Archibald Prize at Tarrawarra

At last we got to the Archibald Prize show at Tarrawarra.

There were many wonderful portraits - if you cannot get to the gallery, you can get a taste of the show by clicking here.

The winner, a portrait of Margaret Olley by Ben Quilty was quite striking - bold use of paint for such a gentle subject. But it worked, because he has captured the strength of Margaret Olley.

My favourite quote was by Ken Done.

He did a self portrait  and stated:

"This portrait took me a little over 70 years and one hour to paint"

I liked the range of techniques - such as Done's (above)

and Andrew Mezei's portrait of Professor Penny Sackett

and Fiona Lowry's portrait of Tim Silver

It was interesting to see the number of works done with acrylic, as well as the beautiful

"My Jack' a portrait of the artist's husband  by Jenny Sages- using encaustic

2011 Darebin Art Show

On Sunday my work for the 2011 Darebin Art Show was delivered.
The show opens on Thursday 14th July and is  on display until 17th September.

The location is the grand  Bundoora Homestead at 7 - 27 Snake Gully Drive, Bundoora.

Artists were asked " to interpret the values, Aspirations, diversity and vibrancy of the local community through the theme; Darebin: people, places, perceptions"

I chose to use the history of the Bundoora Homestead as the basis for my work, incorporating its history as an asylum for war wounded.

It is a digital collage, and is 20x15 inches - framed it is  a little larger.

Portrait exhibition at 69 Smith St

Being a member of an Artist Run Initiative is a great experience. The most recent initiative was to put on a show where members of the gallery painted portraits of each other. Here is the brief:

This exhibition includes an ARTIST-TO-ARTIST exchange based on the premise behind Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Strangers on a Train”(1951). In this film, two strangers meet on a train and decide to commit the perfect murder by ‘swapping’ murders. You do my murder and I’ll do yours. Similarly, the idea behind Likeness – a Portrait Exhibition is that you do my portrait and I’ll do yours.
 I was so lucky to be paired with Birgit. We spent some delightful sessions together - doing a portrait really does give one an insight into the sitter and the artist. It has been very rewarding.
I am pleased with my image of her, and I think that she has captured me perfectly. Her painting is in oils and incorporates parts of my world very astutely.
I think that they look lovely on the wall together.
These images were captured with my phone in the gallery do they are not 100% - there is reflection on the glass and the colours  the painting are a little sharp.
All of the other artists have done interesting portraits too - so the show is worth visiting.
The show is on until 24th July and the gallery is open 11-5 Wed - Sat and 12-5 on Sundays

Encaustc Workshop Day 2

On Day 2 we learned

• how to use a stylus pen to draw with wax
• how to do a monotype by drawing on the hot plate with wax
• combining piment sticks with wax

The R&F materials we used (pigment sticks, block wax and mediums) were luscious and vibrant.

The tutor, Daniella, did some gorgeous demonstrations  - it took quite some perseverence on the part ot the participants to replicate some of the techniques.

The freezing cold weather did not help.......
Here are my notes and experiments from the day

 Using a stylus pen and a stylus brush

Momotype

India ink

 Transfers

Encaustic Workshop

Today I started a 2 day encaustic workshop run by the Papermakers of Victoria.
The tutor is Daniella Woolf from the USA - Santa Cruz and is an expert in this field.
You can see her work and business information here,
http://www.daniellawoolf.com/
http://waxworkswest.com/

Already we have learned a great deal and all of us have been inspired.
Here are some samples from today

 Collages

 Transfer of pastel and metal leaf (below)

American Dreams- 20th Century Photography

On the weekend I went to see the American Dreams- 20th Century Photography exhibition in Bendigo.
The exhibition featured 80 prints from the George Eastman House collection,
There were prints by Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, Cindy Sherman and a stunning image by Richard Avedon of Natasha Kinski.
What is remarkable about it is the size and perfection of the image. It is over a meter long and incredibly detailed.

I have learned from seeing the exhibition at Monash Gallery and this exhibition at Bendigo gallery how lovely platinum photographs are.
Seeing them - the real prints and not reproductions, made me understand the subtlety of the medium - beautiful ranges of soft delicate tones - quite different from black and white of silver gelatin prints.
The platinum tones range from warm black, to reddish brown, to expanded mid-tone grays that are unobtainable in silver prints.
The image here is by Anton Bruehl - not part of the Eastman exhibition, but a beautiful example of the range of chocolaty tones available using the platinum process.

Portraits of Vicki and Gail

Portraits of Vicki and Gail using only natural light, using my Canon 450D.
I think that these capture the essence of these two good friends.