'Chaos breeds Images'said the famous British painter Francis Bacon. And I can really relate to that because my studio is pretty much in complete chaos 99% of the time, in fact when you look at pictures of Francis's studio it isn't too dissimilar to the state of my own. I mix my colour palette on the wall or the back of the door which is close to my work table. I have canvases, books, magazines and images laying everywhere. I constantly have to move stuff just so I can work, but I wouldn't have it any other way. There is comfort in the chaos because i know that I just have to turn my head, move a box and I will discover or see an image which will excite my interest. Another Bacon quote 'I am inspired by everything and Nothing'. 

The Triangle Effect
So this new little series I am working is a bower birds next of images all thrown together in random order. Having said that there is some order in that chaos and because I have created so many of these types of works over the years, I think my subconscious brain 'knows' where to place the images. 
Composition is such a complex thing when you really think about it, there is so much to consider, but i believe the more compositions and artworks you create, the better at composition you will become, because in effect you train that part of your brain to recognise good composition. I always tell my students to constantly create new works all the time, the more you do the better you will become. You have to exercise your creative muscle

From 3d into 2d...
'Mofu' started his existence as a ceramic mask but it was evident that he was not destine just to be a 3D creation. A couple of days ago I decided to transform him into a stencil design to be used in my 2d work. I have to say I am really happy with how he turned out. I think he is pretty nice and I decided to give him some reindeer horns. I plan on giving him different attachments and I am looking at developing a line of t-shirt designs based on him and several other characters including my Kitty. 

So today I am happy to say that I am working on a clothing line of my designs. My clothing brand is going to be called GREEF and will feature a combination of stencil and hand drawn images. The first lot of designs are in production at the moment and I have a lot of ideas forumating on how i want things to look. So I thought i would show you some of the basic designs i have come up with so far....please note these are not final and all cloths are purely experimental. I am still playing around with design size and placement and I intend to sew and add extra material and other elements to make them 'one offs' and I will be eventually selling them through my etsy site. At the moment I am working on men's t-shirts but i am planning to print onto women and kids clothing!!

Art Fair next weekend 29th and 30th October
So next weekend I have my final art fair in Norway. I have never done well at this particular art fair, mainly because the type of people who attend are quite conservative and my work doesn't fit the conservative mentality. But I don't care, it gets my name out there in the community (not that it matters much anymore since i am leaving). I am selling mainly masks with a few works on paper, won't be going over board as I am in the process of packing and shipping my stuff back to Oz. So fingers crossed for a few sales to help me on my journey.
I am going to end with this latin quote which is my moto:
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam - means "I shall either find a way or make one".
Hope you all have a creative and inspiring weekend/week a head!

 I am loving this group of students. They are so creative and the artworks they have produced for this course so far have been fantastic! 
I don't want it to end and I know most of them feel the same! 
I am looking forward to putting together a little slideshow at the end for everyone to see the amazing works created by this talented bunch of artists. Not one artwork is a like or similar and not only have the students learned a few things, but I have learned a lot from them as well. What I especially like about this group is that there is no pressure to be the best or to create the most works, everyone has been so forthcoming and they have been willing to share their creative ideas with each other. As a result the amount of artworks produced and the quality and diversity of the work has been wonderful. 
Plexified is a 4 week online course teaching you the many possible ways to incorporate Plexiglass/Perspex into your art. If you are interested in find out more information about this course, click on the blue link.

It has been a great month of sales on etsy with these 4 works finding new homes. I have to say these are some of my best and newest works to date and I am extremely grateful that what I am creating seems to be sellable. I always have to pinch myself with every sale because it seems hard to believe i get paid for doing something I love. Great feeling and I am always humbled by the generosity and support of 'Gary Reef' collectors/patrons! 

My latest artwork is definitely a new direction for me and I have to say I surprised myself. Being an artist who loves to create lots of layers and textures this minimal approach is a 180 degree turn for me. But I have to say I like it. 
They say an artist's career goes through many stages, you start out putting everything into your work and as you mature you begin to take away and simplify everything down...ok i know this is a bit of an overkill and its too early in my career to do minimal but hey what fun. 
The story behind the image - One trip to Australia I was at the cemetery and I came across this grave stone with a black and white faded portrait of an old Italian woman. Anyway the grave looked unkept and forgotten and so I decided to photograph the woman and use her image in my own art, as I wanted to give her recognition, a new life and hopefully a place in someone's home to be remembered. And so I called this work 'I matter' because to me she did.

Just when you think you have everything worked out and planned life kicks you in the guts to remind you of how fragile, harsh and unforgiving she can be. 


