Animation of my illustrations by my husband Graham Hardman. Illustration classes Monday mornings and Monday afternoons. Text 0273513887 for more information

Tauranga under the Matapihi Railway bridge photography and poetry.

Reflections..... Tauranga under the Railway Bridge

 

 

An  exercise to try:

Pairing unrelated  poems to photographs.

The viewer is invited to make their own sense of what you are saying.

You don't have to spell everything out to your audience. 

Try juxtaposing and see what happens.

If you watch animated music videos you can often see this idea at work. 

An animation plays to a song and appears to have little to do with the words of the song even though it tells its own story.

 

Advertisers  use this device to lure watchers into making favourable associations with their products on a subconscious level. 

How many times have you watched clips on television with scenes that appear to have nothing on the surface to do with the thing that is being advertised? 

It's a great device to prolong attention as the mind mulls over possible links. 

 

. 

Following are some tanka paired with scenes near the Tauranga  Rail Bridge .

 See what you think.

 Then go out into the field with your camera in a spot you like

Take about 60  photos and pick out your top 10. 

Write short poetry underneath that look as though on the surface they aren't connected. 

time  does not  heal all wounds

that lurk in crevices 

of  past memories 

frenemies words

no power to derail 

 

                                                                        

                                                                       autumn morning 

on the pathway

possum prints 

in orange juice

                                                                       with discarded peel   

lavender essential oils

baking soda with epsom salts 

soothing tired limbs

after a day of walking

in long shadows

the squarking chorus 

of hopeful seagulls

living for the moment

the couple stop eating

their oysters and chips

at lunchtime  

outside the closed cafe 

rows of crumbling houses 

devoured by

hungry waves

during lockdown 

I run my tongue 

over cracked molars 

yet still 

I suck on toffees

                                                       The high road or the low road.

 i am in the library

discussing writing

with my friend

when a bull dog

of a woman

 who I have avoided

for five years

 for sound  reasons

 passes by.

 

Because of lock-down

 kindness

 I make eye contact

and smile thinking-

that's the end of it-

good deed done.

goodbye

 

On her lonely way out

 she has the cheek

to stop to talk

after all the polluted water

that has passed

under

our  bridges

while showering us

(but mostly my friend)

with pleasantries.

 

 

She parts with a toxic

 judgemental  jibe

leaving me 

 with a mouth full of

indignation and 

wondering about

the wisdom of

 taking the highroad

when faced with a

  bulldog's bite. 

Beginner Photography lessons, especially for women. 

 

From snapshots to great shots in the most rapid time possible without too much technical jargon and complicated language. Plenty of opportunity for image taking and image critiquing. Bring along a pen drive of your images and I will improve them in photoshop for you with my simple to follow editing recipes.

 

 

 

Painting mosaic making, illustration  and creative poetry, short story writing lessons available Monday and Tuesday mornings in my art- filled studio. After school creative enrichment lessons Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3.30 pm.Wednesday and Friday mornings 9am to 12noon.

Please email janet@jkeen.net  for a no obligation quote.

Phone or text  0273513887 to enquire about booking  time out for creativity in  your special place. 

 

Creative Quote of the day

You must write every single day of your life... You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads... may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.

Ray Bradbury

 

I think that the practice of writing every day was what made me remember that writing doesn't have anything to do with publishing books. It can be totally separate and private - a comforting thought.

Nell Freudenberger

 

Writing every day is a way of keeping the engine running, and then something good may come out of it.

T. S. Eliot

 

Lake Okareka photographs to view by Janet Keen Rotorua based Fine Art Photographer, Writer and Artist

Beginner Photography lessons Tuesday and Wednesday and Friday mornings 9am to 12noon.

Please email janet@jkeen.net  for details.

Phone or text  0273513887 to book your special place. 

