CODA

Deborah Klein, Acanthus, 2024, acrylic on canvas panel, 30.5 x 30.5 cm. Photo credit: Tim Gresham.

A big thank you to Stephen McLaughlan Gallery for curating eleven of my works, including Acanthus (pictured top) into CODA, the gallery’s curtain-raiser for 2025. 

An Artists’ Celebration will be held on Saturday, February 8 from 2-4 pm.

The exhibition runs from Wednesday, January 15 to Saturday, February 8. 

Scroll down for further information. 

Photo credit for the following installation views: Stephen McLaughlan. 

Happy New Year

Revisiting an old work as a new year begins: Beacon, 1995, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm.

The painting resurfaced during our move from Melbourne to Ballarat in 2019, so it has become a signifier of new beginnings in more ways than one. 

New Year’s Eve was also Shane Jones’s and my anniversary; last night marked 32 wonderful years. A celebratory meal at Oscar’s in Ballarat was followed by a pyrotechnics display that we modestly believe was unparalleled anywhere in the world - forget about Sydney Harbour. 

 

Wishing you a Happy First Day of 2025 - and also the remaining 364.

Christmas morning

Christmas morning memories with Shane Jones and Alice B. Cat, the start of a wonderful day spent with family and friends. 

Our two Christmas trees are our pride and joy, with a story attached to every ornament. This year two hand-painted decorations by our friend Gaye Britt, depicting our very own Alice, have pride of place, one on each tree. (Images #11 and #18 below).

Pictured above: A watercolour by local artist Holly Would, one of Shane’s Christmas gifts to me. Recently Holly has been working part-time on the restoration of the horses on the historic merry go round at Luna Park, St. Kilda, my home town. Who knows - as a child,I might have ridden this very horse.

Hoping your Christmas Day was a peaceful and happy one and wishing you more of the same in 2025. 

Merry Christmas

 

Yuletide greetings to one and all. May 2025 bring you everything your heart desires. 

Image on card: Deborah Klein, Secret Garden, 2024, acrylic on canvas panel, 30.5 x 30.5 cm.

WAYS OF BEING, Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, December 4 - December 24, 2024

 

Lady Justice ll, 2024, acrylic on canvas panel, 30.5 x 30.5 cm

 An era ends for me with the close of this exhibition.

The last four years have brought enormous personal upheaval and change, some of it extremely positive, some of it positively not. But in terms of what I’ve learned along the way, I’ve come to believe that on balance, all of it has been for the greater good. 

As the great Stephen Sondheim once wrote, “Art isn’t easy”. Big thanks to Stephen McLaughlan for his hard work, enthusiasm and commitment to the exhibition. Thank you, too, to everyone who took the time to visit the show, for your kind, thoughtful and generous responses to the work and most of all, for your friendship and support. 

With a fresh new year almost on our doorsteps, here’s to new beginnings, and here’s to all of you. 🥂

Images 2-7 above: Selected installation views from WAYS OF BEING at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, December 4 - December 24, 2024. 

Photography: Tim Gresham