but no...I was determined to make some progress on a project and the more I pushed the worse things got and the more depressed I felt.

It was a strange day all round. The Beverley bush band were playing country music on the Beverley Platform outside my kitchen window. It was pretty good, when they sang in tune. They must have arrived late morning to set up while I was in the studio playing a frustrating game with myself which I call 'paint on-paint off!' I hate this game because I always loose! Anyway I don't know where the time went. I thought I had better put the Open Gallery sign out on the road as it must have gone 11am. When I looked at the town clock it was 2.15!

I was out of sorts all day. Partly because I have to pack every thing up tomorrow. This is when it is not a good to be a mixed media artist. You have everything but the kitchen sink to pack up including all the extra bits of junk I've picked up while I have been here. This is a list that I made of everything I'm using right now.

So, although I was trying to put in a good days work before I packed everything up, it just didn't happen or maybe there was a lot happening, I just didn't see the results today. I know I spent way too long pondering artists work that I really admire. I have to admit I get so jealous! Linda Vachon is my latest favourite. The collages layers and mystery in her work mesmerizes me. Here are just a few. I'm making a collection of them on my Pinterest.

  

I'm also a little anxious about waiting to hear back from the PMH to see if my application has been successful. Supposed to have been selecting on May 2nd but I'm guessing it would take a few weeks for them to go through the applications and ring referees etc. It would have been good just to know if they have received it at least.

So, all round a damn disappointing day, but I have food clothing and shelter.....but....but....?

My First Cold Wax Artwork!

The worse thing about this residency is I have to leave:(  in a few days I'll be packing up all my art materials, more than I came with I suspect, and heading back home. I have been flat out on this residency and the time has flown by. I truly feel as though I have only been here 1 week. My head is spinning with ideas!

This afternoon I noticed I had bought from a jar of cold wax that I had made up myself from bees wax and 'zest' solvent, which is made with oranges rather than using turps which makes me feel sick when I smell it. Last time I attempted to work with cold wax I couldn't get used to working with large quantities of the oil paint, which is mixed with the cold wax. Not being able to wash up with soap and water was a pain too. So I steered clear of it and focused on the encaustic, which is hot wax that is painted on in layers and fused with a heat gun and dries instantly. Then you rub in oil paint colours.

                                                 

                                                  

                                                       'At the station'          JPfeiffer 

                                                     cold wax on ply wood 60 x 50 cm

Anyway, I didn't think I had bought the jar with me so I was surprised to see it sitting their on the shelf calling me! So I grabbed a board, mixed up blue oil paint into the wax 50/50 and started spreading a thin layer. It was rather gluggy and difficult to spread but I persevered. I decided my palette knives and scrapers were to small for the job so I went across the road to the hardware store and picked up some cement spreaders. I bought some special cleaning fluid ( orange based again ) to clean the coloured wax off my hands and tools so that I could apply the next colour. It's soooo messy! I went through a roll of paper towel too! After I'd added a few more colours I applied the white and some more mark making and I'm sort of happy with it. In fact I'm very happy with it considering I had limited choice of colors to use. I will probably tidy it up a bit in the morning but I definitely want to do some more cold wax work when I get back to Perth.

Have you ever tried to out-stare a sheep??

All the stubble in the wheat fields has been burnt off now and the land has gone from golden to charcoal. Tinges of green are starting to come through after the rain. I imagine it will soon be very green and lush looking soon....and very cold!

Funny little tufts of stubble stand out on the dark background.

Strange things you find yourself doing out in the country. A couple of sheep were stood still like statues staring at me. I decided to see if I could out-stare them. It took a while but they gave up eventually. I had a slight sense of achievement...whatever next!!

I also found a fifty dollar note in the bushes. Probably worthless as it is half of it is missing!

Beginnings of a Polyptych

The first layers are down. We shall see what emerges from here as I push things back and pull others forward, add more depth and colour and hidden symbolism.

The poem on the left will be incised into the canvas. The bees wax covered muslin on the far right will have an image behind it of a person in prayer...I think.

More Eco-dyeing

 Theses are some more bundles I wrapped in calico cloth and others in paper. The paper ones fell apart because I didn't have any water color paper, but it was fun trying it out. You can see how the colors have seeped through. I still need to iron these.

 

This is what I wrap up in the cloth or paper. A collection of leaves and flowers and a few rusty nuts and bolts. Tie up with string and steam for a hour. The house smells of Eucalyptus, Rosemary, lemon blossom and whatever else goes in the mix. Beautiful !

This is the paper:

 

Loving the rain!

The Inaugural Encaustic Workshop in Beverley WA

                               All that remains

                     

My first waxy workshop -Yaay! I had so much fun. In the end I only had 3 participants, Jenny, Mary Lou and Penny but, including me it was a good number, considering we only had one pot of wax on the go. I had planned to demo a number of techniques first but I sensed these ladies were itching to get stuck into it and experiment for themselves which is really the best way to learn. So after a few health and safety precautions and one quick demo they jumped in, combining different techniques in whatever ways they could, not really having a clue what they would end up with but willing to just see what happens. I love these country girls, no fuss, no fear, just get stuck into it and deal with the obstacles, when and if they happen. 

Five hours later, which only seemed like two, they started to wane, which was good because we may have kept going till midnight otherwise! Because the wax is so instant the concentration on one piece of work is quite intense, so working small was good. Also the girls could get three or four different compositions done in a session which enabled them to explore a number of different techniques.  We didn't even stop to open the champagne! 

I am so proud of these ladies and what they came up with and also very thankful to them for being my first encaustic students. They have given me the enthusiasm and confidence I needed to get my finger out and advertise some workshops in Perth. If you live near Perth WA, and you can get a group of 3 or 4 friends together, I am pleased to introduce you to the basics in encaustic. At this stage It will be a 3 hour workshop @ $65 each and I will supply all the materials including the wax. I will speak to you about what you can bring as a substrate to create your beautiful work on! 

Please contact me on my email:   janetpfeiffer@mac.com

Eco-dyeing

Well, that was quite a full on few days back in Perth with Birthday celebrations and getting the artist in residence application into the post before ANZAC public holiday and the weekend! I don't know what is but those dam applications, no matter what they are for don't seem to get any easier. Probably because the emphasis often changes depending what you are applying for and there is a need to get the correct information together or you know you won't get a look in! Anyway, it is in the post, just before the deadline - 30th April. The only thing I haven't secured yet is a police check. Not sure if I want to pay $60 for that before I know if I have any chance of getting the gig! 

I literally fell into bed at 5pm that afternoon after driving back to my current residency.

Today I have been doing some more art therapy study and also setting up for the encaustic mini workshop this weekend. Only four attending, which is good. I'd rather start small to begin with. It is going to be interesting to see what they come up with. I know the table won't look anything  like this when we have finished!

My muse has led me up the garden path this afternoon (literally) when I discovered Eco-dyeing on-line.

Now this fits my personality perfectly. You basically collect leaves and flowers from the garden. Wrap them in cloth or watercolor paper and tie them up into a parcel with some string and steam for one hour. You can then leave them soaking in the boiled water till morning for a greater effect...if you have the patience!

The plants should stain the paper with beautiful natural colors and patterns. I'll let you know in the morning how it turns out. Goodnight!

Returning to Kids Art Classes

 

   

Never thought I would go back to teaching kids again but I am having fun researching ideas for the Prince Margaret Hospital AIR application. Some of the art works are so colorful and crazy looking. Fun!