the reluctant sitter

At the opening of The North Sydney Art Prize on Friday night,
standing reluctantly next to my artwork!
Photo: Tina Fox

Very very rarely do I come out of hiding.

I like to tuck myself away behind behind my artworks

And let them do the talking for me.

But on certain occasions I am persuaded to stand front and centre... and give a shy smile to the lens. 

And the photo you can see above was taken on one of those 'special' occasions.

So... what was the occasion I hear you ask?

Well... Last Friday night The North Sydney Art Prize had its grand opening, and one of my new artworks was there, as it had been selected to be a finalist - which was a nice surprise. 

The artwork is called 'The Nocturne 528' and it is a diptych that comprises of a large mix media weaving and a drawing created on hand made paper.

Its the first time I have tried this combination - and on first glance I am happy with how they both look. 

But im like any other artist, and as I sat with it a bit longer on the night, I realised that there is a lot of room for this series to expand, grow + change.

And that's what I am excited about.

The next phase of this project.

But for now this artwork will sit on the wall at The North Sydney Chambers, and take in a view which consists of some pretty amazing paintings/drawings/photographs/ and weavings. 

And it doesn't end there!

As an added bonus this years prize is also being exhibited at the amazing Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability (which Ive written about here.) Its a brilliant site and a lovely place to revitalise an art prize that has just celebrated its 21st anniversary. Exhibiting half of the art prize at the Coal Loader was also great way to tie in this years curatorial theme which was Towards 2020.

And let me just say I was blown away with how each artist interpreted that theme - and what materials they used! Everything from plastics, hay, beeswax, steel, lace, was played with and manipulated to create some pretty amazing artwork.

It really is a great show and a great honour to be a part of it all.

The Nocturne 528, 2013, Mix Media weaving and drawing Diptych

The North Sydney Art Prize
27 July - 5 August 2013
(please click on the link for all the details)

ps - thank you so very much Tina Fox aka paperbagkits for taking this photo of me.
I know Im not the easiest of subjects!!

Is one head better than none?

Tim Storrier, The Histrionic Wayfarer (after Bosch),
2012 Winner of the Archibald Prize

Hi everyone...

How was your weekend? 

In this part of the globe the two big art galleries were vying our attention in the past few days, and putting their best face forward in preparation for the Easter holidays ahead. 

First off the blocks was The MCA, which reopened on Thursday after a 53 million dollar redevelopment of its Circular Quay site. In 18 months the gallery has been given a new wing and a new name - The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCAA), and all reports its an amazing new space.

Im excited to see it. 

But for today's post I thought I would walk across The Domain to The Art Gallery of NSW as they just announced Tim Storrier as the winner of the Archibald Portrait Prize for painting. And what a surprise it was ... as it is a portrait painting without a head. Interesting... 

Its a brilliant concept for a painting. And its a little bit cheeky too. To paint the character or 'portrait' of a man by displaying his tools for living in one big back pack, dog included, is truly clever. But where is the feeling? For me a great work of art makes me feel an emotion, and then I move further in and look at the execution and use of materials. 

Jenny Sages, After Jack
Runner up for The Archibald Prize

So... in this estimation the self portrait of Jenny Sages called 'After Jack' is a winner. Jenny leaves herself open and vulnerable in this painting that speaks of her utter sadness after the death of her late husband. 

It is raw emotion. And it is beautiful. 

She maybe the runner up for the Archibald. 

But for me it is the one.

And the horses are in!

And its all about Margaret Olley!

Ben Quilty has won this years Archibald Prize with an up close and personal portrait of one of this countries great art figures - Margaret Olley. For the last few years Ben has been close to attaining this prestigious painting prise; the one that has alluded him and his very illustrious career to date. But it was Margaret who has helped him win this years prize with a very loose and very accurate rendering of Margaret in her synonymous straw hat.

In Ben's words....‘She’s such an inspiration... She was a feminist ahead of her time. She’s vigorously passionate about social and political issues, as well as art, and is enormously compassionate. Margaret has such an infectious attitude to both life and death. Recently, I was amazed at how many new works she had on the go. She said to me, “I’m like an old tree dying and setting forth flowers as fast as it can, while it still can.” I thought that was such a powerful metaphor.’

Can everyone remember this portrait for the 1948 Archibald Prize? Mr William Dobell painted a very young and beautiful friend - Miss Margaret Olley from Brisbane - and it still is talked about in art theory classes at universities across the country.

