Thursday, July 29, 2010

Quiz Night, Weaving with Flax Worshop and Wearable Art

QUIZ NIGHT – SATURDAY 28TH AUGUST:                                                                             
Get your diaries out and mark down this date: Saturday 28 August! We’re going to re-create all the fun of last year’s event, so make sure you don’t miss out and get your brains trusts organised now. A Community Arts Quiz Night is a great fun way to spend a cool winter’s evening.  Remember the rivalry last year as to whose table could build the highest paper tower? 

This year the venue is the Parish Centre. Book your table now – 8 to 10 people per table. Number of tables is limited so get your team together and ring or text 54280 or email casbookings@hotmail.com   Entry fee: $10.00 per person.

WEARABLE ART 2011
Significant interest in Wearable Art for next January has been noticed since we announced the fabulous prizes that the top two entries will receive – a return airfare to Wellington, New Zealand and tickets to one of the WOW Montana Wearable Art Awards Show in September 2011. Two wonderful prizes that have been generously provided by Air New Zealand through Burnt Pine Travel.

The categories for 2011 have been decided and they are:

Recycled Material – outfits need to be made from at least 85% recycled materials
Bizzare Bra – as bizarre as you like for the bra, but the rest of the outfit is a plain black top and skirt/pants
Natural Fibres – made from at least 85% natural fibres
From the Ocean or the Sky – made from whatever you like, this section is inspired by the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea
Extravagant Open – you can do whatever you want here – no restrictions on materials or theme, the more extravagant the better!

So, there’s no time to loose, start creating!

WEAVING WITH FLAX
Community Arts is very excited that Ali Brown – world renowned weaving instructor – is coming to Norfolk Island next month to conduct two weaving workshops.  Ali specialises in creating works of floral art from weaving natural fibres.

Flax weaving is a skill that is increasingly attracting attention. Ali’s monthly workshops are very popular, as is her informative, beautifully illustrated website, which includes historical information as well as instructions for cutting, preparing, weaving and dyeing flax. It has attracted interest from around the world, with one woman coming from Israel to attend a workshop. To learn more about Ali, visit her website at: www.alibrown.co.nz.
Ali says that flowers woven from flax have become very popular over the last couple of years. In New Zealand school teachers are beginning to show their students how to weave flax flowers and Ali has found from her own flax weaving workshops that people of all ages are keen to learn how to weave flowers — as wedding bouquets, gifts or decorations in their own home.

Woven flowers also make great projects for a beginner in flax weaving, and one of the advantages of flax flowers is that any variety of New Zealand flax can be used to weave them, including the coloured, variegated flaxes that are often grown as decorative garden plants throughout the world.
Ali will arrive on Norfolk Island on Saturday 28th August and will be here for one week.  Details of the workshops are as follows:

DATES:   
1st workshop:     Sunday 29th August:  9 a.m. to 12 noon; 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Break for lunch 12 noon to 1 p.m. (Total 6 hrs)
2nd workshop:    Tuesday 31st August: 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. and Thursday 2nd Sept: 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.  (Total 6 hrs over 2 nights)
VENUE:    Don & Maree’s Studio – Bumboras
COST:    $60.00 per person (weaving materials will be supplied)
BOOKING:    Book early – numbers are limited to 12 students per workshop. Course fees must be paid at time of booking. Phone or text Celia on 54280 or email casbookings@hotmail.com.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

WOW! What a prize

WOW - What a prize!!
If you’ve ever felt inspired to make an entry for Wearable Art – now is the time to do it. Community Arts is very excited to announce that for our 2011 event, the Overall Winner and Overall Runner-Up will both receive a return air fare to Wellington, New Zealand and tickets to the WOW Montana Wearable Art Awards Show held in September 2011. Our sincere thanks to Air New Zealand for generously sponsoring both return airfares. We also say an enormous “THANKYOU” to Bart at Burnt Pine Travel for taking our request to Air New Zealand. These are really wonderful prizes and Air New Zealand’s sponsorship will no doubt result in some amazing creations coming down the cat walk in January 2011.











The WOW Montana show was the original inspiration for Community Arts to run a Wearable Art Competition and Parade. Their event began in the town of Nelson, but quickly became so popular that it had to be moved to Wellington. Entries are received from across the world and the Awards Show of winners is presented ten times each September to an audience in excess of 35,000. They describe the shows as “Difficult to describe, hard to define and utterly impossible to forget. A montage of theatre, dance, colour, movement and art, simply put the Montana WOW Awards Shows are theatrical spectaculars”. Community Arts will also see if there is a group of locals who would like to travel to Wellington for the show and will be getting a package deal together. More information will be provided as it comes to hand. In the meantime you can find out more about WOW Montana and the Shows at www.worldofwearablart.com.














