Award

I have just heard that I won an award at the Mid-way show at school. It was for 'Excellent Student for 1st Year'. Well, it seems that those late nights studying did amount to something after all. It is such a wonderful feeling when your efforts are acknowledged. Thank you NMIT.

Cosmos

These two are part of my Cosmos series. They are encrusted with Citrine and Clear Quartz Crystals. You can view others in the same series or some of my other series; at Crystal Heart in Carlton, Sentient Being in Eltham, or Loosh in Preston.

Dyslexia

Having only recently become aware of myself possessing Dyslexia, I am constantly surprised at just how many people I meet who are also Dyslexic. It is estimated that it is as high as one in five in this country (although these statistics seem to change every time I pick up literature on the subject). In the UK and America, children in primary schools have been tested for it since 1982. Here in Australia, at secondary and other higher education, a system has now been put in place for some assistance, however, in some primary schools it is not even recognized. My daughter, who has also been diagnosed with it, has had no help whatsoever. I have had to hunt through many obscure channels to finally find an outside tutor who could help her. WAKE UP AUSTRALIA!!!

Mixing up words, misspelling words or even leaving out complete lines of words are only some of the common factors. Thank God for Spell Check. I have lived most of my life knowing that there was something amiss but didn't know what it was. I strongly believed that I was stupid and had a learning disability. Since being diagnosed, my whole life has changed, and now I am not only comfortable with it, but I have even made the decision to go back to study - study was something I never thought I could do successfully in the past. Understanding is the key to many doors.

AOCDRNDICG TO RSCHEEARCH AT CMABRIGDE UINERVTISY, IT DSENO'T MTAETR WAHT OERDR THE LTTERES IN A WROD ARE, THE OLNY IPROAMTNT TIHNG IS TAHT THE FRSIT AND LSAT LTTEER BE IN THE RGHIT PCLAE. TIHS IS BCUSEAE THE HUAMN MNID DEOSNOT RAED ERVEY LTETER BY ISTLEF, BUT THE WROD AS A WLOHE. IF YOU ......CAN... RAED TIHS, PSOT IT TO YUOR WLAL. OLNY 55% OF PLEPOE CAN

Photography Wisdom for iPad

'Photography Wisdom' by Wayne Cosshall, has just been launched as an App for iPad. It is online at Apple's App Store. Cost: US$3.99 A$4.99
Link is: http://itunes.com/apps/PhotographyWisdom

'Photography Wisdom' contains practical advice on improving your photography and finding your own creative voice.
Link is: http://www.technomagickal.com/iphone-and-ipad-development-and-applications/photography-wisdom-ipad-app/

Darebin City

My painting "Hidden Treasures" has been accepted by the City of Darebin. By arrangement via, Kirrily, at NMIT and a representive of the Darebin Council, the handover of the painting will be documented and published in the local newspaper. I don't at the moment know when this will happen or where the painting will be situated.

Eve

This is my latest series in Printmaking, they are copper plate etchings. I have called her Eve. The middle one has been embossed, however it is difficult to see in the photo. The other two are chine colle and I am very happy with all the results.

Storm

My painting 'Storm' is now happily situated in Denise's beautiful new home.

My completed books

Here are 3 books I made. The largest was for Kirsten's class and the two little ones are for Geoff and George. They all have my images, the two small books are my version of 'A Rake's Progress'.

November 2011 Exhibition

It is now confirmed that in addition to the 'Thou Art Mum' June exhibition at Eltham Library, another one will be held in November at Montsalvat. It will keep me busy!

New Outlet - "Loosh"

Exciting news - my paintings are now selling at "Loosh" at 93-103 High Street, Preston.

Loosh is an exclusive Holistic Wellbeing Store and Therapy Centre. An urban oasis amidst the urban jungle.

Drop in, meet Diana and feast your eyes on their beautiful products. My paintings will be there happily and eagerly waiting for the right person.
www.looshexclusive.com.au

Escha van den Bogerd

This painting is part of the series that I am interested in. I love the way that her figures and their surroundings are unified.

