Reunion of the Bower artists

 

This photo, an installation view of my miniature watercolours at the Johnston Collection museum in 2018, mysteriously appeared in my inbox yesterday morning. The photo was emailed back in January 2023. Heaven knows where it has been all this time. 

The watercolours were made for the four-person exhibition Patterns of Collecting - from the Bower at the Johnston Collection, which also featured the works and collections of Loris Button, Louise Saxton and Carole Wilson. The exhibition had previously been shown, in slightly different iterations, at Warrnambool Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Ballarat. 

The watercolour miniatures were included in Unsolved Histories, my recent solo exhibition at the Old Butchers Shop Gallery in Ballarat and most of them have found new homes. 

Meanwhile, on Thursday night at the Print Council of Australia Gallery in Melbourne, the Bower artists were reunited. We were there to celebrate the opening of Stuck: performing collage, an exhibition focusing on collage in printmaking, featuring works by Loris Button, Dianne Longley, Jackie Gorring, Diana Orinda Burns and Anne Langdon. And what a superb exhibition it is. 

Pictured below, L-R: Bower artists Carole Wilson, Louise Saxton, Loris Button and myself in front of a series of works by Loris Button based on the turban in one of m favourite paintings, Portrait of a Man (1433) by Jan van Eyck. (Photo credit: James Pasakos).

Stuck opened on June 18 and can be viewed at PCA Gallery, Studio 2 Guild, 152 Sturt St, Southbank, Melbourne, until July 5. Gallery hours: Tue -Fri, 10am-4pm.

One last look at 2018

Surveying the year that was. Photo credit: Tim Gresham.

January is more than halfway over and the year is already gathering speed. Even before the old year ended, Easter buns had made their first appearances in the stores, which is beyond crazy. But before joining the headlong rush into 2019 (hopefully at a more measured pace) I thought it important to note some high points from the year that was. My original list was quite long, but as I have already left it rather late, I've considerably whittled it down.

L - R: Bower Artists Louise Saxton, myself, Carole Wilson and Loris Button with our communal collections wall
at the Johnston Collection, 2018. Photo credit: Louis Le Vaillant.

The new iteration of the 2017 touring show, FROM THE BOWER: patterns of collecting, refigured as PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection, was a joy from beginning to end. In all its various forms, the show was a huge part of my life for well over two years. It was a tremendous learning experience on more levels than I can count and a testament to what can be achieved by true creative collaboration. I’ll miss working with Bower Artists Loris Button, Carole Wilson and Louise Saxton, and the unwavering support, enthusiasm and flexibility of Louis Le Vaillant, Director/Curator of The Johnston Collection and his brilliant team. As far as exhibiting experiences go, TJC has certainly set the bar high. 

The planning stages of our show. Pictured L-R: Loris Button, Carole Wilson, Louis Le Vaillant and Louise Saxton.

Among the many visitors to PATTERNS OF COLLECTING were literary luminaries and dear friends
Leigh Hobbs and Dmetri Kakmi, seen here clowning in the 'Menagerie' Room. This was Leigh's second visit to the show.

For those who would like to revisit our collective bower, the museum has commissioned a short film. If you weren't able to make it along during the show's long run, it will give you some idea of what you missed. To view the film, click HERE.

Installation view of my homo-insecta watercolours in My Monster: The Human Animal Hybrid at RMIT Gallery, Melbourne.

For lovers of gothic literature and fans of the horror and science fiction genres, 2018 was noteworthy as the bicentenary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s landmark novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, an anniversary that was widely celebrated throughout the year. The book and its legacy infiltrated a substantial part of the program for Melbourne Rare Book Week. It was also the inspiration for curator Evelyn’s Tsitas’s superlative exhibition My Monster: The Human Animal Hybrid at RMIT Gallery, Melbourne. I’m indebted to Evelyn Tsitas (Senior Advisor, Communications and Outreach) and Helen Rayment (Acting Director and Senior Exhibitions Officer) for inviting me to participate in the latter (see above).

Working on the artist book Progeny during my residency at the Melbourne Athenaeum Library.

Melbourne Athenaeum Library has been a pillar of support over the last couple of years. In June/July, a residency in connection with Melbourne Rare Book Week afforded me the opportunity to work in one of my favourite places. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was the catalyst for the two projects I undertook during the residency: a series of linocuts for Frankenstein's Women, a forthcoming artist book, and Progeny, a one-of-a-kind artist book. 

In particularly exciting news, my artist book LEAVES OF ABSENCE was acquired by the Melbourne Athenaeum Library (the site of its launch in late 2017), the State Library of Victoria and, towards the year’s end, the National Gallery of Australia.

