I had one of those ‘Not in my wildest dreams’ moments last week when I visited Gleebooks in Glebe. I knew Sophie’s Sister had been taken on board by this iconic Sydney bookshop (huge thanks to both Roger Mackell and Jill Sykes), but seeing the titles Sophie was sharing a shelf with was more than I could’ve hoped for! This is an enormous step in the right direction, and I am hugely grateful.
Sophie aside, my painting has been taking me back to the Central West of NSW – to Cowra in particular. I visited Cowra many years ago on a road trip with my mum, and I’ll never forget that first sighting we had of Cowra’s vast, brilliant yellow fields of canola. Fortunately my mum was a very patient lady (as anyone travelling with a person who likes to capture every wonderful moment nature surprises us with needs to be), because I’d pulled over to the side of the road in a heartbeat, camera in hand.
I soon realised there’d been no need to pull over for that particular scene, as the all-consuming bursts of colour surrounded us for many kilometres to come. And so it’s with this in mind that I’ve been trying to recreate the magic of the canola fields of Cowra, for the 2020 Calleen Art Award. It’s been a challenge, but I’m getting there.
And I have a few other things on the go at the moment. The Ku-ring-gai Art Society is planning on holding their annual Spring Exhibition in September (again, all going well), and I will be opening my studio towards the end of October, joining forces with Glenys Ferguson from Yass in NSW. Glenys creates the most exquisite works with fabric and paper, all with a distinct Japanese flavour, and I’m really looking forward to displaying my work alongside hers.
Oh, six of my little birds are available until Sunday 26 July from the Combined Art Societies of Sydney, as part of their online super art sale exhibition. As a non-profit organisation that has had to cancel all their planned fund-raising events this year because of Covid-19, they asked their members to donate original works of art that they are now selling for $100 each. A great opportunity to pick up a lovely piece of art at a great price.
Until next month.