Uni

Dawn was accepted to do an Honours year next year at the University of Ballarat in Fine Arts. She is very excited to get in. She will have to juggle hairdressing and art class teaching, with painting and writing a thesis

"Chair" @ Mad Gallery

Today we went to the opening of the "Chair" exhibition at Mad Gallery. A group of artists were aksed to put on an exhibition with theme of "chair". Dawn put up a painting that was placed at the entrance of Mad Gallery. Dawn painted a "dimension travelling seat". It reminded me of Salvador Dali's pink lips settee because of the bright red upholstery. I tried to upload my video of the exhibition, but I had an error with this. Just trying to see if videos are any good for a blog.

Mental Health Week

Tonight we went to the opening of the Mental Health Week art and craft exhibition at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, one of the best regional galleries in Victoria, Australia. The paintngs were hung very well, the venue was splendid, very popular and was in the hub of the art world in Ballarat, next to the University of Ballarat's art school.
Dawn put in 4 paintings at the exhibition.

Art Classes at Radmac

Dawn has started to give art classes at Radmac, in Ballarat.

She absolutely loves it. It gives her an opportunity to share what she has learnt in painting, both representational and contemporary abstract art. Dawn started giving lessons to the ladies at church and now she is renting an art room at Radmac.

Holidays at Mildura

During June of this year, we went for a week's holidays at Mildura to recharge and be inspired by the various different sceneries there, from vineyards, orange fields to the native forests and the Murray river.

We took some photos for Dawn to paint from and she was very much inspired by the native scrubland. She painted a couple of these sceneries in the vein of "managerie" and "puppy love".

The gnarled and twisted treeforms were quite intriguing. The depth and shade of the forests were quite interesting too, which gave her a platform to start.

Encore?

Dawn had a sellout exhibition at Mad Gallery, and she has been invited to put on another exhibition there at the end of this month, June 2007. With the money she earned there, Dawn has bought some new canvases and she is busy painting.

Dawn's friend, Carolyn is also exhibiting there at the same time, she is the main attraction, and is a very good wildlife and animal painter. The eyes of the animals are so alive!

Carolyn's art can be seen on http://carolynart.spaces.live.com/

Blue Ribbon

Dawn has just finished a commissioned painting for blue ribbon real estate. They are selling our home for us.

They wanted a painting for their office that represents their business.

April 2007 Exhibition

This is the advert as it appears in Trouble Free magazine. The exhibition is at Mad Gallery, Lancefield, Victoria, Australia.

In the first four days of the exhibition, we have sold three paintings. Dawn said she was so excited and felt inspired to start a new series of paintings. This retrospective exhibition, have her artworks starting from 1993 to the present. It was good to see all the progress since then, all at once on the wall. She had only embarked in this contemporary style since her days in the 1990's.

It is good to express herself in her art instead of the traditional representative way. She felt that this is more challenging than ever.

An artist-teacher friend of the gallery described the paintings as strong and full of energy. It reinforced what the gallery owner felt about the paintings.

Please come and look at the exhibition if you are around the area.

Paintings Mar 2007

Dawn has been busy painting this month, and she is getting ready for an exhibition at Mad Gallery, Lancefield, Victoria.

Dawn says she had an idea on how to do this series of paintings since she first had a desire to paint in her teens. Finally, she is doing the paintings this month.

What do you think of this series? Do you like the style?

Soul Journeys

In my undergraduate studies at the University of Ballarat, I discovered a unique style to develop my expression, taken from the surrealist automatic drawing technique of making marks on the support and communicating with what is found.

I have been experimenting with automatic mark making and line since 1995, progressing to this body of work. I have called these paintings “Soul Journeys”, as this has been a recurring theme for me. The “Souls” depicted by eternal circles appear to be traveling through time surrounded by the lines which beg to suggest some sort of intelligence and inspirations.

Of course, the paintings are open to viewer interpretation as I agree with a comment made by Picasso that "A work of art is not thought out and settled beforehand. While it is being done, it changes as ones thoughts change. And when it is finished it still goes on changing, according to the state of the mind of whoever is looking at it."
I hope you enjoy viewing “Soul Journeys” as I have creating them.

About Father's Tears

Jesus Christ is central in my life, the cross reminds me of Jesus' atonement and cruxificion, with the angels on the left in white, waiting, and the Devil and his hosts in red at the bottom of the painting. Heavenly Father is looking from above, shedding his tears.

This is my interpretation of this painting and you are welcome to interprete this painting the way you choose.

I would love to see what you think of this painting, so please comment on it.

Dawn