a r t a b o u t ....

It happened again yesterday....
It was the end of the day, I was cleaning up my desk and sweeping up the lino floor of the studio, when a man, who was decked out in the latest tennis gear, politely drew my attention to ask:

"hi there. Are you about to take an art class?"
"Oh no...sorry...Im an artist that is working in this art studio at the moment."
"(Disappointment) Oh....well, could you tell me where I could go in Sydney to take an art class?

I used to love playing around with paint, and would like to maybe get into it again..."

So I told him of a few places in the area, and he thanked me and went onto his hired tennis court to have a game!

People often ask me where they can enrol in a fun art class and it's often people who miss out on some form of creative pursuit in their week, and would like to balance out their life again. And believe me I'm all for that!! There are many many place to study in Sydney, and Ill go into more of them as the year goes on...

But for people who want to know what it feels like to play in a real art school The National Art School in East Sydney runs a huge range of classes in many different mediums from beginners all the way up to practicing artists...The teachers are all artists themselves, so they are insightful about their craft and knowledgeable about the arts industry...
So it could be the start of a great journey!

One course that I was emailed about yesterday that sounded interesting is called Deciphering Contemporary Art and it is being taken by Craig Judd, a local arts writer, curator and lecturer. In this 3-week course in March Craig will take his class on gallery walking tours, to discover and explore new areas of Sydney, and galleries and artists that you may have never heard of before....If you've ever wondered what the f&%$ IS contemporary art, this one is for you.....

Speaking of young contemporary artists, one show that is about to close at the end of the week is Chrissie Ianssens' solo exhibition at MOP gallery in Abercrombie st Chippendale. Its called Suburbrubus (a hard one to pronounce) and it is about HER walks around Sydney and the contrasting forms of architecture that she discovers.

The works are incredibly detailed and intricate and play with your eye, as they contort around corners and walls (seen in the photo, below, right). If you would like to meet Chrissie and discover more about this young painter, she is holding a closing party tomorrow at 6pm and all are welcome....

Chrissie is a lovely artist and I have exhibited with her a couple of time over the years...The image above is from the exhibition Le Fil that was at Gaffa last year, and as you can see, my little embroidered owls look VERY TINY along side Chrissie's lovely dynamic painting...

oh dear!