arts zine nov 2015

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E arts zine issue 13 November 2015

EDITOR

Robyn Stanton Werkhoven

CONTRIBUTORS

Carlos Barrios Carlin McLellan

Piers Dudley Bateman Brad Evans

Peter Speight David Graham

Diana Middleby Kathryn Wittman

Dungog by Design Nigel Nerd

139 Gallery Eric Werkhoven

Lorraine Fildes Robyn Werkhoven

New Castle Printmakers Gina McDonald

Nanshe Gallery

slp studio la primitive

Above: Detail - Undercliff Past - print Gina McDonald © 2015

Front Cover : Whispering Angel mixed media on linen

140 x 150cm Carlos Barrios © 2015

Index ……………… 3

Editorial………………………… Robyn Werkhoven 4

SLP Antics………... ………… E&R Werkhoven 5

Featured Artist ………………… Carlos Barrios 19

Poetry…………………………… Brad Evans 20 - 23

Featured Artist Tribute………… Piers Dudley Bateman 24 - 39

Poetry…………………………… Carlin McLellan 40 - 41

Artist…………………………… Diana Middleby 42 - 53

Essay…………………………… Eric Werkhoven 54 - 55

Artist Retrospect…………………Peter Speight 56 - 67

Not News……………………… Nigel Nerd 68 - 69

Charles Rennie Mackintosh…… Lorraine Fildes 70 - 95

Poem……………………………..David Graham 96 - 97

Dungog by Design………………Kathryn Wittman 98 -109

Exhibition……………… ……… Back to Back Gallery 110 - 117

Exhibition………………………..Nanshe Gallery 118 - 119

Printmakers…………………… Gina McDonald 120 - 121

ART News………………………. 122 -131

Back Cover………………………Diana Middleby 132

‘Nest’ drawing Carlos Barrios © 2015

Please do not copy articles in this magazine without

written permission of the Editor.

Copyright © 2015 Studio La Primitive, All rights reserved.

Issue 13 - November 2015 3

EDITORIAL Greetings, best wishes for the festive season and a splendid New Year 2016 to all our ARTS ZINE readers.

Studio La Primitive would like to thank all contributors to the Zine for 2015. The Zine was two years old in

October, our readership keeps growing and we can look forward to an interesting and exciting 2016.

The November / December issue 13 of STUDIO LA PRIMTIVE ARTS ZINE includes interviews with nationally and

internationally recognised painter Carlos Barrios and a tribute for Piers Dudley Bateman. There are interviews with artists

Diana Middleby and Kathryn Wittman who talks about the Dungog by Design artisan collective opening an inspiring shop /

gallery in Dungog, Hunter Valley. We also feature a retrospect on Newcastle sculptor Peter Speight.

Lorraine Fildes presents a delightful article on Charles Rennie Mackintosh architecture and interior design.

Our intrepid interviewer Nigel Nerd takes on the Australian flag and the USA.

Don’t miss reading our new essays, poetry, art news and information on forthcoming exhibitions.

The ARTS ZINE features professional Hunter Valley, national and international visual artists poets and writers, glimpses

into their world of art and their creative processes.

Submissions welcomed, we would love to have your words and art works in future editions in 2015 and 2016.

Deadline for articles - 15th February for March issue14 2016.

Email: [email protected]

Regards - your editor Robyn Werkhoven


mailto:[email protected]


Bull Rider Bird Mask

STUDIO LA PRIMITIVE - © 2015 E&R Werkhoven collaborative paintings

www.studiolaprimitive.net Issue 13 - November 2015 5

http://www.studiolaprimitive.net

CARLOS BARRIOS


CARLOS BARRIOS - INTERVIEW

BACKGROUND :

Carlos Barrios is an Australian artist, born in 1966 in San Salvador, El Salvador, Central America.

Barrios was introduced to art and ancient relics from primitive Central American cultures in early childhood

by his father who was an archaeologist. Barrios first began to paint at the age of six .

“I had a childhood filled with visits to magical ancient places, pyramids and temples. As a child art was an

important discovery, it came to me for the first time in a stone belonging to an ancient city. I was on an

excavation site wondering around amongst fragments of ceramic, obsidian and stone. I picked up one small

stone, rectangular in shape, and as I looked into it I saw many figures. I kept it, and could observe it for

hours, this fragment seemed to contain a film of moving and changing figures.”

The Salvadoran civil war began in 1980 and continued for over ten years. “ In this war time madness and

normality coexisted. Many nights the electricity was cut and in the candle lit spaces of the house I saw

creatures moving and watching us, so I would paint and draw them. As I worked I would watch my hand

moving, creating the figures and creatures, I was the onlooker, the witness to this seemingly automatic

unfolding of pictures, visual descriptions. “


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Salvador

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Salvador

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_America

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvadoran_civil_war

Barrios was learnt the technique of oil painting and was mentored by the artist Ramón Merino in El

Salvador.

In 1990 Barrios immigrated to Australia. He attended the National Art School in Sydney.

