Lavandula lavender farm, near Daylesford

I recently visited Lavandula lavender farm. It’s incredibly beautiful and there was a sculpture show on as a bonus. Sculptures from 25 artists, including Zoe Amor, Paul Turbitt, and Kaya Storm dotted the gardens.

My favourite sculpture in the show was by Peter Laszlo.

The soul is like a sail

This work was inspired by the Revelation of Ares.
In this book the Creator asks Humanity to change towards the Good.
The book explains that man is not born with a soul but has to create
one for himself. This can only be achieved by following the virtuous way
of life. One does to need to believe in any religion or dogma, simply
to love other human beings and respect all living things…
Once the soul has been created by a virtuous loving, giving and forgiving life it will glide along the sea of spiritual eternity.

The soul is a sail, Peter Lazlo

Albury Art Gallery

On my last trip to my home town of Wangaratta, I visited the Albury Art Gallery for the first time.

A few things caught my eye: a lovely crayon and ink drawing by Charles Blackman from the Alice in Wonderland series, an early Fred Williams watercolour of the You Yangs, and some sumptous photographs by Richard Janson.

But my favourite work was really unusual and 3D. I’d not heard of the artist Frank Hinder (1906 – 1992) before, and he made this ‘luminal kinetic’ in 1968 using timber, glass, metal, and electric motor and lamp. The parts inside slowly moved, giving a hypnotic effect. It reminded me a bit of watching a lava lamp. Beautiful!

Frank Hinder, Silver – white, 1968, luminal kinetic

More water colours

I’ve been really busy with my day job and study lately, but have finally added two more watercolours to the Palimpsest series. Sorry about the poor photo quality, these were taken with my iphone. By the way, I’m officially addicted to iphone. Darn it.

Water colour on paper
Palimpsest III, water colour on paper
Water colour on paper
Palimpsest IV, water colour on paper

Palimpsest

palimpsest_iPalimpsest i (Disco Raiders), water colour on paper

palimpsest_iiPalimpsest ii, water colour on paper

This is the beginning of a new series based on a ‘poster wall’ in Yarraville I pass every day walking home from the train station. I’ve photographed it several times and now I’m working from my photos, painting small watercolours.

Palimpsest
1. A manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing.
2. Something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form.

A forgotten Melbourne painter

The red hat, William Frater, 1937, oil on canvas
The red hat, William Frater, 1937, oil on canvas

This is a portrait of Lina Bryans (1909–2000) by her friend and fellow artist William Frater. Lina Bryans was an important part of the modern movement and a member of literary and artistic circles in Melbourne during the late 1930s and 1940s. Her vibrant paintings are characterised by bold brushwork and the expressive use of colour which is applied directly onto the canvas. In 1937 Bryans began painting portraits of her friends. Her most famous work, The babe is wise, is a portrait of the writer Jean Campbell who had recently published a novel of the same name.  (NGV blurb)

So I thought I’d hit the big time…

…for five minutes anyway. I received an email invitation to show my work at a New York gallery! Alexandra from the Agora Gallery had seen my art here and was offering her services to represent me, and charge a fee for promotion.

I quickly did some research, and found lots of negative comments about Agora on the Wet Canvas forums. Then a post on one of my favourite art blogs, Joanne Mattera Art Blog, that kind of said it all.

Basically, no reputable gallery should charge you to show your work. Sure they take a commission on sales (normally 25% to 40% or more, according to NAVA) but they don’t charge you to have an exhibition. Galleries that charge you a fee upfront are known as vanity galleries, because you’re paying them to show your work (like vanity publishing a book). And galleries don’t usually email you to offer their services. Most galleries receive lots of unsolicited submissions from artists eager to show there.

Before you consider selling your work through a gallery, do some research, ask about their commission and artist contract.

Anyway, at least someone in New York found my blog! and the email did make my heart flutter momentarily…