Well its clear that other social media has replaced this blog. For me, Im going to pick this up as a diary because I’m packing up my studio to go on an adventure to NSW drawing and painting and want to document this major event in my life.
SO…. Were did the last 4 years go??
In a nutshell!!!
It has been an exciting journey over the last couple of years. My last blog was from that fabulous visit to Vee’s in France. She had been saying for years and years to come visit, that it will change my life and would it not be grand to sit over a glass of wine and catch up on 20 years of our lives, our three daughters and the highs and lows since art school in the eighties. Well ultimately, it did change my life. Vee if your reading this I ThankYOU.
This photo was take on our last big night out in Paris at the Moulin Rouge and I feel its appropriate to post this as it gives my blogs a flow considering the last 4 years have been totally neglected!
Soon after arriving back in Australia I went on an artist residency to Alice Springs with ArtbackNT for six weeks. Another game changer for me!
Confronted with a different landscape that was in sheer contrast to my Top End works was a bit of a challenge and culminated in the exhibition ‘Alice Rocks’ At the CDU campus and then a selection of works “Desert Roads’ went to Melbourne for a month, at Glimpse Art Space. Successful shows!!
ArtbackNT are an amazing support for the arts across the Territory and I still have ties with them with the Artists on Tour program. Leading artists deliver workshops around a range of art forms including dance, visual arts, story telling, sculpture and theatre. Check them out @
https://artbacknt.com.au/what-we-do/artists-on-tour/
I took another year away from my work as Arts Senior at my local high school and pursued my practice with many successes along the way. Katherine Art Prize and then finalist in the John Leslie prize for landscape were won within weeks of each other!! Too happy with that. It’s amazing how uplifting and confidence building winning an art prize or making finalist can be. It’s really quite validating!!!
In 2017 I won a significant artist grant from ArtsNT to develop a body of work about the Territory landscape that culminated in my first solo exhibition at a prominent commercial gallery in Darwin. This was an extremely exciting period in my artist life! Inspirations came like waves of delight, followed by tsunamis of trepidation. Throughout the process I was fully supported by my beautiful daughters Lani, Imogen and Matilda, Paul Johnstone, peers and friends. Big Huge thanks to Cath, Franck, Sonia, Rob, Wendy… this list could go on and Don. Darwin has an incredibly supportive arts community and I totally love it!!
Stone Country was a very successful exhibition and so was the after party that was organised by Matilda at this gorgeous wine bar next door to the gallery. Big celebrations!!!
I am now represented in Darwin by Paul Johnstone Gallery and he is an absolute legend to deal with, plus he shells out wine when he visits the studio and thats gotta be a big bonus!!
16 months later and I’m up for my second show there in a couple of weeks. Bring it AWN!!