Bye Bye 2010

The last month or so has whizzed by! At the beginning of December I finished up my work at SouthLife Church...and with that said goodbye to so many of the projects that came from being a part of the Creative team there. My last project for them was the theme & registrations for the Leadership Summit coming up at the end of January..which sadly i will not be attending...


..Because after I finished up work I packed my wee car up to the roof and headed back to my hometown of Hanmer Springs! Unfortunately I didn't have much response to my last post, but I managed to fit all the prints in anyway. However, I did manage to sell a print at Pukeko Junction at Christmas time. Yah!
I'm spending the Summer up in Hanmer (with many adventures to Christchurch). Lots of time over December has been spent outside in the garden, but there is still plenty of time spent completing design projects and thinking up new ideas for 2011! Especially since Christmas time bought with it a new wacom drawing tablet from my brother, and my portable printing press is currently in construction. I can't wait until it is ready!

A Few months ago I managed to pick up some work with what is now 'The Valley Baptist Church' in Dunedin, they have continued to give me consistently so I was kept busy right up until the day I left, and with the joy of the internet I can continue working with them from Hanmer. The first and most important project was the name change and new logo..

Here is what they had before:



And after much "umming and arring" this is what they decided on for new logo and signage. Unfortunately with the front sign, they changed their mind at the last minute in terms of colour and made the front sign all white.. which wasn't the intended plan, but sometimes I guess its hard to keep everyone happy in a group. Luckily the main sign is interchangable so i think next time they will opt for a dark green background on parts instead. See below: (sorry about the poor quality photo - click on it to enlarge)



I have also been kept busy making business cards, welcome cars, newspaper advertisements, flyers for various guy fawkes and christmas events, welcome cards for new people etc (all of which i'll probably upload to flickr at some point) .. However one of the funnest projects thus far would have to be a brochure for "Easy Rider" - a course for men.



That's pretty much it for 2010. I'm off to Christchurch to see the New Year in with my friends. Happy New Year! See you in 2011 :)

Help wanted! Interested?

So, the Musselburgh Baptist auction turned out to be a success: All 3 of my prints sold = YAY! However, It has just dawned on me that I am leaving Dunedin in about 2 or 3 weeks...and have to fit all of my belongings into the back of my car (whose battery unfortunately died today at St Clair...so not going anywhere just yet)

I have in my possession four framed prints...which i'm struggling to imagine how they are going to fit in my car along with everything else. So I'd be super stoked If I managed to sell them before I left. The photos of the four prints are below...and the 5th photo is an example of how they are framed (floated on white matt with white frame). So if you like cities, or bikes...or know someone that does and would like to buy it for them (christmas present anyone?). Offering these framed ones cheaper than usual for $325 (bargain!) So...if you are interested please email me at simonescrivener@gmail.com. First in, first served I guess. Though of course I still have many unframed ones in stock..


"Alone in the Crowd I"


"Alone in the Crowd II"


"Alone in the Crowd IV"


"Oranje Fietsen V"


Example of Framing

Neopolitan Memories

Last week I whipped up a poster for The Amuri Players. The Amuri Players are a group of people from around the Amuri area who band together every year to put on an amazing play in the Hanmer Springs Memorial Hall. They have been going strong for 30 years now, so this year in November they will be performing a tribute to the last 30 years called "Neopolitan Memories - Flavours of the Amuri Players." It will be a one night revue, with songs from some of the musicals that have been done over the last 30 years. I'm heading up for it, should be a great night and will definitely bring back lots of memories as I performed in 5 of the plays when I was younger. If you are in the are and interested in going, see the poster for more details.

I'm still Alive!

So its been about a month and a half since my last post. Oopsy. Still been busy though - so there are some more posts coming :)

A few weeks ago I put some prints into the Art in the Garden at Glenfalloch. Unfortunately it was a pretty cold day so not much foot traffic. I Now have some in the "Visual Offerings" Exhibition which is coming up on the 12th November running until the 19th. If you are in Dunedin you should head along! Maybe you could get a Christmas present for someone. When I dropped my work off last week there was heaps of cool Art there. More details on flyer below.



Speaking of Christmas presents. I still have heaps of prints available (especially Bike prints!), so have a look on my website www.simonemariecreative.com and if you are interested in buying one email me and I'll sort a good price for you :)

Painting?

I can't say I really enjoy painting..it was my least favourite subject at Art School (actually sculpture was my least favourite) but I've had 4 canvases and some paint lying in my room for the past few years - so I thought i better attack them and have a go. I've kept with the urban theme and a limited (very limited) colour palette and also created some cool textures. A few of my good friends have some birthdays coming up so, if thats you..you might be in luck with a painting for a present :)

Also - on a slightly related note...The perspective crop tool in photoshop is amazing! I took the photos of my painting on an angle as to avoid annoying lighting - and with the tool it automatically straightens it out for you. WOAH!

Printing Printing Printing

I have officially printed my first new woodcut's in nearly 3 years (since i left Art School!) It has been so much fun getting my hands dirty and carving wood and messing around with ink. Fortunately I'm still able to use the facilities down at Art School so that has been really helpful.

