LACED

 

Pictured top: A hand-held view (to indicate scale) of the recently completed Laced, destined for my solo show, Rückenfigur, at Queenscliff Gallery in 2022. 

Laced, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 12.5 x 12.5 cm

Vale Stephen Sondheim

Look at what you’ve done,

Then at what you want,

Not at where you are,

What you’ll be

Look at all the things

You gave to me.

- Move On, from Sunday in the Park with George, 1984, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/theater/stephen-sondheim-dead.html

Sometimes people leave you

halfway through the wood.

Do not let it grieve you.

No one leaves for good.

- No one is Alone, from Into the Woods, 1986, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

In memory of Stephen Sondheim, March 22, 1930 - November 26, 2021. 

Thank you for the words and music and for enriching our lives beyond measure.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Sondheim. 

Pictured top: Stephen Sondheim in rehearsal for Merrily We Roll Along in 1980. (Photo credit: Martha Swope/New York Public Library).

MOTH revisited

With a new drawing in mind, I’ve been searching through my reference books for an image of a Luna moth and have just rediscovered the excellent Moth, by Matthew Gandy. Published by Reaktion Books, London in 2016, it includes a reproduction of my painting, Argina astrea Moth Mask, 2007.  

Coincidentally, soon after I dusted off my copy of Moth (see below) the first two photos shown here appeared in my iPhone memories. Dating from July 2016, they were snapped by Shane Jones in Dymocks bookshop, Melbourne, where we were thrilled to find copies of the newly published Moth. 

Attuned

 

I’m delighted to have been curated by Stephen McLaughlan into the forthcoming group exhibition, Attuned. The show runs from January 19 - February 5, which, although it’s not until next year, is not so very far away. 

Pictured above: Songstress, pigmented drawing ink and gouache on Khadi paper, 15.5 x 11 cm, one of my works that will be part of Attuned at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery in 2022.

Fine-tuning

 

We’re constantly trying to make our place more liveable and workable. While this is something that tends to happen in fits and starts, it does add up. This week Shane Jones lugged a tall plan cabinet that was formerly cluttering up our very tiny ground floor office upstairs to the first floor cinema room. It now resides outside my studio, where it will effectively double my storage space for small works on paper. The cabinet replaces a white plinth on which the small set of drawers also shown here was formerly displayed. 

All this fine-tuning, however necessary, can be somewhat daunting and disruptive. Sometimes it feels as if we’re tackling a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Fortunately, we have help. Without exaggeration, there’s not a single change we’ve made around here without the endlessly enthusiastic, paws-on participation of Alice B. Cat. 

SUNFLOWER

 

Following directly from my previous post is an early progress view of Sunflower, the second in a suite of small linocuts I’ve just begun. At this stage, I’m planning to make six of them and will print a small edition of each one. Collectively titled Illustrated Women, they will possibly form the basis for an artist book too - in which case, I’ll also design a title page. Each block measures 15 x 11.5 cm, which means I will be able to print them on my small craft press, or alternatively, burnish them by hand. 

A new linocut

Pictured above: the completed design for the first of a planned series of linocuts, the first I’ve made in a long time. A key reference for the image was the centre panel of a three-fold screen designed by the prolific May Morris for Morris & Co, c. 1888 (see below).

As Alice attests, starting a new body of work can be exhausting. 

A fine send off for BACKSTORIES

Following are some treasured memories of the last day of Backstories at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery on Sunday, October 31.

Upon arrival, I paused to photograph the welcoming vase of flowers outside Stephen’s gallery, a touch I’ve always loved. Just as I pressed the shutter, the man himself appeared in the doorway. 

Catching up with friends (views 2 - 5) was the highlight of the afternoon. In the group shot below, L-R, are Shane Jones, John Waller, Vanessa Taylor, Stephen McLaughlan, Damon Kowarsky, Priscilla Ambrosini and James Harrison. It was also terrific to chat to some of the folk (not pictured) who dropped by to collect the works they had acquired. 

Before heading home, Shane and I had an impromptu meal upstairs at Chloe’s Bar in the historic pub Young and Jackson (final view below). We practically had the place to ourselves - there were more staff than patrons - but we did get to hang out with the infamous Chloé, painted by Jules Joseph Lefebvre in 1875. Many thanks to the waiter who took the following shot.

Other photo credits for this post: myself, Shane Jones and James Harrison. 

All in all, it was a memorable day.