As cher says 
Well, love don't need a reason
She can pick you up
Or leave you bleeding


We all get thrown a curl ball in our life from time to time and non of us are immune to chance, fate and destiny. We can make plans but really most of us don't know the outcome.
Change is scary especially when you have been stuck in a routine for a long time, but change is also freeing, exciting and good for spiritual growth. 
One thing i have realised about myself over this past month is that I am a lot stronger emotionally and spiritually than i thought. Things are not easy and i kinda feel a little lost in darkness at the moment but i can see where the light is, and so I am going to take one step at a time until i can see again. I owe it to myself to be happy! 

Well you know most of the time I am pretty optimistic about things and to start with I was pretty excited about having an open studio weekend. I organised the advertising which consisted of creating an event page on Facebook, creating and printing up invitation post cards and texting anyone who I thought might be interested in attending etc. 
As the weekend loomed i started to get knots in my stomach because according to FB i had 9 people saying they were attending and 14 saying they couldn't. Now you have to know I live in the middle of nowhere, 25mins drive from town and my place isn't the easiest to find. So I guess I wasn't too optimistic come Saturday morning. I converted the lounge room into a gallery space (thank god eirik was away this weekend working because if he saw how many holes i have put in the wall he would have divorced me there and then but now when i tell him how successful the weekend has been he might reconsider). 

Below is how I set things out. As you came in the door i had info, cards, fridge magnets, gift certificates and Course Brochures etc (And also when people paid me and while they waited for me to wrap their artworks they had the chance to look at all of this info...smart plan). 
Then I had one wall full of smaller works, masks, plexiglass paintings, an assemblage box and a few medium to larger sized canvases. Along the bottom I just layed more canvases.  On the back wall I had a coffee table, offering both espresso and normal filtered coffee as well as a selection of cupcakes (which i coated with icing as they browsed the artwork- i think it is good to let people enjoy the work by themselves without you hovering over them). 
In the lounge area I had a wooden table where people could sit around with their coffee and cake. In the middle of that table was a bowl full of masks, different shapes and sizes (Some rejects at discounted prices etc). 

This is the bowl of masks I had sitting on the table. So as they sat their chatting and drinking their coffee and cupcakes they had the chance to look through the bowl of masks. As you can see by the before and after I sold a few faces. The doll face shaped masks proved to be most popular out of this lot. 
Below are 4 of the 7 masks I sold. 

So Saturday was a busy day considering I had only 9 attending. First came a group of 5 ladies, most of which I knew personally. They were so much fun, laughing chatting, drinking coffee and eating cakes  oh and looking at the art. At that time an Aussie friend showed up and purchased 3 masks. Just as he was leaving another 2 showed up. 
Next minutes I am busy wrapping artworks as everyone purchased more than just one item.For one brief moment i had that feeling what it must be like for super famous artists who turn up to their exhibition and completely sell out in a few hours...it was that feeling I had. I know it doesn't last forever and 99% of the year your back to selling your soul..but what a high it was and one i will hang onto for a few days;). 
So that was Saturday. Sunday was much quieter with only one person coming...BUT he purchased a lot of art (In fact most of what you see below). He works for this Norwegian art society and they have this annual event. He purchased 3 large works on canvas for this event  as well as an assemblage box and small plexiglass artwork for himself. He also wants me to run a workshop later this year teaching some of my techniques. All the items below sold on the Sunday!

But I want to thank the many friends who came and supported me during the weekend with art purchases  and more importantly 'believing in me'.So to sum up the weekend I would have to say it has been fantastic. Has it been worth it? Hell yes! Will I do it again? Hell YES! the only thing I would do differently would be to advertise it more) And i think i will change the venue and find some old empty store or shop to host it...just for something different!! 

This blog is a bit of a 'Mish Mash' of things. Hit the play button!

Abstract Landscapes Course
So this week I started developing a new abstract course which I am really excited about. It wasn't my intention to start planning a new course but it sort of just happened. I woke up one day last week and just decided it was time to start sorting through the 1000's of images of artwork I have stored on my external hard drive. So I began to sort and put images into folders and all of a sudden I just got excited at looking at some of my abstract landscape creations, I thought "MMMm I need to do this NOW". So I spent the whole day just brainstorming and writing down ideas and before long i had collected enough ideas that I could actually start putting together a new course. Not to give too much away at this early stage but a key component of the class is recycling. So YAY more about that course as it develops, I think it is going to be one of my best yet! 

