RECENT PRINTMAKING NEWS

Jewel Beetle Woman, 2014, hand coloured linocut, 56.5 x 38 cm
Printed by Simon White at the Australian Print Workshop
Photo credit: Tim Gresham

The recent Melbourne International Film Festival was the catalyst for reflection on my relief prints from the mid-1990s that were directly influenced by film (see previous post), a neat segue into today’s post, which focuses on current printmaking news.

Early this year, the Australian Print Workshop called to tell me I was the recipient of the annual George Collie APW Award along with the late Barbara Hanrahan. Then came COVID-19, followed by stage 3, then stage 4 restrictions and everything was - and still is - placed on hold. In the continuing uncertainty and upheaval, the APW never did get around to officially announcing the news of the award - until now. 

Details of the 2020 George Collie APW Award exhibition are included in the latest edition of the APW’s newsletter, NEWSPRINT. No dates have been provided for the show as yet; I’m just happy and relieved to know it’s going ahead. For further information, visit here:

https://australianprintworkshop.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/i/B034B681333FEDA42540EF23F30FEDED/2750EDE4761F4DCC2018F019E6F15D33

In further news, my solo show at Queenscliff Gallery and Workshop, originally scheduled for late 2020, will now take place in 2021. I’m really excited about this exhibition, which will comprise paintings, relief prints and drawings. Dates for the show at QG&W are June 3 - 21. Full details will be provided nearer the time.

Speaking of the above mentioned galleries, in the past week I received the happy news that my linocut Jewel Beetle Woman (pictured top) made when I was a special guest artist at the APW Summer School in 2014, has been sold by QG&W to a private collector in California.

WONDERMENT: last weeks

My Homo-insecta watercolours have been keeping great company in the Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop summer exhibition, Wonderment. (Other featured artists are Antonio Balletta, Christine Gibson, Lizzie Horne, Hyun Ju Kim, Michael Leunig, Soula Mantalvanos, David Moore, Geoffrey Ricardo, John Ryrie and Lucinda Tanner).  

Above left: Chrysochroa buqueti beetle woman

Chrysochroa buqueti beetle woman (detail 1)

Chrysochroa buqueti beetle woman (detail 2)

There’s not much time left to catch Wonderment before it finishes its long run on 23 February 2020, so do go along and see it if you can.

I’ll be sad when it’s over, but the way the year is starting to accelerate, Animalia paradoxa, my solo show at QG&W in November 2020, which I’m very excited about, will be up and running before I know it. (More about that in future posts).

A big thank you to Soula Mantalvanos of QG&W for the installation views and details of my work.

https://qgw.com.au/wonderment

Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop (QG&W)

P 03 4202 0942 M 0438 866 068 A 81 Hesse Street Queenscliff VIC 3225 

WONDERMENT launch

 Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop

Featured here are selected pictorial highlights of the official opening of WONDERMENT at Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop last Sunday afternoon, December 1.

The exhibition showcases works by Antonio Balletta, Christine Gibson, Lizzie Horne, Hyun Ju Kim, myself, Michael Leunig, Soula Mantalvanos, David Moore, Geoffrey Ricardo, John Ryrie and Lucinda Tanner.

Welcome to WONDERMENT

My Homo insecta watercolours

Pictured with a selection of my watercolours. Photo credit: Shane Jones

Works by Soula Mantalvanos

A wall of works by Soula Mantalvanos

Shane Jones and Soula Mantalvanos with paintings by Michael Leunig

L-R: Shane Jones and John Ryrie discuss John's work. The four works to the right of the window are by Christine Gibson

A selection of works on paper by John Ryrie

The gallery's new racks currently feature additional works by WONDERMENT artists

Works by Hyun Ju Kim

Michael Leunig's works

L-R: works by Antonio Balletta, David Moore and Geoffrey Ricardo

L-R: Soula Mantalvanos and myself. Photo credit: Shane Jones

Theo Mantalvanos with works by David Moore (left) and Christine Gibson (right)

Centre, L-R: Soula Mantalvanos with Susan and Antonio Balletta

Geoffrey Ricardo (background, second from right) and Shane Jones (right)

It was great to finally meet Antonio and Susan Balletta and to catch up with Geoffrey Ricardo and the multi-talented John Ryrie. John's guitar accompaniment to the event was a joy.

