Krampuses for 2020

The original 2017 krampus

The original 2017 krampus

If you have been fantasising about various political figures getting whisked away by demonic goat men you are in luck. I have rejigged my articulated krampus and made it available to download and print out, free for personal use and school teachers. Feel free to add your own characters to the naughty basket, if I get time I will add some more to download, I quite enjoyed doing the caricatures, Bezos and Bolsanaro definitely need to be in there too. I’d love to see where they end up, if you want to share them with me use the tag #somesuchkrampus

There is a page of instructions, you will need to glue the print out onto some card to make it more sturdy and will need paper fasteners (called ‘brads’ in the US because of course they are), though they could probably be improvised with thumbtacks at a pinch.

If you feel like it in lieu of payment consider donating to one of these charities

https://www.amnesty.org.nz/
https://www.savethechildren.org.nz/
https://www.aucklandcitymission.org.nz/
https://www.theconsciouskid.org/donate
https://antiracismfund.org/
https://www.joincampaignzero.org/



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Pekapeka-tou-roa: Life Flight and Plight exhibition.

I’m delighted to be part of this exhibition drawing attention and funding to the pekapeka-tou-roa, the long tailed bats which live in the Waitakere ranges to the west of Auckland. In January this year I got to accompany some bat conservationists into the forest at night to catch, weigh and tag some bats and had the enormous privilege of rereleasing one back into the wild.

I have a few works in the show including a limited number of gicleé prints of this image. More info on the show below.

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The exhibition arose out of a collaboration between the arts community and Community Waitākere, who invited a select group of artists to take part in a research project based in Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa (the Waitākere Ranges) in January.

A portion of sales generated through the exhibition will go towards new bat detectors and a citizen science initiative which will research pekapeka tou roa populations in and around West Auckland.

Featuring art work by artists Mandy Patmore, Jermaine Reihana, Charlotte Graham, Sophie Watson, Rosanna Raymond, Josh Paki, Ruth Woodbury, Numa Mackenzie, Erin Forsyth, Melissa Hastings and Joshua Solomon.

These tiny mammals, roughly the size of your palm and weighing about as much as a couple of two dollar coins, are facing a slew of threats including introduced pests, kauri dieback, tree removal and poor water quality (they feed on insects that come off streams). The pekapeka tou roa is cirtically endangered, just like the kakapo, and their population is set to drop 70 per cent if we don’t intervene.

The Wise Collective, a collective of former refugees and migrants, is also involved and will be working with Community Waitākere to make bat stuffed toys available for purchase during the exhibition. The tiny stuffed bats will sell for $10 and raise money for pekapeka conservation.

Corban Estate Arts Centre is a ten minute walk from the Henderson train station. Where possible, please try and use public transport or carpool to visit the exhibition.

**MORE INFORMATION ABOUT COMMUNITY WAITĀKERE'S PEKAPEKA TOU ROA O WAITĀKERE PROJECT**
The project aimed to radio-track pekapeka tou roa to get more information about the behaviour of this little-known species, including where they roost, how kauri dieback is affecting them, and information about their breeding status. The project also trained local volunteers and conservationists to undertake bat radio tracking, and raised awareness about pekapeka and their habitat.

Unearthed at Studio One Toi Tū

My creative residency at Studio One Toi Tū is nearly over and I’ll be exhibiting along with the other residents from the 15th of Aug to the 19th of September, with the opening on Wednesday the 14th at 5pm . I’ll be exhibiting the work I’ve produced as well as my research.
The project I’ve been working on is based around the disappearance of my grandfather in 1951, to get info I’ve been looking at old photo albums, in newspaper, document and police archives, as well as conducting interviews with my mother. There are still some relevant pieces of research missing - my grandmother’s diary is buried amongst my brother’s books up north somewhere and some useful photo albums are also missing.

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Pekapeka research

Recently I was lucky enough to visit the Waitakere ranges at night as part of a bat trapping and tracking project. Working alongside bat conservationists we set up lures and harp traps and ended up catching nine pekapeka-tou-roa (long-tailed bats) over two nights. These tiny creatures are critically endangered, as endangered as the kākāpō and so are in desperate need of study to understand how better to help them survive and thrive.

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Go Girl

I was excited and delighted to be asked to contribute some portraits to Go Girl, a new book by Barbara Else which celebrates New Zealand women. My portraits are of Kate Sheppard, Valerie Adams, Lucy Lawless, Suzanne Aubert and Ella Williams.

For more info about the book and where to find it can be found here
https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/go-girl-9780143771609

A New Leaf

 

Some shots of my pieces for Seed Gallery's group exhibition, A New Leaf. These are collages using up leftover pieces of paper and mixed gouache colours with a bit of pencil and coloured pencil. I've gone for a seabird theme this year, there are 10 pieces and they sell for $100 each, with $10 from each going to the wonderful KidsCan charity.

