Janet de Wagt

I have been working with over 20 schools in Southland, from Tuatapere to Tokanui and from Te Anau to Hillside school and everywhere in between!

We have been thinking about our relationships with the sea and using discarded plastic to recreate the beautiful life in our oceans.

These 3 dimensional creations have then formed an underwater installation at Invercargill’s ‘He Waka Tuia’ – Art + Museum, 42 Kelvin Street, standing along side  my ‘Coastal Murihiku’ paintings.  They are on display until 18 July, 2021.

This link will take you to a short video of the students’ amazing works.             You Me and the Sea

Seven artists were asked to speak for 7 minutes on this topic – it was a great evening!  This was my 7 minutes.

I’d like to share with you some of the realities of painting on location out in nature – en plein air for you poshies…

One of the shapes I paint is the long skinny which leads me to one of my favourite tools of the trade – an idea borrowed from my dear friend Pamela Brown.

The ironing board – it  doesn’t blow away, it’s sturdy and resilient – qualities necessary for painting in nature

If I’m painting in another part of the country I can just go to an op shop and buy another

It certainly attracts comments …overheard at Karitane a child asking her parents ‘ What’s that lady doing ironing on the beach?’

I try to anticipate the weather…..this canvas is tied to the rock.  When I am painting in one spot all day people come up and comment….. Typically I am asked one of these 3 questions:

Do you do this for a hobby? (they don’t think much of your work)

Are you a student? (well the work isn’t too bad but you are obviously still learning)

Do you exhibit or sell your paintings? (think your work is pretty good)

I am at the Blue Lake in St Bathans, Central Otago.  Setting up to paint takes time and the hot day demanded the awning.  Ominously soon after set up I was asked by a couple of people is this where the wedding is?  I assured them it was not here and began painting – the reflections were perfect.   Boy racers on jetskis arrived – reflections were gone, peace was destroyed by the noisy racket and mutterings of sand in petrol tanks were heard.  Then I was asked to move as there WAS a wedding here at 2pm!

Wind is an ever present reality and I have learned to just go with it and not fight it.  This is at Orepuki in Southland and as I paint I wonder who planted these trees and do they have a protection order?

I often paint down forestry tracks where there may be shooters/ hunterkillers about and my brother advised me to wear blue as it is a colour unusual in the bush.  I also have the national programme blaring on my car radio!

Another weather hazard is painting in the freezing cold.  My advice is to stand on a mat, wear good shoes, wear latex gloves inside your wool ones so your hands don’t get wet.  Work fast and jump in the car with the heater running frozen painting in hand, to thaw out both.

Getting the works back…..not always an easy process.  I have discovered that I can paint in the rain for half an hour before the paint slides off the canvas.  This is leaving Dog Island.

I have been very fortunate to combine my community arts work with painting on location and have met some amazing people who have shown me their local sights.

The Mataura River Project was a community arts project where I worked in 25 schools with thousands of children and 600 sculptures celebrating their connection to this mighty river were made and exhibited at Mandeville, Southland Museum and Art Gallery and Bowen House in Wellington.  The materials used were all being repurposed, recycled or their trip to the dump at least slowed down.

My Piece of Nature was another community art project I undertook with the Department of Conservation and the many groups, schools and individuals who participated in these workshops used art to express their relationship with nature.

The windswept trees and the Cosy Nook paintings will be exhibited in the ‘Coastal Murihiku’ exhibition at He Waka Tuia in Invercargill.  It opens on 28 May and runs until 8 July.  This runs concurrently with the community arts project “You Me and the Sea’ which involves many young Southlanders creating work for this installation at He Waka Tuia.

I hope I have given you some insight into the realities of painting on location, Every one of my paintings are done on site.

I feel humbled and privileged to think people have bought my paintings and have them in their lounges – even if they don’t match the curtains.

I have recently returned from a research and development trip to Leeds in England, kindly funded by the Jan Warburton Arts Trust.  The purpose of the trip was to meet up with the original group I worked with on this Mabgate mural and also to meet with other people who are interested in its restoration 32 years later.

Early in my career as a community artist working in Britain I worked on this mural with the local high school’s students..

The students researched local stories of West Indians in Leeds but information proved difficult to find so the design figured the students themselves. The windows became a kind of timeline showing different periods and figure the student’s portraits documenting the arrival of West Indians in Leeds and the various work they and others undertook to make a living in this area. The students took a lot of ownership of the mural and this pride and recognition of its importance has continued to the present day.

After 32 years it is showing signs of wear and tear and there has been a push from the community to restore the mural. The original people involved are keen to be re involved and have expressed a strong desire for the imagery to remain the same. These students are now parents and have careers and families of their own. As well the Mabgate area has become a unique and increasingly significant cultural quarter because of its close proximity to Leeds’ city centre and its eclectic mix of historic industrial buildings. These attributes have made it highly attractive to young artists and creative businesses, many of whom have established studios and workshops in the area. Restoration of the mural has prompted interest from the Leeds Civic Trust and other local arts agencies.

In terms of my career this has been an interesting opportunity to revisit an early work and to reconnect with a community I was deeply involved with during the duration of this project. As well it has been rewarding to recognise the deep and enduring power of community arts and also to reflect on the journey of developing a career that has sustained my working life. My experience as a young community artist in Northern England laid the groundwork – you could say I completed my apprenticeship there – for my continued career as an artist community artist in New Zealand. It gave me confidence and taught me perseverance through times when the value of community arts was not always seen. Its a story of a full circle – one could say not often experienced in life.