Tanka and Haiku to Celebrate special moments in time at lake Okareka, Rotorua , New Zealand.

autumn afternoon

 lake during lockdown

still the rustle of toitoi

 

 

                                                                                     

even though

it is lockdown at the lake

fish still rise at dusk

is

all walks

around lakes

covered in people

 

autumn afternoon

chilled  wind dropped

soon it will be dark

how unusual

no sound of  outdoor motors

slight breeze

amongst the kanuka

carries the kingfisher cry

 

 

manuka tree repellent

sandflies still bite

truncates the bush picnic

 

 

Buy New Zealand Made

Cards

Plus

A4, A3, A2, A1 Prints.

Email janet@jkeen.net for prices.

 

Feel free to comment on the ones you like the best.

 

 

 

Creative Quote of the day

 overgrown woods

stillness of  lonely shore

company where none intrudes

soothing lap of waves

 not completely shy of others

  just loving nature far more

 

 

 

 Local photography tours, I can show you some of the best locations locally for fantastic photos. 

Priced from $300.00 per person

 

Bubble Photography , During Lockdown. Gathering words for haiku and tanka Hamurana, Rotorua, New Zealand.

Every day my husband and I go for at least an hour long walk or bike ride in Rotorua. 
We take a home-made picnic and freshly brewed coffee in a thermos.
 We have sucrose-free banana and fejoia muffins or slices of loaf. 
Usually I'll take my camera with a wide angle lens and a polaroid filter so I can take effective photos of trees when the sun is high up in the sky. 


plain air  picnics
fejoias taste fresher  
among trees near water



An exercise for you would be to take a small notebook and a pencil on your next walk. 
Don't talk too much. 
 Make this a mindful and meditative experience. 
After half an hour
Sit down near or under a tree. 
 Jot down ideas and sensory words that come into your mind.
Nothing is off limits. 
Whatever you put down will be right at that time.
Trust your intuition 



leaving the japanese walnuts
i hear the sigh of
sayonara

What can You see?

What can You  taste?
       What can You hear?
                 What can You touch?
                                What can You smell

The most poignant sense of all...
                        What does your intuition tell you?


When you arrive home. 
 Look over your words. 
Write the experience up in the form of short sentences.
Leave it alone giving your subconscious time to percolate

Then
Create a haiku or tanka out of it. 

NB: First try and you can't do it?
      Don't give up.
      Try again.
       But just a word of warning.
       Do not show people your work too early.
         It is your baby and you don't want to have your                   "darlings" killed off.

 I've been writing  and reading poetry for over 50 years now, off and on.
I studied it at university.
I have masses of whimsical children's books with stunning illustrations and poetic prose.

 I wrote my first rainbow book of poetry at the age of five and gave it to a nun at the convent school I was going to. 
She was very encouraging and told my mother that I was a talented poet. 
 I have published chapbooks of haiku and photography

It's  been a long journey.
It's never too late to start. 
 If you are reading this blog maybe the right time for you to start is now. 

perfumed
invitations sent
out by blossoms
inviting bees
to breakfast

whispering secrets
in the breeze
acers, willows, poplars
mixed accents 
varigated responses.

trees of a feather 
 capable
of friendship 
feeding each other
from a distance 

no more leaves
 to fall 
swaying willows 
signal desires
beckoning branches

  communities of trees 
 help each other out
transporting sugar 
to leaves
providing shelter

 walking among 
trees  is a constant 
reminder to slow down 
and tune into 
the language of nature

 Illustrated Tanka and Haiku  workshops available for primary school aged pupils in the Rotorua area. 
Email janet@jkeen.net or Phone 0273513887 or  3463435
for details. 

Creative Quote of the day
"I would define in brief the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty"
Edgar Allen Poe. 

Realistic Landscape Workshop with Marc Spijkerbosch and Resene paint at Rotoma

  
Photo reference for the mountains that Marc gave us all.Recognise this image?
 It's Mitre Peak in the South Island of course.

Materials: Using Resene Lumbersider Paints, Resene  Quick Dry Undercoat and Resene Glaze.
 Like me, Marc is a total Resene devotee.

 He uses Resene Quick Dry Undercoat as the base to start on all of his murals and paintings.

He paints  all his murals and  landscape paintings with Resene lumbersider paint and so do I.
 It's brilliant quality,easy to use, comes in an amazing array of colours  and is light fast.

