The exhibition starts with an opening night where students and proud friends and family celebrate creativity. Student work covers a wide range of media, from painting, to sculpture, to jewellery, to video and animation. The exhibition is entirely organised and run by the students themselves and last term’s exhibition was definitely one of the best we’ve seen at our new campus.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

While many people make the trip out to Taita to see the work, we’ve placed a gallery of work online so those who have missed out can continue to appreciate what our students have produced. Our Flickr site is currently showing off over 80 works by TLC students at varying levels in their programmes.

Mentors John Cornish and Ewen Anderson enjoyed an informal and invaluable  conversation with the three students who were able to travel to Taita and participate in the block course - Rebecca Shawyer, Miriam Ruberl and Rebecca Dodds. These three also took on the responsibility of hanging their peers work.

The discussion came ostensibly from two main questions: “What have you gained from the Advanced Diploma?” and “What has this week given you?”. The group thought it might be of interest to other students to read the their responses.

MIRIAM RUBERL

What I’ve gained from this Advanced Diploma on a personal level:

Dissatisfied with the prospect of an art making future that seemed to consist largely of acquiring improved technical skills, I set out to immerse myself in a process and approach to art making that was radically different to anything I had done before, but was also associated with the work of a few of the artists I admired.  This provided me the permission, space and tools to now make art that I feel comes  truly from within me and, at the same time, can be linked to a historically traceable context of thinking and responses to life experiences that are relevant to mine.

Within that wider context, perhaps the most important things I learnt about my own art within this Diploma is that allowing a material to speak and following it where it leads me is an endless process if I let it be. I do not come to the end of a material’s potential until I decide to stop pursuing it and that working within pre-set guidelines such as the choice of material and process enhances my creative expression, rather than restricts it.

What I’ve gained from this Advanced Diploma as a member of the group:

I have been able to relax much more into being the particular human expression that my life experience has moulded me into; to enjoy the uniqueness of the others on the course, and to trust the safety of that environment.

What I’ve gained from this particular week on site:

I have been able to affirm my commitment to myself as a professional artist, to re-connect with students that I’ve formed very fond connections with over the year and to connect with the tutors and other artists on site. Just as  art work without viewers has no content, a creative life without other creators is a barren life.

Miriam Ruberls website

REBECCA DODDS

What I’ve gained from this Advanced Diploma Year:

I really enjoy the fact that I have space to work alone and not be bothered. The feedback from Ewen always benefits me and encourages me. It seems most people at TLC live and breathe art which is refreshing; everyone is always interested in what you are doing and where you are going.

Exhibition Block Week:

It is interesting to work with others (even though it has been a small group), in hanging an exhibition - good to know others’ views with that. It’s nice to hear other students’ thoughts on the course and what they have been doing over the last year.

Rebecca Dodds Website

REBECCA SHAWYER

What I’ve gained from this Advanced Diploma Year:

Initially, I resisted aspects of the Advanced Diploma Programme. Process and materiality sounded great for someone younger; new to their medium. Little was I to know it would affect my approach to my art profoundly and permanently.

Prior to the Advanced Diploma I believed I was pushing boundaries in a medium (clay), historically rooted in functional ware. The breakthrough came when I finally realised there are no boundaries in art except those we choose to erect for ourselves. This epiphany was facilitated entirely by the course content and my incredibly patient, supportive and knowledgeable mentor, John Cornish.

The result of this revelation was the unbridling of my imagination, for which Ancient Creature is just the beginning.

In a different way but of equal importance is the fact that who we are has a huge impact on our process. I had actually got to the point of not mentioning my previous career in Patisserie, as it wasn’t an ‘arts’ background. However, I now see how my process is based directly in those years. I now not only own it, but value it for what it has turned out to be – the perfect apprenticeship and an important point of difference in my work.

What I got out of being here this week:

Meeting the mentors and other artists; getting advice from tutors in other departments on techniques I want to incorporate in future work; receiving feedback and seeing people’s reactions to the different works, including my own; seeing other work from the main school exhibition; making new contacts and recognising this week as a marketing opportunity.

Rebecca Shawyers website

There was a call for TLC to provide a one day a week art class for these students. The ‘Street Art class’ was born.

This class celebrates and nurtures the natural talent and creativity of these high school students. We challenged them to design and work on individual art projects, based on each student’s interests. We inspired them through their own creative process to see what they were capable of achieving.

Our classes teach art techniques which lead to finished works ready for our end of term Exhibition. The works can be for sale or gifted to family and friends. As part of the ‘Street Art’ class, we invited practicing street artists in to talk to the students about street art. The art school environment is quite a buzz for the high school students and they commented on how welcome they felt at the Learning Connexion.

We are currently running these classes as a pilot programme and have had many enquiries from Auckland, Wellington and Wanganui since we started them one term ago.

We are really proud of the students from Hutt Valley High, for starting something new and paving the way for more students to have the same positive creative experience.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

“The watercolours, sketches and etchings in this exhibition grow out of an appreciation of New Zealand’s fauna, and a desire to acknowledge the tension in the ability of our birds and wildlife to survive in this modified and polluted environment we live in. Some species manage well, while the forest habitats of others are replaced by car wrecker yards (like in Lower Hutt) or endless acres of sheep and cattle. Hence one of the only place to find traces of these beautiful creations is in recollections on scrap metal.”

