For Auld Lang Syne

As another bittersweet year hurtles to a close, step inside my studio for auld lang syne.

We may be more than halfway through the twelve days of Christmas with a new year fast approaching, but in the studio, time stands still.  

Christmas 2023

 

Merry Christmas for tomorrow. I hope you enjoy every minute of your day, no matter how you celebrate it (or not) and that the last few days of 2023 will pass equally agreeably. 

My own year was capped off by a visit to London in September/October that was life-changing in unforeseen, seemingly endless ways. Fuelled by my trip, I’m now working with renewed vigour and a more assured sense of direction towards a solo show at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, scheduled for the latter part of next year. I can’t wait to see where the work takes me and what ever else the new year will bring.

My thanks and gratitude to those who have offered their friendship, support and encouragement throughout the past momentous year. I’m very lucky to have you in my life, and it’s a privilege to be a part of yours. 

Image on e-card: Deborah Klein, The Heavens Declare 2, 2022, linocut, 20 x 15 cm. For background information on this print and its companion work, The Heavens Declare 1, click HERE.

Seasonal Salutations

A special memory is attached to every decoration on our Christmas tree, and every year we collect new ones. There is always room for more! 

Thinking of friends and family near and far this Christmastide. May it bring all you could wish for, and more. 

Swan Lake (Special Edition)

It seems that swans have always been connected to the places I’ve called home, from the black swans of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne to the white swans of Regents Park in London. 

Nowadays my Whereabouts (the title of the exhibition for which my linocut Swan Lake was initially created) is hereabouts. Ballarat is home, and for me, Lake Wendouree and its beloved black swans are where the heart is. 

At the invitation of the splendid Art Gallery of Ballarat shop, I’ve created a special limited edition of Swan Lake to coincide with the current exhibition. Numbered I - XXX (1- 30), the work is available exclusively through the gallery shop. It’s pictured below alongside a striking inkjet pigment print (open edition) by fellow Whereabouts artist, Miranda Costa.

Whereabouts, an exhibition of 56 Victorian-based printmakers was curated by Rona Green. But before making your way to Whereabouts, don’t forget to pick up a free, fully illustrated exhibition catalogue at the front desk of the AGB. 

Pictured from top: Swan Lake, 2023, (Special Edition), linocut with collage and hand-colouring, Edition: 30. Photo credit: Tim Gresham;
Images 2-4: Black swans in the wetlands area across from Lake Wendouree;

Images 5-6: Special edition of Swan Lake on display in the AGB shop, along with an archival pigment print by fellow Whereabouts artist Miranda Costa;

Images 7–8: Front and back views of the fold-out poster-sized Whereabouts catalogue, an essential exhibition guide;

Image 9 below: Whereabouts installation view. Pictured L-R: Rona Green, Petal, 2023, hand-coloured linocut, Deborah Klein, Swan Lake, 2023, hand-coloured linocut, printed by Bill Young, Miranda Costa, Thinking, 2023, inkjet pigment print, Gillian Kline, Inward Goods, 2023, linocut. 

Click on images to enlarge.

Whereabouts opened on 18 November, 2023 and runs to 4 February, 2024.

Opening celebration of BLUE PERIOD

Here are a few snapshots of the joyous opening celebration of BLUE PERIOD at One Star Gallery, Melbourne, on the evening of Friday 1 December. It was terrific to meet up with fellow artists, among them, Tiffany Titshall, (pictured below), and reunite with others I haven’t seen for far too long, in particular, Ann Holt, who I’ve known since my long ago and far away St Kilda days. (Ann, who’s pictured in the third view with Shane Jones) reckons this is the first time we’ve ever exhibited together, and I’m pretty sure she’s right).

The works of artists who couldn’t be there, including Lisa Barmby, Deborah Walker, and Linda Gibbs, whose stunning landscape is hanging next-but-one to mine in the installation view below, also made an impact. (That’s Jane Burton’s photograph in between my works and Linda’s). It was also great to see another old friend, film maker Donna McRae (pictured above right).

Pictured above are my three paintings Recollections, Waiting and Idyll and directly below, BLUE PERIOD curators Mariella Del Conte and Katrina Beale introduce writer and performer Clare Larman (final view). Clare, who memorably launched the exhibition with an evocative blue-themed poem written especially for the event, writes like a painter. 

Scroll down to my last post for a complete list of BLUE PERIOD artists. 

The exhibition runs to 17 December.