My first solo show!

More than just faces - this exhibition was my first solo show! And quite a significant show too for a number of people, one of them being Davina (above, with her portrait, 'Together we can make a difference'), who was really very touched by the fact I painted her and couldn't stop telling people about it. Other people too were pleased by their portraits. When Jim saw his on a poster he couldn't stop grinning! Will came up to me during the first breakfast when the artworks were up on the walls and said he thought it was great, while Lianne gave me a big thumbs-up (as she can't speak). On the second Saturday Dallas came in to get a photo of himself next to his portrait. It was quite funny as his head in the painting was about three times larger than life-size.

I have explained what the project was about in an earlier post, so here are some photos of the opening night and the following Saturday. Despite there being less people attending than I anticipated, the show was certainly a success - particularly in one of it's aims, that of raising funds for the free breakfast, Bread of Life. 12 out of the 13 paintings were sold, and around $5000 raised through both the sale of artworks and very generous donations by a number of people. I think that should keep baked beans being served for a good while longer!

Will (close-up)

Above, part of my wonderful team of helpers (family and friends) who made the show happen! A number of people very generously donated their time and money to make the exhibition look and run as well as it did and I am very grateful!

Dallas

For 20 years (right)

John Paul

Mich and Charlotte

Lianne

Giovanni

COFA Annual

The COFA Annual opened tonight and there were a lot of people. By a lot, I mean about a thousand or so, swarming through the various levels of F block and the other parts of COFA. I had three works in it, from my project with the people from Bread of Life, and the general response seemed really positive. However while this was good, I'm really looking forward to my first solo exhibition this Saturday (28th of November) which features the rest of the portraits - lights will need to be installed in the hall as it's not yet set up to be a gallery space, but it's looking like it will come together well.

More than just faces.

More than just faces: Companions from Bread of Life.

This is the title of an exhibition I am going to have for the paintings I'm currently working on. The body of work features portraits of people who go to a free breakfast that my church runs every Sunday morning. The people who come generally make up a part of the poorer and marginalised residents of the area, and so this project of painting a number of them looks at both presenting them as humans - valuable, precious and dearly loved (certainly by those who serve them) - and also as a fundraiser for the free breakfast, with any funds raised from the sale of works being donated to this. Over my time going to the church and volunteering at the breakfast I have been honoured to come to know a few of the 'companions' (name used for the attendees), and seeing the enthusiasm of some of them for this project has been a real joy and encouragement for me.

My church is St Michael's Anglican, in Surry Hills, and the exhibition will take place in their hall, where the breakfast is held, at 196 Albion St. As the hall may be rented out during the week to another group, unfortunately this exhibition will be a two-day show, with the opening night being on Saturday the 28th of November from 5-8.30pm, and the works being also available for viewing the following Saturday, 5th of December, between 10am-4pm. 

As I am also finishing the painting part of my Fine Arts/Arts degree this year, two or three of the companion's portraits will also be exhibited in the COFA annual, which runs from Tuesday the 24th of November through to Sunday the 29th, opening hours 11am-6pm each day, and the opening night on Tuesday being 6-9pm. Do check it out! 

Davina:together we can make a difference

Shall I put my hood on?

Kudos Award

Some news! My concertina book, Ivy's leaving: a conversation in the kitchen, has just been selected to be part of the Annual Arc Emerging Artist & Designer Award exhibition. This will run from October the 13th-24th, and the opening night is from 5 - 7.30pm Tuesday 13th October, at Kudos Gallery, which is at 6 Napier st, Paddington. I don't know yet if I've won anything but I do know my work will be in the exhibition! All will be revealed on opening night...

Concertina artworks

Last semester (semester one, 2009) I created a series of concertina books that each formed a portrait of one (or two) of my house mates. The drawings in each book explored not only images of the person, but of things and colours that I associated with them. 

You may be wondering, why concertina books? Good question, and there are a number of reasons. One of them was that I wanted to create something with a sequential narrative in it. Another is the interesting sculptural element that the books create - I originally displayed Mia with the pages tumbling out, suspended in mid air with the front fixed to the wall and the back resting on a table, and the dream sequence of Meg folds out in a spiral. The textiles dimension to the works is also a fun bonus for me, the choices of which tie in conceptually with the first two portraits.

This first one is of Mia, and is done using pencil and watercolour (the cover is cloth):

This second one is of Meg (using water colour pencils - the cover is a pair of old jeans I owned). Unfortunately though, I was working in pencils and the drawings have come up quite faint in these photos.

This video shows the progression of a third book, called, Ivy's leaving: a conversation in the kitchen, and is a dual portrait, recording a conversation between Ivy and Karis about two weeks before she moved out (drawn in conté crayons). The topic? her departure.

La Souris

So, last year I created an animation, William Kentridge style, using pencil, blue tack and pieces of text on paper. It's about a mouse (made of lines), and a cat (made of text), and their jolly meeting one day, all to the tune of Terk in Amerika, by Clozet Klezmer (used with permission). It took two and a half days of solid drawing - all for under a minute's worth of animation - but it was so worth it! And I am very, very excited to be finally able to put it up on the web, not using you-tube. Do enjoy.

Now for some art

Here are some examples of my work:

Ivy. 2009. Conté Crayon on paper

Karis. 2009. Conté Crayon on paper

Emmaline. 2008. Soldering iron on plywood

Lynne. 2009. Oil on plywood

Ray. 2009. Oil on plywood

A blogging beginning

I've just started a blog! How very exciting! :) 

I suppose the impetus for such an act could partly be attributed to my involvement with the COFA spring fair today, which was a lot of fun. I got a job working in my studio space all day - working on my own projects and talking about my own work! (and the excellent courses and opportunities that COFA offers of course, as it was their open day.)

Anyway, during the course of the day the importance of having a website or at least a public space where people could view some of my work was highlighted. So, while the website part won't happen for at least a little bit longer, I thought that I might as well start something now! And hence this blog.