Open Sesame ~ Close Sesame

Converge exhibition has come and gone in a flash of five days only. It was a wonderful experience! I met some fabulous people, made great contacts and thoroughly enjoyed being in charge, with Julia and Natalie, of how the exhibition looked and what was included.

We had about 30 people to the 'opening'. Everyone had a great time and the three of us got fabulous feedback.

Here we are, the artists, Natalie Bateman (left), me (in the middle) and Julia Morrell (right). Behind us you can see Julia's triptych "Kingfisher Message" (digital prints on canvas) and Natalie's "Abstract on Lovers" (acrylic on canvas). In the blurry foreground are 4 little artist books by me.

Uncle Martin Ballangarry helped open the show and welcomed us to country. Here he is with his grandson looking at my books. He is such a fabulous guy! I enjoyed meeting him enormously.

Another shot of the crowd. It was a good size. I got to speak to just about everyone I think.


I took this shot the next day so you had a better look at my "bootiques".

Tonight ~ tonight

The 'official' opening of our exhibition is on tonight. I'm not fussed with the term 'opening' and prefer 'soiree' because the exhibition actually opened on Wednesday. But who wants to go to an exhibition opening on a Wednesday night in Gladstone? (A: no one.) So tonight is by far the best time to have it, however, the term 'opening' has confused quite a few people. And so our exhibition soiree is on tonight! The wine is already in the boot of my car, I'm packing cds and making nibblies and it should be very very good.

Deep Thought (Pink Henna)
Mixed Media on paper, 10cm x 10cm

We have had some good response to the exhibition so far and today I am heading down there earlier to spend time in the gallery. I'll also be there all weekend if you are thinking of coming for a look.

Next week I should be organised enough to show more images of the works you haven't seen yet. So "cheers" to you if you can't be there tonight. I really appreciate all my readers and thank you very much for the support you give me!

Hanging the exhibition - conVerge

What a day we had yesterday! Exhibition hanging day was long but a great team effort by us all has resulted in a fabulously exciting exhibition. The Macleay Valley Gallery at Gladstone (NSW) is situated at the side of the community hall. It is a wonderful space. This is the view of our exhibition "conVerge" from the front doors. If you would like to know what each bit of the photo is, click on it and you will be taken to it's Flickr page where I've annotated them. It's almost like being there! Ha. Not really. You still need to come if you can!

It was a long day and I took these photos at 9pm (before my 1 hour drive home). I thought my eyes were blurry but no, I did something wrong with the camera and the photos are blurry. I promise better shots later in the week. This is the view when you turn and look back at the front door.
Yes, we have a little "shop" area thanks to Julia acquiring the spinning card rack at bargain price! It's full of Julia and Natalie's cards, my hand printed cards, notebooks and unframed prints. I've also got some small blank books and hand stitched patchwork pouches.

These are my recent mixed media works on paper (below). All female faces layered with book pages and patterns.

I'm so excited to show you this little work, my "Portrait in 5 Parts". They are tiny oil on canvas paintings in found frames. Some of the frames have very old curved glass and the cluster on the wall looks great, with just a touch of something spooky. Do you like it?

These are the first works of my Paris series. Oil on canvas they glow richly under the gallery lights. I kept looking at this little corner of the gallery all day and thinking "ahh, Paris!"

The back room of the gallery is filled with Natalie and Julia's works. It has an entirely different 'feel' to that of the front room. It is an exciting feeling, adventurous even. Click on the photo (as with all in this post) to visit the Flickr page to see whose is what. The plinth in the centre has 4 small artist books by me and another of my "booquets".

Natalie Bateman is an indigenous artist and has large paintings on canvas in the exhibition. Natalie currently lives in Nambucca Heads and the beautiful coast there as well as her tradition home on the south coast have influenced these works. Julia is exhibiting mainly photographs and she is a powerhouse of skills. She is currently setting up a business that will assist artists with promotion, publishing and much more.

It was a long day but a good one. I'm truly excited about the exhibition. Hope I see you there!

Getting ready for Converge next week!

I'm sorry to have neglected my blog in the last little while. I've been busy finishing paintings, drawings and other bits and pieces for the group show next week in Gladstone (NSW - see my previous post here for details). One of the fun things I've been working on is a small installation of paper flowers made from old book pages. It is titled 'Boouquet', a blend of the words 'book' and 'bouquet'. The piece is an opportunity to enjoy books purely for their delicious smell! I'll have photos next week after it is up and in the gallery. (I hope it looks as good as it smells!)


Below is preview of another of the mixed media works for the exhibition 'Plans'. I promise to have more posts and photos soon. Have a good week everyone.