The 2013 Exquisite Palette Exhibition

I’ve always enjoyed this event, in which artists are invited by St. Luke Artist Colourmen to make an artwork (most commonly, a painting) on a wooden palette.  The preceding exhibition was held in 2010, when my palette Behind the Mask was judged the "Most Exquisite". My prize, a voucher for art materials, was spent over an extended period of time, primarily on a range of acrylic paints. Ironically, many of these have been employed in the making of my 2013 entry, which is previewed above.

The profile portrait that appears in the upper right hand corner of this blog features an earlier palette, made originally for the second Exquisite Palette exhibition in 2008.

As I’ve previously asserted, play is an essential ingredient in any artist’s practice; using a more relaxed mode of expression, many do some of their best, most imaginative work. The successive Exquisite Palette exhibitions have certainly been testament to that.

Personally, I always relish the self-imposed test of how to incorporate the palette’s hole into the composition. My painted palettes have evolved as a thematically linked series, drawn from an extensive repertoire of insect and mask iconography. The masks and the basic artist’s tool upon which they are painted combine to reinforce the notion of artifice. And of course, the masks’ peepholes perfectly meet the challenge of the hole in the palette!

This exercise has also reminded me of what a sympathetic painting surface wood can be, especially for finely detailed work, and has cemented my determination to use it more often.

The Exquisite Palette 2013 will be launched on April 10, from 6-30 – 8 pm at:

St. Luke Artist Colourmen

32 Smith Street

Collingwood, Vic 3065.

Phone (03) 9486 9992

For further information, visit the St. Luke Artist Colourmen blog HERE.

The exhibition will run for a month.

Pictured from top:

Zodiac Moth Mask, 2013, acrylic on wooden palette, 29 x 20 cm

Developmental drawing, 2013, pencil, 29 x 20 cm