Z.R. Southcombe's Blog, page 3

Winter Sunset on a Point & Shoot

Last week I had tried to get up early and photograph Matariki in the dawn sky, but couldn’t manage it. I did, however, get up early and observe it, twinkling away at me above the hills in the north-eastern sky. I have also had the privilege of enjoying some spectacular sunsets, with tonight’s being particularly moving.

These photographs were all taken from the comfort of my studio. I chose the room for it’s large west-facing window, and throughout the year I get to witness sunset from this room. A line of trees offer me a sense of privacy, and while I love that I’ve often felt like they block the view of the setting sun. Tonight I have finally realised that they in fact add interest and character for me to play with.

After much back-and-forth about spending money that I really didn’t have, in 2020 (just a month before lockdown!) I finally splurged on a DSLR camera. It was bottom of the range and secondhand, usually known as the Canon ‘Rebel’ series, and it opened up a whole new world for me in terms of photography. I can be wonderfully creative with my DSLR as working in manual allows me to make more of the visual choices myself.

Now, though, I have realised the importance of also having a camera that you can simply point and shoot and have invested in a compact camera alongside my ‘proper camera’. It fits in my handbag, and sometimes in my pocket, and all I need to do is, well, point and shoot. In the few days that I have owned it I have already taken so many more photos than I would have if I was relying on my DSLR, or the very limited range of my phone camera. I love the flexibility I now have, between DSLR & compact & smartphone, and am so excited to explore my world that little bit more.

100 Days 2022 – the first twelve days

I’ve tried the 100 Days Project several times, with varying levels of success & failure. What happens without fail, though, is that I learn and grow from each project (for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, the project is to produce one creative thing daily for 100 days). I’ve scattered (draft) pages of the journal throughout this blog post.

Upon reflection I realised that one of the things I find hard is that after I’ve done the daily challenge, I then have to photograph & post it online & figure out something to say about it. So this time I’m doing the daily challenge (a photo a day), writing something about the image or my feelings that day, and putting it into a photozine. I’m not sharing daily and I already feel much better about this project than I have about previous ones.

The first three days I was really happy with, and it was a good boost for me to get off to a good start. I’ve noticed myself becoming more introspective as the days wear on – though I’m not sure if that’s the project, or just how I’m feeling right now in my life.

There’s been a definite inward turn towards ‘climate doomism’ (or more broadly, environmental doomism, but I don’t think that’s officially a thing). My inclination in photography is towards the wildlife and the natural environment but usually when I post my photos online I don’t reflect deeply on them. In this project the ‘journal’ aspect encourages going deeper, so that might go some way towards an explanation about why I’m feeling it more deeply. Of course, it’s normal for me to go through periods of overwhelm related to the human impact on the environment, so it could be completely unrelated!

There’s also some artistic frustration, between where my skills are currently at and where I’d like them to be. I definitely make images that I am happy with – they are appropriately focused, composed well, and say something. Maybe they are part of a story, or communicate emotion, or they achieve a particular skill I’ve been working on (at the moment I’m working on better focus with bird photography, and learning how to capture sunrise/sunset). But I can’t – yet – go out with a camera and be confident I’ll get something I’m happy with.

We don’t have a car at the moment. It’s not terrible, but obviously it places restrictions on when & where I can go. On the plus side, it’s forced me to walk and take public transport way more than I would’ve in the past. When I stop to think about it I’m slightly impressed at how much I’ve been able to do (and to photograph) without a personal vehicle. Our little rural town now has a bus service on the weekend so that’s opened up my options slightly more. It’s still a challenge, though, and sometimes a source of frustration that I can’t just go where I want whenever I want to. Particularly with sunrise & sunset photos, my best option is to rent a place near water so I can be up and ready for the skies, but of course there’s also a little thing called a budget that needs to be considered.

Suffice to say, there are a lot of things going on and a lot of challenges. But I guess that’s what it’s supposed to be: a challenge. These challenges force me to be creative, and problem solve, and figure out what I want to say to the world. In the words of Roosevelt — ‘A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.’

There have been several Mondays at the dayjob where my colleague and I have said, where did the weekend go? Or realising that it’s already one, two, five months into the year. Time never used to speed along that quickly, and I was sure that mindfulness & adventure were at the heart of it. I had my joint exhibition in April, which was a joy and a real milestone, and in May I took myself out for a ‘mini adventure’ for the day at Waikouaiti. I did a sunrise shoot before work one day, and a sunset shoot on the last day of autumn. By the time June arrived, it felt like it had been a month. Time didn’t fly by without meaning – I found mindfulness behind the camera, and adventure in this beautiful country I am blessed to live in.

I have just finished reading Zen Camera by David Ulrich. It resonated strongly with something I was describing to my friend when I first started using a DSLR: that being behind the camera absorbs my attention. I observe more deeply, and I’m able to (sometimes!) capture how I see the world for others to see it through my eyes. The camera is a tool for my mind to be quiet, finally, and for my appreciation of beauty to have an outlet. It’s an excuse for little adventures, and photographing daily helps ground me in my daily life.

