Mother's Day

Mother's Day was nice this year, morning tea first, then afternoon tea later.

No cooking that day - could get used to that idea!

 A very yummy cake, mascarpone, and a mug of cappucino, 

baby cacti in an abalone shell.

 Rebecca and Chester at Redfish Cafe Gallery, in the back courtyard.

 A short stroll from there, along the waterfront, sparkles on the water. 

 Looking across the bay.

 Driftwood and stones.

 Little boats, and a great climbing rock.

Nice honeycomb rock and shingle.

More Pics

Here are 3 more of my artworks to display on my employment poster.
Old but diverse techniques, and some colour.

Random pic of Bobo The Wunderkittten, always around to be cheeky,
naughty, entertaining or look beautiful.

 This is a stylised technique using gouache paint, and breaking a picture into shades of grey.

This is an ink line sketch using minute detail, and lots of imagination, 

basically displaying many different types of marks.

Gouache paint again, but a bright colour scheme this time. More of a surreal painting.

Preparing to go back to work.

I whittled down work over the last few years. Various reasons, the twins HSC
had to take precedence, and then overlapping the last years of that, my mother
getting repeatedly ill and finally passing away.

Then 18 months of processing the estate of her home and possessions. That
period has passed in intensity, with just  a residue of things to deal with.

Our son left home and settled with his partner. His work is going well. The
girls have settled into year 2 of Uni now. They are doing well with study
and work.

It's time to regroup, think on other things. Train for a new career. Consider
part time work while studying.

Try to promote myself again as an art tutor, because it is the main thing I
know. Here we go again.

Here are some images to go on my poster, letters, resumes, interviews to
organise, who to teach and where and how.

What to show in different techniques: such as pastel, ink and wash, ink line,
fine art and illustration styles.

Commercial Art

Sometimes you need to do artwork that is very commercial illustration,
cartoon or caricature.

These things are designed to be printed in various ways, on Tshirts or
for signage.

Sometimes caricatures are commissioned for special birthdays or occasions.

This is sometimes more of your bread and butter work.

Here are some of my commissions.

 For a scout group TShirt, printed in white on a blue background.

 For a computer repair and IT company.

 A birthday present caricature.

40th birthday caricature, this has photos collaged in.

New Camera

Just a couple of new pics from the new camera.

Focus pretty good, even on a nature shot, colour pretty good.
These pics from our own backyard, cute native visitor, and
produce from the garden as well.

The raised garden beds have worked well this year.

Now for some real art - Modern Australian, mainly Sculpture.

I have inherited some amazing pieces, consider myself custodian for
a while, maybe years, but some day hope they will be acknowledged
as important in Australian art history.

I grew up with these, so they are familiar, but now I own them, and study
them more closely, perhaps research further on their creators, appreciate
them perhaps more so.

As I've run a parallel journey by studying and creating art, sculpture and
design of my own, I believe I am qualified enough to know them pretty
well.

We even visited these artists in their own home environments, or saw their
foundries, studios, and exhibitions.

Tom Bass would be the best known, but there is:
Lyndon Dadswell, Douglas Annand, Bim Hilder, Margot Lewers, Bonython
Galleries, Anna Cohn, Watters Gallery, May Barrie, Margel Hinder, Diana Hunt,
Ester Bellis, Syd Baron, Proffessor Bissietta, Elwyn Lyn, Judy Cassab,
David Rose, Judith Pins, Jon Vonwiller,  Mitzi Mcoll, Stephen Walker and more.

There are articles, books, their preliminary sketches, maquettes, photos etc.

Some historic pieces, 2 damaged gargoyles from Sydney University, a head
from a statue in either Centennial Park or The Royal Botanical Gardens.

Memories of seeing early Brett Whiteley, a Happening, Christo's Wrapup,
even the humour of Barrie Humphries large bowl of vegetable salad at the
Bonython Galleries, surely to represent vomit!

Being involved myself in making  a first soapstone sculpture with the adults,
doing a Wombling workshop, early junk sculpture and recycled art.

Our very own home more gallery like than suburban house, early modernist,
with a central hall lined with art works, mobiles, handmade bespoke light fittings.

Being dragged along to every art show or event, the recording of these with my
parent's photography. I know I resented it then, but appreciate it now.

I have been to Tom Bass' home, seen his chapel and studio, had his wife read
my palm. I have been led through scary rooms of a happening at age 12? by
Anna Cohn, shown her internment tattooo, and still have a brooch she gave me.

I retain the marvelous miniature artwork Xmas cards they sent to us.

So next will be to chronicle this - photos to come.

A blast from the past

Amongst the possessions of my Mother's, my old art school paintings.

Recently I had the tough job, and I'm not finished yet, of deciding the
fate of the last of the storage facility contents.

Found these, not great, not bad either, just underdeveloped I guess. I don't
need them, but they are still a little hard to let go. They were donated, with
a lot of other stuff, to local charity.

Somewhere along the line I decided I was more of a designer or illustrator,
and that is the route I took.

I have these photos as memories now, much easier to store.

 I think design is showing through pretty strongly here. 

Bearing in mind I was only 16 when I did some of these - embarrassing!

 Obviously got bored with pointillism, this was never finished.