Photographing Vintage at the Tirau Museum

I went with my photographic mates Diana and Joni  and her two boys to the Tirau Museum last Thursday to take shots of old stuff.
I love the texture of old items and the  patina of age.
Here are some of my favourite shots.



Be warned; if you don't like creepy, crawly , spooky things don't read on...


..

                                             The Nomad Photographers outside the Tirau  Museum

                               Diana shoots the Tirau museum owner Jeff.

                          Old hut outside the entrance to the Tirau Museum

                        Old door decaying at the back of the Honey House next to the Tirau Museum

                                Old wheel outside the Honey House at the Tirau Museum

                                            Dead, old Tarantula at the Tirau Museum

                                                   Exotic ( dead)  moths at the Tirau Museum

                                        Beautiful Butterflies at the Tirau Museum

                                            Cute, little stuffed bat with glass eyes at the Tirau Museum

                                      
               Vintage dolls looking tortured on top of a beautiful hand crafted quilt at the Tirau Museum

                                     Vintage Maid (amputee) with some sort of fan  at the Tirau Museum

                    Dolls  (amputees) close up and georgeous quilt at the Tirau Museum

                                 
                                          Bride  and pictures of ancestors at  the Tirau Museum

                                                    Ghost bride at the Tirau Museum

                                    Ghost Maid at the Tirau Museum

              Vintage typography on good old fashioned pine boxes at the Tirau Museum

                                            Old petrol pump, Tirau Museum

                                          
                                      Vintage tobacco poster, Tirau Museum

                  Vintage labels and stickers, Tirau Museum

              Vintage cans and poster, Tirau Museum

                                                    Taxidermy section, Tirau Museum

         Old Beehives, Tirau Museum Garden

                                     Fuschia, Tirau Museum Garden

                            Ornamental Grape Leaves, Tirau Museum Garden

                                       Ornamental Grape Leaves 2, Tirau Museum Garden

                                            Ornamental Grape leaf  Tirau museum garden

  Owner of the Tirau Museum Jeff, will give you a quick tour, then leave you to explore all the treasures at your leisure.

There's something for everyone.
You can take your lunch and have a picnic at his tables in his beautiful garden.
The place is great for the whole family.
Price is $5.00 per person or $11.00 per family, any size.
 He also sells honey and walnuts.
Don't forget to sign the visitors book.

 If you go message me and tell me what you thought.
 The guy is a living treasure and a  real artist, he has a deft eye for composition.
When I told him he was an artist he just beamed and said he was off to tell his wife.
It's great to appreciate the creativity in others.

You can find me on facebook under Janet Keen Artist/Teacher.
www.jkeen.net

Creative Quote of the Day.
We are born at a given moment, in a given place and  like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season of which we are born.
Astrology does not lay claim to anything more.
Carl Jung

Haiku workshop with Sandra Simpson at Waikato University in Hamilton

 A couple of weekends ago I went over for a day to Hamilton to attend a workshop on haiku and it was one of the most enjoyable  poetry writing workshops I've  been to in my twenty four year history of attending writing workshops.

The tutor, Sandra Simpson was knowledgable, affirming  and helpful.
She ran a class with  just the right amount of talking and class participation.
She had great notes and the room was well lit and comfortable.
The other 16 or so other Hamilton people who attended were friendly and interesting, at least two of the class members I will  be seeing  again at the up and coming haiku festival in July.

The food  prepared by Nyree Sherlock, course co-ordinator was healthy, tasty and attractive.
The price was excellent, only $65.00 and if Sandra  ran another course  on any sort of writing  I would  attend it.
 I finished the course wanting more and itching to write haiku
 I bought Sandra's haiku book called Breath, Ive read it twice already and will be dipping back into it in the weeks to come..
Here are some photos and I will also sprinkle some haiku on this post, most of which will need to be edited.

Sandra started  her workshop with a history of various prominent Japanese haiku masters.
Matsuo Basho

the old pond
a frog jumps in-
the sound of water

This haiku  illustrates the technique of  comparison.
felling a tree
and gazing at the cut end-
tonights moon.

Mine would be (with  accompanying apple picking shots to follow).

apple picking
the first bite-
 new found friends

apple picking-
the last bite-
long  time friends


apple picking
the earwig bite-
false friends

apple picking
the wasp bite-
competitive friends

half ripe apples-
aquaintances

last years apples
withering on the tree-
neglected friends


apple pie
fresh out of the oven-
close friends

golden  apples
sitting on a mantlepiece
good  clients

toffee apple
sitting on a plate-
the  husband

Set yourself a photographic assignment while on holiday...

One of my goals for my Ohiwa holiday escape in April was to attain the perfect Toitoi shot.

The Toitoi this time of the year in this area are so frothy and creamy /white that they make you feel like eating them.

These four are my best attempts so far.

But it's such an enticing subject thatI I am keeping on with the quest, so any Toitoi  I pass while driving around the countryside surrounding Rotorua is fair game.


Creatvity Quotes
“Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower”

The first principle of success is desire - knowing what you want. Desire is the planting of your seed.”

Napolean Hill.

Impressionist Photography

          I went on holiday to Ohiwa Harbour a week ago. Holidays are great for aiding creativity.
          Below are my impressions of one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand.
           Enjoy.

      These shots were taken out of a moving car on dusk

        Don't worry I was not driving.

