Already! Time is such a strange concept. It seems almost impossible that we’ve clocked off and farewelled yet another year, and yet if I (and I’m sure you) stopped to think about the year just passed, and all we enjoyed, accomplished (and maybe even survived), it doesn’t seem that strange after all. Before Christmas, I caught up with a few friends I’d been at teachers’ college with, back in the early 1980s. After we’d finished our studies we all went our separate ways, seeing less of each other as the years went on until (for me at least) I saw nothing of any of them after those first few years out of college. There’s no way we could ever fill each other in on everything that had happened in our lives during those forty years, and yet being with them again was as easy as it ever had been.
One constant across these past few years, however, has been my painting - something I see continuing for a long while yet. Despite having avoided flowers as much as I have since I started painting many years ago, I’m enjoying my series ‘Anthophilia’ immensely. I put this down to the particular flowers I’m choosing to paint - the ones that display a definite boldness and drama.
A bit like our native birdlife (in that their song is often not the lovely melodic sound we might associate with the word ‘birdsong’ – think the kookaburra’s laugh, or the screeching of our cockatoos), our native flowers can be striking and dramatic rather than soft and pretty, and it’s these flowers I’m particularly drawn to. I started with the wonderful Gymea Lily, and then painted our Waratah. Then, moving off course a little, I painted a series within the series - our State and Territory floral emblems (above, the Red and Green Kangaroo Paw from Western Australia). And now (just because I absolutely love them), I’m working on flannel flowers.
As the new year has begun, so too have the year’s entries to some art shows and exhibitions. If you’re out and about (or looking for something special at an excellent price online), the following might be of interest.
On now, and coming up …
The Combined Art Societies of Sydney (CASS) Online Summer Sale, until Wednesday 31 January
ASMA’s ‘A Closer Look’ at the Museum of Art and Culture Lake Macquarie, First St, Booragul (NSW), from Saturday 10 February to Sunday 7 April
HAS Volunteers’ Exhibition at Wallarobba, 25 Edgeworth David Ave, Hornsby (NSW), from Tuesday 20 February to Sunday 3 March
Sydney Royal Easter Show at Sydney Olympic Park (NSW), from Friday 22 March to Tuesday 2 April
Until next month.