Category Archives: personal belief

the nature of

Posted on August 28, 2011 by anton veenstra

Portrait of Gareth Thomas, 2011, woven tapestry, 18 cms H X 15 cms W, cotton, woollen, synthetic wefts. Artist statement for my entry in a new tapestry competition honouring the late Kate Derum: “I knew Kate Derum from many tapestry events. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bagemihl, Biological Exuberance, ecological concerns, essentialism, fibre, finished work, gender identity, Kate Derum, narrative, personal belief, tapestry | Leave a comment

every button tells a story

Posted on August 15, 2011 by anton veenstra

To support the claim artists make about found objects and stories, I submit the following. Had to go to my North Shore skin clinic and endure the unpleasant but necessary procedure of having spots on my face and forearms frozen/burnt … Continue reading →

Posted in 1960's, finished work, narrative, north shore, personal belief, psychedelic, style meister, Twiggy eyelashes | Leave a comment

object of the exercise

Posted on July 30, 2011 by anton veenstra

By the time that artists in the turbulence of the 1970’s had rejected formal art media: painting, sculpture, a number of alternative things had become established. The decade of extremity was actually earlier, when Abstract Expressionism took hold. The event … Continue reading →

Posted in finished work, narrative, personal belief | Leave a comment

a messy surface

Posted on July 21, 2011 by anton veenstra

Look closely at the surface of a tapestry and what do you see? Bumpy edges, hairy bits floating off, the joins, the crossovers, the abrupt changes; perhaps here and there, the variations in pressure applied by the weaver to tamp … Continue reading →

Posted in fibre, narrative, personal belief, tapestry, textile | Leave a comment

that exact moment

Posted on July 20, 2011 by anton veenstra

Does anyone recognise this syndrome? You made a cartoon or drawn outline for your next art project. The work is going ok; it’s not throwing up problems, things are not knotting up. But it’s regular and a bit unexciting. You … Continue reading →

Posted in narrative, personal belief, textile | 2 Comments

Brigitta Hallberg

Posted on July 18, 2011 by anton veenstra

The American Tapestry Alliance offers an extensive interview with Swedish/ Danish tapist Brigitta Hallberg. For copyright reasons I won’t add jpgs to my chapter but readers can find many examples of Hallberg’s work illustrating the ATA interview. My reaction was to … Continue reading →

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ply yr trade

Posted on July 2, 2011 by anton veenstra

Left: Hibiscus; below centre: Frilly Necked Lizard; right: Crane Meets Budgerigar. Hibiscus represents a world view, an island in the cosmic sea. A friend at the time described it as containing a myriad of creatures, rearing, hissing, prowling, slinking, hidden in … Continue reading →

Posted in cosmology, fibre, personal belief | Leave a comment

Thank you Susan M Hinckley

Posted on June 14, 2011 by anton veenstra

I had an encounter at the bathroom vanity last night; it insisted on being committed to paper. Draw your own conclusions. Today, I found a lovely response by Susan M Hinckley, http://smallworksinwool.blogspot.com A lovely blog: such an extensive use of … Continue reading →

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boogie woogie bugle boy

Posted on June 13, 2011 by anton veenstra

  Someone reminded me recently that the small beads I have begun to add to my button collages are called bugle. BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY of Company B [utton].

Posted in narrative, personal belief, textile | 1 Comment

artworks and tapestry

Posted on May 31, 2011 by anton veenstra

The ABC online arts review quoted a Victorian exhibition of paintings that were translated into tapestry. Neither the curator of the exhibiting gallery nor the head tapestry weaver, the spokesperson for the  craft exhibitors were concerned with the inference of … Continue reading →

Posted in narrative, personal belief, tapestry | Leave a comment