Ali J

Never Alone

"Never Alone"
76cm x 92cm
Acrylic on Canvas

This is one of my newest works for the City of Joondalup Art Exhibition opening this Wednesday night (4th of June).  I really enjoyed working on this painting, and could have continued for days.  However my deadline was 8.30am this morning (and I was still working on it at 8.45am!)

This painting has a closer bond to me then any of my other paintings.  I've used quite a lot of symbolism in the work for references and meanings that can't truly be interpreted without knowing who I am as a person.  I'll try to interpret some of the meanings for you.

The figure in the painting is quiet, but not lonely.  She is reflective of me as a person.  Rather simple, plain and searching for something.  She is either taking her jacket off, or putting it on - which we do not know.  A link to my own life right now as I'm not quite sure what path to take next.  The jacket is made up of boldly coloured peacock feathers as a reference to my family (they have peacocks) and how their love is wrapped around me, and there is plenty of it (lots of feathers with no end in sight).  Once again linking to the jacket maybe coming off or on - will I go away, or will I stay close?

The background has a tree that is old and weathered - a link to the fond love I have for history and the environment.  I'm a country girl at heart and am my most happy outdoors in the open - hence the wide open field of grass.  The tree, that may have been dead, is now coming back to life with small sprouts of leaves, showing that there will be a change in the air.  What change I do not know but it is coming.

The tree extends into the ground, behind the figure to reveal tree roots linked and joined in unison.  This reference is to my past which keeps revealling itself, yet doesn't reappear as the present.  It is my foundation, what makes me who I am today.  The links of my past are stronger then my future.  The green field is flat with no perspective or path to travel because I don't know where to find it.  There are no hills, no sun, and nothing in the distance.  Not because there is no hope, but rather that this reflects a moment in time where certains elements are just unknown to me. 

In the tree creatures and eyes peer out, watching and waiting.  No matter where I am, or what I am doing I always feel as though someone is watching me.  Everytime I walk into a room I feel eyes on me, and I'd rather slink to a corner away from the crowd so they can watch me from a distance.  There is no detail to the creatures as I can never put a face to the issues that I'm constantly fighting with my own self esteem.

The figure is wearing a simple purple dress, purple is my favourite colour.  Simple because I'm an ordinary girl who doesn't like to stand out of the crowd.  The hair of the figure is long as I've always wanted long hair that rests softly around my face.  The whole scene is surrounded by a massive blue sky of clouds and a storm brewing.  This symbolises the challenges that may lie forth in my future.

There are other meanings and references, but this is the basic outline.  My paintings aren't just of figures, I put so much secret meaning into them as I work.  The medium I use, the words I choose for collage, even down to the paper.  Each choice full of secrets and hidden meanings.  I just felt with this work that I had to share those details in order to give you a greater understanding of how much this work means to me.  It was one of those works that I just had to do before I could create anything else.  A turning point in my life.

The book that inspired the idea and the concepts was "The Bridei Chronicles" by Juliet Marillier.  A fantasy story about a witch girl and a boy destined to be king, and the love that grows between them against all odds.  The book is based on celtic lore as well as historical fact and resonates with me strongly.  I'm definitely a fan of science fiction or fantasy!!

Opening Night @ The Clothespeg Exhibition

Tonight I attended the opening night of "The Clothespeg Exhibition 2" which featured two of my works.  It was a strange location to have the exhibition @ LaLaOrange, a clothing store on William Street in Perth.  The location is great & the clothes, but the store is absolutely tiny, like a hallway that could barely fit 3 people wide.  So being the opening night, everyone wanted to see the exhibition but ended up spending more time outside on the sidewalk then in.  Oh - and the drinks were at the back of the store and there was barely a chance anyone could get to the drinks in between the long lines trying to see the artwork.  Oh well.  It was still pretty cool to see my art up!  :)  I submitted three works in total, and two were selected.

Here are some photos of the event -

Clothespeg Exhibition 2 - Lala Orange

The Clothespeg Project: Lala Orange

I've got 2 works in an exhibition coming up called "The Clothespeg Project"

The Clothespeg Project includes work about any theme, with any content, in any style. There is no limitation other than size.

