Exhibition: "Aerialscapes" (2011)

"Aerialscapes" was shown at Graphic Art Gallery, Bondi, NSW in November 2011. 

The fascination I have for aerial landscapes has been a long-term love affair. In the old days it was the world atlas that had me hooked.  These days you'll find me poring over the landscape via Google Earth. Gripped by incidental visual elements provided by varying textures of water, vegetation, rock, sand and human footprint  I am propelled to play in paint responding to my observations.

What intrigues me further is that we are largely unaware of the beauty of the land from an aerial perspective, and a sandy track that is well trodden has a complexity of line that can only be appreciated from aerial view. When I stumble upon a beautifully composed frame in my Google Earth searches the thrill veritably charges me to respond.

My "dreamscapes" are born of whimsy and unrestricted by factual geography. Childhood memories of places I cherish may rampantly pop up here, as in South Coast Dreamscape. There is a greater allowance for the media to do what it will and I revel in responding spontaneously to that. The dreamscape frolics halfway between aerial landscape and abstraction and there are varying degrees of dreaming involved.

I  perpetually strive to find a balance in my process between spontaneous and deliberate mark-making, the subconscious and conscious mark-maker and the obedience and disobedience of materials.

(Click on images to view them larger)

Watsons Bay (aerialscape)

610 x 760mm

Southcoast Dreamscape

760 x 1020mm

Bondi (aerialscape) 

915 x 1220mm

Coogee (aerialscape)510 x 405mm

Dreamscape with lighthouse

910 x 760mm

Frazer Park I (aerialscape)

760 x 1010mm

Moonies II (aerialscape)

760 x 760mm

Nobbies Head II (aerialscape)

915 x 1220mm

Nobbies Head I (aerialscape)

610 x 915mm

Curl Curl (aerialscape)

915 x 1220mm

Catherine Hill Bay (aerialscape)

610 x 760mm

Frazer Park II (aerialscape)

915 x 1220mm

Moonies I (aerialscape)

1000 x 750mm

Exhibition: A Bitumen Affair (2008)

"A bitumen affair" was shown at Jo Felk Gallery, Cooranbong, NSW in March 2008.

The show featured a series of largely abstract work that had been "layered into correction" over time. I had discovered bitumen as a medium,  and here explored it's full potential.

Bitumen energy

610mm x 510mm

         610mm x 510mm

Untitled bitumen, brown, blue, mauve patch painting915mm x 610mm

Abstract tree painting

Bird, egg, grub
800mm x 800mm

Aerial candyscape I

940mm x 753mm

      940mm x 753mm

Aerial candyscape II

800mm x 1100mm

                800mm x 1100mm

                 

Untitled stairs painting I

915mm x 610mm

915mm x 610mm

Untitled stairs painting II

915mm x 610mm

915mm x 610mm

Bedbridge

800mm x 800mm

                 800mm x 800mm

Guitar and drum abstraction

792mm x 540mm

792mm x 540mm

]

Lollymobile

995mm x 1195mm

                  995mm x 1195mm

Red patch checkers
900mm x 600mm

Andy draws (speedy)

840mm x 845mm

                840mm x 845mm

Red arc checkers800mm x 1000mm 

Sold out cheetah
610mm x 915mm

Butterflish

565mm x 765mm

                  565mm x 765mm

Caravan memory

390mm x 522mm

                 390mm x 522mm

Dreamscape with seven palms
600mm x 900mm

Where the bong tree grows
385mm x 265mm

Stormy dreamscape 

800mm x 800mm

                800mm x 800mm

Untitled bitumen painting

1215mm x 1625mm

               1215mm x 1625mm

old process diary (2000)

Perhaps this would be a suitable place to begin my art blog, which will be mostly a collection of images of my paintings and drawings, supplemented by some thoughts and a few ramblings...

So, way back when in art school:

Self portrait mixed media

Self portrait bitumen and oil on card

ANdy and I were drawing each other

Upside down in the art room...

I was listening to the triple J hottest 100

My feet by romantic candlelight

Ceramics class- iron oxide on hand built paper clay

Liselle drawing

self portrait

Drew this while on the phone to Bec

Blind contour spawn of Liselle

Ink and bamboo drawing stick- my favorite drawing utensil

In the studios

Life drawing. I spilt ink over a huge patch of their floor that time.

Tentatively beginning to dabble in abstraction

This model would not stop talking.

I developed this drawing into a painting that I wish I had photographed before selling.

The man who became my husband will never sit still long enough to be drawn.

My other great love: blind contour drawing. Such surprises ensue! This is my brother Caleb.

Bec was really sick with the flu that time

Cabes again- adapted from bc

Luke reading, but not long enough for me to finish.

Luke sleeping- the only chance I have to draw him

Rochelle reclining with magazine eyes

Cabes sleeping blind contour

The view from the bed

tray of seedlings

In the loungeroom (Luke was watching a documentary of some climbers who had just reached the summit)

Luke looking sweet and aspiring

In my last year of art school I was concerned with observational drawing, but not to the point of being a slave to accuracy. I was hoping to find balance between achieveing a likeness but with enough movement and spontaneity of line for the drawing to have character and vitality. To bring something else to the scene that a camera could never do. I had just begun to put colours together. Up until then I had kept it all neutral and colour made me panic. Abstraction was a perfect way to experiment with colour and composition.