"Mother Nature" Adelaide Fringe 2011

An exhibition of paintings & etchings.

(above painting "Ochres in the Sand", Mixed Medium - Using Natural Ochres from central SA to Yunta )

(above relief, embossed etching "Nature's Oasis" - An oasis linked by steel, linier to the sea.)

Australia is the "lucky country", a place renowned for its natural beauty spanning from the desert to the sea. The sun, the circle of life and harmony provides us with warmth, light and the vibrant colour that highlights Australia's natural beauty.

The exhibition "Mother Nature" simply touches on the changing seasons and the wonder of nature around us under the harmony of the Australian sun.
Mother Nature has been depicted in her glorious beauty, but her power can be implacable. Our natural world is not always cruel but is incredibly wonderful.

Whether we live in one of our wonderful cities or in the remote inland Mother Nature demands an audience.

Adelaide Fringe - Gearing up, Get ready to go

Been battling hard with the brush. I'm in the Fringe 2011. All exciting stuff too!

My exhibition "Mother Nature" is placed in the wonderful 1920's building of the Hotel Richmond in the heart of the Rundle Mall. Great place for a wine, a chat or fantastic food. Not just accomodation, the Richmond has that contemporary relaxed feel that is inviting after a busy day in the city. The wonderful refurbished level 1 extends over the balcony and is the place to be to see some "out of the box" art. Julia Crea knows her stuff when it comes to arranging functions etc. so give her a call for your next event.

The Fringe starts on 18th Feb. and wow! Adelaide knows how to party art, music, theatre, dance and you name it under one umbrella. BankSA the fantastic sponsor of Adelaide Fringe has chosen 107 events (out of hundreds) to assist in media exposure and Im priveledged to be one of them.

Marketing your work or event is not forgotten by the Fringe team. They are there to help you anytime, quick respones too. Now Christmas is over the team all have a lot to keep themselves busy leading up to the big day. Thanks team for getting me this far (and all the ongoing assistance).

NAVA cant be forgotten here too. It topped my Chrissy presents to get a marketing grant for my Fringe event. Brochures, posters and a booklet all at the printers.

I'm getting excited now! but still more work to do to prep and stage my event.

I'll keep in touch over the next few weeks and keep you up to date with the excitement before 18th feb.

By the way, I'm having an opening night on the Thursday 17th Feb 5pm - 6.30pm. If you are in Adelaide, visiting or live in this wondeerful city come along and say hello, have a wine and join the fun of the Adelaide Fringe 2011.

Wow! Magazine Feature & front page

great news this month!

S.A. Mining and Energy Journal has printed a 2 page feature about my art and included one of my artworks on the cover.

The 2 page spread has a mixed medium painting of copper earth spread completely across the double page and the feature reflects the copper mining industries.

Great news and really tops off my year coming up to Christmas.

Silly season is creeping up on us all so keep safe, drive carefully, dont over spend on pressys and I will touch base for the festive season.

Great Surprise

Hi again,
Just recieved great news.. I have just won the Pt Pirie aquisitive art prize.
I was a bit tounge tied and all I could say was "golly".

Makes you feel your hardwork for the year was not wasted.

go to www.djdee.com.au to view more of my paintings and etchings.

Cheers again

I will say goodbye to my "water" home for the time being. Time to revisit my home in the dust. (or should I say mud, as rain has fallen in the bush and the outback roads are muddy). There is more rain to come. Great to see rain again anyway. The countryside is greener and new colours will appear in my paintings as we head for spring.

Overall a very good exhibition with opportunities arising.

I will begin my next series blog soon so keep me logged into your favourites. The next blog will include my travels in the bush then my artworks to follow. Hope you can come along for the ride.

Cheers

150yrs of Copper continued

Tutworkers and Tributers exhibition opening was very successful with numbers of locals, visitors and artists enjoying a wine and nibbles talking about Art, life and people.

About 40 people converged on this small rarely full gallery at Moonta which gave a glisten to Pamela's eyes especially when red dots went up.

My varied style of etchings recieved the most interest, people love knowing about the people of our past. The historical canvas artworks raised interest from teachers and arts related visitors who were enthralled with my textured techniques.

Graham Hancock gave an interesting speech about my past exploits and conserving the heritage of Moonta and Burra.

Everyone was delighted to be given a commemorative postcard.

The highlight for me was to see Daryl Parker at the opening. Daryl did all the ground work to enable this wonderful Town Hall building in Moonta to transform into the wonderful gallery it is today.

After an exhausting day, and a sleep in I had a few days break to catch up on the dreaded tax bill etc.

Then back to the drawing board to plan the next venture, catch up on what is happening out there and email friends. I did enjoy a day of whiting fishing, that clears the brain.

I drove to Kadina also to follow my family history again, found out a great uncle was a criminal and also found Jeruselum where my grandmother lived when she first married. Liz Coole at the family history group is a woman after my own heart, she gets the same buzz I do when you find out something new. She knows the history, the people, the living and the dead.

The building School of Mines is a wonderful setting for the group to work from.

Raining, cold and windy. Cuppa time so will post more in a few days.

Paparazzi In Print

My dust period is near over for a short time. Cant get the dust out of my bones so I will return.
Didnt have time to write a full blog during this project.
Too much to do and too little time to do it in.

Paparazzi In Print, years of notes, ideas, research, sketches all came together as one exhibition and a book.
Women in the past were rarely recognised for their achievments so my dream to contribute to that historical oversight is complete.
After many years travelling the outback and finding, sketching and noting the remnants of settlements littered amongst some of the inhospitable territory ever occupied by man I finally traced the steps and found these families. Always there were items, an old saucpan handle, a piece of crockery or just a few floorboard nails with memories of women who alongside their husbands forged an existance on the land.
Then not to forget those still living I added to my exhibition some women who within the community of Broken hill had never been noticed whilst they silently accomplished what at the time they thought was ordinary but is actually recognised now as extraordinary achievements.

The book still available in softcover was a new venture for me but totally enjoyable. The conversations, laughs and stories with families, including some men has been most enjoyable. The visitors to my exhibition, their inspiring comments, those people now ask their mothers and grandmothers to tell them their stories so they can be recorded for prosperity.

I have to say the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery were outstanding in their contribution not only to providing the venue but also the support provided to hang the works, statements, promoting my book and the particular display of one artwork not included in my book. This work was a portfolio of pages, handemade papers from old newspapers, clippings and empheria. An etching miniture of each exhibition work was placed on the pages and the cover made from recent newspaper papers enclosed the pages with a silver chain with lock, courtesy of the Silver City Mint.
A memorable experience for me but now I am to head to country near the sea.