Small Works/Small Town

Friday night's opening at  Rosebed St Gallery was a blast.  The gallery is in Eudlo, a very small town, inland from Caloundra.  That said, it still attracted a large crowd from all over the Sunshine Coast.

They waited patiently for the official opening ceremony to be completed then all were given access to the gallery at the same time.  After all, fair's fair.  It was like the opening of a David Jones post-Christmas sale.

Jade, from Pokokai at Nambour, did the honours with an excellent, and not too lengthy, speech.

I was delighted to see my works hung right by the front door, near one of Kim Schoenberger's fabulous little sculptures.

One of my favourite works by Kim was this one...

RABBIT WARREN (clever hey?)

Because it was a 'takeaway' show, buyers were able to pay for and take their purchases home.  The work was flying off the walls (and plinths), including some of mine and Kims.

THREE CROSSES - sold

CROSSING THE WHITE LINE - sold

Most of the missing pieces will be replaced, so don't think you'll only see half an exhibition when you go.  You'll just see a slightly different one AND the work is VERY portable, and VERY cheap. 

Gallery details:

Rosebed Street Gallery and Studio

	13 Rosebed Street Eudlo
Hours	Wed - Sun: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
About	www.rosebedstgallery.com      ph: 5457 3780

Third Prize - The Human Form

I recently entered some work in the inaugural Alan Reading Memorial Art Awards held in Maleny. 

This award show has been established by Alan's wife, artist and teacher, Lyn. It is to benefit Bloomhill Cancer  in memory of her husband who died of cancer this year.

My entry in the Human Form gained me third prize.  A small, simple drawing, in ink on rough watercolour paper.

"TORSO"

It was an agreeable surprise to find such a simple image caught the judge's eye, but it certainly made my day.

Other friends who won prizes are Ken Munsie,  Mieke Van Sambeek, and Gaynor Hardinge.  (click on the links to see their work)

Congratulations all !!!!

Q, R, S, T, U, V, W,X, Y, Z

At last I've had time to complete my last letters for the ALAW challenge for this year.

WHEW!!!!  Now all I have to do is make a book... and that's another story.

On The Wings Of Inspiration

This year has been one of artistic challenges, many of which have come from the site Inspiration Avenue.  One of the things that this has inspired me to do is work small (and often). I have always believed in the power of 'brush mileage' to make you improve and certainly I've done some mileage in the past few months.

Miniatures have always been part of my repertoire but there have been more produced from my studio this year than during any other. The criteria for 'miniature' work is that it must be no larger than 10 cm x 10 cm.

Perhaps you'd like to see some....



Along The Gully

The Valley

Reef Fish (collage)

The Bridge

I drift from expression, collage, to abstract art, as the fancy takes me.  It's all mileage, right? All this practice improves my larger works... at least I hope so.

There are soooo many clever artists connected to Inspiration Avenue why don't you just click here to check them out.

A Letter A Week - Catching Up

I've been quite remiss about my ALAW project.  It's been a very busy few months for me.  No excuse really, as everyone's busy.  My last letters (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, & H) were posted on August 30th, so I guess I need refresh you about the process.

My 'letters' (taken literally) are printed on vellum, then scorched on the edges (as one often burns notes received). They are then attached to watercolour paper, complete with ink blots, with red sealing-wax stamped with the relevant letter.

Eventually I will turn them into a mini-book... perhaps titled 'A Book Of Letters' ?

So, on with the show... the photos are a little haphazard, not my strong point.

I'm rather hoping that these snippets of info will expand into a whole story in your imagination.

My Amateur Silverwork

Rosebed St Gallery  ran a silver earring workshop on Saturday morning so I decided to sign up.  I don't know what I expected, but thoroughly enjoyed the morning AND came home with some handmade earrings as well.  Mind you, they are VERY rough, but I learned a lot.

Cathy McCarthy (be patient, her site is being updated) makes delighful sterling silver jewellery with designs and imprinted patterns inspired by nature.

We arrived to find instructions and tools all set out neatly and Cathy explained their various uses.

Before long this 'order' became 'disorder' as we each got stuck into our own personal project.

We had the choice of tiny discs or squares, with hooks or posts.

