RAIN SERIES

In 1980, the first time I saw this poem, the words made the hairs on my neck stand up. My response to this poem has led me to create numerous interpretations of this natural event which I have learnt, since coming to Australia, is vital to the maintenance and survival of life in the arid and harsh environment. Hone Tuhware, a Maori poet, has given me life long permission to interpret any of his poems and RAIN has become almost my hallmark.

This Rain evolved through my observing the rain trickling down the window pane. This was my first adventure into expressing an idea through someone else’s words. This is a very significant piece of work.

This is my second version with the same philosophy as the first piece except that the background has now become darker and richer. The word “Rain” was written with a wooden stick with gouache and the lettering also in gouache, using running colour

My ideas began flow with the many different visual experiences relating to rain. An obvious one is the rainbow and this image is my first of many rainbows. The word rain was written in gold paint with a brush. The poem was written in gouache with steel nibs.

This is another early interpretation, where I remembered as a child looking at small puddles on the pavement where touches of oil had created rainbow colours in the water. I used a wooden stick and then retouched the white lettering with a brush, using the various primary colours.

This work became about, having lived in the tropics and observing the daily downpour of rain, watching it bounce off the hard ground. The reflections which appeared on the surface are shown by the reversed lettering below the poem.

- and then there was Lightning! The tiny words “Rain” were written to create the image of lightning and the jagged title was written with a wooden stick.

By this stage, having printed the verse, I then experimented with a pointed pen and freely wrote each letter. I then painted with a pointed brush the many colours, where many parts of the letterform were over-lapping to create this prism effect, as one would see in a dew drop when the sun shines through it.

- and Storms! The large title symbolises the clouds with the Rain pouring onto the earth. “Rain” was this time written with a pen I made from wood veneer and the individual rain letters were written in gouache with a steel nib.

Another version of the Rain storm. The words are written using the same techniques

This is my first attempt to suggest a corrugated iron roof. I scored and creased the Canson paper horizontally and overlaid the cut out letters of RAIN made from acetate and schlag. From parts of two of the letters R & A, raindrops pour from their lowest point. The storm & cloud is depicted with the word “Rain” written in watercolour pencil.

I experimented on this piece to create the feeling of the raindrops’ contact with the earth. I used a brush and flicked the paint off the end of the brush to create a “splash” effect

One day sitting in my studio, watching the fine rain flicker down, the sun suddenly burst out behind the rain shower and created a beautiful bright misty light which I then interpretted into this piece. I used some paper letters of the word RAIN to form a paper mask around which I wrote the word RAIN 100’s of times in rainbow colours. I then folded the paper on the diagonal to create a further dimension to the work.

This piece is one of my first attempts to use the variegated schlag which I found gave a stunning effect. This was to be a forerunner, as you will see from the many more images to follow.

This piece shows how one can develop in confidence and ideas. Being restricted in width, I ran the word RAIN down the page, instead of using a vertical or horizontal straight line, creating a feeling of falling rain.

This work is significant as it is one of my first attempts to use the concertina fold. Since its inception, I have created many, many works using this concept, each one individual in its design and execution.

This piece is along the same lines, using acrylic washes in pastel colours and whilst wet, lettering the word RAIN with a wooden stick, exposing the white background. The title was written in schlag which adds a rich texture to the work.

For many years the white sheets of printed art paper had waiting in my drawers for the moment to arrive where I could move from the inactive background to an active background. I was totally at a loss to know what to do with these white backgrounds, until I decided the verse would still be visable if I were to painted and write a background design. You will now see just a few of my interpretations which I feel worked really well.

I then decided to experiment with various colours, again using schlag for the title RAIN. The subtle colours gave the work an interesting texture with the concertina fold.

BRIGHTEN UPAgain I have used the pastel background acrylic washes to create a feeling of tropical rain, cool and refreshing. The title was written with an iridescent foil which creates a marvellous effect where the colours reflect against each other

I decided to make an interesting design by placing the verse in a more central position and using the letters in variegated schalg in a loosely written Roman letterform to create a fluid watery effect.

Another challenging piece of work, given the fact that paper will mostly only move in one direction. I decided to make a rainbow shape by scoring and creasing the paper in a fan shape and I succeeded in teasing the paper into the desired shape. An interesting outcome!

The challenge continued with the paper being rolled in both directions. These individual folds of varying widths worked much easier than the concertina folds. Again foil letters have been written on the acrylic word RAIN

Another version using both symbols of the corrugated iron roof with the concertina and rolled folding. I devised the rolled paper fold by scoring the back, then gluing down the score, placing a circular form to support the convex shape. This process I repeat, creating varying sized folds to create an interesting visual impact.

I ask the printer to screenprint each verse in a different position on the Canson paper. This gives me a challenge each time I create a new piece of work. The large blue letters are written with a chisel brush in acrylic, using schlag for a rich textured effect. The smaller letters are then overlaid in the valleys of the paper which is contoured like an iron roof.

The large letters were written in acrylic with a broad chisel brush and then overlaid with the letters R A I N in silver foil. I believe this creates an interesting texture, so it became rain, within rain with rain words running down the page.

Necessity is the mother of invention. In this most recent design, the printer made a slight error by printing half sheets instead of full sheets, so I decided to join the two sheets together and used the verse on the second sheet to form the letter “I”. This is a good example of adaptation and lateral thinking. So all things are possible!

Exploring new ideas with the same words, I used foils to letter the word “rain” on the cut coloured letters with various folds to create an interesting dimension to the work.

This is my most recent interpretation of Rain using cut pieces of foil to create the word “rain” with lettering in gouache and a circular fold.