Our first event was five years ago and we’ve had so much fun over those years with amazing entries, brilliant local models and incredible audiences. The parade quickly became one of the most popular events on our Norfolk calendar – and now with the incentive of these fabulous prizes we’re sure it will show no signs of slowing. Confirmation of the categories for 2011 will be advertised in the next few weeks.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Art in the Park 2010

Art in the Park 2010

In early June Art in the Park for 2010 was opened at Kingston. Nearly thirty art works were put into the ‘park’ between Slaughter Bay change sheds and Chimney Hill for a two week exhibition. The wife of the Administrator, Mrs Walsh formally opened the show with the following wonderful words:

“I am delighted to be opening this event and how magnificent to not only have it in the park but also by the sea. At last year’s opening I mentioned how wonderful it is that Art in the Park has continued to be a popular happening on the Norfolk Island calendar for so many years now, as it is a community event that invites all age groups and all levels of artistic flare to participate. No one is excluded. It is also an event that encourages families, friends and educational groups to spend time together sharing and creating. This is something very precious that many of us often complain, in our busy lives, that we do not have enough time to do.

Additionally, participating in an event like Art in the Park helps to remind us of what is really important in life, things that we shouldn’t take for granted: family, friends, community spirit, our own personal skills, intelligence and creativity and a beautiful, safe natural environment to live in. There are many in the world who do not experience these blessings. On Norfolk Island we experience all of them and particularly the latter. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that here on Norfolk Island we live in one of the most perfectly created natural environments in the world. I am sure that the many creative talents that we have in our small population is much due to the divine physical surrounds in which we all live. A huge thank you is owed to Community Arts for their ongoing support and encouragement of creative skill and talent in our people on Norfolk Island. I wish to congratulate all who made the time to explore and express their creative talent for this year’s Art in the Park, particularly the first time exhibitors and those who assisted with the children’s exhibits. I also wish to thank the Norfolk Island Community Arts Group and any other volunteers for providing us with the 2010 Art in the Park Exhibition. I now declare this exhibition open”.


The range of entries this year told us that there is plenty of creativity on this island. Congratulations to all the NICS students who completed class entries – they were really fantastic, from a marae and mandala, to ying and gang, to octopuses and pipe-cleaner surprises! The fun Banyan Park and Montesori Kinder House entries show us that the very little kids of Norfolk also know how to be creative. The Kelly kids never fail to make a great entry and this year was no exception with the all that is at the end of their rainbow. Congratulations to Mirabelle Creek for her beautiful fairy fun, playing in a cave under a Norfolk pine. The Jansenns family managed to make a colourful yet thoughtful art work out of plastic rubbish that has made its way from Headstone to Anson Bay to create “Headstone/Anson Bay Express”.


The adult entries were just as good. Georgie Douran’s Lady in Waiting looks out from under her veil beautifully placed in her gold dress against the golden rock of Chimney Hill. Rob Rowston’s Slice of Heaven was also wonderfully placed against the rocks, a fabulous sculptural arc. Jan Christian had fun with a frame and teddy bears, while Cristina McRitchie created two magical spaces under the pine trees. Also under the pine trees was “Life after Chains” made by Jill and Kevin Coulter out of old chainsaw parts, he was life size and really rather handsome! Kaye Woods had a turtle and plant picture, both beautifully designed and made with help from Mal Tarrant and Duncan Grey. Lisa Richards had fun with some sticks and Helen Batholmew made the most enticing nest for rent that any bird could hope for. Hilary Doughty was back again this year, much to everyone’s pleasure, with her dough men – boom or bust!

But the “People’s Choice” winner was Archie and James Bigg with “Improbabull” – a raging bull made from logs of woods, complete with a ring in his nose and contained in an electric fence. This is one wonderful bull, beautifully made and very much deserving of the People’s Choice award. Well done Archie and James – and also for adding the baby calf as the week went along.

We were chased all over the island getting this years Art in the Park together. However it did not fazed our artists or ruin the show. All these fabulous pieces were there for all to see – a walk doun a toun was well worth it. Art in the Park closed on Monday 14 June at the end of the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.