Not All Who Wander Are Lost - artist statement and inspiration

Artist statement 

I have realised that those of you who read this blog- thanks so much!! - may be interested in the artist statement for this current exhibition...... so ........ dah dah here it is.

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Sally Darlison

Quadrant Gallery Hawthorn, May 8 - May 31 2014

"All That is Gold Does Not Glitter" by J. R. R. Tolkien

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

Wandering, exploring, seeking and learning. Traveling allows us to find new places, learn of others, creates empathy, opens our eyes to other ways of living. 

Wandering isn’t always aimless

Traveling for 3 months through Europe and Morocco in 2012 was the catalyst for my body of work.

 Traveling and creating can be difficult and to help me record and remember this trip I collected the brochures and maps along the journey. Using these and my little travel kit of water colour pastels, pencil, fineliner, glue stick, gesso, needle and thread I created a set of little books, to be a reminder of the trip, to challenge my creativity, give me time to be and help me to process the impact of such an epic trip. 

These little, flimsy and not too perfect books along with my many photographs have been the starting point for my artwork. 

Each book represents a place in the journey - a country, city or several smaller places. 

Each piece represents a small drop in the ocean of learning that took place on the journey. 

Look with new eyes wherever you go, it will always be refreshing

Sally Darlison

2014

Inspiration and resulting art 

I have also included some photos and the art that has sprung from it. For those familiar with my work you will have observed that I don't use white very often at all. However while in Switzerland the contrast of white and black were so strong and the mountains so magnificent that I had to work them into my body of work. The result was 2 large black and white pieces.

 Photos and Art 

Here is an example of how I use image to inspire art. The photos are taken in Switzerland  of snowy mountains, bare trees and black birds that swept overhead. 

photo of birds flying overhead 

completed piece with sweeping birds in the centre 

Wood engraved prints of bare trees white on black fabric beside the inspirational photo of the bare trees on the mountain side

Photos paired with the stitched piece. 

Artist Talk - What fun

Around 25 people came down to the gallery this afternoon to join me for a talk about my work, the processes and techniques I use and the method I used to gather the ideas for this exhibition.

I showed them some of the photos that were particularly influential in the creation of the art work, the kit of art materials I took with me on my trip and the print blocks, dyed fabric, brochures and map bags I collected for each place.

After the initial demonstration we wandered around the gallery to look more closely at the travel books and their relationship to the larger works of art.

A big thank you to Eugene at Quadrant gallery and to those who came, I enjoyed meeting up with old friends and new.

Opening Night

Last night was the opening night. It was great fun, with heaps of people coming for a chat, view and drink.
Thanks to the staff at Quadrant Gallery it was well organised and beautifully presented. A special thanks goes to Pam Jackson who has worked tirelessly to make sure all went smoothly.

Bumping In

So today was Bump In day.

Rachel and I took 2 car loads of art to the gallery and spent the day unwrapping the work and moving around the pieces around, finding the right plinth to display the pieces. tomorrow Pam from Quadrant gallery will complete the hanging.

It was fabulous to see Rachel's work - she has some truly beautiful jewellery, sculpture and enamelled copper pieces.. love love!!

Time to get excited, not sleepless any more.