At the end of the project, I will have a 100 photographs that reflect on 100 days of my life, and a little bit of daily mindfulness. No matter what I photograph, or how good the end product is, I have no doubt that this project will bring richness into my daily life.

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Empty Vessels Exhibition, 26-30 April 2022

Joint exhibition with Christchurch-based artist, Artemis Jones, at Pūmanawa Gallery in the Christchurch Arts Centre, April 2022. The show explored feelings of isolation and loneliness through mixed media work.

2022: The Road Ahead

It’s been quite some years since I’ve done any serious writing, I’ve even lost my journalling habit, but I’ve been mulling over some book ideas over the last year or so and I’m drafting some new works. Yay! I’ve even got my books back up on Amazon again.

Two are non-fiction, the first I started writing last year and will follow through the seasons in a diary style. The other is a photo book, sharing some of my images and my thoughts behind the artistic choices (I realise I am not an experienced photographer, but I’m claiming my art and writing experience to back me up on this one!). I’m enjoying working on both of them. The garden book is more reflective and slow, the photo book more practical, so they play to different writing moods.

The story for my fiction work still needs nutting out, but the setting will be a place that’s in between realities, a sort of ‘nowhere’, where an immortal being lives. I’m really excited about working on this book!

I’m also really pleased to have started painting again, even though I didn’t finish my 100 Days of Painting last year. I’ve (re)discovered such a joy in painting, and I’m glad I gave myself the opportunity to do so. My plan is to keep a regular art practice and have paintings available for sale throughout the year. I’m also super excited to have a joint exhibition in April this year with my artist friend in Ōtautahi/Christchurch – more info to come

Photography, of course, has become a passion and a source of zen. It’s so easy to get lost in the moment while I’m trying to capture an image in exactly the right way that I find my brain chatter finally turning off. This is one medium I’m hoping to really push myself in this year.

All in all, I’m feeling quietly optimistic – though I might possibly have said that this time last year as well! But right now, things are looking positive for a little bit of normality and maybe a few adventures along the way.

Sunrise over Puketapu

Lost mojo / the road ahead

My motivation to complete my 100 Days of Painting project has pretty much fizzled to zero. I tried to push through it for a while, but sheer stubbornness doesn’t seem to cut it for me these days.

I’ve learned that if I can understand why something’s happening, it’s easier to deal with. In this case, all the goals that I set out with – creating a painting practice, finding my style, selling my work, improving my skills – had been achieved.

So, I’m allowing myself to fail the 100 Days challenge, and I’m okay with that. I intend to keep making and selling my work, and I’ve got the exhibition (postponed to summer 2022) to work towards as well. There might even be some writing on the horizon, we’ll have to see what the future brings.

100 WEEKLY paintings

A wee update to my 100 Paintings project, and a bit about why I’m making those changes

**I’m switching from daily to weekly for the rest of my 100 Days of Painting project.**

While I made sure I’d have enough time to paint each day (ka pai, past-Zee!), I didn’t factor in time I’d need to percolate over ideas for each piece, or for low energy levels.
This does kind of feel like a cop-out, but I’d much rather switch up the rules than put out work that I’m not really proud of.
It’s also been affecting some of my other commitments (like cleaning the house & working in the garden).
On top of that, I’ve been in and out of depression lately, and I need to make sure I take time out to give myself what I need to stay well (I’m okay, I know what I need, and I’ve started taking those steps).
(Oh and Covid update – my online shop is temporarily closed, until non-essential businesses are allowed to operate again x)

Week One of 100 Days of Painting #100Days2021

It’s been a week or so in to my 100 Days of Painting project, and I’m already behind! I’m not worried because it’s been a big week energy-wise, it’s a totally new routine for me, and I have this weekend to catch up. As it becomes more of a daily habit, it will be easier to commit (link to my Instagram feed here, and my online shop here).

A huge thanks to all of you have bought, shared, commented, and ‘liked’ my work! It has been a real boost to my motivation, and I am appreciative for all of it.

Day one’s painting and its photo inspiration, my ‘butterfly garden’ in late autumn.

There were many reasons I started this project, the main being that I have an exhibition in November with my friend Anne-Marie ‘Artemis’ Jones (link is to her Instagram account). It’s been a while since I’ve done painting with any serious-ness and I was struggling with creating work for this exhibition, always questioning what I wanted to paint, how I wanted to paint, and whether that was really how I wanted to present myself and my work. I was also becoming increasingly frustrated at my limited skills, being out of practice for so long.

I’ve already learned so much! Gouache is fast becoming my medium of preference, with its vivid colours, ease of use, and ability to layer fantastically well. Wood is becoming my surface of choice, which I hadn’t expected. There’ll still be works on paper, because I like the texture I can get with paper, and that’s good for my more symbolist/self-expressionist pieces. The layers of paint build up and into each other, creating more subtlety in the paint itself, meaning I can be more minimalist with colour and form. I’d like to try painting on fabric, too.

Day six’s painting, with detail showing texture that could not have been created on a smooth, wooden surface.