Over 65 graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, tattoo artists, textile artists, painters, street artists and sculptors submitted work to the project. 90 pieces have been selected including works by Sean Morris, Brooke Bobridge, Yok, Thurle Wright, Yolanda Stapelton, Penny Lane, Jodee Knowles and Peter Long (pictured).  Oh, and of course me!  :)

Opens on Wednesday May 21 from 6pm. The exhibition runs until 21st June 2008.

Lala Orange
411 William Street Northbridge
www.lalaorange.com.au

The past few weeks in pictures

I usually write a lot in this blog/diary, but I decided that today I would try to talk a bit more through pictures.  :)

Two (out of three) of my works at the Perth College Art Exhibition.  It was really hard for me to smile because I was really sick at the opening night!!

My birthday present from my lovely partner Chad was to attend Semi Permanent 08 in Perth.  This was Amy Sol presenting her illustrations.  It was quite fascinating!  However it was really hard on me that day to sit through 7 hours of lectures from such a vast majority of people as once again I was still sick!  :(  My journal however is now filled to the brim with crazy ideas from the depths of my imagination.  So I guess all the medication paid off in other ways.  Unlocking my mind!

This is my stall at the Joondalup Festival on the first day, there were two days in total.  I can't even begin to express my disappointment at the organisation of the event.  The organisers had no idea how to run it!  I should have realised how bad they were after the run around they gave me just to get my stall confirmed in the first place.

Day One - changed my stall location without telling me, then placed me away from all the other stalls next to a fairy floss vendor.  I had at least 1/10 of the traffic of the rest of the stalls.

Day Two - stall location was changed again (at my request the day before), but they forgot to tell me they had given my stall location away to another person.  So after we started to setup we had to move location.  Again.

The positive part - I know that no matter how prepared I am anything can go wrong.  I can't even begin to express how much did, it wasn't a disaster but if I pulled out a hair everytime there was a problem I would need a wig.  So now I'm not going to stress, I'll just take things as they come.  The great thing is that I'm learning to adapt on the spot and come up with alternative ideas to fix situations.  Initially I had my stall worked out on paper, but after all the moving around I realised that I had to change it all on the spot.  Which worked well.  Oh, and I also learnt not to sell products at a Festival unless they are glow in the dark or make loud noises.  Get proper spotlights and don't rely on camping lights for a craft stall that is held both during the day and at night.  Oh - and if my illustrations were on packaging for chocolate I would have sold out because anything with sugar was what everyone purchased.  Snowcones, fudge or fairy floss!  :)

After the exhaustive two days, and being sick all week my cat decided to remind me what I should be doing.  Resting!

As I rested I watched a lot of lifestyle shows about making the world a better place.  I've just started watching a show called " Jimmy's Farm" which  I really enjoy as well as shows such as "Miami Ink", "Carbon Cops" and a huge variety of other ones.

It is helping me become more environmentally conscious by the day.  I think it is easy to live our lives without realising how much what we do can impact the world around us.  We already live a pretty simple life, but now I'm trying to be even more so.  When cleaning out boxes, cabinets and filing cabinets I'm realising how much paper we collect which usually ends up as waste.  Most of my mobile bills are 6 pages long, and come every month!  Then you have other paperwork such as statements for your bank accounts, free newspapers, promotional material, envelopes, mail, more junk mail.... the list goes on.  I don't want to have to throw these items into the bin, I want to do something more with them.  So I picked up a paper shredder and started shredding like crazy!  The great thing is that I can use the paper for bedding for my pets as well as for my worm farm for the gardens.  We also plan on getting a composter shortly which should help bring the gardens back to life as well as helping us to do our little thing for the world!

New Artworks for the Perth College Art Exhibition

So this weekend the Perth College Art Exhibition commences.  I'm exhibiting a total of three artworks in the exhibition - one large and two small.  Initially all three were going to be seaside themed, but once I started working on one of them she kind of morphed into something a little different.

I wanted to challenge myself a little with these paintings, trying out new techniques, styles and trying to engage more interaction in the composition of the works.  I think in order to grow every artist should continually challenge themselves and try new things, so I decided that I would join the ride.  I've had various critiques of my portfolio from various agencies and art directors, so I'm taking some of their advice on board as a way to start strengthening myself as an 'adaptable' artist in all forms of mediums and concepts but still remaining true to myself.

