Bryan Brown in Ballarat

 

What a pleasure it was to meet actor/author Bryan Brown yesterday evening following his scintillating talk (in conversation with Renee Price of Collins Booksellers), at glorious Palace Regent Cinema, Ballarat.

I’ve admired Bryan Brown’s work as an actor ever since I first saw him in Breaker Morant (1980, Dir. Bruce Beresford). Writing is a relatively new string to his bow. 

He’s a natural born storyteller. Based on the moving, sometimes hilarious, personal anecdotes he shared with a large, captivated audience, some fascinating insights into his writing process, and a brief, but tantalising reading from his latest novel, Hidden, Shane Jones and I can’t wait to read his books and will treasure our signed copies. 

Spring Days - Opening Night

Posted somewhat belatedly: selected highlights from the delightful launch of the group exhibition SPRING DAYS at Off the Kerb Gallery, which took place on a befittingly balmy spring evening. 

Top image: pictured with my painting Tudor Rose. Photo credit: Shane Jones.

Image 2, below: with my painting Springtime. Photo credit: Shini Pararajasingham.

Image 3, below: Off the Kerb Gallery snapped from the kerb.

Image 4, below: exhibition visitor John Waller with SPRING DAYS artist Shane Jones and, pictured centre, Sea Air, one of Shane’s paintings that was included in the exhibition. 

The exhibition, which ran over two floors, looked a treat. It has since ended, but selected works can still be viewed in the gallery’s stockroom. 

Welcoming SPRING DAYS

It was a lover and his lass,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonny-no,
That o’er the green cornfield did pass,
In springtime, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding-a-ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

Between the acres of the rye,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonny-no,
Those pretty country folks would lie,
In springtime, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding-a-ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

This carol they began that hour,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonny-no,
How that a life was but a flower
In springtime, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding-a-ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

And therefore take the present time,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonny-no,
For love is crownèd with the prime
In springtime, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding-a-ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

- It was a Lover and His Lass

William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act V, Scene lll

The group exhibition SPRING DAYS opens tomorrow,  Friday 19 September, from 6 - 8 pm at Off the Kerb Gallery. 

I’m blessed to have experienced no less than two springtimes this year. Back in March, I was in London for the unfolding of a particularly glorious English spring. 

Do come along to Off the Kerb tomorrow evening and help us celebrate the launch of SPRING DAYS - and, now that pesky winter, which has overstayed its welcome, is at long last loosening its icy grip - the arrival of our Antipodean spring. 

Like both of my works in SPRING DAYS, Tudor Rose ll was primarily inspired by the work of British Arts & Crafts designer May Morris. 

For further information, including the exhibition catalogue, scroll down to my previous post. 

Image top: Deborah Klein, Tudor Rose ll, 2024, 30.5 x 30.5 cm, acrylic on canvas board.

SPRING DAYS runs from September 18 - October 2, 2025.

SPRINGTIME

The aptly titled painting Springtime, 2024, acrylic on canvas board, 30.5 x 30.5 cm (pictured above) is one of two of my works included in the group exhibition, SPRING DAYS, opening in a week’s time at one of my favourite Melbourne galleries, Off the Kerb in Collingwood. (See also previous post). 

Exhibiting Artists

ADRIAN JILICH ~ ANNE KUCERA

ALMOST IRIS ~ ANJA DURNEVA

ALEKS GRILZ ~ ANNE DE NOOIJER

ASHLEIGH GILLULEY ~ BEN TAYLOR

BOAT PAPER PLANE ~ CARLA SCOTTO

CHRISTINA DARRAS ~ DEBORAH KLEIN

DARREN FRISINA ~ EMILY VAN DER MOLEN

GEOFF HARRIS ~ GLEN DOWNEY

JESS LYONS ~ LIV MCCARTEN

LISA BANH ~ MACARENA OCEA

MARK SEABROOK ~ MATT DWYER

MARCO PENNACCHIA ~ NANCY LIU

PETRA RODGERS ~ RYAN POLA

STEPHANIE HICKS ~ STEVIE DOAN

SARAH FERN ~ SHANE JONES

SARAH MEDCALF ~ TONY FEURY

VIKI MURRAY ~ XUE FEI ~ ZAC GRENFELL

Come celebrate with us on Opening Night, Friday 19 September, from 6 - 8 pm.