I don't think this work by Ben will be as famous. But for now it is THE painting of the moment and will be on display at the AGNSW to be studied by the next group of judges - a.k.a the public over the next few months!

Also just announced was the 2011 winner of The Wynne Landscape prize which was taken out by Richard Goodwin with this sculptural piece called Co-Isolated Slave.

And last, but not least, The Sulman Prize was won by Peter Smeeth with his oil painting called The Artists' Fate. And a gruesome fate it is too. Wonder what tales Peter could tell about his time being an artist?!

The Archibald, Wynne & Sulman Prizes

Open to the public until June 26

Art Gallery of NSW

Art Gallery Road The Domain 2000

and the winner is ....

Sam Leach with two tiny works!

Just when I thought small artworks were

never going to make it to the finals of the Archibald again,

Sam wins the major painting prize with a lovely

detailed oil painting of comedian Tim Minchin!

Congrats to Sam for winning the prize and also taking out the Wynne Landscape prize in the same year! The only other artists' to have achieved this amazing feat

were William Dobell and Brett Whiteley...

So he is in good company!

Geez it must be strange to be the centre of attention in a media scum....especially when you're used to no one knowing who you are, and hibernating in a small studio painting day in day out!!

Sam Leach, Tim Minchin, oil on canvas, 2010 winner of Archibald Prize

Sam Leach, Proposal for Landscape Cosmos, oil on canvas, 2010 winner of the Wynne Prize


Sam has been around for a little while now and has won the Metro 5 painting prize for artists' under 35, which is an important prize to take out when you're starting out... He is now finishing off his Masters of Painting Research at RMIT and will use the money he won yesterday to focus on his work without having to think too much about part time work!!

Sullivan + Strumpf had a solo show of his work last year and each painting in that exhibition was dark and Gothic... with a touch of the Romantic!
After hearing him talk yesterday, you could work out that he is a serious painter with a lot of quiet determination. I'm sure he will be around for quite some time, and I'm looking forward to getting a closer look at his beautiful works...

Congrats again Sam and enjoy a few drinks on the winnings!!

transience wins!

Oh im happy about this....

The Turner 2009 Prize has been announced at the Tate Britain in London and the winner this year is Glasgow-based Richard Wright (49) with his wall drawing, seen above...

Well... I say drawing but the work is like Renaissance fresco, as Richard has made an impression on the wall and then gone over it with glue size and stuck gold leaf ontop of it. The work is made specifically for the space and has been designed from Richard's feelings and thoughts while in the moment of conception. The cannot be taken off the wall and so after the show it is destroyed and painted over with white paint, in readiness for the next exhibition....

There is something so so beautiful in that concept.

It is an impression, made in the moment and then it disappears...

It kind of reminds me of a beautiful walk on Belongil beach at dusk...

I was walking along the beach and things were disappearing and then reappearing...

People walking on the beach ahead of me,

tiny crabs moved in and out of their little hidey holes in the sand,

the remains of trees and roots on the shoreline...

and then I saw a figure hidden in a little make shift cubby house within the tree line...

He waved

I waved

and then I kept walking...

Just one moment and then it was over.

Congrats to Richard though!

It was his last year to enter the prize as next year he would be too old to compete!

The work is so beautiful, so historic in tone and of such a lovely nature that it had to be a winner!

never too late....

Hallandal, Tsunami, 2009, Winner of Dobell Drawing Prize 2009

I love these stories...

You know...The ones that make you think that life can always be exciting new and magical. Where age is a state of mind and change and good fortune can befall you when you're 100! Recently the arts industry has had two of these stories occur and I just had to make mention of them as they made me smile...

The first was the announcement of The newly established Balnaves Foundation Sculpture Prize of $60,000 and it was awarded to 91-year-old Australian sculptor May Barrie for her work 'Time and tide granite monolith II' at the 13th annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition!

It was a fantastic announcement if not a little controversial, as the piece was not a favourite of many who viewed the show... When I saw the granite piece by Barrie I was taken aback. BUT it is an organic, quiet and reflective work - a bit zen if you will! Usually a major prize is awarded to an artpiece with all the bells and whistles! But not this, and May is a deserved winner at 91....

She commented by saying:

I know it's a good work and now I'm glad that other people agree. I'm surprised and pleased to have been given this award - I hope I'm not just dreaming this! I'd like to thank the Balnaves Foundation for their support of the arts and Sculpture by the Sea.

May is inspirational as is the 81 year old who won this years Dobell Prize!

