Blog problems

You may have been looking for one of my past blogs recently and  found it to be unavailable.  I was not aware of this problem for a while, but it has been sorted out.  Old posts are now available.
Hooray!

Talk art soon!

Joe Saxby aka 'These Guy'

Joe Saxby is a very talented young singer/songwriter living here in Bundaberg. At least till next year when he hopes to go to Brisbane to study music.

Brad Marsellos, Producer of ABC Open Wide Bay has made a fabulous video of Joe singing his new song...'Sunburnt'.

I was able to able to  assist in a very small way.   I really enjoyed seeing how Brad approached and developed the finished product.

Check out Joe's guest blog for ABC Open at the following link:   http://open.abc.net.au/openregions/qld-wide-bay-71AY7Fz/posts/my-name-is-joe-50ay2mb


And I will embed the video on this page.  It's a great song Joe!!   c x

Guest blog

http://open.abc.net.au/openregions/qld-wide-bay-71AY7Fz/posts/my-girl-89ob0tk

Check out this link to my guest blog for ABC Open Wide bay.  It's about the Moreton Bay Art Awards presentation.

PS  Thankyou Edward B for your recent kind comments.  c

'fledglings' stencil art exhibition

Yr 10 North Bundaberg High art students exhibition is coming on well.  It is going to look fabulous in Dirty Linen.

Check out this flickr link.

www.flickr.com/photos/petrinamcdonald/

Moreton Bay Art Awards

This blog post was written as a guest blog for ABC Open Wide Bay  http://open.abc.net.au/openregions/qld-wide-bay-71AY7Fz/posts/my-girl-89ob0tk

I travelled to Strathpine last Friday for the official opening of the Moreton Bay Art Awards. It was a wonderful event. The theme for the night was 'black and white' and this added to the special feel of the whole occasion.

There was a real hum of excitement in the air.

Hundreds of entries had been submitted for the competion. The walls were covered with a vast array of works. People roamed through the exhibition, glass of wine in one hand, offering their opinions on the various works. Most finding something they liked amongst the offerings.

The work I had entered into the competition was a digital print of a girl seated and alone in a dark environment. Her body is covered with celestial patterns which transform her into a goddess-like figure.

From their small rostrum, decorated with black and white balloons, the Mayor and other speakers, introduced the business of the night.

The presentations were about to commence. An eery silence fell over the crowd.

Four commendations were given and a local artist was awarded her prize. The audience were most appreciative. .

I was very fortunate then, to have been awarded one of the two major awards. My artwork will also become part of the Moreton Bay Council collection.

I met with the judge Mr Ross Searle and had an interesting conversation with him about my artwork.

It is wonderful to have received this award. It confirms that people are connecting with my work. It builds confidence.

In a practical way, the award will help me to continue my art practice in these difficult economic times and for that I am most grateful.

Next on the agenda is Sydney in October. I can't wait!

                                          

Video bombing the Laundromat

I drove to Hervey Bay to set up my 'Citadels'.  The 'renew' exhibition looks great and I think that Gallery Director, Curator Marj Sullivan is pretty happy with the works that have come in.  I was going to take some pictures to post here, but  when I went to take a photo I got the message on my camera...'no memory card'!!!  So, I will have to be more careful next time.

However, I do have some new pictures to show you as Brad Marsellos and I went video bombing the Laundromat.  Some good results, but this session seemed to be all about learning... and there is so much to learn!! The following stills are by Brad and videos were from my files.   c x
My favourite artwork in 'renew' is a boat sculpture by Trevor Sphor. Very talented fellow!

Packing up

The North Bundaberg High art students exhibition, will come around before we know what has hit us.  I thought I had best start tidying up the studio space, so it can be a 'gallery' for this exciting occasion.

With the exhibition in mind, I have had to dismantle my 'Lifescape' 2 and pack all the 300 or so tins into cardboard boxes.  Tins were stacked inside larger tins, so as to pack more efficiently.  I will weigh and measure the cartons tomorrow and get some firm quotes on freighting them to Sydney.

The exhibition at the Brenda May Gallery (BMG) is not till October, so I will have to be very patient.

I can't wait !!!!!!!!!!!

Today I produced some CMYK files  of 'Lifescape' 2 for the BMG printer, should they be required.  I will send them down on a disc and I have almost finished my artist's statement.

In the meantime, I am working on another of my 'Brides'.  I hope to post a picture of her soon.

Till soon.  C x

Jess

Jess likes this image I made of her after a recent photoshoot..  Inspired by the works of Frida Kahlo of course.
I merged the photo of Jess with a picture taken of the lid of an old biscuit tin.

I like the second image even more.

C x   

PS Thankyou for your comments below!  Lovely to hear from you!

Moreton Bay Art Awards

This week I have been trying to get a work ready for the Moreton Bay Art Awards.I had a few print dramas though and consequently ran out of time to get one in the mail.  I wanted to send a print down to a framer  in Strathpine and have them deliver the finished work to the gallery.  Works were due in today.

So, I drove to Brisbane yesterday.

When the framer and I saw the second print under overhead lights, we decided to have a new one printed by a local printer. So, with that arranged, I left to meet the printer.  He was very helpful and said he would deliver the print to the framer late that afternoon.

