My weaving story featured in SMH
Five ways to switch off
Kate Jones
Catriona Pollard says a creative outlet helps her switch off.Checking your phone constantly? Refreshing your inbox every few minutes?
It's a sure sign you need to switch off.
But overcoming a technology addiction is easier said than done when smart phones allow us to bring work wherever we go. Turning off the phone and ignoring the emails just isn't a realistic option, so can you kick the habit?
Find an outlet that doesn't involve phones or computers
Her friends say she "plays with sticks", but Catriona Pollard prefers to call it "the art of weaving".
Pollard took up basketry after she started to feel the pressure of operating her public relations agency CP communications.
"A few years ago I got to the point where I felt I was starting to get burnt out by the intense pressure of constantly being on deadline," Pollard says.
"I thought I had a creative outlet because my job was creative, but I really need other outlets to manage my workload."
Photography appealed to Pollard, but she realised it involved yet more time in front of a computer. Instead, she turned to something completely new and different.
"I saw the local community centre was having a basketry weekend and I signed up," she says.
"When I did it, I knew this was it. It was like a form of meditation and it was such a simplistic task – the exact opposite of what I have to do in my job every day."
Pollard now regularly scours garden waste for plants she can use to sculpt and weave. Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and she is on the committee of NSW Basketry.
In Situ 2013: Mosman Festival of Sculpture & Installation
My work, It Takes Two, has been selected for In Situ 2013.
Situ 2013 is a collaborative sculpture exhibition between Mosman Art Gallery, Mosman businesses and participating artists. It comes under the umbrella of the Festival of Mosman and is a key event in its calendar.
‘It Takes Two’ represents the connection and relationship we have with each other and the world around us. Both pieces are the same, yet different. Like all of us. We are surrounded by unique beauty– which often we don’t notice. Maybe it’s time we did.
Made from collected Palm inflorescences, Gymea lily, rattan hand dyed using bark from gum trees.
It Takes Two will be featured in the shop front of Husk from Saturday 5 October – Sunday 20 October 2013.
Forest Basket featured in Art Almanac
So excited to see my basket "Forest Basket" featured in Art Almanac!
What's a basket? exhibition
Basketry NSW Annual Exhibition has an exhibition on for two days only: Sunday 4th and Friday 9th August 2013; 10 am till 4 pm. Cremorne Sydney
Basketry NSW is showcasing members work in an exhibition of contemporary basketry and fibre sculpture, titled “What’s a basket”. Two of my sculptures will be featured including Forest Dreaming and Skipping Stones.
The exhibition is designed to change people’s perception of what a basket is. In conjunction, workshops and an open day will give people the opportunity to experience this wonderful art.
What's a basket? Once upon a time it was a container with a practical purpose, usually made from plant materials. Recently, basketry has undergone a radical reinvention.
Now all kinds of aesthetic pieces are made using ancient basketry techniques such as coiling, weaving, twining, netting and knotting - but with non-traditional materials, perhaps retaining only a vestige of "containerness", and not necessarily performing the function of holding physical objects within.
At the same time, contemporary basket makers continue to celebrate traditional forms and plant materials. This exhibition by members of Basketry NSW Inc. showcases a range of work that will expand your view of what a basket is.
Venue: The Mezzanine Gallery, Primrose Park Art & Craft Centre, Matora Lane (off Young St), Cremorne, NSW
More information on the Basketry NSW Facebook page.
'Undergrowth' selected for North Sydney Art Prize
My sculpture 'Undergrowth' has been selected for the North Sydney Art Prize exhibition.
A total of 130 artists were selected from a staggering 447 entries by the distinguished Selection Panel. The artists range from locals to regional and national artists. Many of them have an impressive exhibition history and have been finalists in major national and international events.
The exhibition is open 10am - 5pm, 27 July - 5 August 2013
Venues:
Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability, 2 Balls Head Drive, Waverton
Hutley Hall, Council Chambers, 200 Miller Street, North Sydney
More information click here.
Skipping Stones featured in Mosman Daily
Skipping Stones featured in Mosman Daily for the exhibition "What's a basket?"
Artisan Markets at the Coal Loader
The first Artisan Markets at the Coal Loader in Waverton was so incredible today. We had standing room only in our basketry section for most of the day. It was wonderful to see so much interest in our art.
Baskets are full of stories
The baskets are not empty. They are full of makers, their stories, their thoughts while making. The baskets are never empty. All of the thoughts jump out of the baskets onto all of us.
Verna Nichols
Playing with pandanus
I recently went on a yoga retreat in Fiji at Daku Resort and the owner very kindly organised for me to visit a village to sit with the women and weave a traditional Fijian mat.
The material was pandanus (known as voivoi in Fiji) leaves which are so strong - strong enough to walk on for years - so the collection and preparation of the material is extensive. They are boiled, dried in the sun, smoothed out by hand (using a file - pictured), split into strips.
The weaving was quite complicated, but once you got into the rhythm, it became easier. It was such a wonderful experience.
A more detail description of this is on the Daku Resort blog.