A week after May won the sculpture prize, Pam Hallandall became the oldest winner of the Art Gallery of NSW's $25,000 major drawing prize. The Melbourne based artist won the prize back in 1996 but has led a relatively quiet career teaching at a craft college for 30 years . The work entitled 'Tsunami' is based on the images and her feelings on witnessing the horrific events that happened in the 2004 with the Tsunami disaster. Judge Nick Mourtzakis said there was 'subtle and powerful poetry of form at play and it was deeply moving'.

It is just so brilliant that these two women in the late careers can display such a beautiful touch with their work and be as exited as ever about their artwork and in exhibiting it to the public!...

I hope to be that dedicated, motivated and excited at their age...

Speaking of quiet dignity and drive to learn at an older age, I found this image the other week in the SMH... The man in the image below is a shoe polisher from Kabul who took a break to quietly read...
And I was absolutely drawn to it!

Its a beautiful image of a man in a crumbling city who had found a corner with which to work, reflect and learn...

Now that is poetry...

Weavings....

Another week flies off into the unknown and Im barely eeking out an existence!!! Where have all the minutes gone?? I know ive existed through a few of them....

When in doubt I go back to the trusted diary and find a moment where I felt like I learnt/saw/felt or drew something!! This time its 'saw'... as I had a look at my first event on the Art +About October calendar for this year.

If you have been able to procure a brochure you would have seen page upon page of public art event listings - which has taken this years festival to another level of excellence! I swear its truly commendable what the City of Sydney is doing for Art + About .... I have to take my proverbial hat off to them!!

This week - being a non-existent week for me- Ive only seen one thing so far.... being the Open Street Gallery which hangs throughout the streets of the city as flag art. This years theme is Nothing Lost-Nothing is Nothing-We are Nothing. Which I admit sounds grim... but it truly isn't, as 10 new works from Aboriginal artists living in NSW are displayed. Dion Mundine the curator states:

What we draw on from our memories, and think, imagine and create in our daily lives is our dreaming....art our art is the spirit of these seemingly common everyday experiences in and from the land we belong to.

Artists such as Elaine Russel, Harry Wedge, Adam Hill and Frances Bell look at 'Landscape' and the histories and experiences they have lived through while being an Indigenous Australian. They are beautiful artworks and as they float and swing above us on the light poles they weave another beautiful dimension and tapestry into the grey + somber roads of the inner city. When your next in town...look up!!

While on the subject of Aboriginal art it seems my little blog is getting air play in places such as Ernabella in the Northern Territory... and Warnum in Western Australia!!! Very happy about that fact... And from these places I was given a reminder of the beautiful country that we live in and the talented artists that work here ...

This image of the red earth {below} is from Ernabella thanks to RM... {I do believe its mirroring my photo essay on my walk with the dog in the wet the other day and all the images I took of the plant life!!! Correct me if Im wrong Miss R!}

The images below are from Darwin and the announcement of the 26th National Telstra Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islands Award that has just been announced. Miss Caz was at the award with Lena Nyadbi - who is featured in the photos with her work Dayiwul 2009 which made the finals.

Unfortunately Lena did not pick up the prize -

The major prize going to Danie Mellor's work on paper 'From Rite to Ritual' 2009...{below}

But as you can see from the photos, Lena's work is truly beautiful, capturing the unique style of the peoples from the Warnum lands...

Thanks for the beautiful images Miss C!!

@ The Jac!!

For me.... last week was one of those weeks where I have to sit back and think -
What on earth did I do???

It was just a bit ho hum, a bit beige, a bit flat....
And for the life of me I cant seem to remember if I did a single thing!!

If you can recall we did have some strange and apocalyptic weather patterns, and I guess that didn't help matters!

One thing I do remember doing was taking a look at the Jacaranda Drawing Awards that are held bi annually at Grafton Regional Gallery.. Last years finalists are now on a regional tour and so I was able to catch up with the exhibition at Mosman Regional Gallery.



The Jacaranda always procures a high standard of entries and this year was no exception. As I walked up the stairs to enter the show I was greeted with a beautiful gouache sketch on paper by Wendy Sharpe called Cario Cafe....

and from there the names kept coming...

Gosia Wlodarczak (below detail) with Crumbled 2008,

Angus McDonald (below) with Ruiz 2008....

and so on...

If i was going to suggest a thread that ran through alot of the drawings I would have to say it would be 'traditional' and 'black+white'...which sounds like an insult but I mean it only as an observation! The Jac IS a show that attracts a lot of serious studies and observational drawings and so you do know what you are in for...but the standard of mark making is high!