To view the exhibition catalogue, go HERE.

SPRING DAYS

Off the Kerb 

66B Johnston Street

Collingwood VIC 3066

Thurs | Fri 12pm - 6pm 

Sat | Sun 12pm - 5pm

T  (03) 9077 0174

M  0400 530 464

E   info@offthekerb.com.au

W  www.offthekerb.com.au

The exhibition runs from 18 September - 2 October 2025.

SPRING DAYS

 

It’s been a long, cold winter and I’ve been longing for the arrival of spring since what feels like forever. Not surprisingly, the theme of SPRING DAYS, the upcoming group exhibition at Off the Kerb Gallery, is one that’s especially close to my heart. Warmest thanks to Shini Pararajasingham, Founder/Director of Off the Kerb, for inviting me to take part in it. I can’t think of a finer way of heralding spring.

SPRING DAYS

Opening: Friday 19 September 6 - 8 pm

Exhibition dates: 18 September - 2 October 2025

Off the Kerb 
66B Johnston Street
Collingwood VIC 3066
Thurs | Fri 12pm - 6pm
Sat | Sun 12pm - 5pm
T  (03) 9077 0174
M  0400 530 464
E  info@offthekerb.com.au
W www.offthekerb.com.au

Images on invitation L-R: Adrian Jilich, A spot by a fence, acrylic on panel and 

Deborah Klein, Tudor Rose ll, acrylic on canvas board (detail).

EQUILIBRIUM

My linocut A Man, a Woman and a Duck, an older work that brings back more happy memories than I can count, has been included in  EQUILIBRIUM - WORKS FROM THE LATROBE REGIONAL GALLERY COLLECTION at Latrobe Regional Gallery. 

The exhibition showcases aquatically-themed works drawn from the LRG Collection, ranging from the traditional to the allegorical.

A Man, a Woman and a Duck, 1996, linocut, 30.5 x 40.5 cm, is an absurdist, affectionate,  semi-autobiographical homage to my hometown, the Melbourne seaside suburb of St. Kilda, from which I sometimes suspect the umbilical cord was never fully severed. 

Featured Artists 

Rashida Abdel-Aziz/Julie Adams/Jennifer Aitken/Marita Anderson/Clarice Beckett/Violet Biram/Marion Borgelt/Lynne Boyd/Deborah Cocks/Pauline Delaney/Caroline Durré/Lesley Duxbury/Anne Dybka/Susan Faraday/Kaye L. Green/Eileen Gordon/Juli Haas/Fiona Hall/Treahna Hamm/Anne Hand/Edith Hughston/Margaret Johnston/Carolyn Jones/Deborah Klein/ Vee Labson/Mandy Martin/Kim McDonald/Mary Meyer/Tracey Moffatt/Jan Murray/Jill Noble/Penny Ormerod/Jacki Parry/Susan Purdy/Louisa Riggall/Christian Clare Robertson/Margi Sheppard/Sophia Szilagyi/Jessie Traill/Louisa Waters/Vanessa White

EQUILIBRIUM - WORKS FROM THE LATROBE REGIONAL GALLERY COLLECTION 

LATROBE REGIONAL GALLERY

138 Commercial Road
Morwell, Victoria 3840, Australia
P: +61 3 5128 5700
lrg@latrobe.vic.gov.au

Opening Hours:
Daily 10am to 4pm

EQUILIBRIUM opened on July 5 and continues to October 19.

Photo credit: Tim Gresham. 

English Rose, Australian Thorn

Pictured top: Anon, 1998, two-colour linocut printed from three blocks onto Japanese mending tissue laid on brown oriental paper. 

I’m delighted to learn that Anon has been included in the intriguingly themed exhibition English Rose, Australian Thorn, currently on view at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery. 

The above image, from which the following information has been extracted, is from the July issue of Art Almanac.

Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery

531 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba 4350

T (07) 4688-6652. E art@tr.qld.gov.au

W tr.qid.gov.au/trag Instagram: @trartgalleries

Free entry. H Wed-Sun 10.30 to 3.30. Closed Mon-Tues and public holidays. 