Installation view of LEAVES OF ABSENCE (with ceramic snail courtesy of TJC) in
PATTERNS OF COLLECTING, From the Bower at The Johnston Collection.

My warmest thanks to Sue Westwood, Business Manager, Melbourne Athenaeum Library, Des Cowley, History of the Book Manager, State Library of Victoria and Roger Butler, Senior Curator, Australian Prints, Drawings and Illustrated Books, National Gallery of Australia for instigating the acquisitions.

For more about LEAVES OF ABSENCE, the Athenaeum Residency and other book-related news, visit Moth Woman Press HERE.

With Shane Jones and our entries for the Exquisite Palette show, Tacit Galleries Melbourne. Photo credit: Louise Blyton.

Other personal highlights included St Luke’s fabulous The Exquisite Palette show, which I wouldn’t have missed for the world. Shane Jones and I are pictured above with our embellished palettes. Shane’s painted palette is a trompe l’oeil “sketchbook drawing" of our cat Alice. He has created an uncannily convincing illusion - even the “masking tape” is painted on. 

Shane and I were also participating artists in DRAWING STRENGTH, artist/curator Jo Lane's fine tribute to the art of drawing at Montsalvat Arts Centre, which concluded on 6 January. Jo has just published some installation views of the show on her website HERE.

Speaking of pillars of support (as I was several paragraphs back) I don’t know what I’d do without Shane, and neither of us know how we ever lived without little Alice. Funny, lively, mischievous, smart, sassy, daffy, daggy and incredibly bossy, she is not only a constant delight, but is also a reminder not to take ourselves too seriously.

2018 may be fast fading into the distance, but you still have time to see my linocut Prelude in the Australian Print Workshop’s biennial fundraising show IMPRESSIONS 2018 before it finishes on 16 February. 

Also carrying over from last year, my painting Vorticist 2 (above, top row, centre) is part of the spectacular new hang in the entrance to the Art Gallery of Ballarat. (See previous post). Photo credit: Shane Jones.

In 2019 I have several projects lined up. I’ll post about each one nearer the time. My primary intention, however, is to continue the year as I’ve already begun it, namely, to further develop the series of paintings I started last year - hopefully with fewer interruptions. Aside from essential side-trips to Melbourne, this will necessitate declining all extraneous invitations, staying put in Ballarat and spending as many hours in the studio as are humanly possible. 

At present Caspar David Friedrich, a handsomely illustrated book by Norbert Wolf, lies open next to my work table.The German Romantic painter's work is a key influence on the current series. I've just glanced down at the chapter heading, which reads: 'A journey to where?' I've no idea what lies ahead on the next leg of my own journey, but I'm very much looking forward finding out. 

HOME SWEET HOME

After being such a huge part of our lives, it’s still hard to believe that PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at The Johnston Collection is over. (See also previous post).

My collection of hair ornaments that featured in all three iterations of the four-person touring show (originally titled FROM THE BOWER: patterns of collecting), is now reinstalled in our Ballarat living room, where it disguises an unsightly air conditioning unit that wouldn’t be out of place in the Bates Motel.

Second from the right is Blues in the Night (2006), one of my paintings that drew inspiration from the collection.

The paintings centre left and far right are by Shane Jones. 

A virtual tour of PATTERNS OF COLLECTING at the Johnston Collection

All good things must end and sadly, that time is nigh for PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at The Johnston Collection. 

The show comprises artworks and items from the 'bowers' of artists Louise Saxton, Loris Button, Carole Wilson and myself, juxtaposed with selected artworks and objects from the museum’s permanent collection. 

On a beautiful Spring morning last Thursday, 13 September, Louise Saxton, Johnston Collection tour guide Suzanne (pictured above, first and second from left) and I led a lovely group through the final walking tour.

A distinctly different version of the show, originally titled FROM THE BOWER: Patterns of Collecting, debuted at Warrnambool Art Gallery in 2017 and travelled to the Art Gallery of Ballarat later that same year. Both were very well received - and there it was supposed to end.  

The Bower Artists are indebted to Louis Le Vaillant, Director and Curator of The Johnston Collection, who twice visited the show at Ballarat and subsequently invited us to exhibit there as part of the museum's innovative House of Ideas program. 

There’s still time to visit PATTERNS OF COLLECTING before it ends its long run tomorrow, Tuesday, 18 September. Bookings can be made HERE.

Otherwise, you can take a virtual tour right here. The following installation views are by Tim Gresham.