The weekend has arrived and I will have to get reorganised after the Sydney exhibition. Will have to move things around in my "studio" so that I can have a larger space in which to work. I work in the garage. On one hand it sounds ideal to have a purpose-built studio but on the other hand I like having my work so close. I can walk by it, add to it briefly, in short live with it so that ideas work their way through subconsciously. I haven't sorted out my art things since coming back from Sydney and will only have about six weeks until Brisbane so will commence painting or drawing tomorrow. The weather made sketching outdoors impossible for quite a while but the last few days have been clear and sunny so if that continues I will draw out of town.

Am home again and resting up before commencing work again. I have decided to finish off one large painting and sand down in places one of the large works I am bringing home from Sydney. The new large one will follow on from the Simpson's Gap work and be in oils and mixed media. Have decided to try out water soluble oil pastels. They sound good but the colours aren't at all subtle so am not sure what they will be like to use. Have a few photos from the exhibition opening in Sydney. Had a great but exhausting time there. I loved being in Glebe and might do it again in a few years. Glebe has it's own special character and atmosphere and had a great second-hand bookshop, Sappho's, across the road. Here I found a great, detailed map of Australia. I love maps and love wondering about the roads, tracks and rivers. Glebe has great coffee places and I loved the huge breakfast at Badd Manners where a weak skinny, decaf coffee is called a Why Bother.

Angorichina 152cm


Simpson's Gap 152cmx122cm Oil and mixed media on canvas

I went down again to Sydney last Friday for the last days of the exhibition. Robyn and I were in the gallery during the days and on Monday Robyn and her husband packed it up and drove it back to Armidale in their ute. It was fine weather on the trip until the last hour when it rained from Walcha onwards. Just before packing up Robyn and I sold work which meant our costs were about covered. I took friends and family out to dinner to celebrate a successful exhibition.

Visitors over the weekend were interested in the work and intelligently looking to understand it which is very rewarding. Almost everyone took an invitation and some asked for web addresses and email contacts. Most of the visitors were passing traffic and friends and family who we had invited. Next time it would be good to have it on for a longer period so that people who see the work one weekend have a chance to think about it then come back the following weekend. A couple said that they would have had friends come that were looking to buy but who were away that weekend.

It was great as a learning experience as all exhibitions are and once again reinforced the need to go out and contact people and follow-up contacts in order to get the work viewed and sold. Artists, and I include myself in this, so often are reluctant to push their work. It is not always easy to have confidence in one's work as an artist working alone.

GIG Gallery Exhibition Sydney

My exhibition opened on Tuesday night. Artist Peter Griffen opened it. He is an interesting speaker and we are grateful to him for doing this. We had a good crowd come and everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable time. My sisters and father came from Armidale, Adelaide and Canberra so it was lovely to have some time together. I will be going back down to Sydney tomorrow for a few days. Am placing some images here taken when we were setting up the exhibition. The lighting at the gallery was great but the old-fashioned hanging wires meant it was a long and exhausting day putting up the exhibition. I have sold two works so far so hopefully will have some others so that my costs are covered.

I have spent the past few weeks preparing for my Sydney exhibition with Robyn Jackson. My paintings are based on the Flinders Ranges. I have works measuring 152cmx122cm. I will take some smaller works down to Sydney and will put some in if they seem to go with the rest. A final decision is usually made at the time of hanging as the interaction of the works themselves and the interaction of the works with the space is hard to judge beforehand. It will be interesting to see how my own work and that of Robyn interact as they are so different. Difficulties in communications with galleries is one of the disadvantages of working in a regional area. In many ways, though, living outside of a city is an advantage, especially for a landscape painter. One is close to nature and to the subject matter and the artist is able to work unhindered and relatively uninfluenced by popular trends and the pressures of shifting tastes. When it comes to exhibitions though issues such as representation by the galleries concerned, distance and transporting works can be difficult. I am looking forward to the trip and the exhibition now that it is all arranged and underway.