I am inspired by everything and nothing!
So today I was watching James Kalm's latest gallery show report and at 5:15 I saw an artwork which totally inspired me to race down to my studio and create this little artwork (see image). It is amazing how we can just see an image and be totally inspired to create, before that I wasn't even in the mood to make any art. Now I have no clue about how that particular artist created his artwork or what materials he used and in fact I don't want to know, half of the fun in trying to work out how they 'did it' is coming up with your own way of 'doing it'. But I had such fun playing today and experimenting with different effects and techniques that this 'discovery' has inspired a new series of abstracts. I absolutely LOVE pushing my own boundaries and it is nice to work with fabric because it opens up a whole new world of possibilities. 

Fabric can be manipulated into any shape you desire, it can be twisted and folded into creating something amazing with really no great effort. I am all about techniques and using materials which create 'big' impact. So it will be interesting to see how i can 'marry' the manipulation of fabric with textures. I don't think I 'nailed' it with this piece and while I like the contrast of both sides, I think I have 'over worked' the white side with too much texture. Maybe it would have been more successful if the white side was smooth to balance out the folds and the 'movement' of the fabric. But really I am not too worried, this piece was experimental and so I really wasn't too focused on creating a master piece. When your working a new idea the last thing you want to do is pressure yourself into creating brilliance. Creating beauty takes time, it takes making mistakes and then reflecting. You have to play and explore all options of the medium so you understand the materials you are working with! Only then can you create something great! 

Just for fun!
While I was playing around with this techniques I thought there is no reason why it couldn't be adapted to work with my masks. So I have a few ideas of how I can use it to create interesting little sculptures.
Speaking of masks I am pretty happy with the colour scheme of my latest face. I painted it different shades of orange using a combination of yellow and red spray paint, then I wiped it over with that beautiful dark 'Bitumen' and let it dry. Took my citrasolv and then started wiping away the bitumen to reveal the vibrant orange underneath. But I only removed enough bitumen to really emphasize the detail. You can see the mask in the slide show above towards the end! 

Plexified 
I am getting really excited about my new Plexiglass course starting on the 5th of next month. In fact I am surprised at how many have actually signed up for the class, considering plexiglass isn't the easiest medium to work with! But there are some great projects and I know the course is going to inspire those artists who take the course. (For full info about the course click HERE)

I can feel a sea change coming, it is rolling in like the tide, seeping into all the cracks and crevasses. Creeping over like a blanket pulled up around me on a cold winters night. There is a thunderstorm brewing outside, gathering its forces, wind chimes tingle in the breeze.
It is nothing new these changes, I have grown to accept them just as the seasons change. 
Having a studio jam packed with paintings of all sorts of sizes has become some what of a burden in many ways, it weighs heavy on my mind and I am not sure it is a load I can carry much longer. It is depressing looking at years of work sitting there, doing nothing except reminding me of the countless hours spent alone. I guess that is why I have no trouble burning my paintings, in fact when I do it is a release because it is a sense of 'knowing' that they won't burden me any longer. The physical act of creating, "working in the NOW", that is the ONLY thing which makes me continue to paint. That is the orgasm, noting else. Maybe when I look at the culmination of my work together it brings the realisation of failure. 

Painting is lonely and whereas I use to enjoy that loneliness and solitude, I now feel that painting doesn't bring me that same level of comfort and satisfaction. So in saying that maybe it is time to give it a rest for a bit (at least the canvas work), give myself time to reflect, to just contemplate.

So I have my open studio weekend coming up at the end of this month. I received my invitations today and I totally LOVE them, one thing I will give myself credit for is the ability to bring images together in a visually pleasing way. I think I should have been a graphic designer in truth he he he! I mean how can you not look at it and think at least 'This looks interesting, I want to go see'. Having said that, I have now come to realise that what I paint and the images I use are not so popular with a lot of people, especially in Norway (let me rephrase that...Norwegians in my area are more conservative, lots of religious people. So I guess I am not expecting to sell much art). I've been told everything from creepy, freaky, morbid, deathly, weird and bizarre. People don't like to be reminded of death and to be honest I didn't think that skeletons would scare a lot of people, one comment recently on my youtube channel " While I am a huge fan and love your approach to art, these canvases tend to turn me away. Must be because they remind me of the day of the dead art which creeps me out. Still, your techniques are worth watching as long as I don't look too closely at the death overtones ". 

Isn't that interesting? Because I have never thought that the Day of the dead was creepy! I think it celebrates life and it is hugely celebrated anyway. I use skeletons in my work to remind us of our mortality and that we should make the most of our time. Is that creepy? I think the problem is understanding the artist and their thought process because if people know me then they would understand where I am coming from. 
Growing up in the 80's as a teenager I was exposed to a lot of B grade horror films, because my mum use to work at a drive in cinemas and I would go out on weekends and help out in the projection room etc. I would always get mum to park the car right in the middle of the screen, put a blanket on the car bonnet and lay back on the windscreen with a drink and a hot dog watching these cheesy B grade films. For me there was a sense of comedy about them, the terrible acting, the over dramatisation, the ridiculous situations these people would get themselves into (Oh yes lets walk into an old mental asylum at midnight and see what happens).  I mean how funny is that! So in saying that any images I use which could be viewed as creepy are in fact not in my perception.  

