The Exquisite Palette 2018

Watching you watching me and my embellished palette, shortly before the addition
of a panel of mirrored glass. Photo credit: Tim Gresham.

The Exquisite Palette show is back after a gap of several years (its last appearance was in 2013). From the entries I’ve seen so far, this may well be the best one yet. Now attracting international entries, it’s also by far the biggest.

Regarding the final form of the palette, the only rule is that there are no rules. Personally I’m drawn to its simple, elegant shape and always relish the challenge of incorporating the oval hole into my image.

Deborah Klein, Reflection, 2018, acrylic on wooden panel with mirrored glass.
Photo credit: Tim Gresham.

Reflection, acrylic on wooden panel, progress view 1.

Reflection, acrylic on wooden palette, progress view 2. 

Reflection, my entry for Exquisite Palette 2018, incorporates mirrored glass. The palette is intended to hang at eye level, so that the eye of the viewer (in this instance, the artist) becomes an integral, if fleeting, part of the work. 

Opening Night is Wednesday, 6th June, 6.30 - 8.30 pm at Tacit Galleries in their new Collingwood art space. The show continues until the 1st of July.

My watercolour pad gets the chop

As mentioned in a recent post, it was my intention to publish the remaining watercolour miniatures created for the forthcoming show PATTERNS OF COLLECTING - From the Bower at the Johnston Collection singly, along with progress views of each. Times have been extremely busy of late, however, and with the deadlines for this and other projects fast approaching, I couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer. It was time to take the Knots and Braids series to its final stage - namely, cutting up the contents of watercolour pad to fit their individual vintage frames. 

Here is the watercolour pad page-by-page, shortly before I took to the contents with a pair of scissors, followed by the aftermath.

Countdown to PATTERNS OF COLLECTING - From the Bower at the Johnston Collection

Pictured above and below are selected highlights of yesterday’s fruitful meeting at the Johnston Collection Museum with TJC Director/Curator Louis Le Vaillant and fellow From the Bower artists/collectors Carole Wilson, Loris Button and Louise Saxton.

The window below overlooks the garden and beyond it, the former house and studio of renowned colonial landscape artist, Eugene von Guerard.

The next time we’ll all there will be in just a few weeks, to install a markedly different version of our well-travelled exhibition, appropriately retitled PATTERNS OF COLLECTING - from the Bower at the Johnston Collection, opening in early June.

HipCat Gallery

Chocolate argus Winged Woman, 2010, linocut 32 x 32 cm, ed. 30. Photo credit: Tim Gresham

In an exciting new venture, artist and master printer Lawrence Finn has initiated HipCat Gallery, an exhibition space that is dedicated to contemporary Australian printmaking. The gallery is part of HipCat Printery, a custom printing and artist access studio located five minutes from historic Trentham in Wombat State Forest. 

Shane Jones and I visited HipCat for the first time last Sunday during the Daylesford Macedon Ranges Open Studios program. That’s Shane in the above photo, centre, alongside Lawrence and his goat, the regal Princess Leia. 

HipCat Gallery’s inaugural group show will be opened by David Frazer. I’m delighted to be part of it, along with David, Damon Kowasky, Dianne Longley, Hyun Ju Kim and Lawrence Finn. Chocolate Argus Winged Woman, pictured top, is one of two linocuts I have in the show. 

The opening event is this coming Saturday, 5 May at 3 pm.

From the Bower at the Johnston Collection: Update #1

The watercolour miniatures I've been making for the forthcoming show, Patterns of Collecting/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection, have been accumulating at a faster pace than I've had time to post here. (The exception is Love Knot, directly below, which was previewed on 14 February in our Valentine's Day post).

To make amends, this is the first of a series of posts documenting the remaining works in the series.

Completed works, L-R: Untitled, 2018, 12 x 9 cm and Love Knot, 2018, watercolour, 9 x 7.2 cm

A Big Show of Small Works

I’m eagerly anticipating joining forces with an extraordinary lineup of artists in the upcoming Small Works: a Survey, including the inestimable Julie Keating and Debbie Hill, who also curated the exhibition. 

Included on the invitation is a detail of my painting Pirate Queen, seen below in its entirety:

Pirate Queen, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 9 x 7 cm
Photo credit: Tim Gresham

The show, which opens next Saturday, 7 April, from 2 - 5 pm, will be launched by David Coles, founder of Langridge Artist Colours. 

