Montecastello Landscape http://www.arielchurnin.com/

Primrose Hill
http://www.tate.org.uk/

Was reading an interesting interview by John Tusa with one of my favourite painters Frank Auerbach. A link and an excerpt:

"Don't you ever long for the easy canvas; the one that really does present itself to you comparatively early?

Absolutely. I think I start...every painting I've ever started with the hope that I'd be able to take the brushes and the colour, put all the colours in the right place, get something that is coherent and alive and fresh and new and true, and I'll be able to leave it. And it just hasn't happened yet - it hasn't happened. What I usually find is that I see something that is... reminds me far too much of paintings I've already done or that is just simply wrong in some way. ...

What would you say to a young artist starting off from art school today?

I'd never... it seems to me to be a bit of an impertinence for me to say anything to a young artist, but I'll try and. I think subject is terribly, terribly important and it's implicit, it isn't only the labelled item as it were, the head or the tree or the factory or whatever, or the abstract. I think that one has certain deep feelings which express themselves in a plastic way. I mean, if you were I don't know, perhaps this has to do with what you would do with another person - stroking or grabbing or something, that has something to do with it, but there must be some experience that is your own and to try and record it in an idiom that is your own, and not to give a damn about what anybody else says to you. I think that is important and I think that the key word there's subject - find out what matters most to you and pursue it."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/johntusainterview/auerbach_transcript.shtml

Had a lovely weekend drawing and catching up with friends and family. I went out drawing with a friend to her farm just out of Armidale on Saturday. On Sunday I went to my son's place at Wollomombi. I did some small drawings with pencil, watercolour and oil pastel. I am hoping to go back there next weekend with some canvas and paint. The country is rolling and dry now with lovely greyed-off trees and wonderful dead tree skeletons. The angularity and ruggedness of the landscape is always fascinating.

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.

Have been getting together an invitation and web page design for my upcoming exhibition in Sydney. Had the help of a friend with great graphic design skills to put it together so we are really happy with it. I'll be going down to Sydney in early July. The exhibition is at GIG Gallery in Glebe and runs from the 7th - 12th July. I am exhibiting with Robyn Jackson who is a very gifted figurative, expressive artist. It will be an interesting and I think complementary combination. The gallery is on Glebe Point Road and is in a great location amongst cafes, bookshops and just down the road from the Glebe Markets. We are hoping to get a big turnout to the opening on the 7th and have organised some music for the event. Family will use this as an opportunity to travel to meet up and stay together which will make it a special time.

For the past few weeks have been working on collages and rather more abstract acrylic paintings. I usually find that the colours in acrylic paints are a lot harsher and less subtle than those in oil paints. Layering, using washes and collage aids in bringing subtlety to the work. I am preparing to place a couple of images in a Sydney exhibition and am still getting a body of work together for a solo show in Armidale. The exhibition in Melbourne that I have a couple of works in will end soon so these works will come home then if not sold. One is promised to a friend so hopefully it will come home safe and sound. I had a problem with a large work that was damaged in transit recently. I will have to travel to repair it. It is difficult arranging for transport of artwork I find. A couple of my small paintings are shown here.