 Resene Lumbersider spaced out on plastic paint rolling trays.
Brilliant idea, sturdy and plenty of room.
 Remembering to keep the palette wet with a spritzer.

Laying down background and numbering colour gradations of mountains from  1 to 6 in charcoal.

Going from  light to dark.

Adding dabs  of colour for atmospheric perspective with Marc's infallible recipe for landscape success.
Working quickly with confidence.

Everyone working alongside each other with friendly conversation, enjoying the  flow of Resene paint  from brushes to board.

Paintings  develop  quickly and are  altered along the way with Marc's tried and true  Resene recipe of colours. 

 Pleny of room at the table with cozy, small classes, means plenty of attention.  

 Everyone is just slightly different

 Local wind, masked in and painted a lighter shade of the sky.

Marc's layout  trying to get the eye to follow  all the way through the picture plane.

Put on with Willow charcoal that he makes himself.
What a star.
Plenty of step by step demonstrations- you can't fail.
Very good at woodwork, making frames etc
 Great systematic and encouraging teacher.
 Very positive and enthusiastic person.

Waiting for layers to dry.
 Blocking in the  tussock first with white.
People said "oh no all my hard work gone", but you need to block it out to make sure the colour remains pure and so the glaze will show up.
Slowly building yup going from dark to light.
.

Going from  ight to dark with the glazing and tussock.

  Resene palette again.

 This is mine.
The tussock looks like fat fingers, taking on a life of their own.
  it made me feel like visiting Mitre Peak again in the South Island.

Our happy group all finished in good time.

We had a laugh and were creative at the same time.

I recommend going to live workshops,
It's the best way to learn in my opinion.
I am a workshop junkie.
I have been to hundreds over the years.
Keep young and never stop learning.

 Marc's beautiful masterpiece.

 We all wanted a photo with Marc.

Brilliant studio, brilliant location and wonderful  club  sandwiches with our shared lunch on Saturday. I will be dreaming about those club sandwiches for years.

So much fun with Marc and Resene paint.
I would go on another workshop of Marc's because he makes it so easy to achieve a realistic result.  These techniques can feed into your own work.
 I have a lot of  things to try out now.
I am looking forward to getting into my studio to plan my own Conservation  mural.


Thanks Marc and everyone else for making my weekend a blast.

Creative Quote of the day

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!



A variety of beginner  painting workshops featuring Resene paints and additives are taught by me just for your group.
 Acrylic animal  Paint by numbers, Acrylic paint pouring, acrylic  simple landscapes, acrylic flowers  and tons more.
Gather a group together and come and have a lovely time in my studio which is set in my organic permaculture garden.
Prices and availability upon application.
Phone 3463435 0273513887
Email janet@jkeen.net

5 Painting Rules You Should Break

When learning to paint, whether you’re self-taught or attending art school or other classes, you’ll inevitably come across techniques or theories that are presented to you as rules you must follow.
Some of these ‘rules’ are actually pretty useful, and if you stick to them you won’t go far wrong.
But there are exceptions to every rule, and it’s important to know when to break them.
Here are 5 painting ‘rules’, along with certain circumstances under which you may want to think twice about those rules.

1. Always Paint from Dark to Light

A common strategy for approaching a painting, is to begin with the darkest darks, and gradually progress through the midtones to the lights, adding your highlights right at the end.
This is because it’s usually a good idea to keep your darks thin, as it helps with the illusion of depth, and it’s not easy to put thin darks on top of thicker lights, hence why it’s best to get the darks down first.
This is certainly a solid approach and one I follow regularly.
When to break the rule:
The trouble with placing your darkest darks first is that you don’t have anything other than the white canvas to judge them against, so it can be difficult to get the right value initially.
It helps to start with a midtone ground rather than a bright white canvas, but it can also be helpful to place some lighter values right at the start, so you have something to judge your darks against.
Sargent discovered that it helped to leave the dark and light accents until the very end, as he explains:

Be wary of methods that become too specific. I was taught without deviation to place the lightest light and darkest dark on the canvas first and then to paint everything else in between. Years later, I found it more helpful, if not more efficient, to hold back my lightest light and darkest dark until the painting had reached its final stage. Establishing and fine tuning the middle values first allowed you to better judge the proper light and dark accents. This shouldn’t be taken as a rule per se, but it will often produce a fresher looking finish.

