Gretchen Howard
I have made things for as long as I can remember. Mostly, I used what materials were avavailable at the time, so there was great variety in what I made . My childhood home was full of creativity. My father built radio equipment in his spare time and his workshop was always an exciting place. My mother sewed, drew and painted, as well as working in ceramics. There were plenty of opportunities to learn. A lot of my early works were three dimensional. It has been interesting to realise that my current work seems to be returning to this theme.
My work has been moving towards the three-dimensional for some years. In some areas I am best-known for my bags which are decorated with tassels, fringes, and beads. Many fabrics I use have been purpose-dyed, and I use the sewing machine to further embellish those fabrics. Beads are becoming an increasingly important feature of my work as I become more addicted to them. I use skills learned in early ceramics classes for figures and accessories, my favoured sculpting material being polymer clay. Dolls which I had made intensively for some years, are returning in different form, as a part of some of my more recent works. I employ papier mache and other modelling materials when needed. Most of the frames used on my works are now almost entirely coloured and finished by me, and I enjoy experimenting with possible textures and finishes.
My creative education is an on-going and self motivated process. I have worked creatively with fibres since childhood, and many of my skills are self-taught. From time to time in the past, I attended formal Workshops and Master classes as the need or opportunity arose. Part time Ceramic and art classes over several years broadened my experience. Five years of work in a picture framing gallery recently has added a further dimension to my skills. I research, experiment and discover ways to produce the effects I need in my work.
My work is exhibited in multimedia exhibitions, and I have been Guest exhibitor at a Southland regional Embroidery exhibition, the Molly Morpeth Awards, Fiordland Arts Society, South Otago Art Society, Waimate Art Society and the Otago Art Society. For a number of years, I tutored workshops nationally, and was a tutor at the International workshops held as a part of 'Embroidery 2000' in Auckland. Although many Workshops have been for Embroiderers, I also worked for Eastern Bay of Plenty and Central Otago REAP, and Logan Park High School Adult Education.
In recent years, Katya Gunn (Dunedin Bead Artist) and I have collaborated for two joint Gallery exhibitions of our work at the Peter Rae Gallery in Dunedin. The website for these exhibitions are www.lucellan.com/c&c and www.lucellan.com/passion My work has been exhibited in New Zealand, as well as Otaru, Japan, with the work of other members of the Dunedin Crafts Council. Other works have been exhibited in Australia and England One of my major works, "Warrior Queen" toured New Zealand Galleries for over a year as a part of the "US and Us" Exhibition. This contained works from 10 NZ and 10 US artists which were selected by Barbara Lee Smith, an American Fibre Artist. My profile was published in "Threads" (NZ) magazine in 1998. "Textile Fibre Forum" (Australia) carried an article on my work and that of Katya Gunn in October 2003
42 Prospect Bank
Wakari
Dunedin
Member Profile
Gretchen HowardFibre Art, Beading, Polymer Clay, Multimedia
