Storage units update

For artists who have been around for as long as Shane Jones and I, storage can become an increasingly vexing issue. Last year, in an effort to ease the load and hopefully introduce some order out of chaos, we acquired two small storage pods. As documented on February 21, 2022, delivery and placement of the pods presented a series of nerve-wracking challenges, each one systematically dealt with by the expert, cool headed driver and quick-thinking Shane. 

It’s occurred to me that I’ve never posted an update on the pods - although to be honest, for far too long, there wasn’t a lot to show. 2022 was a particularly hectic year (including two exhibitions and a residency for each of us), so it was several months before we could find the necessary time to set them up. The adjustable shelves, which are perfect for accommodating our changing needs, were purchased from our local Officeworks. I’ve owned the drop-leaf table for several years. It’s proving particularly invaluable for sorting the contents of the plan cabinet opposite and when not in use, the sides can be dropped down to save on space. 

The storage units still need fine-tuning, but we are thrilled with them. For the first time since our move, we have been able to liberate the last of our artworks (and other stuff besides) from paid storage and accessing my work can now be achieved with relative ease, rather than being a major stressor. 

The next step - and it will be a doozy - is organising our garage into a printmaking studio, another long term project, juggled, as always, with other commitments.

At this stage, it all feels a tad overwhelming, but we’ll get there. Meanwhile, in the first month of a fresh new year, it feels good to pause, take a breath and reflect on just how far we’ve come.

Christmas in Ballarat

Christmas Greetings from Ballarat. 🎄

Pictured above are eleven recently completed miniature silhouette paintings. Ostensibly made for last Sunday’s BMI Christmas Maker Market, they also provided an invaluable opportunity to road test some new ideas ahead of the coming year.

Directly below: Under the eye of Alice, Shane decorates our new Christmas tree - - -

- - - followed by some detailed views.

No sooner had we trimmed the tree, when we discovered our first surprise waiting underneath it.

Meanwhile, our original tree, diminutive but best-loved, graces the downstairs entrance hall - - -

- - - watched over from the adjacent living room by Alice (who somehow managed to be in two places at once). The splendid cat cushion on her favourite chair was a recent birthday gift (to me, not Alice) from our dear friend, Paul Compton.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

A Salon Hang by Team Alice

 

A recent project for Shane Jones and I was hanging Spiral Tower, the Leigh Hobbs painting I purchased last May from his two-person show with Jim Pavlidis at Queenscliff Gallery. The greatest challenge was finding a spot for it. Through the years, we have accumulated a sizeable collection of artworks and a salon hang isn’t just an aesthetic choice, it’s a necessity. 

Fortunately Alice was on hand to lend assistance and advice. In the hallway to our side entrance, a work on paper by Lisa Barmby was moved to the right in order to make room for Leigh’s painting. From the time we moved here, Alice has overseen the placement of each and every work that graces our walls.

Throughout our house the walls are laden with works by artists who have touched our lives. Many of them are old friends. In these times of long separations, it brings them that much closer. 

A cinema in waiting

The cinema on the first floor of our house is as close to resolved as it will ever be, except for one crucial element. It lacks a projector.* Pictured above is the stage as viewed from the rear of the cinema. We grew tired of staring at an empty screen, so retrieved Shane's painting, Untitled #67, from storage and placed it on the stage. I never tire of looking at it.

Our friend Ross, whose generosity and technical knowledge know no bounds, is gifting us his old projector. It took nothing less than a pandemic for us to place this final stage of our cinema’s development on hold.

I took these photographs several weeks ago to send to Ross, who is based in Melbourne and never had the opportunity to visit before lockdown was introduced.

Even as things cautiously began to open up again here in Victoria, there has been a dramatic spike in new cases, so it will be awhile yet before we can welcome him here. In the meantime, I realised that copies of the photos I sent to Ross were still in a folder on my desktop, and thought I'd share them here.

The Art Deco lounge suite shown above and in other views is our pride and joy. We bought it on Gumtree last year during the long lead-up to our move. It was originally intended for the downstairs living area, but proved to be too chunky for the long, narrow room. I'll be forever grateful to the furniture delivery men who managed to get it up our fairly narrow staircase with boundless skill, patience and good humour. I can't imagine a more ideal setting for it. Alice, our Groucho Marx-lookalike cat, photobombed this shot just as I pressed the shutter.

The view from the stage is pictured above. We had a ball collecting furniture and other items especially for this room. The small Art Deco table, foreground centre, was purchased from a local Ballarat shop, Antique Effects. Sadly, the shop is in the process of closing its doors, but will continue operating online. 

The mirrored fire screen directly below was also purchased locally, at Rocket and Belle, a source of several of our treasures.

To the left of the fireplace is a trompe l’oeil painting by Shane Jones. Above the mantelpiece
are a selection of my Film Noir-inspired linocuts from the 1990s.

The entrance to my studio is to the left of the stage (see below). The framed ‘DVD covers’ on the right of the doorway are paintings by Shane, based on (from top) Picnic at Hanging Rock, Orson Welles’s F for Fake, and Phar Lap. 

To the right of the stage, directly below, are three trompe l’oeil paintings by Shane. I’ve renamed the middle work Stage Door. Also in this view are four treasured photos of the Marx Brothers, purchased many years ago in London. 

In recent weeks, we've introduced rituals of meeting here for afternoon tea and a quiet drink at the end of the day. It’s a world unto itself, a comforting a refuge in these tumultuous times.

*An update on our cinema room will feature in my next post. 

Under contract

In the middle of a busy weekend, this happened. (Photo credits: Terrence Morse and Shane Jones, who also appear in this sequence).

Alice in the collection of the State Library of Victoria

As the second weekend of house inspections approaches, Alice’s star continues to rise. The State Library of Victoria has added the real estate flyer to their permanent collection. SLV curator Madeleine Say found it refreshingly different to any other flyer she’d seen. She was drawn to the story of ‘Alice’s Wonderland in the heart of Golden Point’ and of course its heroine, Alice, even though, as the leaflet states, she is 'not included in the sale’. 

Huge thanks to our agent Terrence Morse for his creative vision and sense of fun, to photographer Angela Hayward and the team at Biggin Scott Ballarat. We couldn’t be more thrilled that an image of Alice is now held in such a venerable institution. Not bad for a two-year old.

To learn about the State Library of Victoria's extensive Ephemera collection, go HERE.