ENCOUNTERS - Exhibition Launch

Selected views from last night’s launch of ENCOUNTERS, an exhibition of works from the Arts and Heritage Collection of City of Maribyrnong. The exhibition, which is spread over two floors, was curated by Lili Belle Birchall and includes my semi-autobiographical linocut The Nature of Things (1994), an affectionate homage to my home town, St. Kilda. (Photos 1 and 5). 

ENCOUNTERS is accompanied by a free illustrated catalogue with an essay by Lilli Belle Birchall. For those who can’t make it to the exhibition, the catalogue is also available online:

https://www.maribyrnong.vic.gov.au/files/assets/arts/v/1/general/catalogue-encounters-web-version.pdf

Photo credit Image 1: Shane Jones

ENCOUNTERS

Maribyrnong Civic Precinct and Community Hub

61 Napier Street, Footscray 

For further information about ENCOUNTERS and The Nature of Things, scroll down to Blog Post Thursday, June 18, 2026.

The exhibition runs to 29 January 2027

Private Eye - a work in progress

A sequence of developmental views of Private Eye, acrylic on canvas, a work still in progress. 

From the ongoing series, Flowers of the Femmes Fatales.

ENCOUNTERS

My linocut The Nature of Things, 1994 (Collection: City of Maribyrnong), has been included in the upcoming group exhibition ENCOUNTERS at Footscray Town Hall. 

References to fun fairs and sideshows have periodically appeared in my work since I was old enough to pick up a pencil. This is hardly surprising, as I grew up in Blessington Street, St Kilda, a short distance away from Luna Park. The historic Scenic Railway, one of its most enduringly popular rides, provides part of the backdrop to The Nature of Things.

Curated by Lili Belle Birchall, ENCOUNTERS comprises diverse works drawn from the Arts and Heritage Collection of City of Maribyrnong. 

For further information about ENCOUNTERS, go HERE. 

To peruse the exhibition catalogue, click HERE. 

ENCOUNTERS: Key information 

Location: Fitzroy Town Hall, Civic Precinct and Community Hub, 61 Napier Street, Footscray.

Viewing times: Monday to Friday, 8.30am-5pm, from 24 June 2026 - 29 January 2027.

Curator's guided tour: 11am on the first Wednesday of each month (commencing July 2026). Bookings essential via the link below.

Group bookings: Groups larger than 5 people are encouraged to book a tour via arts@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au or by calling 03 9688 0200.

MOONLIGHT SWIM

Pictured top: Moonlight Swim, acrylic on canvas. (Progress view). From the current suite of works provisionally titled Flowers of the Femmes Fatales. 

In this instance, the flower associated with my protagonist, namely a water lily, appears as a stylised motif on her bathing cap. Its design was adapted from a vintage knitting pattern that was sourced online. (See below). 

On my morning walks by the Yarra River in Melbourne I pass a similar ‘No Swimming’ sign to the one portrayed in the painting. 

Directly below are a series of developmental views of Moonlight Swim.

The work is a descendent of two early works (pictured below), both of which share similar iconography: The Third Time, 1995, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm (collection: the artist) and Not Drowning, 1996, oil pastel, 160 x 120 cm. (Collection Grafton Regional Gallery, NSW. Acquired through the Jacaranda Drawing Award 1996).

Ballarat Heritage Festival 2026

Above and below: selected highlights from the penultimate day of Ballarat Heritage Festival 2026 on Saturday, 23 May, all of it enjoyed to the fullest with my partner in just about everything, Shane Jones. 

It’s our favourite time of year in this part of the world. For us, as for many people (judging by the hoards lining the platforms of Ballarat Railway Station), the festival wouldn’t be complete without a steam train ride. 

For Shane and I, however, the day’s high point was Charmaine Channell’s imaginatively conceived and exquisitely realised exhibition, The Grand Old Dames of Ballarat at The Old Butchers Shop Gallery, in which Ballarat’s historic buildings were gloriously personified. 

Gloria - Art Gallery of Ballarat, gouache on paper (directly above), incorporates numerous works from the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat, including my painting, Vorticist 2, 2004. (See detail below, followed by the actual work). 

The final day of Ballarat Heritage Festival fell on Sunday 24 May. 

Highlights (in no particular order) included the legendary Ballarat People Who Promenade, of which Shane Jones and I are proud members. 

Pictured below: Promenaders founders, Megan Finlayson (AKA Queen Victoria) and Bryan Putt, followed by random views snapped during our eventful stroll through the city.

Following two views: 📷 Megan Finlayson.

Among the exhibitions we visited on day 3 were: THINKING OF PLACE IV: FLEET at Post Office Gallery (pictured below) 

- and The Coburn Collection at Ballarat Town Hall. (Last three photos). 

Ballarat Heritage Festival 2026 ran from 21-24 May.

Scenes from a bookish weekend

1. Shane Jones and I with our dear friend, Annie Drum, at the signing of her stunning debut novel, Don’t Forget to Remember Me on Saturday morning at Collins Booksellers in Lydiard Street, Ballarat. 

2. Snapped on Sunday afternoon: Louise Jennison and Gracia Haby at their wonderful stall at Melbourne Art Book Fair in the Great Hall of NGV International, Melbourne.

3. A bird’s eye view of Melbourne Art Book Fair 2026 from the balcony of the Great Hall.

4. A delectable Lamington - or what’s left of it - at Ballarat Railway Station cafe (devoured prior to Saturday’s  book signing and included in this post especially for my London-based, Lamington-deprived Aussie friend, Bev Murray). 

Congratulations, Annie, Gracia and Louise. We feel blessed to have such lovely and talented friends and are thrilled with our book and zines haul.