This month I will be having an open studio weekend to attempt to sell some of my art, because not having a gallery close by/venue does make it difficult to sell work (apart from my smaller pieces which I sell on Etsy.) So I thought I would share the journey. 

First things first! 
I have three weeks to get things organized. I have enough art, I just need to sort it all out and get the word out. I think the sooner I get the event advertised the better, so this week I am going to get the promotional aspect sorted and ready to go next week, if not sooner.

My to do list looks something like this:

1. Design posters advertising the event to be posted around shopping centre/art venues and coffee shops.
2. Create an online gallery of artworks for sale (so that people can reserve artworks.)
3. Create a Facebook Events page advertising the open studio weekend.
4. Contact all of my art contacts in Haugesund asking them to help me promote the weekend.
5. Organize a debit/credit card terminal for transactions.
6. Organize some nibblies and drinks.
7. Rope in friends to help me run the day, as I would like to do a live painting demonstration.

My to do list for this week is:

1. Organise, design and print posters advertising the event.
2. Create an online gallery of works for sale.
3. Create a facebook event's page.

Wish me luck! 

Here is a visual story board of my latest work in Progress! The artwork below is where I am as of today! Slowly coming together! 

I woke up today with the sobering realization I have such a big hill to climb and I am not sure how I am going to do it. I guess if I let my thoughts talk too much then I might as well pack it in because the journey isn't going to get any easier, in fact the opposite. 

My CG (Creative Genius)  keeps telling me, 'you are where you need to be at this point in time,' but my ego says I'm not. It says you're wasting your time, money, and energy focusing so much on something which you have dedicated six years to and still can't make a living from. 

My CG says 'keep following your dreams and the rest will come.' My ego says that is not reality, that is not the real world, and that life is full of broken dreams. 

My CG says 'hold your passion, stay focused, and you will be rewarded for your efforts.' My ego laughs in my face and calls me delusional, it laughs so hard its belly aches, and just for insult it tells me I have no chance in hell of getting anywhere because I live in the middle of nowhere.

My CG says that by sharing my journey I am helping so many people become better artists, my ego says that by sharing so much, some people are only going to take and use me for my knowledge and then kick and discard me like trash.

I was listening to my fav spiritual teacher Dr. Wayne Dwyer yesterday talking about thoughts because I needed some words of advice apart from the ones coming from my own head. 

He said 'Just like you shouldn't believe everything you read, don't believe everything you think.' I get it, I get what he is saying, and for the most part I can stop the destructive self critical thoughts, but today the hill seems steep, so very steep.

My CG says 'don't focus on the past or the future because only the NOW is important and relevant.'

So listening to my wise little inner voice, that is what I will do today, 'one foot in front of the other.' Focusing on each step...

So today I thought it was about time for a clay day, time to create some little creatures. These are going to be pretty detailed when I am finished. Today I just created the basic body and face shapes, I will wait a few hours for the clay to firm up and dry out a little before I begin carving out all the details. I am going to fire them in sawdust until they are black then scrub away at them to reveal the colour of the clay. I am only working on three because there are a lot of hours involved with transforming them into little works of art. 

I create my faces from a mould which I made out of plaster. I got the original face design from modifying a dolls face and casting several clay masks from it slowly carving and reshaping it until I got a 'basic' design I was happy with. I then recast that final face to create the final basic mould which I use to turn out my faces. I do have several different moulds with all slightly different face proportions.

To stop the clay from sticking to the plaster I use baby powder and sprinkle a coating on the inside of the mould. I then wipe out the excess using a dry paint brush, a technique I picked up from a ceramics class at university.  

Here is a selection of different faces which were commissioned a few years ago for a boutique hotel. The client wanted to fill a specific bowl with the faces. All have slightly different expressions and designs.
I only create a certain number of masks each year, usually around ten, depending on how much time I have. As I mentioned they are time consuming to make and may take me three hours to complete just one. Then there is the firing which I do myself, which begins with the initial bisque firing done in a home made kiln followed by a second firing done in a pit. There is something I love about pit firing, it is like a connection to the past and your'e using real fire. 

My masks have even featured in some of my scanner art photography projects. They are weird, ancient, some say cute, some say disturbed, but one thing you can't dispute, is that they are definitely unique. In this photo I look just as disturbed as one of my masks, LOL.