Category Archives: Art

South Australian Living Artists Festival, August 2011

August can be a busy month for Artists in South Australia. Apart from maintaining one’s own presence in the festival via an exhibition or open studio, there are so many exhibitions, workshops and related activities available!

My work can be seen in a variety of locations during August.

Ten paintings and six drawings have been installed at Cibo Espresso, on the corner of Rundle Street and Frome road (ground floor).

The paintings form part of an on-going exploration of the opportunities created when drawing and painting the moving living figure.

The starting points for these works are my daily drawings, which you can see by following the link to the right of this post called “Message in a bottle”.

The exhibition also has an online presence along with other Cibo artists at http://www.ciboespresso.com.au/galleria/index.php/site/artists/ (Click on the link under “Exhibitions” on this page)

I will also be showing some drawings and one painting at St Ignatius Artshow, opening on the 19th August at 62 Queen St Norwood. (see the link in the “Exhibitions” column to the right of this post)

Working with colour – some new paintings

Here are four new paintings made again with a limited palette, but now using information from drawings I have been making every day. I’ve enjoyed working with this explosion of colour, in a rapid intuitive way. The works will be part of a small group exhibition at St Peter’s College this week.

I have been working hard on my daily drawing project – you can see this by clicking on “Message in a bottle…” on the right hand side of this page. This is really my major work, an ongoing offering to anyone who stumbles across it. Nothing would make me happier than you having a look at the small drawings regularly!

I have also been part of “Wallpaper” – an exhibition of works on paper by staff and alumni of Adelaide Central School of Art. It’s a lovely and varied show, so check it out if you are in the area – Central Gallery, Osmond Terrace, Norwood (near the corner with The Parade).

This is one of the works – you can see the other three in “Message in a bottle…” on days 25th – 28th September. Or maybe you can visit the exhibition!

Family with brown sofa and blue towel

Once upon a time…

Snow White (detail) 2010, Oil on canvas, 60cm x 80cm
Snow White (detail), 2010, Oil on Canvas, 60cm x 80cm

In the last couple of weeks I have started work on a painting installation for “Goodine’s Bistro”. With any luck and a whole lot of hard work it will be ready for SALA week. I am working with a severely limited palette, and more speed than usual. These images are from the first painting, and are in progress.

I’d also like to mention The Mother’s May exhibition at The Women’s and Children’s Hospital. A number of artists  (including me) have donated small (30cm x 40cm ) works to raise funds for the hospital. All for sale at a very reasonable price! An image of one of my donated works appears below. Why not go along and check it out, gallery one at the WCH, just near the hospital school.

Mother and Daughter 2 (Icon), 2010, oil on canvas, 30cm x 40cm

Playing with Paint

I’m back in my studio now, making a series of small and (hopefully) quick works with no particular subject theme, but all the same size, and, at least for the moment, all made with a strictly limited palette (three colours and white).

This one was prompted by my visit to “Putsch” during the Festival of Arts, the exhibition by the ProppaNOW collective at Tandanya. The very angry, insightful, politically incorrect (or is he just really politically correct?) fearlessly awful, marvellously aggrieved Richard Bell managed to fill me with both joy and deep shame with his video work (or was it a doco?) “Scratch an Aussie”.

I also managed to get along to the “Masters from Paris” exhibition in Canberra. Not sure whether it was really worth the hours of queueing and stuffy crowded rooms. Nevertheless there were some beautiful moments. My favourite was a small Gaugin landscape. Emile Bernard’s Breton works were quietly gorgeous. It was also interesting to see the journey of various individual artists through the different movements, for example Maurice Denis who seemed to crop up in every room.

I am still managing to draw fairly frequently (check my Flickr site). A favourite subject is the kids “interacting” on their computer – probably because it’s the only way to find them in one spot for any length of time.

Why I have not been in the Studio

We have just finished the wonderful mad three or so weeks of the Adelaide Festival and Fringe. Artist’s week, The Adelaide International and The Adelaide Biennial have managed to keep me away from my studio in large chunks.

I was intensely engaged for over two weeks in the Studio Orta workshop, making hearts for Jorge Orta’s Heart Project. It was an inspiring insight into the potential of collaborative and community based Art action. The results, and other work produced by Lucy and Jorge Orta and their collaborators can be seen at the Jam Factory gallery in Adelaide until the end of March, as part of “Apart , we are together”, the Adelaide International exhibition.

Sally, emerging artist?

Emerging from what? An egg? the swamp? The shower?

Metamorphosis is implied, at least.

In my case from sensible, high income earning professional to less sensible low income earning professional.

Keep an eye on this site to see what I am up to in the studio.