An Inspiring Legacy/Morris and Me

 

Kate Rohde’s sculptures Deer Sentinels 2022 and my triptych Three Women, 2021, are the centrefold in the Winter Issue (#7) of Untitled, the Art Gallery of Ballarat Association Magazine. 

The images of our works accompany An Inspiring Legacy, Art Gallery of Ballarat Director Louise Tegart’s article about William Morris and his enduring influence on the vast array of historic and contemporary artists in the current exhibition, In the Company of Morris. 

SAVE THE DATE

On Saturday, 15 July, from 2-3 pm, I’m joining Kate Rohde and ceramicist Glenn Barkley, whose work also features in the article, for Morris and Me, a panel discussion led by art curator Christopher Menz, about the influence of William Morris (and in my case, the work of his younger daughter, May Morris), on our respective practices.

Tickets to the event include entry to Pre-Raphaelites Drawings and Watercolours from the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and In the Company of Morris. We do hope you can join us. 

Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.artgalleryofballarat.com.au/event/forum-morris-and-me

Istoria: History, Story, Tale, A Goldfields Printmakers Survey Exhibition

I’m delighted to be part of Istoria: History, Story, Tale, A Goldfields Printmakers Survey Exhibition at Arc Yinnar, opening on Saturday, 24 June.

Memory 14 and Memory 40, my works in Istoria, explore the historic connection between the Victorian Goldfields and China during the gold rushes, a period of Australian history from which Chinese women were all but absent. 

… The word history refers to all time preceding this very moment and everything that 'really' happened up to now. The distinctions may be much messier than that of course and as printmakers - people who use visual imagery to imaginatively convey meaning - we make full use of the freedom afforded by mark-making, to play with the way a picture tells a thousand stories, histories or tales.

- Excerpt from Istoria, exhibition essay by Dr. Loris Button.

Istoria: History, Story, Tale

A Goldfields Printmakers Survey Exhibition

Opening address by Gippsland printmaker Jenny Peterson

2pm, Saturday, 24 June

Arc Yinnar  

19 - 23 Main Street 

Yinnar, Vic 3839

Telephone: 03 5163 1310

http://arcyinnar.org.au

The exhibition runs to Sunday, 23 July

Pictured from top, 1-3:

Memory 14,  Phemograph, (archival pigment print), 32.5 x 24.2 cm

Memory 40, Phemograph, (archival pigment print), 28 x 21.4 cm

Invitation to Istoria with list of participating artists

Revisiting the Dalziel Brothers

Pictured above: a recent studio view with the block of the linocut, Lotus, on the press bed, followed by a closeup of the lino block and the completed print.

Lotus is one of nine limited-edition prints, lovingly carved and hand-printed in my Ballarat atelier over the past several months, that draw their inspiration from the astonishingly multi-faceted work of British Arts and Crafts designer, May Morris. 

At the time of making these works, I briefly considered incorporating selected areas of colour, as I occasionally do in my linocuts. But then I recalled my copy of Pre-Raphaelite Illustrations, a much treasured little book I purchased in London in 1978, the year of its publication. The book comprises a selection of wood engravings by the Dalziel Brothers based on works by Pre-Raphaelite Brothers Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt. The subtlety and richness of the Dalziel Brothers’ wood engravings convinced me that in this instance, the addition of colour would be superfluous. Coincidentally, Laurie Benson, Curator of International Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, showed some examples of the Dalziel Brothers’ work in the collection of NGV in his terrifically informative, packed-out talk last Saturday afternoon. 

In advance of my Melbourne solo show in 2024, all nine linocuts are available in limited numbers, exclusive to the Gallery Shop at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, until the current exhibitions, Pre-Raphaelites Drawings & Watercolours and In the Company of Morris end on 6 August. 

The prints can be purchased either in person or online, at:

https://www.artgalleryofballarat.com.au/shop/category/pre-raphaelites-in-the-company-of-morris.

Linocuts at the Art Gallery of Ballarat Shop

The Art Gallery of Ballarat has kindly invited me to make available the early editions of the following linocuts (earmarked for a major solo exhibition in 2024) in the Gallery Shop during the run of the exhibition, In the Company of Morris.

As followers of this blog will be aware, my current work draws much of its inspiration from the works of prolific British Arts and Crafts designer and maker, May Morris, daughter of William Morris and Jane Morris and a notable designer for the hugely influential firm, Morris & Co. The tattoos on my anonymous subjects are all based on details from her designs.

The linocuts pictured below were hand-printed in my Ballarat studio. Strictly limited numbers are available for purchase from the Gallery Shop, either in-store or online, HERE until the exhibition concludes on 6 August.

Click on the images to enlarge.

In addition, I will be one of three contemporary artists appearing in the panel discussion Morris and Me, on 15 July at 2 pm. Tickets to the forum include entry to the exhibition and are available HERE.

Image top: Deborah Klein in the Art Gallery of Ballarat shop with linocuts Horn Poppy, 2023 and framed copy of The Heavens Declare #1, 2022 on the wall. My Art Matters earrings were made by the incredible Holly Would from Ballarat-based Femxle Experience Art Rebelion.

Photo credit: Peter Freund.

Tudor Rose

Pictured above: a stepping stone to new directions: Tudor Rose, 2023, (study), acrylic on canvas mounted on board, 10 x 10 cm.