One thing I can definitely say about these works.  Boy are they huge!!!  :)

"Passion Pop"
Mixed Media on Canvas
24" x 24"

"Cockels and Mussels"
Mixed Media on Canvas
24" x 24"

"Whispers Of The Water"
Mixed Media on Canvas
40" x 40"

The Wheels Keep On Turning

So I've finally finished the painting for the  "We Love Ladies, All Girls Exhibition" at Gallery 696 in Melbourne.

I wasn't in the mood for a nice sweet painting, so I tried something a little alternative.  I wanted to incorporate a sense of the organic into the painting through the use of line, colour and pattern.   I love the cheetah print effect that I managed to get in the hair through cracks of the paint.   At first I wanted her to be holding a starfish in front of her face as a shield but the more I look at it, the more I think she's going to turn that starfish into a throwing star!  Beware of the water ninja - a mermaid of the modern day.

The work is mixed media on canvas measuring 14" x 18".  I used gouache, acrylic, collage, metallic pens and ink on triple primed canvas.  I've titled her "Keeper Of The Sea"

We Love Ladies, All Girl Exhibition

We've just had a long weekend here for some reason or another and today (Tuesday) marks the real start to this week.  I didn't have the public holiday off but I still feel like I'm part of holiday mode.  It must be the lovely weather we are having.  Anyway, this week officially starts off the month that I'm going to fondly refer to as "Mad March".  I have more work then ever - you should see my diary. 

This is my desk with all the paperwork that I've been trying to get through this weekend.  Filing, exhibition details, research information, business paperwork.... so many things!  I'm tired just thinking about it all!!  However I'm staying positive by thinking about all the fabulous work that I'm going to create.  At least I can't say I'm bored!

The first announcement is a great exhibition I'm participating in at Gallery 696. 

Where: Gallery 696
                 696 Sydney Rd, Brunswick, Melbourne
When: 7th March 2008

Artists that will be exhibiting include:

Love Ariel
Miss Lily Mae Martin
My Charlie Girl
Kelly Smith
Nom
Eugenia Tsimiklis
Kitty Morton
Caitlin Riby
Art4Friends
Ali J
Samara
Fatty
Scarlettcat
Nicole Tattersal
Aida Sabic
Rachee Renee
Pep

The work for the exhibition is top secret for the moment, I'll release it over the next few days.  (Another words I haven't finished it yet and have to post it there express.  Whoops!)  :)  It's very interesting so far, that is all I'm going to say.  I hope to get some photo love of my work from anyone who goes to the exhibition.  I really hope that later in the year I can do some travelling over to the galleries & stores with my work in them, it feels so good to see my work on display.

Lots of little pretty pictures

Tonight I attended the opening exhibition of "The Clothespeg Project" which is a group exhibition that I'm participating in along with about another 40 artists.  I had three works in total at the exhibition and it was great to exhibit along with other great artists that I'm getting to know pretty well such as auntyevil and 2ndhandfairy.  It's just unfortunate that auntyevil had her time right, but dates wrong, so she couldn't make the opening night!  LOL.

So here are some pics...






my best friend and myself with one of my works :)

The night was absolutely packed, I had to fight and push just to take the photographs.  Just kidding... but it was crazy.  The last two photos were taken holding the camera above my head and just clicking, hoping something would come out on the screen.  My poor camera couldn't even fit everybody in, it was cr-azy!

So this photo of me will be the last where you will see me with plain boring hair.  Next week I plan on a major art inspired haircut with some dramatic colour.  It is time to spruce up my life and bring some excitement into it.  :)  I'm also trying to organize the house which is difficult when it holds many years of memories.  I have held onto so many things from my teenage years that I no longer want, or will ever need, and I feel that it is finally time to let some things go.  I own so many things in boxes and storage that will never be used, I feel cluttered and my creativity is stifled.  So yesterday morning I started listing goods on eBay.  I think I've listed 120 items so far, only about 500 to go.  I never realised just how many things I owned.  Plus I'm still trying to get the remainder of my illustration work up on etsy and madeit, I need some helpers.  Anyone want to get paid to work for me for a day or two? (yes... I am serious...)