Opening: Wednesday 8 November at 6pm
Exhibition: 9 – 10 November 2017
Open 10am – 3:30pm daily
Allpress Studio, 8 Drake Street, Auckland City

 

Atomic Forest!

 

New Zealand's finest illustrators come together for an Auckland Artweek exhibition of post-apocalyptic, pop-art pleasure. Get a glimpse into a post-nuclear wonderland, full of weird and wonderful characters.

Come hang out with us and grab a cold beer courtesy of Garage Project on the opening night this October 7th and check out our latest round of artwork as well as some of our greatest hits for sale.

Funded by Heart of the City and delivered in partnership with Artweek Auckland.

 

Paperback Assassins

 

I'm part of an illustration collective called Paper Assassins and we've been working on a new exhibition coming up as part of Artweek Auckland in October. We're transforming a shop in the Chancery in Auckland's CBD into an alternative universe bookshop, there'll be a range of fantastical book themed artworks, specially designed ex libris bookplates and a place where you can print and colour your own bookplates.

The 10 awesome illustrators on board are: Rebecca ter Borg, Marc Conaco,  Pablo Espinosa, Toni Gill, Chris Hutchinson aka Chippy, Sloane Kim, Toby Morris, Colleen Pugh, Ezra Whittaker-Powley and myself. 

The opening night is Saturday the 8th of October from 6-9pm, sponsored by Budweiser and we also have a late night (til 9pm) on Wednesday the 12th with the Quick Draw Sketch Gang doing live portraits and a kids activity day on the closing Sunday the 16th with lots of activities planned. Come along!

 

Holiday travel diary

 

I had a little summer trip around Europe, here are some pages from my travel sketchbook. I haven't used coloured pencils much so it was good to try a new medium, want to do more with them and gouache together.

 
 

Bethnal Green view in gouache.

Gear for swimming in Ireland in the Atlantic ocean.

Proper attire for leaving the house in Ballyconneely.

Joined in on a Brexit protest in Edinburgh.

My new New Kid shoes!

Cottage bedroom view in Ballyconneely.

Cottage bedroom view in Ballyconneely.

Hard out breakfast with soda bread, white pudding, black pudding, sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes.

Berlin dress ups.

Dinner party in Berlin.

Day of Wuthering in Berlin.

 

Auckland Zinefest 2016.

 

I'll be at the Auckland Zinefest which is in the Auckland Art Gallery this year.  Gonna be a good one, come on down!

Sweet poster by Chippy Draws

I'll have copies of my new comic Takeaways, which I individually hand covered the covers of, can't handle too much consistency. 

 

Three Words

 

The amazing anthology of NZ/Aotearoa female comics, Three Words is out now! I am super delighted to be featured in this incredible book, everyone go get one because it is superb.

Here's a review in The Listener featuring a page of my comic, exciting!

 

Liking

 

I did a piece for Metro Magazine's last issue which was choc full of amazing illustrators. My bit was to go with a short story, Liking: a tale about online dating by Jenni Quilter. Jenni is a NZ writer who has been published in The New Yorker, you can read her excellent story here http://www.metromag.co.nz/city-life/liking-a-tale-about-online-dating/

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I ended up doing scanned layers of pencil drawings instead of my usual painting with gouache, this is the final version. I wanted the guy to look sorta friendly/sleazy and a bit predatory so I drew him as a crocodile.

An earlier colour palette.

Pencil sketch.

Another idea, didn't end up going with this.

And another sketch option.

 

Seeing Stars

 

I'm taking part in Seed Gallery's annual Christmas exhibition again, this year we have 10 star shapes to turn into artworks. I've taken my starting point from the name Seeing Stars, thinking about the patterns you see when you rub your eyes,  and have created a different pattern for each star.

They all have quite a summery mood to them, some are based on recognisable objects and others are more abstract. It's reawakened my love for pattern making, there is something about making a rule but only following it loosely which I really love, want to do more pattern stuff in future!

Anyway, here is a selection, I had to cut them up to stick them onto the stars so now I only have shards of painting left. If you want to buy a star come along to the exhibition details above.

She Sells.

Lemon Pepper

Lemon Pepper

Dizzy Spell

Picnic Spot.

Picnic Spot.

Produce Aisle.

 

The Periodic Journal

 

I took part in a panel discussion about independent publishing, offering a zine perspective on the whole deal. Had a cold and kept loosing my train of thought but the other wonderful panelists kept it chugging along (Natasha Mead, Leyla Tweedie-Cullenand and Warren Olds, Jereme Aubertin couldn't make it). 

The Periodic Journal is a beautiful (and free!!) publication which is put together by Natasha Mead and her pals, more on them here http://www.theperiodic.co.nz/