John Ryrie on guitar. Backing him (L-R) are works by Christine Gibson and two of his own.

WONDERMENT is the gallery's summer exhibition; it runs to February 24. Warmest thanks to Theo and Soula Mantalvanos for inviting me to be part of it.

Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop
Phone: 03 4202 0942
Mobile: 0438 866 068
Address: 81 Hesse Street Queenscliff VIC 3225

An invitation to WONDERMENT

Please find attached your very own invitation to Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop’s summer exhibition, WONDERMENT. Pictured: Splendid emerald wasp woman' (detail).

Exhibiting artists: Antonio Balletta, Christine Gibson, Lizzie Horne, Hyun Ju Kim, Deborah Klein, Michael Leunig, Soula Mantalvanos, David Moore, Geoffrey Ricardo, John Ryrie and Lucinda Tanner. 

EXHIBITION DATES: Nov 29 — Feb 24

OFFICIAL OPENING: Dec 1 from 3pm 

We do hope you can join us, either at the opening or during the exhibition's run. 

To learn more about WONDERMENT, go HERE.

Streeton Prints and the Weavers' Picnic

In between seemingly endless preparation for From the Bower; patterns of collecting, a forthcoming group show at Warrnambool Gallery (and a couple of other events besides) last weekend Shane and I actually managed some time out. On Friday afternoon we drove to Queenscliff Gallery and Workshop for the opening of the much-anticipated launch of STREETON PRINTS. It is real coup for this wonderful gallery, and a surprise for admirers of the Australian Impressionist painter, Arthur Streeton. Until recently, most of us had no idea that he even made prints. 

Pictured below at the opening event, L-R are gallery directors, Theo and Soula Mantalvanos. Far right is Margie Brown, General Manager of the Print Council of Australia, who gave a fascinating and enlightening opening address. Shane is particularly passionate about Streeton's work and recently posted about the exhibition and our delightful, but all too brief Queenscliff sojourn on his art blog. The link is HERE.

On Sunday afternoon, back in Melbourne, we attended the 2017 Weavers Picnic, which this year was held in Caulfield Park. Many of our old friends, including Tim Gresham, Sonja Hanson, Chris Cochius, Robyn Mountcastle, Sara Lindsay, Oenone Oxelade, Joy Smith and Cresside Collette are skilled tapestry weavers who honed their craft at the legendary Australian Tapestry Workshop in South Melbourne. They kindly include Shane and I in this annual event, having charitably proclaimed us Honorary Tapestry Weavers.
Photo credit: Dean Varndell.

A birthday break in Queenscliff

Deborah Klein, A Man, a Woman and a Duck, 1996, linocut, 30.5 x 46.5 cm. Photo credit: Tim Gresham 

A week ago it was my birthday and my partner, Shane Jones, treated me to a short break at seaside Queenscliff for some much-needed R&R. We both grew up by the sea, Shane in Mordialloc and me in St. Kilda. Although we now live further inland (our time is currently divided between Abbotsford in inner-city Melbourne and Ballarat in regional Victoria), seaside towns have never lost their magic for either of us.

A Man, a Woman and a Duck, the linocut pictured above, is loosely based on the two of us and the place we once lived. It was made back in 1996 when we shared a Victorian house in Blessington Street, St. Kilda, just minutes from St. Kilda Beach (the street runs directly to the seafront).

The print is currently available at Queenscliff Gallery and Workshop, which, like me, recently had a birthday. It has just turned one year old. Heartiest congratulations to the gallery and its founders, Theo and Soula Mantalvanos. Their sea change was the direct opposite to our journey; they moved from inner city Melbourne (in fact, their former home was not all that far from our place in Abbotsford) to this most picturesque of coastal towns. You can find Queenscliff Gallery and Workshop HERE, although an in-person visit is far more highly recommended.

Shane and I stayed at the Vue Grand Hotel, the largest hotel in Queenscliff and one of the finest examples of high Victorian architecture one could ever expect to see (although it does have several close rivals in the town). The hotel was built in 1881-82 and partly rebuilt after a fire in 1927.