I've also bought some storage containers, sorted everything that I sell into pretty containers and pre prepared all of my postage for quick and easy service.  Now when an item is sold I can pop the item straight into the mailer, then into the post.  Quick for me and it means all customers get their goods super fast.   I've done so much this past week, but never have enough time in the day to do everything I need to.  I haven't even tried to attempt anything creatively, there is so much more that I need to do first.  I've got wholesale orders to fill, consignment goods to send out and hundreds of items to scan and photograph.  Plus I've got sooo many e-mails, it's hard to keep up with it all.  I'm just trying to streamline my systems and keep up to date with everything right now. 

I was tagged by Anna Laura a while back to tell you some little known facts about me.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

1. My favourite genre of books to read is fantasy and science fiction.  My favourite authors are Raymond E Feist and Juliet Marillier, who I've had the pleasure of meeting in real life and getting all my books signed by them.  I've never been so star struck in my life.
2. On that note.... the internationally acclaimed fantasy writer Juliet Marillier happens to be the mother of one of my ex-boyfriends from primary school.  I can proudly say that she drove me and my then boyfriend Ben to the movies where we sat in the front row and watched Mrs Doubtfire.  I was 11 years old and I refused to share my popcorn with him.  I really didn't like him as a boyfriend, although he was very sweet.  Sadly he found that out on Valentines day when he presented me with chocolates and I spent the entire lunch hour in the girls toilets hiding from him because I didn't want to sit with him. 
3. I used to build huge scenes of hospitals and fire stations with my brothers lego set and then get really mad at my barbie dolls because they wouldn't fit in the buildings.
4. I had a white rabbit named Floppy who lived for 9 years and was more like a dog then a rabbit.  Floppy used to chase our German Shephard/Blue Heeler Shadow around the back garden and nip at his feet.  The rabbit wasn't impressed when the dog decided to chase him back.  Floppy was fine though, he lived to a ripe old age and was a very happy rabbit!
5. For my twelfth birthday I received a 3 CD stereo system.  It was such a huge thing at the time and so expensive, now it is all about iPods.  To this day my stereo systerm still works perfectly and hasn't even needed one repair.  That was 13 years ago - don't we miss technology like that!  Everything we buy nowadays breaks after two years, just as the warranty expires.  Along with the stereo systerm I received my first CD's - Salt N Pepa and Boyz II Men.  Oh, 90's music how I miss you so.... :)

I tag auntyevil, 2ndhandfairy, absolutefeli, charliemotel and thedreamygiraffe 

The Clothespeg Project Invitation

I'm participating in another wonderful art exhibition called "The Clothespeg Project".  I've got three artworks in this exhibition in total and all are fashion illustrations a little different to what I usually create.  If you are in Perth, Australia and get the chance, please come and have a peek, there are over 40 artists in total participating in the event.

Feel welcome to attend opening drinks, friday december 7th from 6pm.  Hope to see you there!

Media Coverage of my Solo Exhibition

So a few weeks ago prior to my solo exhibition I researched how to write a Media Release.  The idea of an artists media release is to announce the event and some past history of the artist in three very small paragraphs.  The media release should be short, concise and to the point as when it is sent out it is usually skimmed with the first few lines and if relevant, kept on file, if not it is thrown away.  That is one other thing that I learnt from my Arts Business Course that I did a few weeks ago.

So I typed up my media release and sent it to every single local media outlet I could find, you never know who would be interested, and I didn't think it hurt to try.  I was very nervous, and although I can be shy about my work I don't want to look back one day and regret not trying.  I'm very pleased that it resulted in a 1/2 page spread in the "Guardian Express" newspaper.  I had a phone interview for the article and a professional photography shoot with my artworks.

I also want to thank Bec from MadeIt for putting some information up on the blog about my exhibition.  It was wonderful to see it!  You can view the article here and browse the Madeit site here.

For those of you in Perth who haven't had a look at the exhibition yet, here are the details.

"Dreams And Storytales"
First solo exhibition for the illustrator Ali J
open until Wednesday November 21st, open mainly 10 - 5:30 every day of the week
@
Behind The Monkey
479 Beaufort St
Mt Lawley, WA, 6003
(Across the road from the Merchant Tea Company, close to the Queens Hotel and in between two florists.)

I'll be at the exhibition on Sunday afternoon - so I hope to see you there! xox