NaBloPoMo – Day 18
Another behind the scenes post:
The Mind Drawing Children’s Stories exhibition was delivered across the State and is now installed at Blarney Books and Art in Port Fairy (as seen on day 12 https://www.minddrawing.net/nablopomo-day-12/ ).
What is required when delivering a Mind Drawing exhibition?
The art (clearly); in this case 42 frames, some containing two pictures, for exhibition cohesiveness and to meet the logistics of fitting the art in my car. To unify the collection all the frames are plain and black and the mounts are off-white.
There were three boxes, each neatly containing ten frames; a set of four larger frames with two drawings each and another set of four with one drawing each; then four big frames with one picture each.
I also included
- Two framed poems that I made in response to drawings in the exhibition. (I’ll be running a workshop in which participants can respond in poetry or prose to works of their choice.)
- the 3’ x 5’ laminated Friendship Tree poster and laminated matching cards and magnifying glass, for viewers to find the elements on the cards within the poster on the wall.
- Flute core board and the Community Collaborative Drawings created at Burrinja, gate 6, and the Cardinia Cultural Centre.
- A fresh piece of drawing paper on which the Port Fairy community may make their marks.
- Mind Drawing close-ups from The Friendship Tree for children to colour.
- A visitors’ book – there was supposed to be a visitors’ book, but as I forgot to buy one before the road trip, I bought the only one I could find in Port Fairy – got to love hot pink!
- Oh! And a USB with an animation, Of Cabbages and Kings; a tribute to Lewis Carol’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
What else is needed for an exhibition?
Flyers – a healthy chunk of beautiful flyers had arrived in my PO box several weeks beforehand. Thank you, Jo, from Blarney Books. I love them!
And labels (also consignment notice, artist statement etc.). But here is a note about the Mind Drawing Children’s Stories labels. Due to the nature of the exhibition the works are identified by a number, rather than a label.
When Jo invited me to exhibit in the Blarney Books gallery, she said there was one condition: the art must relate to books in some way (which really pleased me as I come from a writing, as well as visual arts, background; with 21 years of literacy remedial work under my belt).
In keeping with the principle of Mind Drawing, where the viewer finds their own meaning in the lines of each picture, I invite people to find their own stories within each piece.
In some works, the represented stories may be obvious, with lots of elements hinting at what I was thinking when I created them. Others; however, leave more room for interpretation. In fact, all the drawings have been scanned and some will be printed for workshop participants and gallery visitors to respond to in writing or by completing a printed Mind Drawing.
Some children’s stories are represented by more than one drawing, and some Mind Drawings can represent more than one story. All of them have a hidden four-leafed clover. I have developed the habit of adding one just prior to signing the work, so I don’t forget nor accidentally add more than one!