Over the recent years Barrios has be received many awards and accolades for his work.

Including twice being a Finalist for the Art Gallery of New South Wales Sulman Art Prize, in 2005 and

2006. Barrios has twice been a finalist for the Blake Prize for Religious Art, in 2006 and 2007.

In 2008 his work was exhibited at the Miami Art Fair. Barrios' work was included in the 2009 "Reflections

of Australia" a group exhibition in China.

He received winner of the Liverpool City Art Prize 2009 and selected as a Finalist in the 2010 and 2011

Plein Air Art Prize, held in Parliament House ACT.

Barrios is a passionate and prolific artist, regularly presenting exhibitions in Australia and overseas.

A solo exhibition in 2010 "memorias, pasion y lineas" (memories, passion and lines) was opened by

Australian artist John Olsen AO OBE.

He regularly exhibits with Maunsell Wickes Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney and Metro Gallery, Melbourne.

Barrios' studio is located in the NSW Southern Highlands town of Robertson.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Sulman_Prize

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Prize_for_Religious_Art

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Olsen_(artist)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Highlands_(New_South_Wales)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson,_New_South_Wales

CARLOS BARRIOS

INTERVIEW

“Art makes me aware of different levels of existence within the universe, sometimes revealing

many questions and other times great understandings.” - Carlos Barrios

When did your artistic passion begin?

“My long love for art began very early as a child.

My dad used to take us to ancient sites, that somehow made

my creativity and passion for what we call art to be awakened.

The imagination was enhanced and my path was clear.”

Opposite page: ‘Mothering’ mixed media on linen 95 x 140 cm Carlos Barrios © 2015


How would you describe your work?

“My work is a mixture of emotions and visual conflicts.

I mostly use the medium of drawing and painting as I have an urge to make the marks.

In this kind of state I feel that something awakens.

Like a game or vortex, a mystery to me.

It keeps me interested and busy.

Mostly figures in different backgrounds or activities.

For me the first marks are very important even some times they get covered a bit.

A process of selection.

Maybe some kind of magic expressionism.”

What inspires you?

“Humanity and its mystery is the source of my inspiration.

From the love and desire for simplicity of being.”


‘Angel’

Ceramic 60 x 40 cm

Carlos Barrios © 2015


What do you consider your greatest achievement?

“My family.

To have some moments of awareness (not too many) to be able to work in creative activities full time”.

What are you working on at present?

“At the moment I am having eight paintings in a show at Metro Gallery in Melbourne.

Then in November eighteen works in Paddington at Maunsell Wickes Gallery.

Eighteen works for a show in the south coast in December.

I am part of other group shows as well with ceramics, paintings and drawings.

I have a trip to Hawaii and plan to just relax , cooking, drinking and making works on paper.”

Your future aspirations with your art?

“To reach awareness, wisdom and happiness, to became a good human being and provide for my family.

To have the joy of making marks and take then to the next stage”.


‘Sacred Moment’

Conte & oil crayon

on watercolour paper

80 x 63 cm

Carlos Barrios © 2015


‘My Lovely Little Town Robbo’ mixed media on linen 40 x 140 cm Carlos Barrios © 2015

www.carlosbarrios.com.au


http://www.carlosbarrios.com.au

‘Early Riser’

Pen on paper

Robyn Werkhoven © 2015


early riser for "Doors" (1920 - 2011)

and for the memories that remain - Brad Evans

she was an early riser

and she began the household tasks

of making the bed and getting dressed

and dusting and washing

and sweeping and wiping away more dust…

all of her morning seemed taken up by jobs

which I swore half of them she'd invented

just for herself:

"Why don't you sit down and read a book, Nan!

Relax a bit, that recliner was built just for you!"

I'd watch her consider that idea all too briefly

before she'd laugh a little and walk off muttering:

"if only I had the time, love!" And then off she'd go to water the parsley and

And then off she'd go to water the curley-leaf parsley and mint

And all the other varieties growing in abundance front and back.


On some mornings, she'd take an early swim with a friend

and come back pegging her swimsuit on the line

not far from the onions hanging in the musty garden shed

and I'd look at that white rubber thing that she wore over her head

was it white or purple?

a lot of women her age seemed to wear them

whenever they went for their morning swim

it didn't seem to keep the water out

but it had a distinct flowery pattern on it. All in 3D.

Later on she would take a walk down the hill

To buy the loaf of fresh bread (unsliced) from the baker

and I still remember the date scones and pots of tea,

the pikelets, the golden syrup dumplings which I'll never forget

and while Nan would soak the rice for the pudding

her brothers and friends would arrive,

they all seemed to be farmers or fishermen,

with names like Athol and Crofton and Harold

bringing in food from the land and the sea

anything from fresh beans to mullet.


And while Mum and Nan were stringing those beans

before the weekend roast

I would sit out on the balcony

with a glass of ginger beer in my hand

watching the Tamboi Queen chug across the Bay...

