Please don't actually use paint!

I went on a gallery dash last week, excited by my release from the necessity of being in my studio by the fact that I may actually have finished my paintings for Goulburn Regional Gallery!!! However, I was so disappointed with what was on offer, I had to ring a friend and have an early evening drink to bemoan the state of painting in Sydney. And I can only just bear revisiting the disappointment by writing about it now, a week later.

Have you noticed how much of the current work being lauded as "the new big thing" actually is boring as batsh*t and shies away from using paint to the point that you'd think there was a world shortage of mediums and pigment?

Excepting the wonderful show by John R Walker at Utopia Art Gallery (actually, now that I think of it, his paint was uncharacteristically thin, too) every show I went to was exhibiting repetitive, -and I mean the same image actually repeated- flat, with poorly considered colour or the same tube colours slightly mixed. In one set of paintings in an exhibition, the entry painting promised a good, painterly show - until rounding a corner and I saw every other painting in the gallery,except for one, was the same image, different scale, of a Chinese mountain with clouds at the peak and light shining through, using Raw Umber, Cerulean, white and perhaps, Van Dyke Brown. And after reading the gallery spiel, I learnt that these paintings "flowed from his Newcastle studio in a short space of time", in anticipation of his trip to China". Do tell!! I can only assume the mountain itself must have been copied, as it appeared to have been, from a Chinese ink painting (since he'd not actually been to China at this stage).

And, sad to say, this was the best of the rest of the offerings I saw on the day, because at least I could admire his brushwork (even if it was the exact same wrist wriggle = rock surface in every painting). One of the worst exhibitions saw every painting of two rocks parted with sky between (think Stanley Chasm) in flat, dirty brown with darker outlines, and sky blue paint. The amount of sky included in the picture varied between paintings. That's it.I kid you not!

Another had the same, large photographic image (itself quite beautiful) repeated three times and displayed together, with the (unknown) photographer's marker notes in the margins regarding how she would change it. Clever!

So...have you noticed this trend towards boredom? Is it the new post-post modernist intellectual stand - a comment on lack of real choice in our consumer society?? A test on our level of discernment and detail mindedness?? A sad example of Art today??Or am I just being an old modernist...

What do you think??

Anna Sabadini at Artereal Gallery, Rozelle

Image: Anna Sabadini, Lounge Room Looking East, 2010 Oil on Canvas, 180cm x 215cm

Image: Anna Sabadini, Knitted View East with Crepuscular Light Over King George Sound, 2010 Oil on Canvas, 180cm x 220cm

Just caught this exhibition on the way home from a teaching gig. Anna Sabadini has painted very large works (180 x 215cm) which are not flattered by the smaller reproductions afforded by DL size invitations, press media or, for that matter, this blog.

I was at first pleasantly surprised by their quality as, from the publicity, I had thought the work was a little too traditional for my tastes and the subjects a tad dated and 70s feminist. In the flesh, these paintings knock your sox off!

Romantic landscapes such as "Knitted view East with Crepuscular light over King George Sound" (Phew!) present classic high elevation, "sunset" scenes, painted in skilfully quick broad brushstrokes, then overlaid with subtly tinted crosses, knitted v's from a large needle, or dots of paint reminiscent of the crafts a "well-educated" girl learnt at school during the 60s. The juxtaposition between expressive application and controlled decoration is engaging, delightful and thought provoking. The elevation to importance afforded by such enormous scale to subjects like the kitchen sink ("Kitchen Looking West") gives gravitas to women's work, whilst this disjunction between scale and subject also raises historical questions regarding the "Romantic" view of man conquering nature (why else does the artist choose panoramic scenes?), outwardly oriented and egotistically centred, compared to the reality for women of the times. Didn't one sex need the other to achieve it all? Aren't their histories "interwoven"?. And, since these are subjects presented by the artist now, it has to be asked, has anything changed much?

