Remembering Virginia Woolf on her birthday

A slightly belated homage to Virginia Woolf on the anniversary of her birth, 25 January 1882: one of my early woodcuts, dated 1992, now hanging in our upstairs library. Scroll down for a closer view.

The work hangs below a woodcut portrait of Dorothy Parker (1991), another literary hero. Other works, left, from top, include a small, very early linocut, dated 1986, a homage to another favourite author, Jean Rhys, whose novel Wide Sargasso Sea I was reading at the time. The painting directly below it is by Shane Jones, followed by a drawing by Paul Compton. On the top right hand side is a tapestry by Joy Smith. 

On my UK trip in September/October 2023, I didn’t make it to Monk’s House, the former home of Virginia and Leonard Woolf, although I have been there on previous occasions. I did, however, manage a day trip to Charleston, formerly the home of Virginia Woolf’s sister, Vanessa Bell, and her partner, Duncan Grant. The plaster bust of Virginia Woolf (1931) by British sculptor Stephen Tomlin displayed in their studio (pictured below) was snapped during my visit.

What is the meaning of life? That was all - a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years, the great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead, there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark; here was one.

― Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, 1927

Geelong Grammar School Residency - The Art School Apartment

For the last two weeks, the Art School Apartment at Geelong Grammar School was my home away from home. Yesterday evening I returned to Ballarat, but I’ll always look back on the residency as one of the happiest, most productive times I’ve ever spent, despite its relative brevity. My only criticism is that the time flew by way too fast!

The following views focus on the residency apartment, which eventually became an extension of my work space. Photo credits for the first two views: Shane Jones. 

In August 2022, Shane (pictured in the third view below) will be the school’s next artist-in-residence. What a treat he has in store for him.

The apartment had special significance for me, as it was the residence of distinguished Bauhaus artist Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack (1893-1965) between 1942-1957, the period he served as Art Master to the school. As an undergraduate printmaking student in the early1980s, reproductions of his woodcuts were among those I studied when I taught myself to make linocuts. It was a thrill to see several of the originals on the walls of the apartment. 

As the weather became increasingly cold, Dr Peter Bajer, Head of Visual Arts, encouraged me to work on my linocuts in the coziness of the art school flat. In the second week of the residency, when winter had really set in, I got into the habit of taking the blocks to the apartment at the end of the school day, developing my designs during the evenings and early mornings before returning to the studio.

In recent years, I’ve been investigating the work of Arts and Crafts Movement artist, designer and educator, May Morris (1862-1938). My protagonists’ body decorations (see below) are based on details from The Heavens Declare…, a panel designed and embroidered by Morris in the first decade of the last century (exact date unknown).

Below: the lino blocks ready for carving. 

Further details of this project and the residency will feature in future posts. 

PRINTS 1987 - 2016: Installation views

PRINTS 1987 - 2016, my solo show at Tacit Contemporary Art, closed on Sunday afternoon, October 2. Thanks to the curator, TJ Bateson, Tacit's director, Keith Lawrence and all who came during the show's run, it was a fantastic experience. It was heartening to learn that the show's penultimate day, which coincided with the AFL Grand Final (to the initiated, an Australian Rules football match on which most inhabitants of the State of Victoria appear to be fixated, and which even rates a public holiday) was one of the gallery's busiest! 

The following installation views were taken by Tim Gresham. Click on individual images for a clearer view.

Opening tonight: PRINTS 1987 - 2016

Great eggfly winged woman, 2011, hand coloured linocut, 32 x 32 cm. Photo credit: Tim Gresham.

Great eggfly winged woman, 2011 (pictured above) is one of seventeen works selected by curator TJ Bateson for my solo exhibition, PRINTS 1987 - 2016, which opens this evening.

Join us for a celebratory beverage from 6.30 - 8 pm at:

Tacit Contemporary Art

312 Johnston Street,

Abbotsford, Vic, 3067

tacitart.com.au

Phone: 0423 323 1888

Hours: Wednesday - Friday 11 am - 6 pm
Saturday - Sunday 11 - 5 pm

For those who can't make it tonight, PRINTS 1987 - 2016 runs until 2 October.

TJ Bateson installing the first prints on Sunday, 11 September. Works left - right: Dorothy Parker, 1991, woodcut with
chine colle, Snake Charmer, 1996, linocut and Mirror Mirror, 1996, linocut. Photo credit: Keith Lawrence. 

The Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze

The sun, whose rays

Are all ablaze

With ever-living glory,

Does not deny

His majesty —

He scorns to tell a story!

He don't exclaim,

"I blush for shame,

So kindly be indulgent."

But, fierce and bold,

In fiery gold,

He glories all effulgent!

I mean to rule the earth,

As he the sky —

We really know our worth,

The sun and I!

I mean to rule the earth,

As he the sky —

We really know our worth,

The sun and I!

Observe his flame,

That placid dame,

The moon's Celestial Highness;

There's not a trace

Upon her face

Of diffidence or shyness:

She borrows light

That, through the night,

Mankind may all acclaim her!

And, truth to tell,

She lights up well,

So I, for one, don't blame her!

Ah, pray make no mistake,

We are not shy;

We're very wide-awake,

The moon and I!

Ah, pray make no mistake,

We are not shy;

We're very wide-awake,

The moon and I!

The Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze, by W. S. Gilbert.

From The Mikado, 1885, music by Sir Arthur Sullivan, lyrics and libretto by W.S. Gilbert.*

Illustration: Deborah Klein, Untitled, 1992, woodcut on oriental paper

*To hear this glorious song (performed by Shirley Henderson as Leonora Braham
 in the movie Topsy-Turvy, 1999, directed by Mike Leigh) click HERE.