Our sentiments exactly!! Thanks Stephen, we love it.

See you in a month, darlings. We’ll have a g&t for you (…often.) And we’ll drop in a post if/when we find an internet connection…

‘Baranguba’

The sky goddess springs from Gulaga,

dances across the glittering island

pivoting on twin granite sentinels

-          fin echoes calling all to rich feasting

as clouds of bait fish race the wind and whales.

Baby chicks melt into warm rocks

hoping their mothers win

the howling greedy dogfight overhead,

the little red hawk patiently

patrols malaleucas for wind tossed finches.

Clouds mirror stormy seas

as we poke the sea wrack,

startle dozing seals and

fat crabs in ruby anemones.

With sun and moon poised on each horizon

nautilus ride swell swollen weed forests

until the mass lunar glow

quickens in the gelatinous bay.

Raucous predations and the ocean’s cornucopia

make life simple here

while smoke and dust haze the coast.

image: Mignon Patterson, Selkie, kelp

It’s been culture-o-rama from camp drafts at Delegate with Mick…

…and it wasn’t all horseplay – we swung by a fabulous opening at the Bundian Way Gallery  and caught up with Uncle Ossie…

And check out the rissole…

What a cracker!

And then Shazza turned sexty and threw a classic garden partay…

…complete with string quintet. She’s all class we reckon…

And it’s been a mega month for studio visits, from Matt Curtis…

…which of course was full of serious gorgeousness…

…including Harry’s latest work…

And we also caught up with Haeli and eX, all work related but no photo op (too much serious chat!!)

And then there was Annie and Gordon…

And finally Kimberley Dodd…

…in the lead up to last night’s opening at the BVRG…

Barb (McConchie) braved the inclement weather to open what was a surprisingly well attended opening given the Easter clash..

.

Kimberley Dodd, Still Life with Chips and Sauce

Though seemingly strange bedfellows, there’s some serious bounce between Chris Denton’s metaphilosophical aesthetic and Kimberley’s languid country domesticity. Makes for a really yummy show – up until the 11th May, so plenty of time to do a drive by.

Chris Denton, three from the void

It’s a dog’s life: Mitchies Jetty, Merimbula.

A glass jellyfish, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, MA, US

Among the 21million specimens that will rarely, if ever, be displayed at the Museum of Comparative Zoology are the 430 glass models of beautiful marine creatures made between 1886 and 1936 by the father-and-son glass artists Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka. When the curator and I walked through the room in which they live, hundreds of tiny tentacles and spines shivered in time with our steps. If they were in a public area of the museum, the human traffic would be too much and they might break apart.

The Blaschkas made thousands of glass creatures. George Goodale, the first director of Harvard’s Botanical Museum, hired them on an exclusive contract to make more than 4,000 models of plants, 3,200 of which are on display (being more robust than the marine creatures) and are the most popular exhibits in the museum. When 25 were taken to New York City for an exhibition, they were driven in a hearse, as this was the smoothest ride the curators could find for them.

Adorable. Takes us back to Glass History in first year – the Blaschkas understandably loomed large.

They always come to mind whenever we see glass peeps trotting out jellyfish (invariably beyond inferior.) Dear oh dear, why do it? It’s only luminaries like Timmy Horn who can pull it off (latex or not) and he made his own respectful pilgrimage to the Blaschka Collection and both references and pays them serious homage.

Think twice, that’s our advice.

Ensemble

Ausglass Members Exhibition

Over a hundred glass artists from across Australia are now on display at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, in Ensemble: Ausglass Members Exhibition. Proudly by Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, in conjunction with the 16th Biennial Ausglass Conference, The Collective Vision, Ensemble showcases the depth and diversity of contemporary glass in Australia, from time-honoured traditions to cutting edge experiments.

All the artworks in this stunning display have been created within the past two years, as a snapshot of the current state of the art; and every state and territory in the nation is represented, highlighting the geographical spread of the passion for glass across Australia. The pieces on show in Ensemble range from delicate jewellery and fragile pâte de verre vessels, to elaborate installations, imposing sculptures, and vivid stained glass hanging works.

Beyond the diversity of forms and styles, Ensemble also illuminates the extraordinary range of techniques currently practiced by glass artists across the country. Hot and cold working, kiln forming and engraving, glass blown, carved or assembled; all these methods and more, in every imaginable configuration, can be explored and admired in Ensemble.

Variety in form, diversity in technique – and in addition, artists at every stage of their career, from the emerging and recently graduated, to the established, the acclaimed, and the acknowledged masters of their craft. Ensemble invites them all, and displays their work in contrasts and complements that underline the truly collaborative nature of glass in Australia, as an artform in which all continue to learn and to grow in their art together.

Ensemble is open to the public from Saturday 16 February until Sunday 21 April, 2013. The exhibition will be launched on Thursday 4 April, from 6:00pm until 8:00pm, in conjunction with the official launch of the 16th Biennial Ausglass Conference, The Collective Vision.

Exhibition Dates

When: Saturday 16 February – Sunday 21 April, 2013

Where: Wagga Wagga Art Gallery

Exhibition Launch

When: Thursday 4 April, 2013, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Where: Wagga Wagga Art Gallery

 

The Gang loves Wagga Wagga as you know, but sad to say we’ve got a serious clash this year – we’re packing the Poo and heading for Burma again (this time to mooch around the Mergui Archipeligo and Moulmein.) Bummer, eh.

Thanks for the teaser, Mikey, you’ve done a great job of the install – as always. We’ll be with you in spirit.