Regardless of this added conceptual dimension, it has to be said that the paintings are, in the end, a visual delight and well worth making it across the city or the Bridge to have a look. However, be quick as the show closes October 2nd, 747 Darling St Rozelle (left off Victoria Road as you travel away from Anzac Bridge).

Art Workshops

Image: Gabrielle Jones, "120kph Yass", 2010, Oil on Canvas 122 x 152cm

Why not invest in yourself, have fun, learn something new and even find your creative side? Rest the logic and the "gotta do/be"s and go AWOL for a short while!

This week on Saturday starts another Landscape painting workshop in the beautiful Balmain area, from 10 am -4pm. There's another to follow on the following Saturday 9th October and classes during school terms on Thursdays and Fridays 9:30-2:30pm.

Suitable for beginners, intermediate and the more advanced as class sizes are STRICTLY limited to a maximum of SIX students, so you're assured of personal attention.

Classes Include: Painting basics (Oil and acrylic); Landscape drawing and painting in Ballast Point, Mort Bay and the Callan Park landscape, Abstraction in painting; Creative thinking, Mixed Media, Interior and Still Life subjects.

What they say:

Gabrielle’s workshop on Abstract Landscapes was wonderful. Gabrielle’s teaching was professional, structured and inspiring. Discussions around a range of artist’s techniques and their interpretation of the visual landscape provided a point of reference for us to experiment. For me, the workshop provided a new way of interpreting what I see and the start of new journey in my painting. ..loved it!

Debra, Chatswood

I have learnt a huge amount from the two workshops I have completed with Gabrielle. Gabrielle offers practical advice on colour theory, composition, brush work and the process of successfully translating ideas to the canvas. Gabrielle is an enthusiastic and down to earth teacher giving advice and constructive criticism when needed, but also the space to get on and experiment with my own ideas. I found her workshops to be informative and inspiring. I will definitely be attending more classes.

Anita, Willoughby

I am interested in painting landscapes and developing my own painting style in acrylics and oils. I thoroughly enjoyed the short course I recently attended with Gabrielle Jones. I found Gabrielle to be a knowledgeable and approachable teacher. She was able to give me useful and perceptive advice on my technique, composition and use of colour. The class size was small and I received individual attention and constructive criticism during the day. Three classes were not enough so I have decided to enroll in six sessions next year!

Ella, Wahroonga

For more information, and testimonials, please see my website (Title Link) or contact me here

Robert Hughes gives it to Damien Hirst!

Just had this video brought to my attention by Kate - Thanks! Robert Hughes proves himself a principled, if still pompous, critic, and gives a bog serve to Damien Hirst! Not sure I agree with it all, but it certainly makes for interesting viewing.

Click on the title or view at left in my Vodpod

Questions to ask yourself

Image: Gabrielle Jones, "Bloom" 2010 Ink on Paper 100 x 75cm

Who would I be if I lived beyond fear?

Who am I when no-one's watching?

If I felt totally safe, what would I do differently?

Quote: Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex and vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself" Oscar Wilde, Preface to the picture of Dorian Grey.

And another query...

What is the most authentic and creative way for me to make paintings?

How can I most easily sell the paintings that I have made?

More Quotes on Art

Image: Gabrielle Jones, "Eucalypt" 2010, Ink on Paper 100 x 75cm

“Art is the loftiest yearning for truth, happiness and life or whatever you may call it. This is truly the most perfect form of our humanity”. Gerhard Richter

“(Paint) is this physical thing, yet you use it as a transforming agent…..The paint really makes the image. The paint discovers the image.” Elizabeth Murray

Illusion is our natural space of being human. We construct multiple realities” Brook Andrew, Australian artist

"What makes a great painter? The sentiments the painter’s works instil is of more value than any thought they may contain. To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your own private heart is true for all men – that is genius. Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense; for the inmost, in due time, becomes the outmost” Ralph Waldo Emmerson, on Self reliance.

