Artist Talk @ Nyora Studio Gallery

ARTIST TALK & WORKSHOP @ Nyora Studios| SAT 21 November 2009

I have been kindly invited to deliver an artist presentation at Nyora Studio Gallery, which will take place on Saturday 21 November. The presentation will focus on the development of my work, influences and inspirations. Specifically I will address the significance of the human subject in my art practice. Following the presentation a three hour life drawing/painting session has been organised where I will set the pose and be present to offer tuition and guide the direction of the session. For more details about this please visit the Nyora Studio Gallery website.

Nyora Studio is located in the beautiful and leafy suburb of Eltham. I had heard through online networks that artists and students would visit Nyora weekly to attend one of the many courses run throughout the year (including painting, print making, sculpture and drawing) – all of which are testament to the energy and commitment of the studio’s founders, Melbourne artists Emmy Mavroidis and Aldo Bilotta.

What this couple have done with the original space is nothing short of inspiring. Since 2004 the gallery has operated as a working space for practising artists and art students. Originally designed as packing sheds, these c.1930’s weatherboard outbuildings have been transformed into a thriving centre for creativity, learning and output. Aldo’s exquisite furniture  is also on display at the gallery, where visitors are able to view his workshop upon request.

Throughout the year Nyora Studio Gallery hosts several exhibitions, the most recent of which was a series of dynamic prints by Emmy herself titled “In a Minute”.

Some samples of Emmy’s work..

If you live no where near Eltham, all is not lost – you may view more of Emmy’s art work online at www.emmymavroidis.com, and Aldo’s design, furniture and sculptures can be viewed at www.aldobilotta.com

Sean Scully | Resistance and Persistence: Selected Writings

The following book is a treasured part of my art library, and as some folks are always curious about the various influences and feeds into an artist’s work, well here is one of them. Its like a great painting, in  the sense that you can return to it time and again and continue to draw from its depths, its richness of perspective and insight. And it’s also evidence that I am not solely reliant on the influence of figurative painting, I enjoy my share of abstract work too.

The clarity and depth of Scully’s reflections on the meaning and making of art are matched only by the tenacity of a sustained and credible studio practice.

This book provides penetrating insights into the nature and place of painting in contemporary life, offering up metaphors about it that should help guide an artist through a maze of self-imposed constraints  and limitations (real and perceived) just when they need it most.

As a painter I cannot recommend this book enough as a resource that will help extend and challenge your thinking, but more importantly, your work and your conviction about it’s place in the world.

Isn’t it annoying when you see a book online and you can’t peek inside…well this is for you:

[A shameless plug for which I stand to make no financial gain:  As at 28 October, only two left in stock! You can order one here ]

October Sessions: Reality Translated

In response to a recent creative block I have been drawing more than usual – making use of the opportunities to study life observed in public (cafes, streets and train stations), and also up-close in the studio with friends and models. I am eternally grateful to those who put aside time to sit for me –  to be a part of what I essentially see as creative collaboration (most recently with Bronwen Hyde, Jess Tremp and Leah). This process is an essential feed into the next body of work planned for exhibition with Lindberg Contemporary. Here are some of the studies…

study1

study2

study3

study4

study5

The following is a new work preview. The finished work is oil on linen , 76 x 61 cm, and was completed as a lead into the next series of paintings which will continue to be based on the observed and translated human subject, though larger than in previous shows. The first image is an earlier study which informed the work as I progressed with the painted study – it provides some insight into my own process of revision, adaptation and translation which I had referred to in the previous post on the influence of Richard Diebenkorn’s methods.

sept human study

As practiced by other artists in the development of a work, I like to photograph a painting in black and white to consider it free from the considerations of colour. It enables me to evaluate decisions I’ve made relating to structure and the overall tone of the work, and to adjust them as required.

untitled woman 2009

I have been asked before about the layering in the work, and if there is anything added to bulk up the surface. The simple answer is no, I have not used pumice, wax, dirt or any other medium for thickening the paint beyond what is achieved through a gradual layering and scraping back. I do not set out to achieve specific textural ‘effects’ in my painting – what you see is the output from what at times feels like a torturous process of adjustment and change, but the reality is that I scrape off way more paint than rests on the final work – and I have given up on reasoning with myself about this method, it is behaviour I instinctively resort to when the pathways in a painting seem desperately uncertain. Also, a close look at most of the works will reveal areas so thin as to make the canvas weave clearly visible – believe it or not.

A detail from the finished painting, Untitled Woman 2009 (click to enlarge).

untitled woman 2009 (detail)