Today the work will be framed and then delivered to the gallery.

On my way home I dropped off my tins for the 'renew' exhibition at Hervey Bay Regional Gallery.  I will come back to the gallery next week to set up the 'Citadels'.

I had time to drop in to a couple of charity shops, and true to my beliefs, two fabric bride's horseshoes turned up!!

I chose the one that is completely white as it doesn't compete with the other parts of The Bride.  It almost becomes invisible.  The horseshoe and the wishbone add to the symbolism already in the work. So I will leave The Bride set up this way and see if I have to make any changes later in the week.

The Bride

This is a recent work I think I will call 'The bride wore white'.  I am looking for a white satin horseshoe to finish the piece.  I know I will find it soon.  When you work with found objects, they often seem to come to you when needed.

The rusty old iron gate represent the home of an older generation of women, the fifties I would guess. The white tablecloth represents the bride who's life centred around the family and home.

Objects from the  fifties and sixties are in particular, the objects society is discarding.  The values of that generation seem to be cast aside to some degree also.

I will be making several works about the bride in the next few months. These works also reference recent flooding as in the 'Water Falls 1' piece.


Till soon,

c x

Jiao

A large group of well-wishers joined Brad Marsellos last night to celebrate his birthday.  A 'welcome home' to Clinton Cross was also on the agenda as he had been away on an extended holiday, taking in Egypt, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

We dined out at the Blue Garden, a small chinese restaurant in the central business district of Bundaberg.

I was delighted to meet Jiao there.  She was one of my subjects in the 'Portrait of a Stranger' photographic  project that Brad had been running for ABC Open Wide Bay.
Jiao has been working partime as a waitress at the Blue Garden. She has been really improving her English since I saw her last. Apparently she has been attending a Tafe course of some kind.

Jiao Lee arrived in Australia in February 2011. She had come from Chang Chun, a densely populated city in North Eastern China.

Jiao came to Bundaberg to marry her Australian fiance. She has been helping him on his stall where he sells exotic fish at the Shalom markets.

She is an absolute delight. and has the most captivating smile.  I think I will have to do some more portraits of her.

Brad and Clinton's dinner was a huge success.  I was able to catch up with Petrina re progress with the art students up and coming stencil exhibition.  Apparently there is great excitement over North about this show, and all is going well there. 

The students are very lucky to have such a dedicated and enthusiastic art teacher as Petrina McDonald.  She's also lots of fun!

I am looking forward to meeting the year 10's other art teacher, Megan McFarlane in the near future.


Till soon!   c x

Stencil Art

Dirty Linen Artspace is going  to be the venue for a most interesting art event.  The Year 10 art students from North Bundaberg High School are going to have the first  'Hit and Run' art exhibition to be held in 'The Laundry' event room... the larger of the two spaces available for hire at Dirty Linen.

Brad Marsellos came up with this idea of exhibiting for a couple of days only, and plans to do this for his photographic exhibition in early July.

The students exhibition will only be showing for a maximum of  one or two days....so you will have to be sure not to miss out on seeing it!  North art teacher, Petrina McDonald and I have discussed June 15th, so mark that on your calendar.

Petrina  posted an instagram on fb a week or two ago. It showed a number of pieces of stencil art that her students had been producing.  I was really taken with them.  I couldn't stop thinking about these small self-portraits, some done on scraps of paper or pages torn from notebooks.

The stencilling process denies detail, but  achieves an expressive quality that in some cases is quite haunting.

There are sure to be some surprises on the night.

Talk art soon!  c x

Ring Christine Turner to book your 'Hit and Run' event.  Ph 0402403270 or email: christineturnerau@yahoo.com.au

Hit and Run!

Dirty Linen Art Space will be hosting some very interesting projects in the near future.....the 'Hit and Run' events will be short and sweet , spanning only one or two days at the most.

This format will be excellent for those people that cannot commit to a longer more traditional type of exhibition.

Charges will be quite minimal, so call me if you need any information. 

Attached below are a couple of the works of some very talented young artists who will be exhibiting in Dirty Linen's Laundry ArtSpace in our first 'Hit and Run' exhibition!!

I will tell you all about them tomorrow!    Talk art soon!  c x

Interesting!

An enthusiastic  crowd turned out last night to meet  representatives from Artsupport Australia 's Queensland Manager Fiona Maxwell, Australia Council for the Arts' Chief Executive Officer Kathy Keele and Artslink Queensland Chief Executive Officer Arthur Frame.

They had been on a fact finding tour of regional areas, assessing our needs.

After each of the three guests had made a short informative speech about their organistion, there was time to mingle and to gather up some of the promotional leaflets and books and so on that they had bought with them..

I was especially keen to meet with Kathy Keele of the Australia Council  Having had a grant from the AC in 2005/06, I was keen to tell her that I had just finished my third exhibition of the works I had made back then.  It is highly likely that the Suburban Goddesses will have a few more airings too!

Kathy was very interested in the work that was going on in the Wide Bay area.   She was most encouraging about my work too...(I had given her a photo book and a disc and a few odds and ends).
Kathy may be able to come to my opening at the Brenda May Gallery in Sydney this October. That would be wonderful, so I will keep in touch with her.

Till soon  cx