Despite a last minute covid lockdown, the Summer School went ahead minus a few days.
It was great to be joined by a fun group of enthusiastic students who embraced drawing from life in a sketchbook as we investigated the natural world using taxidermy and drawing outside in the Japanese Gardens at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba.
I had the lovely privilege to be commissioned to create a bronze bust of an older gentleman, a retired doctor on the Gold Coast. He sat for me for several 3 hour sittings and I worked up the sculpture in oil based clay.
The resultant portrait was then taken to Chalkos Fine Art Foundry and the long process of going to bronze. I was very happy with the results as were the clients.
This was a delightful commission to produce a bronze pelican for a private client.
a commission to make an isographic illustration of a map for a fantasy playground at Bradbury Park, Chermside by Brisbane City Council.
I also did a sculpture commission of a Bronze Boobook Owl on a Book as part of the narrative and for children to discover as they explore the Magic Forest.
In addition to this, I created a new ‘Guardian of the Forest’ sculpture which was cast in bronze and mounted over the entry gate to the park.
about the Drawing to Dis/Possess project and the exhibition now up at Lorraine Pilgrim Gallery, Southport.
The exhibition is open for viewing by appointment with Lorraine Pilgrim Gallery, Southport. ph 07 5532 7170
On Saturday August 8th I will be having two sessions in conversation with Jodi Ferrari (Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre) about my current project Drawing to Dis/Possess. NOTE!! these sessions postponed to future date due to COVID
At both of these sessions I will be drawing objects while we chat about the stories and value we place on things. There will be an exhibition of drawings, watercolours and oil paintings I have been making in recent times as I wrestle with my own consumption and collecting choices. We hope to reschedule these talks soon.
Drawing to Dis/Possess
An experiment into how I might be able to dis/possess myself of material belongings.
I am making drawings, sketches, and paintings of things I have, but no longer need, in the hope that through the act of making an ‘iconic transfer’ I can rid myself of possessions.
Alongside, must be the equally vital act of not seeking to possess any more things. So, I am making drawings, sketches, and paintings of objects I covet, stuff I’d love to acquire, things that are tempting me but maybe don’t really need to own.
How do I manage my own collecting habits and be more vigorously present in my enjoyment of the objects I own or wish to own?
Is the act of drawing them enough? Can I be content to have enjoyed them, spent time with them, observing their aesthetic or functional beauty or reveling in their nostalgic blast?
Can I draw to dis/possess?
in which I chat about what a sketchbook could mean to us at such a time as this and a demo of a fun drawing exercise to try.
Just before Covid 19 restrictions started to mean that life was changing and teaching was going to be different, I was delighted to spend 2 days a week for 4 weeks at St Margaret’s Anglican girls school with grades 7, 8, 9 and 10 students as we worked through a variety of art projects around their themes of ‘soaring’. I hope to return at some stage and see where their investigations took them.