The tattoos are based on details from an embroidery, also titled Tudor Rose, designed by May Morris, circa 1892.

Pictured below: the studio today, looking across one cluttered surface to another. The recently completed painting Tudor Rose is in the foreground, giving a clearer idea of its scale. Elizabethan portrait miniatures, particularly those by Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver, are an enduring influence. Although Tudor Rose and other paintings in this series are studies that will later be expanded on, they are also finished works in their own right.

Click on images to enlarge.

Tangled Tulips

Pictured above: Tangled Tulips, 2023, linocut with Chine collé, 15 x 10 cm, edition: 40, followed by my primary references for the work. 

Below: May Morris, design for an embroidered panel for a folding screen. From Chain Stitch Embroidery, featured in the visual arts periodical The Hobby Horse (3), 1888. 

Pictured below: Three-fold embroidered screen with mahogany panels, designed by J.H. Dearle and May Morris for Morris & Co, c. 1888. 

A strictly limited number of Tangled Tulips and other linocuts in this series are available for purchase at the Art Gallery of Ballarat shop during the run of the exhibitions Pre-Raphaelites Drawings and Watercolours from the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and In the Company of Morris.

Further information will follow shortly. 

Poster Girls in Collingwood

 

Pictured top: Hanging with Marie Spartali Stillman in Smith Street, Collingwood in inner city Melbourne, my old stomping ground. I wonder what William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites would make of the setting? 

Many thanks to Paul Compton for this great shot. A cropped detail is below. 

BALLARAT HERITAGE FESTIVAL 2023

 

The Ballarat Heritage Festival is my favourite time of year in this corner of the world. Here are a handful of personal highlights from the past weekend, culled from many and posted in no particular order. Pictured above: the Ballarat Vintage and Classic Car Club in Lydiard Street directly across from the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

Directly following:

A fascinating and illuminating tour of the joint exhibitions Pre-Raphaelites Drawings and Watercolours and In the Company of Morris at the Art Gallery of Ballarat led by AGB Gallery Director, Louise Tegart:

Master weaver Tim Gresham and his tapestries at Craft Lab 23 in the Ballarat Mining Exchange in Lydiard Street. Pictured L-R: Shane Jones, Annie Drum, Carole Wilson and Tim Gresham:

The Music of Images, a wonderful concert in the elegant Oddie Gallery at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. Led by composer and pianist Richard Chew, the Inscape Piano Trio performed a series of pieces centred around P.R.B., a new work created to mark the opening of the Pre-Raphaelites exhibition:

The Fops from legendary theatre group, Born in a Taxi and vintage motorcycles spanning the centuries in Lydiard Street:

Vintage cars in Lydiard Street North:

Pauline O’Shannessy-Dowling at work in her studio at The Lost Ones Makers Studios in Camp Street:

Rocket and Belle in nearby Mair Street is always worth a visit. Leah’s amazing installation of vintage objects created especially for the Heritage Festival is highly recommended:

Shane and and I were delighted that The Pacific Belles have returned to the Ballarat Heritage Festival. They are primarily inspired by the Andrews Sisters, although Dot, Betty and Mabel (their stage names) are superlative performers in their own right:

We love their work and were thrilled to meet them after their final performance this afternoon. We do hope they’ll be back again next year. 

Photo credit for above shot: Sue Clarke. 

We’ve enjoyed every minute of this year’s festival and it’s not over yet. The Ballarat Heritage Festival continues to Sunday, May 28.

Opening night of PRE-RAPHAELITES DRAWINGS & WATERCOLOURS and IN THE COMPANY OF MORRIS

Here are few snaps of Friday evening’s launch of the terrific joint exhibitions Pre-Raphaelites Drawings and Watercolours from the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and In the Company of Morris at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. As a huge admirer of so many of the artists in both exhibitions, I’m anticipating multiple revisits. 

It was a thrill to see my painting Three Women hanging in such fine company. I had no idea my work Ex Votive Offerings was also part of In the Company of Morris until Shane Jones pointed it out to me. When I moved in for a closer look, I discovered it is hanging between works by Christian Waller and Napier Waller, two of my heroes. To say I was over the moon would be putting it mildly. 

We had some great conversations with a great many people and as a result neglected to take many photos. The shots in this post give little indication of the quality of the exhibitions or the stunning exhibition design. I can’t begin to imagine the amount of planning and work that was involved. Kudos to everyone at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

The evening was a memorable overture to the annual Ballarat Heritage Festival, which began yesterday.

Photos 1-8 above:

With my painting Three Women in In the Company of Morris. (Photo credit: Shane Jones);

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My work Ex Votive Offerings, 2002, screen print on sized Chinese silk sewn with needle threaders. Collection: Art Gallery of Ballarat;

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The same work, flanked by drawings by Christian Waller and relief prints by Napier Waller;

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Opening night speeches;

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Hanging with local artists Toni Louise and Holly Would. Toni Louise is one of the team who hung the works in these shows, a colossal undertaking;

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Installation view. Foreground left: Call of the Siren, ceramic vessel by Belinda Michael and Tiffany Titshall;

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Far left: David Glenn, foreground: Vince Alessi and Shane Jones, far right: Anne Rowland and Peter Freund; 

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Shane and I at the evening’s end. (Photo credit: Edward Coleridge).