Another Easter Show has now been and gone, summer is but a memory (I had my last swim of the season a few days ago), and this weekend the clocks go back again. These things that come and go from one year to the next really bring to mind how fast the years go by. It’s the in-between seasons that are certainly my favourite – the gorgeous colours that come with autumn, and the beautiful new growth that appears during spring; and of course the temperatures are generally more moderate than during summer and winter. The one thing I don’t like about autumn, however, is that it means winter is just around the corner. And yet at the same time I know that it too will pass relatively swiftly and the warmer weather will be with us again in no time!
Most recently I’ve been painting a little series from my visit up to Norah Head Lighthouse some weeks ago. With no other visitors when I arrived there, I was taken on my own private tour with a lovely volunteer guide by the name of Terry, who mentioned the lighthouse had been freshly painted only about six months earlier. I’d been lucky to be there on a day when there wasn’t a blemish in the sky, and as we stepped out onto the platform part-way up the lighthouse, we could have been looking out across the Mediterranean from Santorini! The lighthouse’s stark-white feature domes against the cobalt sky and turquoise waters were far more beautiful than I could ever have anticipated. Added to that, a subtle rope motif had been painted on the platform at the edges of the domes and the doorway – a small and simple addition and yet it really gave an exquisite finish to this breathtaking moment. Without doubt my paintings won’t live up to the beauty I was able to capture in my photos, or indeed the real thing, but I had to at least give it a try!
A handful of these lighthouse paintings are ear-marked for an exhibition the Australian Society of Miniature Art will be holding at the Grace Cossington-Smith Gallery later in the year. That same society is currently holding an exhibition at Yapang – the Museum of Art and Culture in Lake Macquarie (although it will be ending tomorrow). I visited the gallery a couple of weeks ago and was so impressed with how the exhibition had been curated – it looked fantastic – and, as always, the quality of the work that so many artists are capable of doing on such a small scale! I was especially excited to see that all three of my pieces there (three miniature Gymea Lilies) had sold, and I thank those people who had liked them enough to buy them!
Yesterday I collected the paintings I’d submitted to this year’s Easter Show that had not sold. I was really thrilled to know that four of the seven works I had for sale had sold, and also that the one piece I’d entered ‘NFS’ had won an award. That’s Izzi above, with her ribbon!
Coming up, or showing now …
‘Anthophilia’ at Marie-France, Philip Mall, Kendall Street, West Pymble (NSW) until Saturday 27 April
ASMA’s ‘A Closer Look’ at the Museum of Art and Culture Lake Macquarie, First St, Booragul (NSW), until Sunday 7 April
Art@TheRowers at Mosman Rowers, 3 Centenary Drive, Moman (NSW), from Saturday 6 to Friday 19 April
‘artXtra!’ at Gallery Lane Cove, 164 Longueville Road, Lane Cove (NSW) from Tuesday 9 to Saturday 20 April
Drummoyne Art Society’s Annual Open Art Awards at the Drummoyne Civic Hall, cnr Lyons Rd and Marlborough St, Drummoyne (NSW), from Friday 19 to Sunday 28 April
A4 Art Australia, now online until Sunday 30 June, having been at the Herring Island Gallery, Melbourne (Vic)
Until next month.