Cressida Campbell at the NGA

On Friday I visited my fabulous sculptor friend Bronwyn Berman in the Southern Highlands & she drove us all the way to Canberra to see the Cressida Campbell exhibition at the NGA

Cressida Campbell Japanese Hydrangeas 2005 Private collection © Cressida Campbell
The show is so inspiring with 6 rooms of her life’s work. Her mastery of tone and colour combined with skill honed through 40 years of developing her meticulous process is a humbling experience. We were in the presence of a truly great artist, if I never see another show in this lifetime this one will be enough!

I bought the catalogue to pore over & will visit again in the New Year before the show closes in February.

That was Then : This is Now by Jane Bodnaruk

Yesterday I caught the train into the Big Smoke to see Jane Bodnaruk’s That was Then: This is Now and listen to her artist talk. Her interrogation of the now combined with exquisite stitching honours the past so beautifully, matching the thread colours of the finely stitched vintage tray cloths from early last century with words from the news of the Covid epidemic from 2020 to 2022. Her integrity of line and depth of thought is matchless, this body of work needs to be housed in a museum for posterity.

Jane produced this catalogue for the show documenting the nearly 50 vintage tray cloths she stitched into

back cover of the catalogue and intro below

Jane talked about her work with such ease and grace

her placement of the texts compliment
the colours and forms of the the past perfectly

feeling inspired best get back to stitching my Old Man Crow!

Fairfarren is open!

This arvo Barry Ferrier aka Doctor Baz will open the show at 4pm playing a selection of Old Man Crow’s songs with backing by Pierre Luniere on bass & John Kaldor on pedal steel
See you there!
Artsite Contemporary

preview for Collector’s Choice 2020 at Artsite

Collector’s Choice 2020 at Artsite Galleries opens this weekend!
here’s my 3 offerings
Too dark? Mo 20
black glove leather, black leather cord, papier maché, grape vine tendrils, linen & silk thread embroidered text on vintage black suede over board
H 36.5cm x W 36.5cm D 5cm
Holding the dark Mo 20
black Italian glove leather over bookbinders board, black vintage suede lining, black leather cord, grape vine tendril, lead fishing weight covered in gold leaf, red and black Ormosia coccinea seed (a gift from Peter Webb  plant guru extraordinaire 1974), black linen thread, red Gütermann upholstery thread
H 8cm W 8cm x D 8cm
The chicken and the egg revisited Mo 20
eggshell mosaic over bookbinders board, lined with chicken leg leather & red leather cord held together with waxed linen thread, Gütermann upholstery thread & knotted japanese cotton, wishbone, red felt heart, myrhh, glass & ceramic beads, white feather
H 8cm x W 7.5cm x D 7.5cm

See you there!

Spring 1883 at The Establishment Hotel

Linde Ivimey Arno 2009
steel armature, acrylic resin, dyed cotton, natural and cast chicken & fish bones, 24ct gold and ruby
48 x 53 x 35 cm
Gould Creative Spring 1883
Louise Saxton Frida (after Kahlo 1946) 2017-18
reclaimed needlework, glass beads, lace-pins, beading-pins, satin ribbon, nylon tulle, on archival mount board
147 x 101.5 cm
Gould Creative Spring 1883
Louise Saxton Lover’s Eye (after Vermeer c.1665) 2018-19
reclaimed needlework, lace-pins, beading pins, cotton-velvet, nylon tulle, on archival mount-board
90 x 120 cm
Gould Creative Spring 1883
Louise Saxton Pearl (after Vermeer c.1665) 2017-18
reclaimed needlework, lace-pins, beading pins, cotton-velvet, nylon tulle, on archival mount-board
90 x 120 cm
Gould Creative Spring 1883
Ian  Cheesman installation
calf skins, cast bronze arrows
The Vivian Spring 1883
Matilda Davis never ending sabbath of turmoil and true love 2019
oil on canvas, trim.decoration
50 x 40.6cm
Neon Parc Spring 1883
Lore Langredies Survived #1 wall object 2019
cut roedeer hide, MDE
Funaki Spring 1883
26 galleries presented their selected artists in the rooms of the swanky Establishment Hotel for Spring 1883
the lighting wasn’t great and the works were difficult to appreciate in the small rooms but in this 21st C world galleries are trying to make the art viewing experience more interactive, for me & Old Man Crow it felt a bit too gimmicky
the best moment was meeting Louise Saxton in real life, I have admired her meticulous work for years online

Catherine Truman : no surface holds at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery

yesterday we visited Catherine Truman’s touring exhibition ‘no surface holds’ at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery
In Preparation for Seeing: Cell Culture Glove 2015
white cotton glove encrusted with glass spheres, Coplin jar, microscopic slides, steel forceps inlaid with glass spheres, light pad
Ongoing Being detail 2010
mixed media
Crab Claw installation 2015-17
glass spheres, crab claws, bones, shells, sea urchins
no surface holds is a line by the Belgian/French feminist Luce Irigaray from her book ‘The Sex Which Is Not One’ (1977)
Truman notes “it’s a potent piece of writing… about the dissolving of boundaries that exist between two people.”
Catherine writes “I’m illusionist at best and when I make an image or an object the catalyst is usually a very transient impression, something fleeting, perhaps just a sensation. I become deliciously absorbed in the quest to make something tangible of that sensation and yet I know it’s actually impossible. I work with the notion that all knowledge is fluid and can be altered by something as simple as the shifting light.”
Catherine is one of those amazing artists who builds bridges between science and art, a very inspiring show
then this morning Jude Hill began her Patchwork in Perspective Part 2 looking at components and their fluidities of connection
which got me considering these leftovers from the dream…

