Wild flowers in WA

I just got back from a week in Western Australia. I had never been to WA before, it somehow seemed a lot more Australian than Victoria, the botanic gardens was almost exclusively native plants. I finally get why the national flower is wattle. The damn thing is everywhere.

I know looking at holiday photos can be a bit dull, so I've kept it to just a few (I took over 1000!). And this is kind of related to art in the form of inspiration and reference.

I found the wreath flower, it was somewhere in the middle of nowhere (as you can see from the photo). They (the friendly tourism office?) tie pink ribbons around trees and poles that have wreath flowers near them so you can find them more easily.


Wattle. Is it a flower or a plague? I'm really not sure.


wild flower field:


Lesueur National Park - kinda felt like there should be dinosaurs wandering around for some reason.


Black Kangaroo paw at Kings park. Might be good to draw:

Los Angeles

I'm now back in Melbourne. I had such a great time in LA, just hanging around, going to shows and getting a feel for the art scene over there. The highlight was definitely seeing my work up on gallery walls in person for the first time. Also seeing the new LeBasse Projects gallery - it's such a great space.

Thanks to Beau, Kim and Christine for putting the show together, putting up with my hanging around the gallery (and drinking all the coke from the fridge...if you're wondering where it all went :) and driving me around to see some sights. And thanks to Yoskay and Nate for letting me stay with them.

If you are in LA and haven't seen the show, it's on at LeBasse Projects or you can view it online (although it looks better in person). I took a few photos before the show opened:







I was showing in the project room, so to give some context here's a photo of the main gallery where Yoskays show being hung. I wish I had taken the photo when the show was up, rather than when it was on the floor and everything was a mess, but oh well:


I took the bus around LA and did some sight seeing on my own - here is Santa Monica Pier:


The Beautiful gardens at the Getty Center:


And my favourite painting at the Getty, a still life by Jan van Huysum. The details are amazing, with the fruit overly ripe and covered in insects:


I can't wait to start painting again, but for the next few days I'm organising and cleaning my flat so that I don't get dust in the oil paint.

Apparition Print Release

It's been a while since I released a print so I'm excited to announce that online print store A Paper Tiger has just released a print of my Apparition drawing. Details are on www.apapertiger.com, It's only an edition of 25 so get in quick :)

Wild Fields - upcoming show

Honey Hive (for upcoming show)

It's been a while between posts. I've been so busy working on this show. I'm just about done (1 more week of working to go), I've been working 7 days a week since the end of Dec and am amazed at how little I've produced from so much effort. I will have 3-4 large drawings and 3 medium paintings, I guess art just take a long time with a fair amount of the work being preliminary - sketching, ideas, photographing models (thanks Suzie!), walking around the streets with a camera finding the perfect tree to match my sketch (sometimes I have to take bits from different trees and join then together).

I've decided to call the show 'Wild Fields' because it's the thing most common between all of the works. Maybe that's telling me I need to get outside a bit more?

I'm flying to LA in a week - can't wait! I haven't been overseas for 3 years - much too long.


Honey Hive - detail

On the drawing board

I'm working on some more large drawings for the show at LeBasse Projects in May, but this time they'll have colour.

Work in progress:

Elle Girl

I have a little interview in the March 2009 Issue of Korean Elle Girl. The lovely Lilly Piri (also interviewed) sent me this photo. Sadly, I don't think I will be getting my own issue as I'm beginning to suspect my mail is being stolen. My landlady came knocking on my door asking if I had received the rent increase notice she had sent me two months ago (I hadn't), and other things I know of have not arrived either.

If you are stealing my mail, please stop. Or perhaps just take the junk mail, I wouldn't mind that so much.

So busy + Art Basel

I have been busy. Not normal-busy, but crazy-person-busy. I'm in a few early December shows and am currently spending every waking moment on art (except for watching NCIS, which I'm pretty much addicted to so it can't be helped).

That's all I can really say right now because I need to get back to painting (actually...I need to go to sleep, so I can paint tomorrow). The above drawing (the pond, 30x22.5") will be available from Cerasoli:LeBasse at their show at Aqua Art Miami (Art Basel), 3-7 December.

Super-Kitsch!

I'm going to blame this one on the contemporary craft revival craze. I have a strange need to include kitschy hand-sewn animal toys in my sketches at the moment. Since these guys are in a pond they needed floaties. Everyone knows plush toys can't swim very well - that's just common sense.

Just a little study at this point, eventually there will be a girl waist-deep in the water too.

'Blender' opening night

photo by Andrea Shear

It's so hard being in Oz when my first LA group show is happening on the other side of the world. It would be so cool to be there. So I've done the second best thing and pieced it all together from random internet accounts, blogs, and other peoples photos. I'd like to think of it as a private investigation of sorts (when really it's just google... but there is no way I'm admitting to googling myself! omg - how narcissistic would that be?)

So, my private investigator (just humor me) tells me the opening night went really well - packed with people taking very blurry photos of the backs of other peoples heads, with a hint of art somewhere in the background. Arrested Motion gets points for having the best photos. I don't know how you guys managed to get photos of just the art, but you did, so you rock!

Daily DuJour gets points too, for having not just one, but two write-ups on the show. And also for reporting that my paintings sold out on the opening night - very exciting!


Photo by Arrested Motion


Photo by Arrested Motion

Drawing

(click for bigger!)

I'm making a drawing based on a painting from forever-ago. I like the painting, but it needed some softness and I think the drawing will do that better. It's 30x22 inches and is taking longer than the painting took.