One of the projects that I've been working on is a commissioned print that came as response to my work being exhibited down at University. The brief was to make a big woodcut portrait of actor Steve McQueen and print it in similar style and colours to my previous 'Oranje Fietsen' woodcuts (bright orange and black!) I managed to get this completed last Friday - and will send it off to get framed this Friday once it is completely dry.






As well as Steve McQueen I've also printed a small edition of a new print called 'Pedestrians'. This print is a development from my previous series 'Alone in the Crowd', though focuses more on the 'crowd' part rather than the city as a whole. It has been really good getting back into the swing of things, though i had forgotten how time consuming it is carving out the little stylised people! I'm also thinking more about switching to water based ink (it gets a bit yukky dealing with turps and other nasty chemicals) and am also looking into buying a portable printing press so I can take it with me if I am moving around.

My Life is a Song

As some of you know, I volunteer my time & skills in the Create Team at SouthLife Church. My last project has been an EXCITING one - designing the album artwork for our recent live album 'MY LIFE IS A SONG'. It's been a great project, working alongside the talented David Whitaker (who wrote the music & lyrics for all the songs on the album) to get our finished product...which arrived last week just in time for the Albums launch this previous weekend at BRANDED CONFERENCE 2010!! It's perhaps not your usual cliche design for a live recording (picture photo of band rocking on stage & crowd with their hands up) but we love its cleanness, simplicity, bold colours and retro feel. My favourite part is the CD itself and how it fits snuggly into the same design behind it.
If by any chance you are interested in buying a copy you can email office@southlife.org.nz and buy one for only $20! Bargain!

Of late...

Some other things that have been happening/are happening:

Still working on some paintings...

I finished my website! Got most of my work uploaded on there now :) visit www.simonemariecreative.com

About 2 weeks ago I entered some work into a silent art auction that was raising money for a small church community in the province of Nawalprasi in Nepal. It was a really fun evening and I was stoked that my work sold and i was able to donate %50 of the proceeds to a really good cause! As far as I know money raised went goes towards building a kitchen, installing benches, large ovens, sinks, drainage and roofing.

On a very important note! I'm currently putting my energies into voting for my wonderful friend Roxanna Zamani!

Roxy is currently in Italy after being accepted out of over 700 applicants as 1 of 23 finalist for the prestigious fashion awards
Mittelmoda where she won a prize and will now show her work at Milan Fashion Week along side other Mittelmoda winners. Soon after Mittelmoda she was selected as a finalist for a competition run through FashionTV, won her section and took out the
main prize. The over all prize allows her to show her collection at Perth Fashion Festival in September.
She has also recently been selected as a finalist in Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition, there are ten finalists and the top three that are voted by the public are able to show their mini collection at New Zealand Fashion Week where an over all winner will be announced. Prizes include 1 year of mentoring by a NZ fashion Designer, $5,000 deposited into a Westpac account and business mentoring for a year. Roxy is extremely talented, a really hard worker and totally deserves to win this! If you google her name you'll see that she is popping up everywhere cos she is amazing! So I encourage you to vote for her!
You are able to vote once a day everyday until the 5th Sep...which is very soon, so get voting! Click on the link below to Vote.

http://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/contests/51881/voteable_entries/7469938?ref=mf

And on an equally important note, I turn 25 in one weeks time on the !st of September! Hoorah! Here is a wee illustration i made for an invite to celebrate the occasion and welcome Spring! I love Spring...!

Wedding Invites

Over the month of July I've had the privilege of working with a client on some wedding invitations. She wanted an earthy, natural kiwiana theme to fit the location of her up and coming wedding at Lake Ohau. It was a really fun project to work on as it involved alot of drawing & illustration work and playing around with different colour schemes (which i love!) and it was great being able to throw ideas back and forth with my client and work on the project as a team. We ended up separating the invitation out into 4 separate cards: the main invitation, a RSVP postcard, a gifting card and a directions card.

Above are some photos of the final proof. The first photo is side A of each card, and the second photo is of the other side of each card (because I want to show the effect of the design printed on a brown recycled paper). For this project I've been working with Lynette from MCK Design & Print who has been super duper helpful.

Under Construction..

So...I'm building a website! It's my porfolio/space for my printmaking, illustration & graphic design :)

I am building it using Adobe Dreamweaver. It has been such a mission figuring out CS5, but I'm getting there! It's rather basic (I don't have all the skills...and flash is a whole other kettle of fish)...but here's what I have so far! Check back soon for the actual images :)

www.simonemariecreative.com

Happenings

Things have become busy recently...

My prints made it to Lot Design safe and sound, and are now hanging on their wall ready to be sold...

Last Monday i hung up my work at the Otago University Law Faculty. They are all ready for the Art in Law IV Exhibition which opens on Tuesday 20th July and runs until November.There is some pretty cool work there by other students, graduates & lecturers of the Art School so you should go have a look if you are wandering around University. I've had some really encouraging feedback already resulting in an early sale of a print and a commission to create a new one. Below are some photos of my prints lining their walls..




