In 2006, I strategically relocated from Colorado to New Zealand. I picked some grapes for a few months, and drank wine and ate cheese. Then I saw an ad in the paper which sent me to some life drawing classes. It was great. I remember the first week. My boy was in Germany, and loneliness is killer when you’re bored too. In any case, a bit later I found myself working as an assistant to bronze sculptor Olivier Duhamel: I learned that you can cast bronze sculptures in your backyard with a minimal amount of household materials, some refractory wool, a bit of wax, ceramic silica, and an ingot of bronze. That’s putting it a tiny bit lightly, but if you want to be a backyard bronze-caster too, I suggest buying his manual. Getting back on track: I decided to go to art school. Yes I know, that was quite a leap. Actually it wasn’t. I looked online and saw that I could easily apply and fit it in with the degree I was already planning on taking at the University of Auckland. Somehow, my application for residency came through and I was on paper a New Zealand Resident. This greatly lowered my costs. Although, frankly, I am still going to owe the government a good $40,000 by the time this thing is over. Never mind all that, the important thing is thatI learned something (we hope). Now I am in my third year at said University, or, if I’m feeling high and mighty I say that I go to Elam School of Fine Art, because (who knew) it has a reputation. And I’ve decided to remake my website to reflect three years of fine learning. I want the website to reveal the scope of my art practice, which has been an exploration of the figure on one side, and the mind on the other. I mean that one half of my art (the school bit) is a little bit brainy and the other half is a little bit pretty (the stuff I sell). Somehow, they’ve never met before.
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Above: Jillian Varani pouring molten bronze under guidance of Olivier Duhamel |