Current exhibition on until 8th November 2021.
Extended hours for the Taranaki Arts Trail days .
Open Everyday 9am – 5 pm until 8th November.
The current exhibition highlights the work of the resident artist Viv Davy. This aligns with the Taranaki Arts Trail which is an opportunity for artists in the region to open up their making spaces to the public. I love this opportunity to firstly tidy up and organise my upstairs studio space and secondly to meet with the public and show them the making processes behind my works. There is such an honour in sharing information and experiences with visitors. Sometimes I am very lucky to have visitors coming several years in a row and other times I am enriched by meeting first time visitors.
This year we are missing the travellers who come into the Taranaki region from the Waikato and Auckland but are still enjoying great visitor experiences. We are hopeful that next year we will be a unified country once again.
As the owner of ‘from out of the blue studio gallery’ this time of year is the only time I use the gallery for my solo exhibition. It is a great chance to share where the previous year has taken my thinking and my making. Here is the statement I have written to underpin the exhibition.
Artist’s Statement
This past year my normal focus and concentration has been disrupted. Many creatives are experiencing this sensation as we adjust to a new reality. Although, in fact, the changes in my personal life have been small, in comparison to most on a global scale, I feel disjointed from my old concerns and ways of being.
Arising out of this I have turned more and more to my land, my garden, my township, the beach and the walks I take my dog companions on. I find the need for beauty and a feeling of security, safety, based in enduring nature is strong.
My annual Taranaki Arts Trail collection reflects this. The works are less conceptual and more of an emotive response to this grounding process I have been practicing. They reflect my awareness of the need to be mindful of the small things, the place and the present, seeking contentment and gratitude.
I am also making available elements for making so other creators can meld my particular experiences and processes into their own fabrications. These include botanical dyed yarns, eco printed fabrics and papers and handmade papers.
The big effort of the last month or so has been getting the large Swedish Drawloom threaded and ready for a tuning weave. The warp is on and some weaving has been done but I still have to do some weight adjustment and of course the nitty picky small adjustments in tie-ups. I have, as a major task, still to swap out the rods on the draw harnesses with the lingo system. This requires a lot of inside the loom time so will be a work in progress. However it is a wonderful thing to sit at the loom and pass the shuttle through the sheds and see fabric forming on this amazing machine that has been not working for so long.
The images above are of the Swedish Drawloom with a back view of the glorious old lady The Sunflower loom. I am hoping over the time of the exhibition to rethread the Sunflower with a new warp, having just emptied off the last one.
Downstairs in the main gallery space I have moved my large frame loom into the corner so I can work away on weaving the strips for an experimental piece I have been working on and off over the winter and spring. It is a chance to see the untechnical process of tapestry weaving as I practice it. A more meditative process than using the harness floor looms.
There is also an eclectic range of works for sale made primarily with eco-dyed silks and cottons.
