Thursday 20 October 2016

Walkerville Art Show 2016


Over the past summer I had been working on a number landscape pieces that aimed to depict the beauty and colour of the mid north region from an elevated point of view. This has involved searching out a number of high vantage points from which I could observe the ‘patchwork’ nature of the vast landscape and the distinct changes in colour as the horizon recedes into the distance. The wonderful thing about such observations is just how dramatically the colours can change depending upon the, weather conditions, time of the day or stage in the seasons. There are just so many unique combinations that can result in so many variations on the same view.


I recently entered one of these pieces (‘Beyond the Track’) into the 2016 Walkerville Art Show and was very pleased to be awarded with ‘Best in Show’. This honor was particularly satisfying as the exhibition included works by a number of local artists whom I have increasingly grown to admire. Likewise, having highly respected artist Andrew Baines as this years judge was certainly an encouraging nod for what I was trying to achieve with this particular piece.




Monday 3 October 2016

‘The Art of Flower and Garden’ at Burra


 One of the little gems of the mid north of South Australia is the Burra Regional Gallery, which is about half an hour from the Clare. It has been operating successfully for twenty years and is a perfect model of how a community gallery should work. Housed in the towns original telegraph and post office, the presentation space is large enough to provide ample space for the display of a variety of art forms throughout several rooms. The works are always presented in a professional manner, with due consideration for each piece and as a result the gallery often attracts artists from throughout the state and beyond. It has a dedicated team of volunteers who generate a wide variety of exhibitions throughout the year, while ensuring that community involvement remains a high priority.


One of their annual exhibitions is ‘The Art of Flower and Garden’, which is open throughout October and is perfectly timed with the onset of spring. I currently have two paintings on display and there are a wide a variety other works by mostly local artists covering a range of media. Each piece provides a fresh perspective on the joys of the garden, which has historically been a favorite subject matter amongst artists. The exhibition certainly reflects the myriad of visual inspirations that can be found right outside our own backdoor.  






Monday 8 August 2016

'Distant Horizons' @ Pikes gallery

For SALA (South Australian Living Artists) 2016, I was invited to exhibit with two other artists at the Pikes Winery gallery. The title of the exhibition is ‘Distant Horizons’ which is a reflection of the vastness of the Clare region with its diverse range of landscapes. In my mind, the title could also be interpreted as a metaphor of the journey of the artist…heading into unknown territory while moving toward an illusionary end point that never really comes.

The other artists in the exhibition are Merek Herburt and Jim Cook. Each of us have very different styles and interpretations of our regional environment, which makes the exhibition particularly interesting.  Indeed, curator Cathy Pike was very keen to display the works along side each other in order to emphasise this striking contrast. With each of the 30 landscapes on show, each of us have been selective in our vision and have taken something unique from what we have observed.

The Clare Valley has a way of inspiring artists through its subject matter, colour and light and through out  SALA month there will be many artists who will be displaying there own interpretation of this unique region in a series of local exhibitions that should be well worth visiting.







Tuesday 24 May 2016

Exhibition at Annie’s Lane


I was recently invited to mount an exhibition of works in the gallery space at Annie’s Lane winery. This is a wonderful venue as it not only located in picturesque Watervale, in the heart of the Clare Valley, but the gallery space is situated within the beautiful, heritage listed Quelltaler Estate. The century old cellar provided the ideal venue for my paintings as many of them depict aspects of this historical wine growing region.

This exhibition of paintings was been inspired by the unique landscape of the mid-north of South Australia, capturing both its vastness and the beautiful details that can be seen within this natural environment. While the subject matter is very much inspired by the Clare Valley, the works also reflect much about my exposure to art in Europe and Asia over the past six years, in particular the use of light. These works continued my exploration of traditional oil painting techniques used to depict the changing nature of the local landscape and its timeless qualities.


The exhibition was opened to coincide with annual Clare Valley gourmet weekend, which again saw over 5000 visitors descend upon the region to enjoy the best of local food and wine. Hopefully, some of them they took time out to have a look at the works on display, if not the exhibition will be open daily over the next couple of months.







Monday 18 April 2016

The 2016 Adelaide Park Lands Art Prize


The Adelaide Park Lands Art Prize is a biennial event organised by the Adelaide City Council to celebrate the city and its wonderful natural environment that remains an integral aspect of its design. Launched in 2014, this art prize is open to all artists, working in 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional art forms including photography, so the works on show are particularly varied, all inspired by various aspects of our unique parklands.

This year I was fortunate to have a painting selected for the exhibition and attended the opening at the Adelaide Festival Centre. It was great to see the event so well attended, with the quality of the creative works on show reinforcing our common passion for the subject matter. Both John Schumann and Ian Gilfillan added further gusto to the evening when opening the exhibition, both expressing their ongoing support of our parklands and the role of the visual arts in celebrating them.

Congratulations must go the Nick Mount as this year’s overall winner, with a beautifully crafted piece, ‘Wakefield and East: A Still Life’, but also to all of the 59 artists who contributed to a truly impressive and diverse exhibition.