It's so cool being commissioned to make a new print because that is now motivating me to make some other new prints. I haven't really had time to make any new prints since I graduated and my focus has mainly been on selling my previous editions ( which has been successful!) and on graphic design & illustration..but I'm keen to start carving up some new woodblocks asap so watch this space!...

I've also picked up two freelance design projects which I am working on. The first involves designing a new logo for a healthcare centre and also a information folder for a nursing initiative. The second involves illustrating and designing a retro kiwiana themed wedding invite for a client i got via my Coroflot Portfolio. They are very fun projects!

So its all go!

Investing in my future

This week I've been playing with my latest purchase...Adobe CS5 Design Premium..Commercial version :)
So so so so so so so exciting.

In other news I sold a print in the weekend (yay!) and I am currently working on painting four canvases which is fun!

Also said goodbye to my good friend Roxy who is heading over to Italy for the Mittelmoda fashion comp. Hope she wins! Good luck Roxy! If you havent seen her amazing creations - you should google her name Roxanna Zamani. Lots will come up cos she's pretty much famous :)

Upgrades

I've recently ditched my Asus 6000U Lappy...



..in favour of a beautiful new 13 Inch Macbook Pro (Thanks Grandma!)



I've also ditched my old Canon Powershot A520...



..For a Panasonic Lumix FZ35 (Thanks IRD!)



It makes life so much easier when you have technology that works to your advantage :)
Switching from a PC to a Mac has been the best decision ever. As they say "Once you have a Mac, you never go back".

Hanmer Springs Physiotherapy

My mother's physiotherapy clinic in Hanmer Springs was in dire need of a new brand. All that existed was a simple painted sign saying PHYSIOTHERAPIST outside. I took up the challenge over the first half of this year to create her a new logo, and a new street sign. And she needed a new business card. Below was her previous business card (eww)



Below are the new designs for 2 new business cards. The first encorporates the new logo I designed for her. It's simple, clean and fresh - just the way I like it. The colours are bright yet still fit in with the natural surroundings of Hanmer Springs. The logo includes a mountain that refers to the iconic conical hill in Hanmer, and also the Physiotherapy hands.



The second design is a revamp of her previous cards - kept it extremely simple due to the large amount of text needed, and kept with the same colour scheme of the first card.



I decided to get the cards printed through Printstop. They were having 50% off appointment cards during May - Perfect timing. Proofing was a very easy process and they were extremely helpful. Can not wait to see the final product - They should be being couriered to Hanmer Springs at present.

Exhibitions

Today I'm also working on getting some of my woodblock prints exhibited around Otago. You can view my printmaking here (as well as my illustration & design work). I've mostly been exhibiting in north canterbury at Majuba Gallery and Wai Ariki Nature Park in Hanmer Springs as well as The Rocking Frog in Waikari. I also exhibited work in Art in a Garden at Flaxmere last year and hope to do so again this year.

So far I've locked in to show some work at Lot Design in Wanaka - a beautiful new design store. I will also be exhibiting at the Art in Law IV Exhibition coming up at the Law Faculty at Otago University between July and November, and will also be involved at the Art in a Garden at Glenfalloch on the 17th October. Im a bit disappointed I can't exhibit at the OUSA Art Week Student Exhibition because I'm no longer a student :( (Last year I sold heaps and carved up some sweet prizes) Either way it will be cool to go and have a look.

Friday is my day

I am currently working part time at SouthLife Church as a "receptionist/PA". Title doesn't really do the job justice - As I do much much more than that - they even let me play around doing graphic design most days :) Anyway, I don't work there on Fridays so I try and spend it by doing fun things!

This morning had a cup of tea with my wonderful friend Margot Frei (prev McLean) up at this funky cafe in Roslyn called Kikki Beware. We had a great time encouraging each other in our creative fields - Margot has been gifted with an incredible voice. Margot kicked some serious butt back in 2006 when she gained a top 20 placing in New Zealand for the 'Play it Strange' high school songwriting competition with the song 'Her Way'. In the same year she also won best vocalist in the South Island Jazz Festival, and was asked to sing with the New Zealand Airforce Band in their gala concert. Margot also attended Berklee School of Music in Boston to attend a summer songwriting course in 2008. She is currently studying Music at Otago University.
Margot doesn't have a website - but we'll work on that - we need to get her out there! Meanwhile I've found a link where you can listen to her song 'Her Way'.

At lunchtime I went and checked out the Ten Day Boutique up at None Gallery (24 Stafford Street). Pretty cool! If you are in Dunedin you should go check it out - lots of cool arty stuff/clothing/crafts. Closes this Sunday 13th June. More info here

The First Post

I haven't written a blog for 3 years. It was for my travels. I follow enough blogs so thought it was about time to start one up again, however this one will be of a different sort.

For those of you who don't know me - Hello! I'm Simone :) As the profile says - I'm primarily a Printmaker, Illustrator & Graphic Designer....but I also like to paint, take photos, recycle paper, make books, envelopes, stickers and lots of other things. I don't really wan't to box myself in if I dont have to.

Basically I'm creative. Therefore, Welcome to Simone Marie Creative. I'll be posting details of whatever creative endeavors I'm undertaking as well as other thoughts and ramblings.

Here goes!