To Nov 23: English Rose, Australian Thorn. Inspired by Norman Lindsay's thorny relationship with England, this exhibition explores how Australian culture has transplanted, pruned or uprooted its English heritage. Besides Lindsay, featured artists include Graham Burstow, Sophie Carnell, Deborah Klein, George Lambert, Lionel Lindsay, and Zoja Trofimiuk.

Deborah Klein, Anon, 1998, linocut, 56.5 x 38cm

Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery - Toowoomba City Collection 501

Ⓒ Deborah Klein

Courtesy the artist and Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery

English Rose, Australian Thorn opened on May 10 and runs to November 23. 

Painting the white roses red

Unlike the roses planted in error by the hapless gardeners in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the roses in my linocut Everything’s coming up roses were always intended to be red. Throughout their transformation from white to crimson, however, I couldn’t help but recall one of my all-time favourite books (along with its companion volume, Through the Looking Glass), which it seems still influence my own work, even when I’m not conscious of it. Incidentally, the Alice books were also revered by the Surrealists.

Here is an excerpt from the relevant chapter from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:

CHAPTER VIII

The Queen's Croquet-Ground

A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the roses growing on it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red. Alice thought this a very curious thing, and she went nearer to watch them, and just as she came up to them she heard one of them say, `Look out now, Five! Don't go splashing paint over me like that!’…

…`Would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, `why you are painting those roses?'

Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at Two. Two began in a low voice, `Why the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been a red rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake; and if the Queen was to find it out, we should all have our heads cut off, you know. So you see, Miss, we're doing our best, afore she comes, to--' At this moment Five, who had been anxiously looking across the garden, called out `The Queen! The Queen!' and the three gardeners instantly threw themselves flat upon their faces. There was a sound of many footsteps, and Alice looked round, eager to see the Queen.

To read the entire chapter, click here:

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rgs/alice-VIII.html

Everything’s coming up roses was created for IRREPRESSIBLE, an exhibition and print exchange portfolio coordinated by Rona Green. Comprising 55 relief prints by 55 invited artists, it will be exhibited at Whitehorse Artspace in early 2026. 

Images 1-3 from top: 

1 The hand-colouring begins;

2 Illustration by John Tenniel from the original edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1866. (Public domain). 

3 Completed hand-colouring of the first of an edition of 56, plus proofs. 

Editioning at Agave Print Studio

Preview of the linocut edition for IRREPRESSIBLE, a group exhibition and print portfolio to be launched in early 2026. The project, which was conceived by Rona Green, will feature some truly terrific artists and I’m thrilled to be part of it. 

My linocut was printed by Australian printmaking legend Dianne Longley at Agave Print Studio at Trentham in West Central Victoria.

We were serenaded by some of the locals as we walked the path to Dianne’s studio to collect the completed edition. It was a delight to encounter Laughing kookaburras at such close range.

To see early progress views of the linocut, go HERE.

Images from top:

1-2: Print edition in progress at Agave Print Studio;

3: The splendid Albion Press on which the linocut was printed;

4-5: Special welcoming committee on the day we collected the completed print edition.

Photo credit for images 1-2: Dianne Longley.

Vale Hertha Kluge-Pott

Like so many others, I’m deeply saddened to hear that Hertha Kluge-Pott, one of Australia’s printmaking legends, has passed away.

In these photos I’m pictured with Hertha at the Australian Print Workshop during the award ceremony for the 2022 APW George Collie Memorial Award, of which she was a recipient. 

I was awarded the APW George Collie Memorial Award back in 2020, but the official presentation was postponed due to COVID lockdowns. It was worth the wait, as well as a tremendous honour, to belatedly receive the award on the same day as Hertha. 

Hertha and I are standing (together with APW Director Anne Virgo in image No. 1, top), in front of a series of linocuts by the late Barbara Hanrahan, who jointly received the award in 2020. The late Ann Newmarch OAM was joint recipient of the 2022 award. 

In tandem with the awards, the APW held an exhibition of works by all four artists, which ran from August - October 2022.

The APW George Collie Memorial Award is presented annually by the APW in acknowledgement of artists who have made a significant contribution to Australian printmaking. It was a privilege to be included in such esteemed company (including those who came before us) and marvellous, as always, to catch up with Hertha. I never dreamed that it would be the last time I would see her. 

RIP, Hertha.