My favourite part of the hotel is its secluded courtyard. We celebrated our arrival on Sunday afternoon with a glass of pink bubbly before heading off to the opening of the exhibition, Place, at Queenscliff Gallery and Workshop.

Based on Theo's recommendation, we dined at Athelstane House, conveniently located diagonally across from our hotel. The food was sensational.

While we were dining there was a short-lived shower. We stepped outside to discover golden rain-washed pavements and the Vue Grand bathed in moonlight:

It wasn't all that late, but the opulent hotel lobby was deserted. It was fun to explore it when no one else was around:

The hotel dining room, snapped the following morning after breakfast:

Afterwards, we walked along the cliffs by the lighthouse:

Then we ventured down to the beach, where Shane wrote a message in the sand (Debois is his nickname for me):

Thanks to Shane, it was one of the happiest ever.

CHROMATIC

This month at Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop the focus is on colour. It starts today with the group exhibition, CHROMATIC and print exchange, CHROMA. 

Four of my works are part of CHROMATIC (See below). Looking them over now, it's clear that for my own contributions the dominant colours are two primaries, yellow and red, and two secondary colours, green and orange. I wasn't conscious of this during the selection process. Only in retrospect did I become aware of it.

To see the names of participating artists with greater clarity, click on the invitation.

Exhibition dates: 3 - 28 November

Opening event: Sunday 6 November at 3 pm

Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop

81 Hesse Street

Queenscliff Vic 3225

Phone: 03 5258 4927

Hours: 10 am - 5pm (Closed on Tuesdays).

Deborah Klein, Agathia pisina Moth Mask, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 25 x 20 cm.

Deborah Klein, Dysphania cupria Moth Mask, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 25 x 20 cm.

Deborah Klein, Eustixis laetifera Moth Mask, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 25 x 20 cm.

Deborah Klein, Jewel Beetle Woman, 2014, Hand-coloured linocut, 56.5 x 38 cm.
Printed by Simon White at the Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne. 

Three highlights from last weekend

The opening night of David Ferry’s exhibition, THE INVADER’S GUIDE TO THE BRITISH ISLES at the Post Office Gallery, Ballarat on Saturday evening was one of three highlights of the past weekend. The opening address by guest speaker, Euan Heng, was the second. The exhibition spans twenty-five years of David’s work; it includes altered books and images that take a sassy, satirical poke at British history and geography. The show runs until 20 November and is a must-see.

Pictured L-R: Euan Heng, David Ferry, Anne Rowlands and Simon Storey.

Viewing a selection of David's altered books and printed ephemera.
Behind me is Christine Hickson. Photo credit: James Pasakos.

L-R: Euan Heng, Catherine Heng and Post Office Gallery Director, Shelley Hinton.  Photo credit: James Pasakos.

The opening night at its height. Among the crowd are: Pauline O'Shannesey-Dowling,
Shane Jones, Catherine Heng, Ewan Barker, Debbie Hill, myself and Carole Wilson
Photo credit: James Pasakos.

David Ferry and Euan Heng. Photo credit: James Pasakos.

Third of last weekend’s three highlights was the visit Shane Jones and I made to Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop on Sunday afternoon. Queenscliff must be one of the prettiest towns in Australia, and the gallery, which is in its centre, is absolutely beautiful.

Outside the main entrance of Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop. Photo credit: Shane Jones.

Directly below are two views of the gallery's mezzanine level. Pictured L-R: Shane Jones and Soula Mantalvanos. On the table are my four works destined for the next exhibition, CHROMATIC, including the linocut Jewel Beetle Woman and (barely visible through its bubble wrapping) the painting Dysphania cuprina Moth Mask. 

We were fortunate to catch the splendid group show, CREATURES, before it closed at the end of October.

Selected artworks from the group exhibition CREATURES

 Pictured above: Theo Mantalvanos and Shane Jones. Artworks L-R: intaglios by Philip Davey, 
followed by two of my linocuts from the Winged Women series and two watercolours
(with charcoal and pencil) by Leonie Connellan.

Best of all was catching up with Theo and Soula at long last. Thank you both for the great conversation and seriously good coffee.