When I paint on wood, the paint seems to sit on the surface, so the layers don’t blend in with each other. I love this for an impressionist/post-impressionist style of painting, as it allows me to fit so much colour into a small space. I can be a lot more creative with my brushwork, and in some ways more expressive.

Detail from day seven’s painting, showing layers of colour and varied brush strokes.

I have always tended to pour a lot of feeling into my painting, and I’m finding that I really only have one painting in me each day. This might change over time, but it’s a struggle for me to get into the mindset of one work and then switch over into a different one. There’s so much emotion – and even narrative – in each piece that I need some kind of palette cleanser in between (e.g. housework, gardening, or a good night’s sleep!). So my lesson going forward is not to get behind again! Although I will allow myself to paint extra pieces on days where I’m in the mood for it, to help me out on days when I’m creatively exhausted.

Work in progress showing one of my strategies for composition.

Alongside this project, I am chipping away at painting plans for the November exhibition. The theme is ‘Empty Vessels’ with work being around isolation and loneliness, and I have plenty of ideas floating about! The 100 days project is serving perfectly in helping to refine these ideas and be selective in the style of work I want to make for the show. It’s allowing me a space to develop my work, even if the works are not cohesive, before creating an intentional collection of pieces around a single theme. Sometimes I see my paintings for the 100 days project as practice for the ‘real thing’ at the end of the year.

I am looking forward to seeing how my work evolves, and to sharing my ideas & paintings with you. It’s been a joy to be creating again, and to be hearing such positive feedback around my work. Kia ora – thank you!

An older painting, acrylic on canvas, showing expressive brushwork and layering.

It’s all about the garden

I tweeted a little while ago about how my teen self would roll her eyes at me painting flowers. So un-original. So shallow. So pretty. I also remember my mum watching something on TV, featuring an artist who would take gorgeous close up photographs of flowers, crank up the contrast, and print them out large scale in black and white. She then painted over the top of them (effectively a hand-coloured photograph). At the time, Mum said to me, “I know you’ll think this is cheating, but isn’t she clever?”

Fast forward to 2021. The natural landscape, and imagery from my garden, have become what I want to paint most. And I’m really glad that my mum shared that documentary with me, because I love the idea now and it’s something I will probably try during my 100 Days of Painting.

But I’ve been thinking about how this change happened, and I think it’s because my life and environment are so much more… botanical, now. I still miss the peacefulness of being enveloped in ngāhere/forest in Auckland, but now I can lose myself in my own garden.

Sketching at Trotter’s Gorge, East Otago

Our garden is very much a work in progress. I’m building it – so to speak – from the ground up, and I am closely observing its growth. I also bought my first ‘real’ camera last year, just before lockdown, so when I learned photography my garden was the easiest place to start. I have come to see beauty so easily in the wild mess, and to appreciate the roles each critter and plant has in the ecosystem that is our backyard.

Admiral butterfly caterpillar on its host plant, stinging nettle

To create this garden, we have to do a lot of planning, which of course continues to evolve as we go. I have had to learn the difference between a weed seedling and the seedling of a plant we want – and when they may be one & the same! I’ve met new animals that would never have graced my presence in suburban Auckland, and discovered many new plants. I’ve learned more about how plants grow, and the excitement of watching a seed grow into a flowering plant. I’m still experimenting with the windows of time that each plant needs to be sown or planted out, and this is something almost constantly on my mind (right now, I have a pot-bound magnolia that desperately needs to get in the ground, our native trees really need to be planted this winter, and if I don’t prep the ground soon then our wildflower meadow will continue to be but a pipe dream).

Our flower garden in mid-autumn

Is it really any wonder that my creative work revolves around the garden?

Some of the modern artists whose work I admire have works with gardens and flowers – Monet, van Gogh, Klimt, Georgia O’Keefe – and indeed were considered radical for their time. Flowers continue to be beautiful, and I continue to be enamoured by my garden. Perhaps that is enough justification to make “pretty” art.

Sketchbook: practising a meadow of flowers in gouache

100 Days, 100 Paintings

This year, on June 1st, I’ll be starting a new 100 Days Project.

For 100 days, I will be making a painting every day.

Some of these may be painted drawings, others may include elements of collage or found materials. Most, I imagine, will be on paper, with some perhaps on wood, canvas, or cardboard. When looking up ideas and inspiration for keeping myself accountable to this project, I found an artist who sold her 100 works at prices increasing by $1, and loved the idea.

And so, as part of this project, I will be putting my work up for sale in my Etsy shop.

The painting I make on day one will be priced at $1, the second day’s painting will be $2, and so forth.

This will be a good way to keep me accountable to my commitment, help me get used to selling my paintings, and a good chance for you to get a bargain.

You can follow me online, or subscribe to this blog, to hear first when these paintings are listed:

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Alternatively, you can ‘favourite’ my shop on Etsy, which is where the paintings will be sold. The first will be listed on June 2nd, at $1.

I am so looking forward to this project! I am painting most evenings at the moment, and found that I have been strongly drawn to patterns and garden imagery. I can’t wait to see how this practice of painting unfolds.