Friday, July 17, 2009

ahhhh..artists love a good studio in the bush...

Studio or shack?... Doesn't matter as long as you can play like a pig in mud.


All it needs is some sort of roof and at least one wall!

I swear - so many of us are the same and dream of having a studio shack they can call their very own! Two artists that have had a bit of publicity in the last few days prove my theory of this phenomena!


One is the lovely ceramic artist Sandy Lockwood who is featured in the August edition of Australian Country Style... a magazine that can do a surprisingly good job at featuring artists in their natural habitat!! Sandy's studio is in Balmoral Village, 90 minutes south-west of Sydney, and she has created a shed and two beautiful kilns with which to fire her pieces in... As she puts it:


At first living in the bush was such a foreign experience - (with) the impact of the weather on everything that you do! Now I see the gradual changes of daily and seasonal rhythms, the subtlety of light and shadow, texture and contrast. It brings me a lot of pleasure.





And that is what it is about... communing with the natural rhythms of the light, the sound, the textures and the flow of time that does not require a watch... Sandy's work really reflects this notion as her salt glazed ceramic pieces feel raw and worked upon by nature and its elements...


Sandy lectures part-time at the National School of Art where the Ceramic Triennale is being held ...but her vessels, bowls, pourers, and plates are in exhibitions all over the city .. such as Object Gallery, Planet on Commonwealth, Rex Irwin + Freelands Gallery... Definitely worth a look and a feel...!



The other artist that is enjoy a bit of a return to popularity and publicity is Ian Fairweather. An artist that has always courted as much attention with his way of living as his paintings, Fairweather has always been loved in the arts community for his amazing vision, his mark making and his unflinching belief in the purity of art for arts sake!!


The ABC documentary Fairweather Man that aired last night gave a true insight into this misunderstood man, who ended up living on Bribie Island Queensland surrounded by nature and working with whatever came to hand! It was a brilliant doco and like Sandy showed how many artists like to explore their creative mind - by conversing with nature for inspiration, guidance and truth...

The new publication of Fairweather's work has been out and about in the bookstores for a while now but I have to admit that it was nice to hear the stories from the people that knew him best and loved him, rather than reading a dry account of his life through his monographs...



On another tangent completely... check out The Design files reporting from Melbourne's State of Design festival that is on at the moment... She is really getting stuck into every table, every product and every talk+opening!!
Love this work by Able and Game below...

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