WHAT ARE YOU MAKING?

Tanya Montgomery is one of those go to gals when you need a bit of a pick me up. Her enthusiasm and excitement for making, sharing, learning and creating is infectious. 

In her reply to my message about this blog idea Monty came back with the following:

'HI Jen, I keenly banged out my ideas at the computer last night. What a rad-fantastical initiative. I really love reading art blogs and interviews with artists as it is comforting and legitimises what I do.'

I love it! I can just picture Tanya enthusiastically banging out her thoughts at the computer and I am going to claim that terminology in reference to this series in future - the rad-fantastical makers series! 

In all seriousness it is a pleasure to share this woman's works with you. I have worked with Monty, learnt from Monty, learnt with Monty and chit chatted while making with Monty. Her skill is profound and her works are stunning. What most inspires me is how she is constantly making, amidst the juggle of two kids, a teaching role and a household to run. Monty constantly collects and studies, makes time for meeting with other makers and makes time for making and working on her own craft. She sees the beauty in the world around her and she translates that beauty onto canvas with such charm. 

In Monty's words here's what she's making:

1. What are you making?

I’m currently making a series of studies of pathways around my little sleepy town of Dampier. I’m fascinated in this subject as means to document the experience of a familiar journey and capture a point of stillness— the moment of becoming acutely aware of the journey that we are traveling in context of our broader lives.

2. What is it about making that particular thing that you enjoy?

I adore seeing an image form; when it begins to make sense from crudely (yet considered) strokes. And the smell too of oil and painting medium. I laughed the other day when the smell of two stroke from my husband mowing outside sparked a day of painting. (Monty asked me to take that part about the smell out, and it recurs in question 5, probably because she thought it sounded a bit too bonkers, but I like it and have left it in - sorry Monty! I think smell is the strongest sense we have - it evokes memories and really powerful associations to experiences. I also like that this sentence paints an image of life in our region - boating on the weekends and whatnot - and that it sets a scene of Monty at home and how we can all be inspired by the simple things.)

3. How do you make it?

I spend lots of time photographing at different times of the day, prepping panels and reading widely. I just can’t get enough visual fodder. Developing a deep connection to the landscape is very important to be able to capture the visual observations.

Painting happens on site in the cool of the day on pre grounded panels. From a painting session, I will often return and photograph the scene many times. Editing the images, as in selecting the image from many photographed of a single scene, helps clarify what I need to capture in my painting and enables me to strengthen the compositional elements. I like to sharpen my compositions using a pale pastel, that I use to map in detail with the panel turned upside down. Painting is largely a task of problem solving and my initial plein air studies largely sit around –sometimes on the kitchen windowsill to stare at while I do dishes until my next painting bender in the studio when I will paint furiously with the drone of ABC radio, wine and dim lighting.

4. What will you make next?

Studies. Just small panels on board that can offer exciting but rare chance meetings of directional strokes of colour to describe form. This really excites me and this kind of image recording offers so many possibilities towards printmaking too.

5. What would you be doing if you weren't making that thing?

I find the process of compiling a visual diary— not the sketchbook kind, rather a visual file, of found images and scrawlings, helps quieten the visual buzzing in my head.  I work in old hard cover A4 diaries. It’s ironic really as I am incapable of using a diary for its intended purpose but they’re sturdy and, let’s face it, they don’t have the discerning blank white pages. I love using invisible tape (for the smell too) as it permits images to be stuck, pulled out and regrouped permitting wonderful visual connections.  

If you have any questions for Monty or me please feel free to comment here or on Facebook.

Happy making!

x J