Jenny Orchard ‘All Tomorrow’s Stories’ at May Space

Jenny Orchard’s solo exhibition ‘All Tomorrow’s Stories’ at May Space opened yesterday afternoon
I fell madly in love with her magical Monster with Windswept Branch 2019
ceramic with bronze branch
53 x 35 x 33cm
Jenny grinning with MaddyMonsterMedievalMemoriesMulticreature 2019
ceramic
61 x 35 x 35cm
her fishy pet has such beautiful pointy teeth!
Kudu Catwalker 2019
ceramic, hair extensions, fibre 165 x 60 x 50cm
‘Drunkenness is a triumphant irruption of the plant in us’ Giles, Deleuze 2019
ceramic, metal base 134 x 45 x 45cm
Ra 2019
ceramic, concrete, mosaic, synthetic hair, fibre
142 x 42 x 30cm
Ra’s fabulous pointy toed shoes!
Crocodile Whisperer 2019
ceramic, mosaic, metal stand
106 x 25 x 30cm
Three worlds Treewoman with Blue Labradorite stones 2019
ceramic and labradorite stones
90 x 30 x 25cm
Guccipet 2019
ceramic, feathers, black tourmaline stones
40 x 42 x 56cm
another view of Jenny’s marvelous Monster with Windswept Branch 2019

Artist Statement: “Science tells us how close we are to other animals, we share the form of most of our organs with so many of them. Like them we have two eyes, two ears, breath and entropy, and like them we can laugh and cry. Even those who are foreign to our eyes have bodies which, like us share a genetic code and DNA that goes back through time to beginning of life on the planet. We are the future and unknowable destiny of the planet itself, now that we can manipulate the code.

My imagination is blown wild by that knowledge. I am both more and less than human through my interactions with our collective technology and consciousness.

I want to make creatures that ask Who am I, and Who are You?”

click the link to see lots more photos and details of Jenny’s wildly whimsical and wise wonders

inspiration in the Blue Mountains

we caught the train up to see Essentiae at Gallery One88 in Katoomba
Colleen Southwell’s work is astounding
detail of her flannel flowers
Colleen has such a fabulous eye for the exquisite beauty of Mother Nature
then we walked up the road to visit the Three Sisters
the wild beauty
a seriously steep walk !
the long view
with the blue of longing
Eucalypts
have such beautiful bark and form
feeding the dream of moving to the mountains
now it’s time to get back to drawing a few of my favourite things
a few of my favourite things Mo 19
graphite and watercolour on A3 Canson drawing paper
starting from the left
steel and red velvet box by Olga Cironis
invitation card detail of Hideous Human Angel # 6 by eX de Medici 2008 for the Sold Out show at Boutwell Draper Gallery
Crania Anatomica Filigre 2011- 3D printed skull by Joshua Harker with a feather from Michelle Slater
Kokopelli card by Carol Duprey 2005
Crow card by Glenda Jones 2004 for her Lustre exhibition at James Harvery Gallery
SW magic gourd by Carol Duprey 2004
sand dollar
Skull Mug by Jenny Orchard 2013 with crow feathers and The Cat’s Whiskers (a wand for seeing in the dark)
Pod 2015 by Bronwyn Berman
card with blue cat on  XVII century tile panel, Fronteira Palace, Lisbon Portugal
SW magic gourd container by Carol Duprey 2004
wood rose
print of the Letter D from An illuminated Book of Cats from an odd perspective
Crow feather for flying
parchment stars

a wobbly internet connection makes more time for drawing and stitching

x fingers our internet connection is working again after a very wobbly week
the good thing about being offline is having more time for focusing on the drawings
and mending Old Man Crow’s jacket
it’s getting lacier
and lacier
reinforcing the edges
and the elbows
he wears it well!
and talking of stitching & drawing we visited the Dobell Drawing Prize at the National Art School on Saturday
Leonie Andrews 365 days 2017
stitched with her eyes closed every day for a year
Jenny Orchard All Tomorrow’s Stories 2018
ink on card
Hyun Hee Lee Winter Letter 2018
ink, cotton, thread, pencil on Korean hanji paper
Stephanie Eather Cave of Altamira (in Brunswick) 2018
charcoal on a huge canvas
Ari Chand Juxtarepository 3 / Catch a fallen star and put it in your pocket 2018
graphite on paper
Noel McKenna Interior A 2018
ink on paper
Wendy Sharpe Ladders to the Sky 2018
gouache on concertina artist’s book
Chris O’Doherty (aka) Reg Mombassa) Robot ‘priest’ with captured Australian, Hunter Valley 2018
charcoal, coloured pencil, glitter on paper
artist talk with Chris O’Doherty (aka Reg Mombassa) George  Gittoes and Wendy Sharpe
you can see more photos here

Botanica 2019 at Lion Gate Lodge RBG

Hakea laurina by Tess Mahar
watercolour
560mm x 620mm
Eucalyptus sp by Kate Nolan
watercolour on vellum
180mm x 200mm
Themeda triandra by Kate Nolan
watercolour on vellum
180mm x 180mm
Eucalyptus x tetragona by Annie Hughes
watercolour
300mm x 240mm
Trichocolletes hackeri by Angela Lober
Watercolour on vellum with gilding
60mm x 50mm

Papaver nudicaule by Dianne Emery
Mixed media, conte, pencil and gouache on acrylic ground
470mm x 570mm
Botanica 2019 Art Exhibition: 20th Anniversary
is on at Lion Gate Lodge, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney til April 14th
all images courtesy of the Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens
see the full catalogue here