Work on board by Timothy Crawley called Tuncester Track 2007 ... one of the only serious works in colour

Work by Anne Starling called Running Boy 2007... great energy!

If you were looking for drawing at its contemporary best I walk the line at the MCA earlier this year was one such example... and another may be the Jerwood Prize in the UK, where the judges push the boundaries of what drawing is...and could be!

Another way of opening up our parameters on the art of drawing is to ask what children understand drawing to be... One lovely thing that happened while I was at The Jac Award is that the local community centre had a group of preschoolers in the gallery - drawing! And it was fantastic to watch, listen and learn as the kids asked questions and played... while all the framed and serious 'drawings' were mounted up on the surrounding walls ...

And I do believe that some of the most exciting, energetic and inquisitive work was to be found on the floor!! You be the judge...

After leaving the gallery and taking a walk up to a great local cafe called The Penny Royal I stopped off at a friends place and found this beautiful publication in their bookcase...

Its called The Artists' Lunch and it had the studio of Wendy Sharpe featured... which I thought was a nice way to round off the day!

Seeing Wendy's work on the wall and then having a gander at her studio is a great way of discovering the true character of an artist !

The publication by Alice McCormick+Sarah Rhodes is lovely if a little too clean and manicured! Maybe for an older audience?

Could be... but its worth a look when your next at the bookstore...

Playing the game is such sweet sorrow...

OR a bitter pill to swallow!!

What am I talking about...?? Well the game is this instance is the art prize game that is loved and hated by about nearly every artist that I know!! They are one of the most excruciating and tortuous tests for any artist... and sadly can be a necessary evil if you want to try to be an artist and be inside this art world that we hold so dear...

Its funny - as unless you are part of this small little sphere - you have no idea of how it all works... So I thought Id give you a little incite - well- from my perspective anyway...

Geoff Dyer (Tasmania)

Throughout the year galleries all over the country hold art prizes for all different types of artists... Photographers, painters, drawers, print makers etc. and they have many different categories to try and entice as many different people as possible such as emerging, established, students... Most galleries try to keep their criteria for entering as open as possible so as to make you feel that there is a great chance that you will be a finalist or win! Now this is where it gets tricky... from my experience I don't thick chance plays a big part in entering prizes... I believe there are many many other factors involved... and this is the part that most galleries hope that you will not know about! Sounds funny?? It is... its hilarious...

Kate Shaw (Sydney)

Art prizes are a game.

Truly... they are a game that become easier to understand the older that you get as the rules become more obvious, depending on what prize you enter... For example the Archibald... What a prize that is... The winner is instantly famous and people from all over the country commission you to do them a work, galleries want to represent you and the prize money goes to paying off your mortgage!! But the reality for most of the thousands of people that enter is that their painting - that took them a year to do and hundreds of dollars to frame - will be rejected and collected from the back loading dock pretty much as soon as they had entered it!

Believe me... Ive been there! And the paintings that have been selected are usually HUGE, expense to produce, done by an established artist that has been around the block a few times and is known by the selectors who are not artists themselves but are part of the board for the Art Gallery of NSW...

Now this is only one example and there are many many more... but one thing that all artists have in common is that once in a while they will have to enter a prize... for such reasons as... working toward a goal than just playing in the studio, for alittle prestige, for the money... or hopefully for fun!!

This reality was opened up to the public in a great doco on Artscape last week... called Landscape of the Wynne... which followed four artists as they attempted to produce an art piece for the Wynne Landscape Prize that is held in tandem with the Archibald every year. Geoff Dyer, Graham Fransella, Ben McKeown and Kate Shaw were followed as they attempted to explain the process of finding their inspiration, producing the work, framing and then sending their works to Sydney for judging.

As I watched I realised that we are all in the same boat... As artists we all seem to like to play this macabre game of torture - testing ourselves against others and hoping to win the jackpot and have a type of approval for all the time spent in this little world of our own making i.e. the studio!



It was a timely thing for me to watch - as I had just entered the fray myself and entered my first painting prize in about 2 years!! It was scary, fun, exhausting, nerve-wracking, and in the end... rewarding! And why was it rewarding? Because i finished a piece that I was happy with for longer than a day and didn't want to change ..... and produced something different my usual aesthetic....


And ive made the cut and become a finalist.
With these two works {above and below}...



So for now it was worth it....