These were my words on the day…

‘Thank you all for coming to the opening of the exhibition of the National Banner project that celebrates 125 years of women’s suffrage in New Zealand Aotearoa.

Within an organisation it usually takes one person who gets what you are on about – a special thank you to Rosemary Baird from Heritage New Zealand for making this project happen and to Pam Bain for her continued support and to Mary Southerwood who spent hours tying up threads. Thanks also to Creative New Zealand for a bit of dosh.

https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/news/suffrage-banners-fitting-end-to-suffrage-125

http://www.heritage.org.nz/news-and-events/news/2019-april-29-suffrage-banners

This partnership project between Heritage New Zealand and me, stretched geographically from Northland to Southland, from Rawene to Gore.

It also stretched back in time, reaching back into the stories of the past, of early interaction between Maori and the early settlers, of the challenges and hardships of those times, and the amazing individuals and groups who fought so hard for women’s suffrage. It also heard the stories of women and girls of today who came to honour those women who had and have made a difference in their lives.

All of these remarkable and amazing stories and rememberings of the past, were carried out within the walls of significant heritage buildings that have themselves stood witness to the transforming of the lives of those who have lived and worked in them. Many of the participants commented on the energy of the past they felt as they worked away on their contribution.

It was a privilege for me to be part of this wonderful journey celebrating the story of the fight for women to be able to vote. Hundreds of women have contributed to this project, mostly in person at a workshop, but many are also represented on the banner in the use of beautiful crafts from the past..

The original petition, 274 metres long and weighing 7 kilos, was assembled together on Kate Sheppard’s kitchen table. The banners of this suffrage 125 project were assembled on many other historical tables – from the cabinet room table to a Temperance supper table. The final assembling of these banners was done on my kitchen table – temperance of course… The continuing story of women’s creativity.

Kate Sheppard famously said:

‘Do not think your single vote does not matter much. The rain that refreshes the parched ground is made up of single drops.’

For me this quote sums up this Suffrage 125 project – women and girls and other supporters from all walks of life have created and added their individual stories to the collective whole, that’s what these finished banners are about.

Photo Credits:  
Simon Hoyle & Janet de Wagt

 

On 18 April at Riverton Arts Centre I was honoured to be judged the ‘Supreme Award Winner’ with my painting ‘Taramea Bay from the Rocks’.

https://www.southlandexpress.co.nz/entertainment/taramea-bay-inspired-work-scores-top-prize/

 

Come celebrate the hanging of these banners in the Old Government Buildings in Wellington!  Enjoy the creativity expressed and the women honoured.

My mother tells me that even as a very young child I created miniature cities, filling them with people, cars, trees and houses. That interest has never left me. So the restrictions on space on my trip to Dusky Sound saw me move from painting on location to photographing my Fossil Family in the location.

The Fossil Family are part of my historical plastic collection and I have photographed them in many different environments and situations around the world. Their individual personalities and qualities have slowly emerged over this time. It seemed natural when I was invited by the Department of Conservation to Dusky Sound as part of the Tamatea Art Project, to take them with me.

My time on Anchor Island was very special and I learnt about the work that is involved on a day to day basis by passionate workers to help ensure the survival of Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique flora, fauna and special places.

My book launch was held at Murihiku Maori and Pasifika Cultural Trust’s rooms in Invercargill – a big thank you to Pauline and Ari for all their help!

The book is available for purchase at Gallery De Novo Dunedin, Eastern Southland Gallery Gore, DOC Visitors Centre Te Anau, Orokonui Sanctuary Waitati, PC Gallery Port Chalmers or from me.

I’ve been very busy over the last few weeks with this project and have been to Ferrymead in Christchurch for Heritage week, then to Wellington and the Cabinet Room of the Old Government Building working with Te Roopu Raranga o Manaia and last weekend, here in Dunedin, at the Otago Pioneer Women’s Memorial Hall.

It must be 20 years since I was last at Ferrymead and it was great to be back – I just love it!  It was a busy workshop with many participants young and old.

It was nice to go to Wellington and the Old Government Building and see the place where the banners will finally be hung next year in April.  Working with a friendly group of weavers and glad to learn a new weaving stitch from them.

Back home and a steady day at Otago Pioneer Women’s Memorial Hall.  A big thank you to the Scottish shop for their donation of the Dunedin tartan!

This project is a partnership with Heritage New Zealand and aims to celebrate 125 years since New Zealand women gained the vote with the making of banners in seven historically significant places around NZ.

It was just wonderful to work with a great bunch of people in this beautiful old home – a home where suffragettes had meetings when they were fighting for the vote.  It felt as if the family had just stepped out for the day and let us use the ballroom to make the banners in.

it was a busy day and beautiful work was done by very talented and creative women, young and old.  The day was a real celebration of both suffrage and creativity, full of laughter and the sharing of stories.

A big thank you to Francesca and Rendell for such a great day and to Creative New Zealand for their funding contribution to this project!

Earlier this year I was asked by Creative New Zealand to be one of the artists interviewed about their experiences and knowledge of working in community arts to help create Keteparaha Mo Nga Toi Hapori (Community Arts Toolkit) –  a best practice guide to community arts projects in Aotearoa New Zealand.  The kit can be accessed here: Community Arts Toolkit – Creative New Zealand

I was interviewed in the Art room at Bathgate Park school where I am Artist in Residence 2 days a week.