Amanda Williams - Portfolio

It took me a couple of goes to find Dingos and get there within their opening hours. Which, I must add, has far more to do with my clock and navigation than their location. However, I’m going to pass it on for anyone else similarly challenged even though they’re actually easier to find now.

The new place is as delightful as the old, which I talked about earlier in the year. I will repeat - I’m not on the payroll - I just like them. A lot. It’s stacked to the ceiling (really) with brands of paint, mediums and brushes that aren’t available anywhere else in Perth (including the particular medium I use in two (or was it three) sizes which elsewhere requires a six week wait). Well worth a visit.

Beware! Their opening hours are different: til about 1pm on Saturdays - not sure about the other days - give them a ring to check. Also be warned: they’re next door to Chez Jean-Claude Patisserie…

Dingos Art Supplies
336 Rokeby Road (on the corner of Heytesbury Road)
Subiaco
Ph 9388 8882

In my last post I asked if anyone knew the maker of the statue I have used as a model in several paintings. Thanks to Major… I can now henceforth and forever credit Tom Frantzen as the artist who sculpted the dog I’ve come to call Blue…

Het Zinneke (1999, Bruxelles, Rue des Chartreux)

This “dog thrown into the Senne river” is named “Zinneke” after a Flemish word meaning “mongrel”. Because he is a dog of mixed breed, he symbolises the multicultural nature of Brussels. He is a proper “street sculpture”, as he really is built-in; his legs are sealed into the pavement and the post he is peeing on had been there long before him. The post became part of the sculpture.

This sculpture, commissioned by the Chartreux district committee to attract tourists, was created in the spirit of the “zwanze”. With this dog, Frantzen offers a visual example of this form of humour to all passers-by, especially those looking for an opportunity to share something and have fun together.

The series of paintings involves Blue doing things other than “watering” bollards and the other models came from stock photos, drawings of my own dog Jack and photos of a friend’s dog also (just to cause confusion) called Jack… Het Zinneke however was the first.

The internet is fun
Amanda

Probably not much… However the sharp eye’d amongst you might have noticed the name change in the logo above from amanda to a.a.williams. Why? Simply because that’s the way I sign my work. Less confusion long term. The url will remain for the same for now. OK until I can figure out a smooth transition to the new domain name…

At the end of the day the idea is for it to be easy for anyone trying to find me. Both of you.

Have fun,
a

Just received this flyer about the Bureau of Ideas: Forum 09 via the Turner Galleries and passing it on… If it’s illegible like this (too lazy to type it all in…) take a look at down the PDF version.

Another post not quite related to the visual arts. Or is it?

I’m waiting (and waiting and waiting…) impatiently for a CD to arrive from Amazon by a young singer-songwriter Zee Avi. I’m in a hurry, so instead of writing pretty much the same thing, I’ve grabbed a bit from the big A’s blurb:

Born in the tiny town of Miri in Sarawak on the island of Borneo, Zee grew up near the South China Sea …At 17, Zee started locking herself in a room for hours on end to learn to play guitar. Guitar took a back seat for 4 years while she was studying fashion design in London. When she returned to Kuala Lumpur … Zee began recording her songs on a webcam and posting them on YouTube for a friend to hear.

The day before her 22nd birthday, Zee posted what she intended to be “my last video,” a holiday song, “No Christmas for Me.” By the time she checked her e-mail Zee had almost 3,000 messages including a slew of label offers.

This is that song:

Then came this, under the wing of Brushfire Records, which is probably my favorite…

And can’t not mention the one that’s racing up the charts. This tune has picked been picked up by Walmart for a bunch of their adverts…

A bit good isn’t it. You Tube, eh?

Have fun,
Amanda

Yes! Perth does have an alternative to “you know who” for art materials. And no I ain’t on the payroll just an enthusiastic customer. I nabbed the picture outside wishing I’d had the nerve to ask if I could take one inside. It’s an amazing place - tiny, old and rabbit-warrenish with shelves to the ceiling. If you’ve read Harry Potter - think Olivander’s Wand Shop and you’d be getting the idea.

They don’t have everything but have a lot of brands of the things they do have - four ranges of artist quality oil paints for example and an enormous range of mediums. They even have the solvent made from spike lavender - I’ve wanted to try that forever. (For making mediums, please. Anyone caught washing brushes in spike will be handed over to Voldemort.) Toting dreams of a deliciously scented studio - I took home a tiny bottle of Lefranc & Bourgeois Oil of Spike in great anticipation. Oh the disappointment - I am just as allergic to it as I am to mineral turps. Drats. Gave it away… made someone else happy. Not all lost though: the Venetian turps is lovely - gum-scented and as thick as honey - it’s used for making mediums too. I also picked up a decent palette knife - an Italian one (about $10) which walks all over rubbishy one that was the only kind available um.. er… elsewhere.

Dingos is open shorter hours than most places - til 1pm on Saturdays for instance but not sure of the other days. Give them a call first to check for yourself. Edit: they’ve moved to 336 Rokeby Road (on the corner of Heytesbury Road), Subiaco. Ph 9388 8882.

Have fun
Amanda