Pages


Friday, April 18, 2025

Easter Greetings


Pictured top: Underdrawing for Daisy Chain, a linocut in progress; pigmented drawing ink with touches of acrylic, 21.5 x 21.5 cm. 

The Michaelmas daisies represented in the work are associated with Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere (September-November) and were named for the time of year in which they flower. 

Here in the Southern Hemisphere, however, Autumn coincides with Easter and in Australia they are affectionately known as Easter daisies.

Directly following: Selected photos from a delightful Good Friday afternoon walk with Shane Jones (second from top below) in the wetlands by Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree.












For Shane and I, no Easter would be complete without the film Easter Parade. Every Irving Berlin song is a gem, the choreography is dazzling, and both are impeccably performed by its extraordinary leads: Fred Astaire, Judy Garland and Ann Miller. But my all time favourite is Drum Crazy, a number written especially for Fred Astaire, who was a fine drummer in his own right.The following still was snapped in our home cinema screen during today’s screening.


Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter.

Sunday, April 13, 2025

One Hundred Faces 2025

Incredibly, 2025 marks the sixth anniversary of ONE HUNDRED FACES at Playing in the Attic, an exhibition I’ve always enjoyed being part of. 

Using canvas boards sized 4 x 4 inches (10.16 x 10.16 cm), 35 invited artists have created 100 works, all in celebration of the face, human and otherwise. 

Cultivated Poppy, 2025, acrylic on canvas board, is one of two paintings I’ve made especially for the exhibition. Scroll down to see the work in earlier stages of its development.




ONE HUNDRED FACES officially opens at 2 pm on Saturday 26 April (Anzac Day long weekend) and continues to 25 May. 

Playing in the Attic 

13 Ballaarat Street

Talbot VIC 3371

Opening hours:  Friday - Monday, 10 - 4pm


The exhibition can also be viewed 24/7 in Playing in the Attic’s front window. 


Friday, April 11, 2025

London Retrospective 6: Tirzah Garwood at Dulwich Picture Gallery

London Diary: Friday 14 March

1

Until now, Tirzah Garwood (1908 - 1951) has been known primarily (if at all) as the wife of renowned British landscape artist, Eric Ravilious. The retrospective TIRZAH GARWOOD - BEYOND RAVILIOUS at Dulwich Picture Gallery brings her astonishingly diverse body of work, including wood engravings, collaged paper constructions, experimental marbled papers, textile works, drawings and oil paintings into the spotlight at long last. On the day Bev Murray and I visited, the exhibition was swarming with visitors.

Garwood was a born storyteller, epitomised by her detailed, witty and astute wood engravings. Perhaps because of my own printmaking background, they were my favourite works in the exhibition. Click on individual images for a clearer view.


TIRZAH GARWOOD - BEYOND RAVILOUS continues to 26 May.


2

3

4


5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

1 Dulwich Picture Gallery

The Crocodile, wood engraving, Tirzah Garwood, 1929

The Wife, wood engraving, Tirzah Garwood, 1929

The Grandmotherwood engraving, Tirzah Garwood, 1929

The Dog Show, wood engraving, Tirzah Garwood, 1929

Vegetable Garden, wood engraving, Tirzah Garwood, 1929

7 Book plate, c 1927, Hall of Mirrors, c 1928, 7 Libra, 1928, Yawning, 1929, wood engravings, Tirzah Garwood

Yawning, embroidery, Tirzah Garwood, c 1930s

Seventeen Cats, drawing, Tirzah Garwood, c 1940s,

10 Brick House Kitchen, wood engraving, Tirzah Garwood, c 1932

11-12 Summer and Autumn (from The Four Seasons), wood engravings, Tirzah Garwood, 1927

13 Marbled papers, Tirzah Garwood, c 1934

14 Horses and Trains, oil on canvas, Tirzah Garwood, 1944

15 Springtime of Flight, oil on canvas, Tirzah Garwood, 1950

16 Erskine Returning at Dawn, oil on canvas, Tirzah Garwood, 1950

17 Weewak’s Kitchen, oil on canvas, Tirzah Garwood, 1950

18 Scrapbook, c 1947-49

19 Nathaniel and Patsy, oil on canvas, Tirzah Garwood, 1950

20 Spanish Lady, oil on canvas, Tirzah Garwood, 1950

Thursday, April 10, 2025

London Retrospective 5: Dora Carrington at Pallant House Gallery

London diary: Wednesday 12 March

1

A day trip with Bev Murray to Pallant House Gallery in Chichester for DORA CARRINGTON: BEYOND BLOOMSBURY. The first major exhibition of Dora Carrington’s work in almost 30 years, it was one of the high points of my trip. 

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

1 With Bev Murray (pictured left) outside Pallant House Gallery

Self-Portrait, 1913, Dora Carrington

Mrs Box, 1919, Dora Carrington

Self-Portrait, 1920, Mark Gertler

Noel Carrington, c 1920, Dora Carrington

Samuel Carrington, 1915, Dora Carrington 

Annie Stiles, 1921, Dora Carrington

Portrait of Annie, c 1925, Dora Carrington

9 Eggs on a Table, Tidmarsh Mill, Dora Carrington

10 Spanish Boy, 1924, Dora Carrington

11 Gerald Brenan, 1921, Dora Carrington

12 Farm at Watendlath, 1921, Dora Carrington

13 Larrau in the Snow, 1922, Dora Carrington

14 Vermonton, 1923, Dora Carrington

15 David Garnet, 1919, Dora Carrington

16 Lytton Strachey, 1916, Dora Carrington

17 E. M. Forster, 1920, Dora Carrington

18 Catherine Carrington, 1924, Dora Carrington

19 Catherine Carrington sitting for her portrait, 1924

20 Hand-painted HMV Gramophone Cabinet, 1927, Dora Carrington