I often draw from the “real” work we do on other sites, particularly our signage work (”taylormadesigns” – see menu button above), because we do a lot of interesting work that is creatively inspiring like this artwork by Sneaky Rafter for The Taboo Group and their client Foster’s Nelson.

The aim of PrintAsArt is to hopefully inspire creativity in all of us; both children and adults of all ages, and I mean all ages … take Rosalie Gascoigne as a wonderful example of starting “late”.

until she was well into her fifties she was completely unknown as an artist

source: www.australianbiography.com.au. She created art from found objects: old yellow and black roadwork signs, beautifully patterned linoleum and Schweppes crates among many other things. Her work was recently exhibited at The Ian Potter Centre, Fed Square, NGV Australia.

I always thought I was good at creative writing but a bit of a dead beat at ‘making art’. I think that thought popped into my head in craft class at high school. Just got that distinct feeling from both my art and craft teachers that I was a lost cause; slightly frustrating and not a natural. I didn’t get to sit on the crafty table; didn’t get any special attention from those teachers and above all felt it. But as the years go by and after having read everything written by the very inspiring Julia Cameron, in particular, The Artist’s Way and my personal favourite even though the former is the International Bestseller, “The Right to Write” I have come to believe that WE ARE ALL CREATIVE TYPES, expressed in many different ways. Discovering or uncovering them at any age is to be commended and recommended. So ThreadDen here I come … with another mum who is doing a bit of creative excavating too. Beginners class for sewing and knitting. The only thing I have ever knitted is a very continuous Richmond football scarf! My nanna did lots of crocheting, maybe I will have inherited this skill. Will soon find out. Might try this from The Scent of Water! Apparently very easy?? However I did buy these yesterday ….

Blue Scarf by Catherine Manuell Design. Made in Melbourne too … Viscose brown, green and cream scarf by Passigatti

We are now seeing retro signage becoming a bit of a collectors item because of the style, simplicity, durability and beauty of the base materials used. The Rosalie Gascoigne exhibition at the Ian Potter Centre | NGV is worth a look to see how signage ephemera has been turned into an artform particularly the yellow reflective road sign letters shown here. There’s a whole industry out there devoted to this type of ephemera; things like the tram destination blinds and the “original” Peter’s Icecream cone lights and the identity of old buildings often beneath coats of paint with advertisements in wonderful old text and fonts; and I’m tipping the numbers used at cricket clubs, football clubs and old petrol stations, black and white and made from metal. It’s got a bit to do with originality. We all in the end want original versions of everything even ourselves, and things that we can hold onto as memory of times past. The image here is an alternative use of the retro reflective roadwork signs made into a piece of artwork with the letters rearranged into words more meaningful. This exhibition is well worth a look along with the Rennie Ellis photos of the 1970s and 1980s being exhibited simultaneously. A wonderful trip down memory lane – loved the image of Robbie McGhie, a fairly rugged tattooed Richmond Football Player with cigarette and cup of beer in hand sitting on the MCG after the 1974 grandfinal. The Rennie Ellis exhibition is a good snapshot of Melbourne people and culture during the 70s and 80s. Our passion for sport particularly AFL football and horseracing, summertime at the beach, music festivals and concerts, alcohol, nightclubbing, nudity, and many other sources of entertainment. It reflects youthfulness at the time. In ways sordid but also exhibits our fairly relaxed attitude to living. King’s Cross is well featured here too.

Image and text courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria Website