Oslo Davis

Visiting Artist Talk
Chisholm TAFE Frankston

When the visiting artists begins his chat by saying something like “I am an observer of the bizarre and the funny” you know you are in for an interesting talk. I have to admit up front that I do not read The Age newspaper, so had not heard of Oslo. It came as a pleasant surprise to have him take the time to talk to us today, as well as showing some of his work.

As well as showing his early sketches in his visual diaries, he also showed us progress shots of his process of building up the text and drawing for his cartoons. Not a lot of artists will show off the process in such detail, and explain the creative thinking behind the final product we see printed or exhibited.

Exhibiting and Galleries

A Brief Introduction for Artists and Art Students

For those of us who are confused or inexperienced about how to go about exhibiting our art or the types of gallery spaces available, we had a short session today at Chisholm to talk about what is currently in the art market place that we can consider.

Philip separated the kind of spaces in to a few easy to understand categories, so I will do the same.

Tonalism – Tonal Studies in Blue

First of Five all Day Workshops with David Chen

Subjects for this Session: Still Life from Arrangement in Studio
or Landscape/Seascape from Photo Reference

Second Semester Workshops with David are covering how to get that unified look in our paintings so that all the colours are “talking” or “relating” to each other. This method of tonalism was mastered by Monet and many of the Impressionists and if you look through their work you will see that their use of colour is what holds the paintings together and makes everything look “right”.

Copying nature colour by colour and detail by detail may be OK for a photo or a realist painter in some cases, but as artists we have the opportunity to make something work better by looking and then with the understanding of what colour can do, changing what we see to what we want.

Hannah Bertram

Visiting Artist At Chisholm Frankston

Workshop for Advanced Diploma Students over two days and Artist Talk

Quoting Hannah’s Biography: “Hannah Bertram completed a Bachelor of Fine Art in 2003 and a Master of Fine Art in 2005 at RMIT Melbourne. Her ephemeral works have been widely exhibited throughout Australia and Internationally. She is currently a lecturer at Deakin University Melbourne.”

Hannah’s practice investigates the ambiguity of value, the transformation of worthless materials and the passing of time. She has done a lot of work using dust as her main material. This can come from a variety of sources, so the texture, colour and other qualities vary allowing her to create designs that have tone, texture and depth. Her work is created to fade, move, deteriorate and either disappear by themselves or be removed. She is constantly on the search for how to create work and record it in ways that will not last.

Life Drawing and Painting

Draw and Paint from Life Model
All Day Workshop with David Chen

I have avoided drawing and painting the human figure for much of my life, for a while it was because I wasn’t painting at all, but even when I was, the human figure held no interest for me. Humans, so far, I felt had not been very kind to me so I preferred animals, seascapes and landscapes.

It has taken some years and convincing to talk me into placing them back into my practice of drawing and painting. Having life drawing as part of my diploma course has also necessitated me taking on the skill of rendering the human form. Having a bias in your thinking isn’t an easy thing to face, but to be a well rounded artist, it has been something I have had to do. It sill isn’t an easy subject, but with David’s tutoring this semester I am hoping to start to conquer it or at least make a start.

Waves & Water: Australian Beach Photographs

Art Chat at McClelland Gallery

Speaker: Daina Fletcher,
Senior Curator
National Maritime Museum, Sydney

The National Maritime Museum holds collections of everything from ships and maritime objects from war and immigration. The museum is working on expanding and upgrading to hold video, artworks, literature and photography covering Australia’s history and love with the sea, the beach and all things “water” related. Efforts are being made for the near future, to start diving to record, preserve and document shipwrecks.

The Exhibition of photographs on loan from the museum documents Australia’s love of the beach from approximately the 1930s through to the last few years. Of major interest are the iconic prints of photos taken by Max Dupain, one of which has become famous world wide.

Italian Masterpieces

Exhibition from Spain’s Royal Court
Museo Del Prado

National Gallery of Victoria

Artworks from the 16th to 18th Century highlighting the work of some of the most famous and many possibly unknown artists to many Australians, of the period.

This collection reflects the taste of those who chose each piece over nearly two hundred years. Rather than reflecting the work of only one or two painters, or a particular style, this exhibition reflects the personalities and likes of the Spanish Royal court and their desire to own the best of Italian art through the Renaissance to the early Rococo period.

The NGV has put together and displayed a large array of drawings, etchings and paintings over seven rooms, which take the viewer on a journey of education and interest. I spent over two hours in the exhibition and could have stayed longer to explore the techniques and subjects covered in the over 105 artworks. Each room was a new amazing discovery for me, with at least one work that I had to investigate further because of the clear understanding of the human form, light and shade, colour and various applications of paint for texture shown by the artist.

Camberwell Art Show

Some Rough Statistics for Artists

The Camberwell Art Show has now finished for another year. At the end of an event like this I feel it is a good idea for us as practising artists to have a look at how the show went. This helps us plan for next year. We may want to change the subject, style or presentation of the work we enter depending on what we see in the sales figures.

Victorian Artists Society

The Member’s Room

Exhibiting for the Month of July 2014

Tales of Things Lost or Forgotten
Some of the Major Pieces

I am very pleased and proud to have recent works on display in the Member’s Room at the Victorian Artists Society. They are available to purchase and I am very happy to talk to any art collectors new or current who may be interested in one or more of the pieces.

The Victorian Artists Society was started by some of Australia’s most prestigious Impressionist artists of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Membership is by sponsorship only and the standard of presented paintings and skill level are assessed before membership is given. It is because of this that I was honoured to be sponsored by the then President of the Society whilst talking to her on the phone.

My work was checked on-line and in the email I submitted as I didn’t know anyone in the Society to sponsor me. I have entered a few shows since then, but the Member’s room as part of my project for my Advanced Diploma in 2014 is the most ambitious venture I have done with them to date.

This preview of my body of work for 2014 will be in the book to be published at the end of 2014. As the project is still ongoing, comments and suggestions are most welcome. Enquiries about my other works can also be made through my web site at: http://www.janicemills.net.

A hint of what the paintings will look like hanging in the Member’s Room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colley Whisson’s Exhibition Opening

Without Pier Cheltenham

I have liked Colley’s work for quite a while after he gave a demonstration at one of the guilds of which I have been a member over the past ten years.

He has only improved and it was great to see a sizeable body of his work on display. The Without Pier gallery space in Cheltenham, which I hadn’t visited before is a light well lit building. The paintings all hung at a good height and far enough apart to allow enjoyment of every piece.

Looking at all the other works on display on the storage facilities of Without Pier impressed me as well. it is apparent that the gallery only takes in and sells work of a particular standard, which helps them as a business and all the artists exhibiting and selling through them.