I chose squares, and posts, and began the first job of 'annealing' them. This means heating the metal to relax or soften it so that it can be worked. For this process Cathy uses a micro- torch similar to those used for making creme brulee (yummy).

After each annealing the metal has to be 'pickled' in a weak acid solution to remove the discolouration.  It is then ready to shape, stamp, or work in any other way. Working hardens the metal again so after each 'working' the process of annealing and pickling is repeated.

Those who chose discs used this fabulous doming block to curve them. The pieces are placed in the correct size recess and hammered with the corresponding size ball.

There was a (very expensive) toy available for us to use also... a rolling mill.  This is used to roll your piece together with some texturing (paper, wire, whatever).  I was amazed at how a paper leaf skeleton could imprint on the soft silver.

I stamped letters (very badly) into mine, and then textured them with a ball hammer.

Because the pieces were so tiny I was restricted to four letters... obviously not enough for me.  I had great diffculty hitting just hard enough, and not so hard the edge of the stamp imprinted.

The stamps were very tiny and hard to line up, but I guess practice makes perfect... and these were my very first.

I then had to solder the posts onto the backs... easy peasy when solder and flux are together in one syringe.

The solder is melted with the micro-torch and then the piece goes into the pickling solution again. Once clean, and rinsed in water, the pieces are then put into a jewellery tumbler filled with water, a dash of detergent, and stainless steel shot.  This polishes them to their final glory.

Tumbler

Finding the silver among the shot

There was not sufficient time for the required amount of tumbling, so will have to handpolish my finished pieces.

Rough, but they're mine...  and perhaps I should wear them the other way around?...mmmmmm.

Another Exhibition

Have had a very busy week so have neglected my blog, but will be back in full swing VERY shortly.

Here is the invitation to the 'Smalls' exhibition at Rosebed St Gallery.

If you think you've seen the painting, third from the right, you have.... it's mine. I was delighted to see it on the invitation, along with that gorgeous unicorn made by my blogging friend Kim Schoenberger.

Back soon.

Hung... AND Opened

Last night was the opening of the exhibition "A Brush With Colour", a collaborative effort between me and two friends, Gaynor Hardinge, and Janet Matthews., at Studio 4 Gallery.

We had spent Thursday hanging...

Jennifer, the Gallery owner, adjusting levels.

.. and were quite happy with the overall display.

A wall of my work.

When I arrived the gallery was already jumping and I had sold 4 pieces! ...small works, my rainforest miniatures (from September 22nd blog), but every little bit of encouragement helps.

It was gratifying to see so many supporters and people interested in art as the gallery is a little out of the way for many people.



Wyn and Noela



Wyn Vogel and Noela Mills are fellow bloggers and each very creative indeed (click on the links to see their work). They are standing in front of some of Gaynor's work.

The exhibition was opened by Julie Hauritz, Education and Public Programmes Officer for the Noosa Regional Gallery, who made a very encouraging and pertinent speech about the role of art in the community.

Gaynor, Me, Julie, and Jennifer

Of course I had to say a few words, most of which disappeared from my brain as soon as I opened my mouth but, hey, I was among friends... and anyway my hands were doing OK on their own. 

The speeches were in front of Janet's paintings... wonderful, expressive, large works.  Unfortunately Janet was unable to attend after having too good a time overseas, and arriving back the day before completely debilitated with one of those treacherous 'travel' bugs.  I know she'll read this and hope she shakes it off soon.

Me & Julie

This is a better image of Janet's work "Evening Glow"

The evening wore on and I sold another painting to a very supportive friend and fellow painter Susanne Barrett but we couldn't party all night (tho' some would've liked to).



Barry, Kim, and Julie



Barry, and Kim, also fellow bloggers, had travelled quite a way to attend and didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave.

I'd like to say thanks to all who came, and those who intend to visit the exhibition when they can fit it into their schedule.  I count it a great success.

Cave Secrets

Since our trip to Central Australia I have been reflecting on the ancient rock art that we had the privilege to see.  While I have no wish to be disrespectful to the country's original inhabitants, I have produced a few small works inspired by these.

Cave Secrets 1

Cave Secrets 2

Cave Secrets 3

These paintings are small, 6 x 8 inches mounted on 8 x 10 inch wide edge canvas, and destined for the 'Show Us Your Smalls' exhibition at Rosebed St Gallery at the end of this month.