Beyond the Blue Horizon Group Exhibition
Like everything in life it’s all about the journey and little about the destination, and as far as Covid goes the journey still continues.
Last year I was invited to present my art in a group exhibition. We were to create a response to the theme “Beyond the Blue Horizon”. The exhibition was due to open with half of the artists in hard lock down in Melbourne but it became very clear it wouldn't go ahead.
“What is a group exhibition’ we said, “when we can’t get together, to support each other, and celebrate our thoughts and feelings and accomplishments”.
To understand my work is to seize the day! How lucky was I, on a day in May, to have an opportunity, between lockdowns, to make it to my most favorite place on this planet, Magnetic Island! For me Magnetic Island, has always and forever will be, a place of solitude, quietness, and joy, a place where I have had lots of time to reflect on life .
The brief didn’t come easy to me. I am so used to taking images of flowers and green and color, I needed to change my palate to blues and complementing hues. I was in a creative rut and in a panic knowing my time on the island would soon be over. However, with all things creative, and I know this right to my core, you have to work at it, try, try again, plug, plug away at it, keep plugging till the ideas come thick and fast.
And they did, sitting on the end of picnic bay pier. My thoughts were flowing quick and fast, words, concepts and I wrote them all down. I was back the next day to take photos, lots of them…. I knew I was onto something, finally.
Most of the compiling and decision making didn’t come until I was back home in Melbourne in my studio. Being a novice to group exhibitions I was unaware of restrictions imposed on me at hanging stage, which resulted in a complete revamp of my ideas. No longer could I have an installation of many pictures all hung together that would reveal a concept/idea in its entirety, but I needed to supply 5-8 works that would work at a very individual level, which would not necessarily be shown together. A big rookie mistake indeed, which almost forced me to give up on the project. I’m pleased that I persevered.
The result of my endeavors is that I have 5 works. They are all digitally printed locally on Panama canvas and hand stretched onto frames. They combine images from Magnetic Island, Noosaville and Lorne and reflect and carry my innermost feelings about covid and beyond a blue horizon we are only starting to experience.
City of Darebin - In-house promotion for staff event
Appalachian Heaven String Band - CD Packaging design
Appalachian Heaven String Band - Social media post announcing upcoming tour dates.
Appalachian Heaven String Band - promotional poster
Marty Kelly & the Weekenders - CD packaging design
Marty Kelly & the Weekenders - promotional poster
Growling Dogs- CD Packaging design
Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club - selection of CDs and packaging.
Social media post promoting an annual scarecrow competition, one of the many events hosted by Rossmoyne Street Thornbury as part of Darebin Council's initiative - Drive with your Heart campaign.
Poster that promoted a course that I ran as part of SPAN Thornbury's digital literacy program - Create, Enhance and Digitise your artwork. Participants learnt how to use Adobe Creative Cloud, apps and web platforms to create their own artwork and apply it to fabrics and homewares.
Promotional posters for Penders Grove Primary School Trivia night
The snail pattern based on a photograph I took one wet and rainy night in the garden with a flashlight. Amazingly the snails shell turned golden with the light - this is not photoshopped!
Pattern design from my original photography and then printed on fabric and hand sewn into baby leggings.