“You can’t do anything you want, but having the fantasy you can is important when you’re making a work. I think that tension – that tension of wanting to do it and not being able to do it-is exactly where art is” Elizabeth Murray

“When I was a student at the Art Students League in New York City, I was surrounded by groups of artists, all investigating the comparable similarities and likenesses between things. It was not until I realised that it is the celebration of the differences between things that I became an artist who could see….I was looking for what most people can’t see. If I am a successful artist, then I think you don’t need Art. Art is then an appreciation of your own life.” Robert Rauschenberg.

“There is nothing original – all you can do is make an authentic forgery.” Luc Tuymans

“I have nothing to say, and I am saying it” John Cage

Philosophical quotes for artists

Image: Gabrielle Jones,"Time trees and the evening Sky", 2010 Oil on Canvas, 122 x 152cm

“The talent is in the choices” Robert de Niro, Actor

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man”. Geroge Bernard Shaw, poet and playwright.

It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be” Paul Aster, Author.

Don’t ask what the world needs – ask what makes you come alive and then do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive” Howard Martin.

Every Heart that has beat strongly and cheerfully has left a hopeful impulse behind it in the world and bettered the tradition of mankind” R. L Stevenson, Poet and author.

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least” Goethe, Writer and Philosopher.

Useful Quotes from the business world

Image: Gabrielle Jones, "Under the shade - roadside" 2010, Oil on Canvas, 120 x 120cm

Who'd a thunk it???? Harvard business school quotes applicable to the process of creation, artistic pursuit and the challenges of the artworld (or lack thereof in a post/mid GFC climate).

"There is no sense in being pessimistic...It wouldn't work anyway!" (I love that quote)

"In times of change, learners shall inherit the rewards, while the learned find themselves equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."

"Remember that change is mandatory....progress is optional!"

"The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order."

"When trouble comes, don't be frightened by the negatives. Look for the positives and dig them out. They are so valuable it doesn't matter if you have to handle tons of dirt" (re diamond mining in South Africa).

"The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more." (Amen to that....we could even afford our art materials! and maybe...to eat.)

Artist 's Quotes on Process

Image: Gabrielle Jones, "Shade, Speed and the Distance" 2010 Oil on Canvas, 152 x 122cm

“The notion of not having to get to a destination makes everything a possible destination.... If you have no certainty about how something is going to develop, then you go through the whole process of witnessing its development”. Robert Rauschenberg

“(Jasper Johns) uses paint as an active kind of layering. He moulds it. Glues things on, and uses templates until the paint begins to have a concreteness, which reminds me of Cezanne”. Elizabeth Murray

“I find it, then I go looking for what it is.” Picasso (on his choice of subjects and shifts of style)

“One should accept all givens, and move on from there” John Cage

“Of course I constantly despair at my own incapacity, at the impossibility of ever accomplishing anything, of painting a valid, true picture or even knowing what such a thing ought to look like. But then I always have the hope that, if I persevere, it might one day happen…..I have no motif, only motivation” Gerhard Richter, 1985

Some quotes to keep you going

McLean Edwards, Installation View, Goulburn Regional Gallery, (two views)

OK ...So I've been off air for an inordinately long period of time. But, in my defense, I have been working hard for my first solo show in a public gallery, Goulburn Regional Gallery in November, and have managed to complete ten large works -and I'm pretty happy with them. I checked out the Gallery on the weekend - swallowed hard and crossed my fingers - it's a large new gallery, very exciting and very scary.

I've also been teaching two days and two nights per week - so something had to go.

Anyway, in my process of artistic creation, I always read a lot...so, over the next few posts, I'm giving you the benefit of what I've learned from higher powers than myself - famous artists, poets and authors, about their inspiration, process and philosophies. I'm kicking off with a fellow female, and different thinker -Enjoy!

“..I draw out the shapes as quickly as I can to keep myself off balance. I try to think about them as little as possible and let them come from unconscious places…It’s a way of tricking myself into trying to do or see something not so predictable…I get anxious to discover a new way to paint, which brings back the pleasure. …I play around (with paint) as long as I can stand it…it’s a process of trying to be unconscious and very deliberate at the same time…”. Elizabeth Murray