Small Works: a Survey

Red Rock Regional Theatre and Gallery

520 Corangamite Lake Road

Cororooke 3254.

Open weekends 11 am - 4 pm, or  by appointment.

Small Works runs to 29 April.

Happy Easter and some good news

I always look forward to the Easter break; it brings brief - but nonetheless welcome - respite from an already hectic year that, despite my best laid plans, has begun to seriously accelerate.

For me, Easter has always been associated with new beginnings. Entering into this spirit, I've begun work on the first of a new series of paintings, a project I've been planning for some time. Previews of the new work will feature in future posts.

Meanwhile, I'd like to share some super news from our sister blog, Moth Woman Press. My artist book Leaves of Absence is one of 75 finalists in the 2018 Libris Awards at Artspace Mackay. A page view, snapped in our study at Abbotsford, is below. For further views of Leaves of Absence, visit Moth Woman Press HERE.

New work from the bower

Untitled (Pearl) 2018, watercolour, 12 x 9 cm 

The newly completed watercolour miniature pictured above was specifically made to fit the vintage frame on its right. Since planning began for the latest iteration of From the Bower at the Johnston Collection in East Melbourne, I’ve amassed a sizeable assortment of vintage frames, sourced from antique shops and markets, thrift stores and trash and treasure markets.This one was a lucky find at Ballarat Sunday Market. It's rare for me to know anything of a frame's history, but this one is an exception. The elderly woman from whom I bought it told me it once held a photograph of her grandmother. 

In a reversal of the usual order, it’s the frames in this project that come first; I relish the challenge of tracking them down almost as much as making the works to fit them.

Untitled (Pearl) progress view

Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018

Captured in the above snapshot by Jill Kellett is a memorable moment from yesterday's visit to Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018 at NGV International. Pictured L - R are Shane Jones and I with our friends Louise Jennison and Gracia Haby.

Shortly afterwards I took part in Regional Arts Words (RAW), a panel discussion hosted by Regional Arts Australia.

L-R: Mary Jane Warfield, Angela Rivas, Lindy Schneider and myself snapped during yesterday's RAW panel
discussion during Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018 at NGV International. (Photo credit: Louise Jennison).

Two of my books, Fallen Women and There was once... The collected fairy tales are available from the Regional Arts Victoria stand at the book fair, which runs until 5 pm tomorrow.

For more about RAW, go HERE. For more pictures of the event, visit Moth Woman Press HERE.

LEAVES OF ABSENCE acquired by the State Library of Victoria

I’m delighted to announce that my artist book, Leaves of Absence (2017), has been reserved by the State Library of Victoria. The book, a limited edition of 10 plus one artist proof, is pictured in our study at Abbotsford.

Leaves of Absence is the first work to draw its subject matter entirely from my regional work base. Next Friday, 16 March, from 2.30 - 3.15 pm, I’m taking part in Regional Arts Words (RAW) a panel discussion Regional Arts Australia is hosting during Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018 in the Great Hall, NGV International. My contribution will include a show and tell of Leaves of Absence, the seeds of which were sewn in 2015, during a forest walk in the Victorian goldfields town of Newstead. 

For full details of RAW, visit Regional Arts Australia HERE.

HEADS & BODIES

My drawing The Secret Plait has been included in HEADS & BODIES at Charles Nodrum Gallery. The exhibition, which will span the entire gallery, explores the body in art through extensive contemporary and historic examples.

Accompanying the show is a lavishly illustrated catalogue of selected works. A fully illustrated catalogue can be viewed on the gallery website HERE.

Deborah Klein, The Secret Plait, 2016-17, oil pastel and chinagraph on paper, 76.5 x 56 cm
Photo credit: Tim Gresham

HEADS & BODIES exhibition catalogue. Cover art: Russell Drysdale, Half caste woman, 1960.
Page view: Deborah Klein, The Secret Plait, 2016-17 (top); bottom: Jan Murray, Grey Jacket (Puff), 2015

Charles Nodrum Gallery
267 Church Street
Richmond 3121
Melbourne
Victoria
Australia

Tel. (61 3) 9427 0140
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11 am - 6 pm

HEADS & BODIES opens on 1 March and continues until 17 March.