Quote

Creativity takes courage.
Henri Matisse

Artist Statement

Moments In Time

This body of work is a continuation of my exploration of the various aspects of the human condition. Specifically, my interest lies in the roles in life people play, the interplay of light and dark in their lives and the boundary conditions between a person's inner and outer worlds. I explore these not only through the subject matter but through metaphor: firstly, the way light and shadow forms around the curves of the body and secondly, the relationship between the body and the surrounding space.

In my art, I like to experiment with different styles and mediums. As my art has matured my style has become looser and freer. In this latest collection I made a conscious move to use broader strokes and my preferred mediums to work with is either charcoal or pastel. I find that these mediums allow me to work quickly, thus, creating an easy spontaneous flow. Recently, I have discovered that after the drawing has been outlined, I then paint over it with water or another wet medium – the effect is a soft and fluid result. I also intentionally paint outside the lines as this process brings the surrounding background into the body, and vice-versa. I do this to emphasis the correlation to the outside world and the unifying connection of all things.

When I painted this series I was in awe and strongly influenced by the way Escha van den Bogerd captured this notion completely in her work. Whilst her work is darker and heavier, I purposely created my series to look light and airy.

TAM Exhibition

Next year's 'Thou Art Mum' exhibition has just been
confirmed.

We are booked into the Eltham Library.
3rd to 22nd June, 2011.
The theme will be "Moments In Time".

I have just put on my thinking cap.

Barnowlby Bubbles

Sarah Hardy (a wonderful friend) has finally finished her book.
Yes it is here. The launch of "Barnowlby Bubbles" children's picture book, written by Elisabeth hardy and Illustrated by Sarah Hardy. Come along and celebrate with them on Saturday 11th December at 2pm, at the Eltham Multi-purpose room, Eltham Library. There will be 2 exciting guest speakers, as well as drinks and nibbles, and of course the opportunity to purchase this wonderful book. See you there! It's going to be a blast!

Henry Moore

There's no retirement for an artist, it's your way of living so there's no end to it.
::: Henry Moore :::

Procrastinating

When I work, I work very fast, but preparing to work can take any length of time.
::: Cy Twombly :::

Action Shots

The Zoo is a fantastic place to catch some great action shots. You never know what you are going to see. Caught with SLR high shutter speed.

Night Lights

Night lights - painting with light. This was made with sparklers and using a long exposure.

Chuck Close

“I am going for a level of perfection. That is only mine...
Most of the pleasure is in getting the last little piece perfect.”
- Chuck Close

Libby Schreiber

Below are some prints by a brilliant printmaker, Libby Schreiber. I am so lucky to be able to claim Libby as a friend and a fellow member of 'Thou Art Mum'.





Libby describes this work as: "My work is very personal in the sense that it reflects my thoughts about my life and how and where everything and everyone else fits into it. I am quite self analytical and my art acts as a kind of visual diary. At times the truth is stretched, at other times humour is used to help me see the light side of life. At the end of the day I want my work to be accessible to all, so I use objects and symbols that are familiar to most of us with a little stylization.

Some of my images come to me seemingly out of the blue whilst others are the result of focusing on a thematic starting point. When I have a few ideas I begin drawing onto the lino and re-work the image until it comes together which can take months. Print is an exciting medium as you never really know until you print, whether the image has been successful or not. I hope to continue developing my imagery and techniques well into the future.".

My Artist Book

For my next project, I will be creating an Artist Book. I have chosen to showcase my version of 'A Rakes'Progress' along with the corresponding text.

However, I have already hit a snag with trying to sort out what paper to use. I wanted to emboss the paper and this is turning out to be a problem. I cannot emboss after I have printed the image as the ink will run. If I do it the other way by printing after I have embossed; the paper will not only warp but it will be too thick to feed through the printer, and I cannot iron it out as it will affect the embossed image.

Next try will be on Matt 150gsm paper. Hopefully, this time I will have some success with the printer.