2. Never Use Black Paint

You’ll often hear artists say that you shouldn’t use pre-mixed tubes of black paint, such as Ivory Black or Mars Black, and in general that’s good advice.
Black pigments can make your paintings look flat, especially if you use black to darken other colours, or just use it straight out of the tube for dark shadows.
You’ll often end up with a more vibrant painting if you mix your ‘blacks’ from combinations of other colours, such as Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber.
When to break the rule:
Black paint certainly has its uses, particularly when mixed with other colours.
Ivory Black actually tends towards blue so it’s possible to use it as a blue substitute. You could mix a very dark shadow colour from Ivory Black and Burnt Umber. Or try mixing black and yellow for some interesting olive greens.
As a general rule I’d advise avoiding tube black, especially if you’re a beginner, but it’s definitely worth experimenting with it to see what effects you can create.

3. Warm Light, Cool Shadows (and vice versa)

This is very close to a hard and fast rule you can rely on – If the light source is warm, then the shadows will be cool, and if the light source is cool, then the shadows will be warm.
When to break the rule:
As Richard Schmid points out in his classic book Alla Prima, there are a few exceptions to this rule, like when there are a lot of reflections involved, so the light might bounce around into the shadows, affecting the temperature, or when light is travelling through a transparent substance, like water.
In cases like those, don’t rely on the rule, make sure you check the scene and paint what you’re actually seeing, even if it seems to go against the rule you’re familiar with.

4. The Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a compositional device whereby you divide your painting surface into three equal sections, both horizontally and vertically, and you place your focal point at any one of the intersecting points.
This tends to result in a more pleasing and interesting composition than if you placed your focal point, say, dead centre, or too close to the edge of the painting, for example.
When to break the rule:
Using the rule of thirds to help place the elements of your paintings is not a bad practice in general, but if you rely on it too often, your work may become formulaic and predictable, so it’s a good idea to shake things up from time to time by experimenting with unusual compositions.
Try cropping your subject harshly along the edge of your painting, or placing it centrally if you think it will help get your message across.
Sometimes a non-standard composition might be exactly what your painting needs, so don’t be afraid to push the boundaries if you think it will work for you.

5. Warm Colours Advance, Cool Colours Recede

It’s a widely held belief that if you want something to appear closer, you should paint it warmer, and if you want something to recede into the distance you should paint it cooler.
Again, there is some truth to this, and it can work, but it’s not a hard and fast rule.
I think this rule comes from the fact that in a landscape scene, the objects in the distance are filtered through more atmosphere, and certain colours are filtered out of our vision. The first colours to be filtered out are the warm oranges, reds and yellows, so that distant objects appear more blue, as well as less saturated, generally speaking.
When to break the rule:
This rule mainly works for landscapes in daylight.
In other lighting conditions, such as sunsets, night scenes, or anything with artificial lighting, you can have very warm colours in the distance, and cool colours in the foreground.
Again, ignore the rule, and just paint what you’re seeing (or not).

Rules are made to be broken

Any time someone tells you a ‘rule’ of painting, try to think of situations where it might not apply, and don’t be afraid to experiment with breaking the rules.



Mosaic, Painting (watercolour, acrylic pouring, mixed media, oils and encaustic)  and Photography Classes for beginners ( Adults) Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesday Mornings from 9.30am to 11.30am 

After School classes: Mosaics, Painting, Drawing ESOL, Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday After school from 3.30 pm 

Ring 346-3435 or 0273513887  to enquire. 
Classes fun and fascinating  from my home studio/classroom at 374 Clayton Road, Rotorua.  

Small classes, plenty of attention in an organic, perma- culture garden, brimming with inspiration and ideas.