Our group show Reformation opens at First Site Gallery, at 5.30pm on Tuesday the 10th of April! The show will then run until the 20th of April.
The show includes work by myself, Kaitlyn Gibson, Luke Boslem, Tricia Page, Sara Crotty, Heather Ogilvie and Ellen Fairbairn.

First Site Gallery: 344 Swanston Street, Melbourne.

Busy busy busy!

With commissions on the horizon, study and approaching deadlines, saving for a July trip to Paris and preparing for our upcoming group show, Reformation, at First Site Gallery.. it's been a very busy few weeks!

It was very exciting to see Reformation featured in this months Art Almanac and Australian Art Guide!

If you're free on Tuesday the 10th of April, from 5.30pm, Reformation will be opening at First Site Gallery (Melbourne) and it would be lovely to see lots of people there!

The exhibition shall run for two weeks following the opening.

I feel very excited to be exhibiting in such a public gallery with seven amazing artists- Kaitlyn Gibson, Luke Boslem, Tricia Page, Heather Ogilvie, Sara Crotty and Ellen Fairbairn.

More information and a proper press release shall be put up onto this blog in a day or two... time just seems to be running out at the moment! Details can also be found on the galleries Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/events/221070364646515/

My time has been spent focusing on new ideas and a new body of work. I have been exploring the depths of night and complexities of visual darkness and the connections between doilies and mandalas.

My doily paintings have evolved to ephemeral works, using flour. These are an attempt to explore the meditational and cyclic nature of making and of life and time.

A sneak peak at the beginning of a commission for Textile Artist, Carla Dawes:

To see more of Carla's work, go to: http://bubblesatthehead.com/

I shall post more photographs of this new work shortly.

ALSO, am slowly building up a little body of work exploring the process of repainting one of my doily/mandala paintings as many times as possible... an attempt to address the issue of meditation through repetition:

Recently I enrolled in, Footsteps of the Impressionists- a two week study tour in Paris in July with my lovely friend, and fellow artist, Sara Crotty. I will then stay in Paris for an extra week by myself.

I can't wait to traipse around Parisian Galleries, eat lots of croissants and drink lots of wine!!!

I'm blessed at the moment to have many exciting new possibilities, despite all the craziness!!

doilies/ mandalas # 2

doilies/ mandalas

Can doilies be likened to mandalas, or meditational maps?

Was this craft once used as a release for some, a challenge for others, and a form of meditation and escape for many?

In repetition comes solace.

Water color paintings on rag paper

Beijing

Beijing is a wonderful and vibrant city.

I walked atop the amazing Great Wall. A monument that is soaked in history and admiration.

I wondered through the Forbidden City, admiring the magnificent architecture of ages past.

I ate delicious food and drank copious amounts of tea. (Rose petal and lemon, ginger & honey.)

One day I will go back to China and see all the wonders that I didn't have time for.

Tibet

Tibet is a place of vast beauty and tragic devastation.
The country side is desolate, vast, barren and achingly beautiful; whilst the Tibetan people are incredibly kind and extremely generous. The monasteries are laden with scripture, tradition and faith and the pulse of multifaceted Tibetan faith beats strongly. Yet, the Chinese rule is strict and scary. Chinese police are placed on most street corners, monasteries are open only for the tourist dollar, travel is difficult and traditional Tibetan culture is dismissed.
I feel beyond blessed to have been able to have seen Tibet. To have walked sacred pilgrimage paths with Nomadic grandmothers, spinning prayer wheels and chanting, decades of faith. To have driven over high mountain passes and to have stood under prayer flags that flutter in the wind and carry prayers to the skies. To have been treated with kindness and warmth from the Tibetan people.
I feel blessed.

Please, do not forget about Tibet and the Tibetan peoples plight.

Tibet is utterly beautiful and deserves to be treated accordingly.

http://www.freetibet.org/