       I love the way the trees shatter during the car movement.

     The ghostly images to me are more interesting than a realistic landscape.

    With my photography I prefer to dwell in the land of the unknown or the imaginary.

    This one looks moody and  like a storm was coming , yet it was taken  on a perfect Autumn evening

   The beautiful, smooth flowing expanse of water

     like liquid gold

     It could almost be a moonscape.

If you want to try this you need a co-operative driver, my  husband is always accommodating and even offers to stop the car occasionally.
I used a 50 mm prime lens on aperture 4 and in some cases left it under exposed by one stop.

It's best to do it in the golden hour around sunset.
Early morning is good as well.

 Creativity Quotes of the day
Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul.

Henri Matisse


Impressionism; it is the birth of Light in painting.
Robert Delaunay

School holiday mosaics 10 steps towards success.

Every school  holidays I run mosaic and painting workshops for students. We have a great time making creative creatures.
Here are some tips about becoming a top mosaic maker...

Find a  qualified, experienced  mosaic teacher in your area or find out if a teacher will travel to you.

Teachers can accelerate your learning and stop you from making ghastly and costly mistakes.
There is  a lot more to making an attractive, long lasting mosaic than people realise.
 Teachers have valuable techniques to share with you  that you won't even read about in books.

 Here is a visual  taste of what it's like to create you own mosaic.

Step One
 Cut out your shape with a jigsaw and prepare it properly.
You can do any shape, butterflies, cats, crosses, hearts, dinosaurs, birds, seahorses and even hippos; the sky and the power of your imagination is the limit.


Certain shapes are better than others and a teacher can advise you on the best things to make and how to cut them out. 




 Step Two
Use the  right type of cutters for the right kind of tiles.
You will need to to cut them correctly so that your hand doesn't end up being too exhausted.
You need to place tiles evenly and neatly using lots of good quality glue.

Step 3.

Tiles have to be placed on the right way up, there are special glues used for mirror which will stop the silver from being corroded.

Step 4.
You need to make decisions quickly; making a mosaic takes lots of time and attention to detail. 

Step  5. 
Think about line and contrast;  these are the most important elements of design that make up a successful mosaic.

Step 6
Take  rests; about five minutes every thirty minutes.

 Step 7
Step back from your work and admire it, creativity is as much about the enjoyment of the process as the end result.

Step 8
Grout your mosaic.
You have to use the right type of grout for the right situation.
You need to know the right consistency of the grout so it's not too wet and not too dry.
You must take safety precautions while applying grout.

 Step 9.
 Finishing off is everything.
Make sure you have put the grout into every available gap and you need to find out what special type of fail safe, cleaning solution is best for the job to make your mosaics look like gleaming gems. 

Step 9.
 Paint the back and sides of your mosaic.
You want the mosaic to last the distance and not fall off after the first burst of rain.

Step 10.

Polish, clean and grout protect your mosaic.
it's  time to show your results

 Enjoy your mosaics, they are your very own creations and you deserve to be proud of  them.

Mosaics can look great in the garden  or inside.

 

Pavers and all types of other substrates can be made into mosaics but you have to know which are the best ones and what sorts of glues to use.

When your mother comes to collect you after having a great time, you will be tired but happy.
Don't be surprised if your friends want to come to  mosaic classes as well  when they see what you have made.

  You too could make a happy Hippo

With a bird on it's back

Parents can come along with you as well and make their own mosaic.

 like this mosaic mirror with the mermaid and dolphin.

It's all about having fun and being creative in a warm,  happy studio setting in an organic cottage garden.

Mosaic making classes for the next school holidays are enrolling now.

Hurry to reserve your places, classes are small.

                  Janet Keen, ten years mosaic making and teaching experience, Diploma in Visual Arts.

Remember to enrol with a qualified and experienced instructor to make sure your mosaics last.


 Book your child or your group/family in for a half or full day workshop where they can make a fish, dog, heart, dinosaur, butterly, hippo , seahorse or any shape you desire.

Creativity Quotes of the day
"No matter how little money and how few possessions, you own, having a dog makes you rich."
-Louis Sabin

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Maimonides

There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.
Carl Sandburg

Friend  me on facebook

Have a look at my website http://www.jkeen.net/

Ring Janet on 07 346343 or email jkeen@clear.net.nz in plenty of time for the next school holidays.

Mosaic Classes enrolling now for May.

Mosaic morning Classes.

Beginners guide to Mosaic making Part One and Two.  

Monday mornings from Monday 7th May 9.30 am to 12.00 noon

$200.00 per 4 week class including materials.

Mosaic  a pot, mirror and fish.

Tuesday Mornings from Tuesday 8th,  9.30 am to 12noon.

$200.00 including materials for 4 week class including materials.

Mosaic a paving stone with the theme of native birds.

Spaces limited to 8 people.

Once you have completed the beginners guide to mosaic making workshops 1 and 2, the sky is the limit. You can mosaic anything, even a life size seahorse.

374 Clayton Road, Rotorua.
Phone 346-3435 to reserve your place now. or email your enquiry jkeen@clear.net.nz

View mosaics in an organic garden and create in a positive, peaceful and friendly environment.

http://www.jkeen.net/


Creative Quotes of the day.
There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.


Anais Nin

We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.


Jimmy Carter