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Hot water tanks, rusty bits of machinery, wire, toilet systems and many other rare and sometimes strange items made up my arsenal of materials when I started this venture. These days, material in the pallet lots are just a phone call away. With a convenient bill at the end of the month.
Stainless Steel is my friend. Cold, dull, hard to work with and slightly depressing to look at in it’s natural form but extremely useful. Stainless Steel is one of the most under-valued materials in the art world. I believe that most people that have a go at it get quickly frustrated. The cure for this is tools. Lots of tools, different tools and certainly expensive tools. The investment in my tools over the last 6 years would certainly rival any deposit on a property in Queenstown.
For me personally, the common angel grinder is the weapon of choice I would chose if I had to change a burglars mind. I can’t draw a flower if it would safe my life but I am certain I can filet a fish with a 40 grit flap disc.
Copper is another metal I use but has taken 2nd place in the last 2 years. Mainly because of the fact that the convenient bill at the end of the month turned into unfairly verbally abusing foreign countries, for using so much metal and the Australians for selling it to them. Not much left for the guy in Cromwell, unless you are willing to invest another deposit for a house in material.
I must admit, I don’t have the Nr8 wire mentality, or the “let’s use glue” approach. I always fall back on what I have learnt as a toolmaker, 25 years ago. It’s either welded, brazed, soldered or at least screwed. Even rivets make me wonder about work ethics.
The finishes of the pieces are another matter all together. I started to look outside the square in terms of colors to use. Anything and everything apart from common paint is used. I have even testers sitting in my garden, colored and lacquered with the same products I use today. Since I started this Gallery, 5 years ago, neither the lacquer nor the different colors I have used on those items, have sustained damage of any kind. I am very glad about the fact that I chose the right products. I am not that keen to leave town in a hurry because the mob is after me. Still dragging their corroded, discolored and disintegrating artworks behind them, like an upside down Buzzy Bee. |
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Landscapes The main aim is to get to the point, to show the essence of what makes an area. In this case the Takitimu Mountains are based on a painting from 1910 or so. There were a lot of trees on the painting which in my opinion, just like clouds, are mortal and not so important. NZ landscape is all about the fabulous light we get with our clean air and I have, in my opinion, incorporated that factor into my works successfully.
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Seascapes. The sea has no boundaries, in my mind. To be taken by the water and taken away to a place where you want to be. Imagine a dinghy bobbing along or footprints in the sand, slowly filling up with water as you lift your foot. No little boats in my work though. I am leaving that, or anything else, for you to imagine. |
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Abstract This one personally reminds me of Cape Reinga, the two oceans meet and rip into each other battling for the Seabed.
But as you can see, it has a lot of scope to be anything you can imagine |
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Commissions This is called the spirit (of the House) the protector when the family is not at home, it lives in the walls, constantly searching for the bad and uninvited, if there are any, it’ll fight them off. When the family is at home it turns into a spirit of welcome and warmth settling them with it’s presents alone. |
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Water features are more an engineering challenge than a anything else. So many things have to be considered. Water leaks, pump issues, electrical hurdles etc. It has taken me years to understand and solve those issues. I can be creative and make also pieces that look amazing and function perfectly.
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Copyright, © Stoop Galleries ltd, Cromwell New Zealand |
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About the Art Work
*Commission Work
*Previous Work of Interest
*Marlene Schieder Hats, Bags & Accessories
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