Working on a new idea. Kauri rickers and leaf shapes. Under painting shaping up well.
Working on a new idea. Kauri rickers and leaf shapes. Under painting shaping up well.
That did not end well. Learning to print is full of smudges and more smudges.
That did not end well. Learning to print is full of smudges and more smudges.
Work in progress. So many layers of paint and glaze to go. Working on the geology of the hills.
Work in progress. So many layers of paint and glaze to go. Working on the geology of the hills.
Farm jobs School Farm jobs Dinner Knit Paint Rinse and repeat Layering up big blue skies. 4 down 4 or 5 to go.
Farm jobs School Farm jobs Dinner Knit Paint Rinse and repeat Layering up big blue skies. 4 down 4 or 5 to go.
Tetra pack print- before the print
Tetra pack print- before the print
Sunday printing #collography
Sunday printing #collography
Work in progress
Work in progress
Happy day Excellent Underpainting
Happy day Excellent Underpainting
Here’s one I did earlier. Head down painting hard out.
Here’s one I did earlier. Head down painting hard out.
Went to the National Contemporary Art Awards. And now the works are on display until November. I didn’t win, but my work didn’t look out of place. And I count that as a win.
Went to the National Contemporary Art Awards. And now the works are on display until November. I didn’t win, but my work didn’t look out of place. And I count that as a win.
Working on a new idea. Kauri rickers and leaf shapes. Under painting shaping up well. That did not end well. Learning to print is full of smudges and more smudges. Work in progress. So many layers of paint and glaze to go. Working on the geology of the hills. Farm jobs School Farm jobs Dinner Knit Paint Rinse and repeat Layering up big blue skies. 4 down 4 or 5 to go. Tetra pack print- before the print Sunday printing #collography Work in progress Happy day Excellent Underpainting Here’s one I did earlier. Head down painting hard out. Went to the National Contemporary Art Awards. And now the works are on display until November. I didn’t win, but my work didn’t look out of place. And I count that as a win.
Helen Beech Helen Beech

Land Sea Sky

Great news! I am the featured artist at No1 Parnell Gallery Rawene for the next 4 weeks. Including during the amazing KOAST artist trail. Brilliant! If you want to check out the work but can’t make it to Rawene you can see the work available here.

Land, Sea, Sky explores the elemental forces that shape Aotearoa’s landscapes and the way we move within them. Paintings are built on strong, deliberate compositions and bold colour, capturing both the solidity of landforms and the shifting, unpredictable energy of sky and water.

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Helen Beech Helen Beech

ART News

Firstly, my painting ‘Dear Emily I Am Home’ has been shipped to Wellington for the Academy Prize for Visual Arts, which is a stand-in for the Parkin Drawing Prize. There's a public vote, and combined with the judges' decisions, finalists will be announced. I’d really appreciate your support—you can vote for my work here with Voting ID number 345, page 1. My sister-in-law Sal Spicer also has a fantastic piece in the lineup, ‘Florescent’ (ID 22, page 6).

Secondly, I’m thrilled to be the featured artist at No1 Parnell Gallery in Rawene this October/November. Work is well underway, and I’m excited about this wonderful opportunity.

I’ll also be participating in this year’s Printapalooza with Te Kowhai Print Trust at Hihiaua Cultural Center in Whangarei on Saturday the 25th. That involves designing and carving a 2.4m x 1m woodcut, which will be printed by driving a road roller over it—last time was epic, I can’t wait to do it again!

No printing this Sunday, but I did spend Monday afternoon printing and on Friday, my art friends Charlotte and Sian braved the weather to hang out, and we all tried tetra pak printing, which was super fun. We learned that water-based ink allows for multiple good prints from a single engraving.

Seems like a lot of information and not a lot of reflection.

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Helen Beech Helen Beech

Learning a new thing or two.

I could probably fill a book with the things I have learnt over the last couple of weeks, things such as how not to knit a sock, how to truly enjoy the school holidays, how to make lentil hummus and how to make sure your brayers are spotlessly clean especially if you are using yellow ink to start your collagraph print.

Todays printing session was a mixed bag, a new kawakawa woodblock ready to print, I still need to make sure the ink is rolled properly before it goes near the block, having a pile paper squares was super handy for handling the inked up block. I’m a bit worried about how I’m going to key up the next print though - should have thought that through better.

There was quite a long list of things I wanted to print, but I started a bit late in the afternoon and had had enough by the time I got to the collagraphs (which didn’t work how I wanted anyway). I did have a go at using the engraving function on the Cricut - and engraved a tiny kingfisher on a CD, and a larger one on a tetra pack scrap. Inked up and then wiped as much ink off as I could. Intaglio printing is quite moody, I like it and will definitely keep playing.

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