Showgirl ritz: ‘Best Heifer in Herd’, Debbie Petersen

The Country Show, that is, at the BVRG. And what a corker it is, and the fun hasn’t been confined to the gallery – the public program component hitched up with the Bega Show, beaming old-fashioned goodness from the bosom of the glorious old Show Pavilion itself.

Waratah and Caren man the Pavilion

There was a great turn-out of participating artists for both the opening and associated ag show event and a splendid time was had by all. [Anyone who thinks the country ag show scene is past its use-by date needs to get with the program – it's the perfect antidote for pestilent IT-dysplasia.  n(Ed)]

Tania and Lia check out Simon Ramsay’s trophy

Side-show alley was a treat, with leanings ever so faintly toward Victorian freak show…

Simon Scheuerle’s beyond awesome Stallionator

Chloe Bussenschutt’s Lambs, Bellies, Fairyfloss

Simon Scheuerle’s Transbovine adaptor harness

Visitors are loving it, and if ever there was an exhibition that could boast ‘something for everyone’, this is most certainly it.

Miss Showgirl with Waratah’s blokes

Best in show? Too hard to pick – but we’re really taken with Elvie’s banana…

More exhibits here.

Meanwhile we’ve lifted this article from the Bega Times…

Show ponies

While the Bega Show is over for yet another year the spirit burns brightly in the Bega Valley Regional Galley’s current exhibition The Country Show. Described as ‘a convivial contemporary take on a cherished agronomic tradition’ the exhibition showcases the work of a group of Canberra artists who for the last 5 or so years have held their own annual homage to the spectrum of agricultural fare.

This year, on the occasion of the Canberra Centenary, they’ve made the trip across the Monaro to help celebrate the BVRG’s own 25th anniversary milestone (the current gallery space was opened by the then Premier of NSW Nick Greiner.  

‘It’s a wonderful exhibition,’ said BVRG curator Megan Bottari. ‘A great mix of serious skill delivered with flair and good humour. It’s so nice to sit in my office and hear visitors chuckling away in the gallery. When it comes down to it, you know, the visual arts are just another form of entertainment. This show is certainly that.’

The out of towners − Emma Beer, Joyce Bell, Ali Aedi, Jacqui Bradley, Cathy Laudenback, Chloë Bussenschutt, Hilary Cuerden-Clifford, Julie Cuerden-Clifford, Denise Ferris, Dan Edwards, Tania Evans, Kirsten Farrell, Caren Florance, Cathy Franzi, Erik Krebs-Shade, Cathy Franzi, Simon Ramsey,  Mini Graff, Bernard Hardy, Waratah Lahy, Janet Meaney, John Pratt, Simon Ramsey, Simon Scheuerle, Wendy Teakel, Lia Tajcnar, and Lyndall Kennedy – have been joined by local artists Debbie Petersen, Elvie Preo, Cathy Jarratt, Vicky McCredie and stalwart Bega Show Art and Craft Champions Rita Roberts and Elvie Preo.

But perhaps the biggest excitement of the exhibition is the inclusion of Gail Schaefer’s panels from the Southern District’s 1991 Royal Easter Show exhibit. The Man From Snowy River tableau has graced the north facing wall of the Bega Town Hall foyer since it’s return from the big smoke and, after years of relentless exposure to direct sunlight and dust, has faded away to a ghost of its former self.

‘But from a visual arts point of view, ironically enough,’ says Megan Bottari, ‘the work has come into its own. The subtlety and movement in the fleece is intriguing. It was the perfect foil for The Country Show and gallery visitors are absolutely loving it.’

‘And there was a surprise bonus – a marvellous inlaid wooden piece was found hanging behind the horse panel. Apparently when the Man from Snowy River was installed somebody decided that the ‘plaque’ was no longer of any value or relevance and so just covered it over. Which is lucky, really, because it’s been protected from the sun for all that time and remains in fair condition.’

‘There’s an inscription on the back – from Pedro to Happy Manning – and we’re rather hoping that people might come forward and fill in the mystery gaps in the story. Who, for instance, was Pedro?’

‘The show is running for another 4 weeks, so we’re hoping to garner all sorts of information during that time. Already we’ve had a number of people who remember seeing it in the old municipal chambers when they were children. It certainly provides a great point of local interest.’

The exhibition is open until the 23rd of March; entry free, all welcome.

Photograph: Gallery staffer Jenny Greenwood with the recovered inlaid wooden ‘plaque’ and ‘the wild bush horses.’

Richard Blackwell

planar

now showing

jas hugonnet gallery www.hugonnet.com.au

To arrange an appointment to view or for media images, please call 0417 235 916

or contact the gallery via the website.

Image Richard Blackwell, Speculative Planar Drawing # 10, 2013, 1016 x 838 mm,  marker pen on paper

Excitement is gathering apace – more of that soon.

But meanwhile Megsie took these shots of a couple of her fave bits at the recent Candelo Show (well, more particularly for Sammy Jo and Iain.)

[She's such a tragic for pipes and militalia. n(Ed)]

for Iain

for Sammy Jo

Back at the BVRG, preparations are well in hand for the upcoming excitements…

Grand Supreme (Arts and Crafts) Champion of the Bega Show Rita Roberts making dainty with the laceworks.

Rita’s one of the BVRG’s longstanding volunteer gallery sitters. (What a privilege, that added bonus of watching a live demo at work.)

She’s also one of a selected handful of local artists joining the 21 strong Canberra mob in what promises to be a most entertaining celebration of the long standing country ag tradition.

Hang on to your hats – it opens next week.