EVENTIDE - an After Noon event at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery

Here are a few snapshots, all of them taken by my partner Shane Jones, of yesterday’s After Noon event at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. They feature Rona Green, Euan Heng and I conversing about the current relief printmaking exhibition/print exchange, Eventide.

So many people attended and we extend our warm thanks to all of you. Your engagement and enthusiasm helped make the afternoon an utter pleasure. It was great to talk with several of you individually after the event.

Thanks also to Jane German, Public Programs and Marketing Coordinator, and all the MPRG staff who made us so welcome and ensured that everything ran so seamlessly.

Finally, a huge thank you to Eventide curator and exhibiting artist Rona Green for conceiving and curating the wonderful show that is Eventide and for inviting me to be part of it.

Eventide concludes on 3 July.

Left-right: Deborah Klein, Rona Green and Jane German prior to the start of the talk.
Our grins herald the arrival of Euan Heng.

Jane German introduces us to the audience. L-R: Euan Heng, Deborah Klein, Rona Green and Jane

L-R: Euan Heng, Deborah Klein and Jane German

Rona Green explains the concept of an artist print exchange and discusses the exhibition's theme 

Rona's overview of Eventide continues...

...and concludes with an informative explanation and demonstration of what constitutes a relief print

Euan, Rona and I in conversation with our marvellous audience 

Floor talk at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery

Pictured above is The Story of the Moth Masks, a mini-zine made in celebration of the group exhibition Eventide at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. The cover girl is Cossodes lyonetii Moth Woman, the linocut I created for the show. Copies of the zine are also available at the gallery.

Eventide was curated by Rona Green. This coming Sunday, 26 June, between 2 - 3 pm, Rona, Euan Heng and I are presenting an informal floor talk at MPRG about our contributions to Eventide, ‘the magical moment when day meets night'. We’d love to see you there.

For those who can’t make the talk, but plan to visit the show, Eventide concludes on 3 July.

More Eventidings

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm unable to attend today's opening of Eventide at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, so I'm very grateful for the partial installation view below, which MPRG curator Gary Lacy has forwarded via Eventide curator Rona Green.

Thanks also to Rona for the photograph of the work I made for Eventide: Cossodes lyonetii Moth Woman (2016, linocut, 32 x 30 cm, printed by Bill Young and hand coloured by me). Photo credit: Tim Gresham.

Finally, a view of the working table at Moth Woman Press, showing early stages of The Enchanted Hair Ornaments, the second of two mini-zines I made to coincide with the exhibition. Both mini-zines and my book, There was once... The collected fairy tales, are now on display in the shop at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, where they will remain for the remainder of the show. To see the finished mini-zine, visit Moth Woman Press HERE.

Eventide will be officially launched at 4.00 this afternoon and the exhibition runs until 3 July. For further information, scroll down to previous post.

An Invitation to Eventide

The group exhibition/print exchange Eventide opens today at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. Curated by Rona Green, it celebrates the diverse art of the relief print.

In a modest celebration of my own, I've made two mini-zines that relate to the exhibition's theme and the linocut I made for the show. The first of these is The Story of the Moth Masks. The zine and its sister zine, The Enchanted Hair Ornaments, will be available in the gallery shop during the exhibition's run. The shop is also stocking my fairy tale book, There was once... the complete fairy tales. For more about The Story of the Moth Masks mini-zine, visit Moth Woman Press HERE.

Sadly, I won't be able to make the opening event tomorrow, but on 26 June I'll be giving a talk at MPRG along with fellow Eventide artist Euan Heng and curator/exhibiting artist Rona Green. (More about this in a future post).

Exhibition dates are 13 May-3 July. For complete details, see the invitation above. (Image on the invitation is by Rhyl Plant).

The Saga of Cossodes lyonetii Moth Woman

The long process of hand colouring Cossodes lyonetii Moth Woman

The hand colouring of linocut Cossodes lyonetii Moth Woman is at last completed. It was made for the print portfolio and group exhibition Eventide, curated by Rona Green. The show, which will celebrate the art of the relief print, opens at Mornington Peninsula Regional Art Gallery in May 2016.

After several failed attempts to print this work, primarily due to problems with our presses, I turned to renowned Master Printer Bill Young. He did an extraordinary job, in searing heat and in double-quick time. Bill lives in King Valley, a good four-hour drive from Melbourne. As good fortune would have it, however, my SOS call coincided with his visit to Melbourne for a family lunch. Even so, he and his wife, Anita Laurence, who, coincidentally, is also an Eventide artist, still traveled miles out of their way to collect my ill-fated printing paraphernalia: paper, ink and a selection of duds he'd asked for so he could try to figure out what went wrong. (I was so stressed that I left the lino block behind in the Ballarat studio and had to mail it to him by express post).

Completed edition of Cossodes lyonetii Moth Woman, 2016, linocut, 32 x 30 cm, printed in Prussian Blue
with hand colouring. Printer: Bill Young

Bill subsequently delivered the edition to us in Melbourne. This morning he and Anita called in for morning tea and collected Bill’s hand coloured P/P (Printer’s Proof).

From left: Anita Laurence, Bill Young and Shane Jones at our Abbotsford place earlier today. The muffins and chocolate
Brownies that Anita and Bill brought along to our morning tea were delicious.

The edition packed up in readiness for delivery to Rona

Over the last couple of weeks Bill has been boundlessly generous with his time and knowledge. He has even offered to check out our presses at Ballarat. Needless to add, I simply can’t thank him enough.