APW ARTIST PARTY

On Friday evening, 9 December, the Australian Print Workshop held an artist party to thank the artists who contributed to its biennial fundraiser, IMPRESSIONS 2016.

Like many of the people I spoke to that night, Shane and I look forward to the event as a rare opportunity to catch up with old friends from whom we are increasingly separated by time (or rather, lack thereof) and distance.

Pictured above, L-R are: Richard Harding, Shane Jones, Lesley Duxbury and Catherine Pilgrim. Richard and Lesley are former colleagues from my teaching days in the Printmaking Department at RMIT University - and very happy days they were too.

I first met Catherine in the 1990s when we both used the presses in the APW's access workshop. In 2002, Catherine, Shane and I joined forces for the touring exhibition, Common Thread, which also left many happy memories in its wake.

Pictured below L-R: a slight regrouping, comprising myself, Richard, Lesley, Raymond Carter and Catherine. (Photo credit: Shane Jones).

No APW artist's party would be complete without the APW band, the incomparable Press Gang. When they were handing out the talent, these guys obviously stood in line twice - they are also remarkable printmakers and in the cases of Martin, Adrian and Simon, master printers.

Pictured below, L-R: Press Gang vocalist Jazmina Cininas, who, incidentally, can now add lyric-writing to her CV. (She also wrote the catalogue essay for Common Thread.) Behind her is Janice McBride and beside Jazmina, front and centre, is Martin King. Behind Martin is Adrian Kellett (just visible in the background on drums). To the right of Martin is Graeme Drendel and behind him, far right, is Simon White.

When the crowd finally thinned out, I had a chance to take an installation view of just some of the work:

Following is a detail of the installation. I was delighted to see that the edition of my linocut, The odd-numbered plait, has already sold out.

Below is a closeup of the print, as photographed by Tim Gresham:

I look forward to returning to the APW and spending quality time with the works, something that was impossible to do at last Friday's lively gathering. The general consensus is that this is one of the strongest IMPRESSIONS to date. I'm inclined to agree.

IMPRESSIONS 2014 Artist Party

Last night I attended the Artists Party at the Australian Print Workshop, thrown by the APW as a thank you to the artists who participated in the IMPRESSIONS 2014 fundraising exhibition.

Is it really two years since the last IMPRESSIONS Artists Party? As in past times, the stupendous APW band The Press Gang provided the evening’s highlight. All of them are fine printmakers and equally accomplished musicians. When they were handing out the talent, these guys obviously stood in line twice.

The Press Gang. From left: Zoe, Janice McBride, Jazmina Cininas, Simon White, Julie, Graeme Drendel,
Martin King, Graham Fransella and Ray Carter. (Not visible in this shot is drummer Adrian Kellett)

Zoe, Janice, Jazmina, Julie and Graeme seamlessly combine Style with Substance

There was also much merriment during the announcement of the coveted Door Prizes. 

APW Manager Jackie Hocking and APW Director Anne Virgo
 (both also IMPRESSIONS 2014 artists) announce the Door Prize winners

Two lucky recipients are pictured below, centre. APW Band drummer Adrian Kellett (that stylish headgear is his prize) and next to him, a blurry Judy Holding hears her name announced and eagerly moves to claim her prize. Far left is Press Gang keyboard player, Raymond Carter.

As always, it was a delight to catch up with Jade Kellett and Ray. Behind them, centre, is Brian Pieper.

Later I had a lively chat with Lesley Duxbury, a terrific artist and an old friend who was once my boss in the RMIT Printmaking Department, and John Wolseley, a longtime favourite artist. It was a lovely way to end the evening. I couldn’t decide which shot of them I liked better, so decided to include both.