Artists Statement:
Memories of Sun bury Pop Concert in an open paddock on a searing hot summer's February day. Many came by train from the City then transported on a bus to the venue. Some pitched tents, others slept in the open. After a few days the place was rather messy. There was a small creek nearby but with intense heat and thousands of visitors water became scarce. To help cool down, articles of clothing were abandoned. There were topless and bottomless sights. Sunburnt skin was common and several collapsed due to heat exhaustion. Popular artists of the day performed on stage day and night. These included Daddy Cool. One of their hits was titled 'Eagle Rock'. These images originate from super 8 silent movie footage recorded on a Sankyo movie camera. Images were later projected onto a wall and recorded on VHS-C. Later still, the analogue footage was transferred to an IBM computer using Adobe Premiere as an editing tool. Several digitalised stills were captured and artistically worked on in Adobe Photoshop. Although the final images were put together using Adobe In Design, a flattened image was returned to Photoshop where some variation in the editioned portrait orientated image occurred. Oddly, these comments and landscape image below have been constructed using Adobe Illustrator.

Artists Statement:
Theory The genesis for this print was watching Australian kids dressed up in superheroes costumes. I noticed that most of the heroes like Batman, Superman, Spiderman and Buzz Lightyear were from comic books or film animations. All of the superheroes had one thing in common, none of them were identifiably Australian. Some may say this is a result of our increasingly globalized, transnational, postmodern world which like progress' is a good thing'. Others may say it is an example of the international dominance of American icons which replace the local with the global. However the popularity of Japanese Anime style drawing and games with Australian youth, or English and French novels, films and philosophy with more mature Australians illustrates the adaptation of international models of practice by Australians is just another example of cultural homogenisation. There are international Australian cultural icons. One can purchase Crocodile Hunter action figures or Bananas in Pyjamas dolls in K-Mart, Myer or Big W. These are right next to Batman and Superman. Obviously there is a market for more identifiably Australian superheroes. While Blinky Bill and the Wiggles are great they are probably aimed at a very young age group. I tried to apply the rationale for other superheroes to Australian wildlife and the result is the Marsupions. The Pvlarsupions are genetically manipulated Australian wildlife which, through a combination of scientific technologies, like gene splicing, cloning and bio mechanical implants, become superheroes. The Platypus man is a large individual with body armor and augmented poison spines who protects our streams and rivers. His genetically enhanced bill allows him to detect a range of threats. I created an image which mimics the printed cover of a comic or graphic novel. This involved a lot of manual drawing with both traditional and digital techniques. Of course a platypus isn't a marsupial but creating legends or superheroes allows for artistic license. The postmodern concept of opposition is inherent in making these largely non threatening species aggressive. Practice This image was created by developing a series of pencil roughs combining marsupial and human anatomy. Selected roughs were finished as pen and ink drawings using technical drawing pens. These drawings were scanned in as high resolution images and placed in Photoshop in Windows. I then opened the image on a Mac and manipulated it using a Wacom tablet and a variety of brushes, fills, filters and mesh gradients in Photoshop, Illustrator and Corel Painter. The image was merged and flattened and imported into Corel DRAW 10 in Windows. I created the text and used some Corel clip art. Everything was converted to curves and exported as a PDF for print. The final image was opened in Acrobat and printed on a Dell using an Epson Photos stylus 2COOP archival printer. The image is printed on Epson Archival Matt paper. I think the Death Ray Echidna or the Wombat Warrior Women may be my next cover.

Artists Statement:
Our culture has seen remarkable changes over the years, many of which have been brought about through the migration of people to our country from other continents, enriching our culture by bringing many of their customs with them. Sadly there are still bigots amongst us who use derogatory terms such as 'poms' and 'wogs' - hence my title 'Bird with Attitude'.

Artists Statement:
I have been studying photomedia for the last 6 months and so involved in photographing one of my favourite areas - along Newcastle beach and coastline. Anytime of the day and night the surfers come and go, in all shapes, sizes and ages and they keep on coming. Drawn to the water. Definitely experienced so many difficulties printing this plate as it was deeply etched by the UV rays and if I touched the surface even temporarily (and lightly) with my fingers it left an impression that could not be erased. I worked during the cold weather out of necessity and over a number of days and the temperature fluctuated greatly along with the condition of the ink. Whilst it is not a perfectly printed edition, and there are obvious differences in some, I like the different marks and impressions that I have left and I make human-like errors as I am not a machine. Will my work be technically better next time I use this process - probably - but now I am working with fibre and textiles and wood.. . . . . .it's a lifelong journey.