Daley St Preston

A day in Carole's Monsalvat Studio

Spent a lovely day in Carole's studio at Monsalvat. This is Carole working on her oil painting of plums in a bowl. The light in the studio is wonderful as can be seen below in these images.

Lovely prospect of being invited to spend more days in this lovely setting

still life

I have been painting these jugs every day and am beginning to get to know them very well.

Daley St Preston (3)

Daley St Preston (2)

Daley St., Preston

Satyagraha - the Opera

Visual experiences that linger.... two weeks ago I went to see the Metropolitan Opera performance of the Philip Glass Opera. It was conveniently staged at the Nova Cinema in Melbourne. It was of course a HD film of the performance. I am very grateful to Julie and John Ross; friends who suggested the outing.

The libretto was in Sanskrit, was not really related to the story, and there were minimal subtitles - intentionally. So the opera was really about the music and the visual. I really like Philip Glass.
And the visual impact was stunning. The opera tells the story of Gandhi - his time in South Africa and the Salt marches. There is a reference to the people who inspired him - Tolstoy and Tagore, and the people who took their inspiration from Gandhi - notably Martin Luther King. There is more to the story, but that is the essence of it.
The staging was so arresting - wonderful puppets and glorious colours and effects. Here are some images.

and a link to the promotion for the opera here.
It was so inpiring I have booked to see several of the other operas in the season at the Nova.
The people who do the staging for the Met are among the best  in the world so the visual experience is going to be inspiring.

Robyn Stacey

A wonderful interview on  the ABC show Art Nation with Robyn Stacey.  A photographer who creates still life images using items from historic homes.
The images are very beautiful - and superbly executed - with no interference post production.

This is one of my favourites - there are more on the ABC blog here

http://www.abc.net.au/arts/stories/s3361614.htm

I am going to really miss the Art Nation program next year.

Duality: 2011 Banyule Award for works on paper

Since TAFE has finished I have had time to go to some galleries and take some new inspiration from established artists.

I went to the exhibition Duality: 2011 Banyule Award for works on paper.

One of the great things about these kinds of exhibitions is being reminded that there are so many different approaches and ways of making beautiful work using the same support material.

It is a pity the artist statements are not included in the catalogue and that the Banyule web site does not seem to have images for those who could not attend to get a taste of some of the interesting works on display.

I loved the imagination and enigmatic message of Adam Simmons in his work Answering Machine -  Maze byc (2009).  Beautifully constructed and so intriguing.

Emma Hensler's Nesting (2011) (below) took my interest because it was a drypoint, and this method of printmaking is so old, yet still so capable of evoking a visceral response. Her mark making and mastery of the medium was lovely to see. I am inspired!

 I grappled with monotypes this year sp when I saw Graham Brindley's Liminal Drift (2011) I was intrigued. A large work 240 x 42cm on hosho paper. Graceful, elegant ethereal. I think that often monotypes are messy and a bit crowded, but this was floating and understated. The title for the work was perfect.

I also particularly liked Lee Bethel's work Avenue of Trees (2011). It was freestanding cut paper cleverly cut and displayed with the shadows emphasising the delicate patterns of the trees.

And Michelle Watson's gouache on paper Ascension (2010) was was so beautifully executed. 

It was indeed intriguing to see such diverse approaches to 'work on paper'. There were other interesting works - artist books and Liane Gough's Cerulean Blooms - a bowl of hydrangeas fashioned from the insides of envelopes was gorgeous.

All in all an excellent exhibition.