Non-Stick Nature
Images of the intricacies of nature by TLC student Sophie Taptiklis
Thistle Hall, 293 Cuba Street, Wellington. Opening 6-8pm Monday 12 July, then open daily 10-6 Tuesday to Sunday.

By Jonathan Milne

What do you do when you think no one is interested in your art and you’ll never make a living from it? It is a crisis faced from time to time by most creative people.  It’s normal.  There are ways to cope.

The early days of TLC involved some massive wobbles.  Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s TLC was tiny and vulnerable.  I worked like a maniac to ensure that our classes happened and that they were memorably good.

The money situation was chronically fragile.  I used to jog to the post office every day and hope that new enrolments were in the mail.  I also grabbed opportunities to do other work (mostly part time teaching) to keep the cash flowing.

By far the most positive thing was the progress of students who did our courses.  It was richly exciting and positive for just about everyone who participated.  Excitement doesn’t pay the rent but it’s a signal that something good is happening.  The hunger and enthusiasm of students helped to convince me that TLC ideas were worth fighting for.

Maybe this is more important than anything else.  If you feel that your work matters, that you have something to contribute to the world, then difficulties cease being psychological burdens.  You still have to apply yourself to achieve practical results but it’s a whole lot easier to focus on action instead of being bogged down by worries.

Like most artists I’m not driven by money but I realised that it was important to deal with the financial side of the school.  I felt invigorated talking with marketers and reading books on marketing.  The underlying idea is to draw attention to things of value.

Marketers can be pathologically optimistic and it took time (and many mistakes) before I realised that there are no certainties.  Marketing, like art itself, is a conversation.  You have to discover what works.  The oddest thing I ever did was spray pamphlets with a little whiff of perfume before putting them in letter boxes.  It didn’t sell anything but it did add a new dimension to a hugely boring task.  And of course it was research.  I was learning about the way people connected (the things that don’t work are just as important as the things that do – you learn how to make the best use of your energy).

My current marketing guru is Jeffrey Gitomer (http://www.gitomer.com/).  Gitomer.com is bursting with good tactics (all free) and – hidden behind the blah – an engaging sense of life, the universe and everything.   He encourages you to be effective by being yourself – a great message for artists.

When you hit the inevitable speed wobble, take time out to consider what has worked really well.  Chances are that’s going to be the zone of the ‘real you’.  The next step is to build on what works.  For a dose of hard-headed encouragement you might like to check Gitomer.com.  Then it’s a matter of pondering your situation and figuring out what you can do to make a difference.  In the end it isn’t the wobble that matters, it’s your willingness and ability to make an effective response.

This term we have upgraded our computer suite with beautiful new imac computers, the latest versions of the Adobe Creative Suite, Final Cut Express and animation software Dragon.

We are proud to showcase some of the fabulous work that was created in our documentary class in the computer suite from last term. Here are four new documentaries from TLC Students Tony Ludlam, Adam Minter, Hayley Gastmeier and Courtney Stubbins. Enjoy!

Evidence of danger is all around.  At airports in Europe it isn’t unusual to see soldiers carrying machine guns, all part of the continuing story of the ‘war against terrorism’.  Outside every school parents deliver and collect their children from the front gate because there is a constant sense of danger on the streets.

It isn’t new.  In southern France, at Le Cros de Caunes-Minervois, there are the remnants of a fortification that dates back nearly three thousand years.  It looks like a pile of rocks but it used to be an imposing defensive position.

Throughout France there are examples of fortifications, mostly castles, some in advanced states of decay, others preserved for tourists.  It appears that people have always had barricades as a defense against marauders.   Mostly, of course, life happened out in the open where people tended their crops, looked after animals and played.

Today the connected feelings of defense and aggression are stoked by rapid reporting of death and disaster.  It isn’t only about fighting and killing – economics and the environment have been turned into horror stories too.  Although there are some dangerous possibilities, we question whether they are worth the chronic fear which is generated by a constant diet of bad news.

The most dangerous aspect of fear is the inhibition of play.  Without play there isn’t much art and creativity.  Without creativity we’re not going to be able to respond effectively to danger.

Play is the starting point of TLC’s Diploma of Art and Creativity.  It’s a paradox.  The economy wobbling, the environment getting messed up, lots of fingers on lots of triggers, and we’re saying “hey, let’s learn how to play.”

Play opens hearts and minds.  There isn’t any single recipe.  Even a simple act of observation can be playful.  It’s as if the whole world is dancing and we are encouraging you to find a way to join in.

A beginning point of play is that it helps us get along together.  When people are getting along well they find it a lot easier to find ways to deal with the things they call ‘problems’.  It becomes easier to do science, make art and develop business.  It helps move us through protective barriers – the mental equivalents of the metal detectors and body-scanners – so that we can be ourselves.

TLC offers the play of engagement rather than the play of distraction.  Our programmes are about engagement with the world.  It’s about the audacity of fun.  If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right.

Jonathan Milne (Managing Director)