Odalisque

Currently on the table easel in the Residency Studio at Geelong Grammar School: Odalisque, diptych, acrylic on canvas, a work in progress now very near completion. 

Geelong Grammar School Residency: Week 1

Pictured in these views is the spacious, light filled artist-in-residence studio at Geelong Grammar School soon after I’d finished setting it up, with much appreciated advice and assistance from Rupert the technician and department head, Peter Bajer.

The intention was to demonstrate the technical and thematic trajectory of my work over the past 40 or so years through a selection of paintings, relief prints, experimental digital prints and book art. A range of lino blocks, proofs and working drawings are also on show. The two earliest works, a still life and self-portrait, both made in 1982 during my first year at art school, are displayed on easels. 

On the table easel by the far window (see following two views) are my three most recent paintings, still in progress, but now very near completion.

The wooden table directly opposite the painting station (see below) is my printmaking table. Not shown in this view is another work in progress, a small linocut intended for a group show in 2023, now drawn up and ready to begin carving. 

It has been a busy but immensely productive week, filled with work and lively conversations with students, teachers and visitors. The first of my two weeks long residency has flown by. It is a pleasure and a privilege to be here. 

A.I.R. at Geelong Grammar School

 

From next Monday I begin a much anticipated nine-day residency at Geelong Grammar School. My period as artist-in-residence was originally scheduled for 2020, but was placed on hold when the first of the lockdowns began. The residency was rescheduled for 2021, but in the meantime, I got sick. 

Recently the A.I.R. was postponed for a further week when I caught a particularly nasty dose of flu. It’s hard to believe the residency is happening at long last. Most of this week has been spent in preparation and I’m still not there yet. The school is keen for me to show developments in the work. In part, this has involved digging through my disgracefully messy plan drawers and excavating some hoary old works in order to share something of my journey. 

Coincidentally, that’s the title of the humble hand-coloured linocut dating from 1995 that’s pictured above. Heaven only knows what messages are contained in the bottles. 

All of the prints featured in this post were hand-burnished with a spoon, a method which, in my experience, is considerably slower but infinitely more satisfying and far less problematic than printing with a press. 

Top: Journey, 1995, linocut, hand coloured, 15.24 x 10.26 cm.

Directly below: a selection of relief prints made during the same period that will also travel with me to Geelong. 

 

Keeper of the Flame, 1995, linocut, hand coloured, 15.24 x 10.26 cm.

 

Now, Voyager, 1995, linocut, hand coloured, 15.24 x 10.26 cm. 

 Not Drowning… 1995,  linocut, hand coloured, 15.24 x 10.26 cm. 

 High Flyer, 1995, linocut, hand coloured, 15.24 x 10.26 cm.

 Life Saver, 1995, linocut, hand coloured, 15.24 x 10.79 cm.

A short film of ATTUNED at Nicholas Building Up Late, February 2022

Nicholas Building Up Late, February 2022. A short film by Taylor Beaumont-Whiteley documenting the exhibition Attuned at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, which I had several works in. The project was initiated by City Precinct and facilitated by the City of Melbourne.

Thanks to all of those mentioned above and to Stephen McLaughlan for this copy of the film. For a full screen view, click on the bottom right hand corner of the video. 

Nicholas Building Up Late 2022 took place on Wednesday evening, 16 February 2022.

Attuned ran from January 19 - February 26.

Details of the event and a list participating artists are below.

PRINTED - images by Australian Artists 1942-2020

 

This afternoon a wonderful surprise package arrived in the mail:

PRINTED - images by Australian Artists 1942 - 2020, by Roger Butler, a sumptuous 416-page book published by the National Gallery of Australia. 

My linocut, St Kilda Warrior, 1997, 61.4 x 45.4 cm, is reproduced on page 240.

Images above (clockwise from top left): 

Barbara Hanrahan, Birth, 1986, linocut;

Kate Lohse, 1986, Women’s issues, etching/aquatint;

Diane Mantzaris, The Wedding Present, 1987, lithograph from computer generated image; 

Deborah Klein, St Kilda Warrior, 1997, linocut.

All works collection National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. 

Over the coming months I’ll be working on several printmaking projects and this exhaustively researched, lavishly illustrated publication will be an invaluable reference. 

Some local press for THE BIG KITTY

Further to my Blog Post of Saturday 27 April 2022, THE BIG KITTY has just made The Ballarat Times. 

To read the article Small film gets big local screening by Fiona Watson (Ballarat Times, Saturday 7 May) click on the link below: 

https://timesnewsgroup.com.au/ballarat/news/small-film-gets-big-local-screening/

Photo credit: Fiona Watson. 

Pictured L-R: Tom Alberts, Shane Jones, Lisa Barmby and Deborah Klein.

Thank you to Fiona Watson for the article and to Lisa for alerting me to it. 

Exhibition Preparation

When you’re preparing for an exhibition at Queenscliff Gallery, you need all the help you can get. And in some cases, not.

In these views, Shane Jones joins the multiple panels of my paintings and wires them. He is “assisted” by Alice, who volunteered her services before I had a chance to close the doors to the room.

Rückenfigur, my upcoming solo show at Queenscliff Gallery, opens on 23 June and runs to 27 August. Full details are HERE.

Between now and then, I’ll be undertaking a residency at Geelong Grammar School. Meanwhile, I’m just about keeping on top of things - thanks to Shane and no thanks to Alice!