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.
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?
Dispossess Triang Trike 2020 watercolour 25 x 30 cm Possess Flipper, Skippy and Lassie 2020 watercolour on paper 26 x 26 cm
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.
My artwork ‘Redemption Series Echidna’ was selected as a finalist in the 2020 John Villiers Outback Art Prize. The artwork will be exhibited in the finalist exhibition between the dates of 6th March to 8th May 2020 at the Outback Regional Gallery located within the Waltzing Matilda Centre, Winton.
The gallery received a high number of entries from across Australia with 33 artists selected as finalists. Visiting guest judges were Henri Van Noordenberg and Lucy Culliton.
Sadly due to current circumstances this exhibition is closed.
Shark as Object was also selected as a finalist for the Muswellbrook Art Prize 2020.
This year they received 553 entries. After much deliberation by the selection panel 62 works were selected as finalists of the Prize. For the full list of finalists please visit the Muswellbrook Art Prize website.
This work has come about through my weekly visits to draw and document objects held at the Queensland Museum. A deep love and fascination of natural history and a long-standing practice within the genre of still life have collided to produce the perfect storm of subject matter and conceptual concerns. The ideas around the objectification of creatures has led to a d-evolution of the shark, from the valuable museum holotype skin of the Grey Nurse shark down to kitsch soap holders and shark suit–wearing Lego figurines. How do we feel about the various images of shark within our popular culture? From shiver to shudder, can it help our understanding and appreciation for the shark as an integral and important species? German mystic St Hildegard of Bingen said in the eleventh century “If we fall deeper and deeper in love with creation, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.” If this is the case, maybe even a plastic, grinning, dancing effigy of a shark can be redeemed.
Prints of this works are available through OneSpace either framed or unframed Digital print on 308gsm 100% cotton paper, paper size 68cm x 48cm, Edition 20 (1-20 available),
This is new work, currently in the Summer exhibition at Lorriane Pilgrim Gallery http://www.lorrainepilgrim.com/gallery/category/artists/summer-ex-2019/ and part of a series of works, investigating vulnerable creatures and the hope for a better future as we contemplate our responsibilities as custodians of this planet.
Redemption Series – Echidna 2019 oil on canvas 76 x 101 cm
as hundreds of dedicated Urban Sketchers descended on Brisbane city and drew hard for 3 days. Thanks to the Brisbane chapter of Urban Sketchers International for organsing the event. It was so much fun to be with talented tutors from Asia, interstate and local and be drawing and documenting the city together with many enthusiastic sketchers.
we had a lovely 4 weeks wandering and rambling through England and Wales, a great time with family and a chance to experience something of the rich landscape, natural and social history. So much to draw!
This past July saw 14 dedicated and enthusiastic students join me for a week of sketchbook scribbling. We had the best time together over the joy that drawing together and sharing our lives can bring. Thanks everyone at Artworx USQ Toowoomba for the smooth running and excellent programme.
My mother’s family migrated to Adelaide in the late 50’s so it was fitting to have Australien Future – tales of migration hosted by the Migration Museum in Adelaide. It is a lovely museum in the centre of the city and a perfect space for the show.
Bush stone curlews, kookaburras and shorebirds grace the walls of this property in Nelson Street, Ormiston, thanks to the generous actions of the owners who wish to raise awareness of local wildlife and share this with the neighborhood.
With my faithful offsider/daughter Meg, we sprayed and painted over a few days to have these characters emerge.
Bush stone Curlews are one of my favourite birds…so much personality!the teamshore birds flee down the fence walland take flight
Gladstone Regional Art Gallery & Museum, Cnr Goondoon and Bramston Str, Gladstone
Monday – Sat 10 am – 5 pm
The gallery has acquired the work ‘First Home Gladstone’ for their collection and it’s very fitting it remain with the gallery as it depicts the house my dad’s family settled in on arrival from the Netherlands in 1955. The house no longer exists but it remains a part of the history of Gladstone. My family gifted the gallery with a copy of my Grandfathers film which documented the whole journey from Rotterdam to Gladstone and from which many of the paintings in this exhibition were based on.