And that was many years ago now

and the house no longer stands,

and all I've got left are just some memories

that slip away like sand

no matter how tight I hold 'em

and if you're gonna scatter those ashes

then do it at daybreak

she was an early riser anyway

and choose that time on the Bay

when the air lies still over the water

and let a gentle tide take her.

- Brad Evans © 2015


PIERS DUDLEY BATEMAN Issue 13 - November 2015 24

TRIBUTE - PIERS DUDLEY BATEMAN

As a long time friend of the Bateman family and Piers Bateman, Arts Zine is honoured to present this tribute

for Piers on his life and art work.

Sadly in September 2015 we lost Piers in a tragic boating accident off the NSW coast. He has been

described as a passionate artist, charismatic , fun loving and always ready for a new adventure.

Piers is noted for his distinctive painting oeuvre of the Australian dessert and bush landscape, with over

sixty solo shows and is represented in many corporate and public collections.

In recent years 2008 - 2014 he travelled, worked and exhibited in China.

Bateman’s paintings have been regularly exhibited in art galleries in Australia and overseas. Including the

Red Hill Gallery in Brisbane, Eltham South Fine Art Victoria and the Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, China.

His art hangs on the walls of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Melbourne University and the conference room

in the Australian Embassy in Washington.

Opposite page: Outback Landscape ‘Mt Conner NT’ 150 x 100cm - Piers Bateman.


An old photograph of Piers beside an early figurative painting from 1968/69.


BACKGROUND:

Born in Perth 1947, ten years later his family moved to Eltham, the avant-garde art community in Victoria.

Here he spent his younger years and later attended Eltham high school.

Many famous Australian artists have affiliations with Eltham such as David Boyd, Arthur Boyd, John

Perceval, Albert Tucker, Neil Douglas, Matcham Skipper and Clifton Pugh.

In 1966 Piers ventured to London where he began to paint seriously, studying art and mentored by

Arthur and David Boyd.

On his return to Australia in 1966 he was invited to hold his first his first exhibition at the new gallery

Munster Arms in Melbourne1968. Melbourne Herald art critic Allan McCulloch gave the exhibition a good

review. After the successful show Piers bought a thirty acre property of bushland at St Andrews, where he

built his first mud brick studio. His journey into exploring landscape painting was fueled here amid the

beautiful Australian bush terrain.

Piers visited the coastal regions of Williamstown, Port Melbourne and Mornington, where he enjoyed

painting the coastal scenes. It was here that his enchantment for the sea emerged.

The Reserve Bank of Australia bought the painting "Scallop Boats Mornington" for its permanent collection.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Boyd_(artist)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Boyd

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perceval

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perceval

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Tucker_(artist)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Herald_(Melbourne)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_Bank_of_Australia

’Kimberley Gorge’ 150 x 100 cm ‘Murrumbidgee Flowing II ‘ 150 x100 cm

Landscapes by Piers Dudley Bateman available at www.redhillgallery.com.au

’Manna Gums & Wattle’ 150 x100 cm Central Australia 150 x 100 cm


http://www.redhillgallery.com.au

Australian art collectors began to discover Bateman.

Well established artists such as Vic O'Conner, Clifton Pugh, Lloyd Rees David Boyd and Charles

Blackman encouraged and mentored Piers.

“Blackman in particular helped Bateman establish connections in the Sydney art community. An invitation to

participate in a survey exhibition of Australian Art at the Cremorne Gallery Sydney and a painting acquired

by the Caterpillar Foundation in Chicago further helped his growing recognition as an emerging landscape

painter.”

During the seventies he went on regular painting trips throughout Victoria, South Australia and New South

Wales. Fights over areas of western Queensland with artist Mervyn Moriarty in 1973, led Piers “to experi-

menting with an aerial perspective to his iconic outback paintings giving a new and evocative view of the

flat landscape. “

“1980 Bateman ventured on a trans Australian painting exhibition with sculptor Marcus Skipper to Broome

Western Australia via Alice Springs and the Tanami Desert returning through the Kimberley, Darwin and

Cairns. Due to the adverse physical conditions of this trip he experimented with gouache and acrylic as a

medium for the first time. Working on large canvases in oil back in his studio, these gouache impressions

were the basis of his 'Red Desert' series which brought him wide recognition in Australia.”

Piers travelled and exhibited frequently in Europe, he had ventured through all the European canals on a

boat. In 1983 Piers returned to the Mediterranean, spending a year painting in the Aegean. In the winter of

1985 he set up a studio in Alicante, Spain. In November 1986, Piers returned to Australia.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterpillar

Piers Bateman beside an early painting ‘Scrubby Bush’.


Piers Bateman beside painting - ‘The Flat Gets Flatter’, Greg & Kirsten Norman collection.


’The Creek’ 150x100cm ‘Blossoms & Wattle’ 150x100 cm

Australian landscapes by Piers Dudley Bateman available at www.redhillgallery.com.au

‘Two Mile Creek’ 37x29cm ‘Splash of Wattle’ 150x100cm


http://www.redhillgallery.com.au

1997 Bateman spent three weeks painting in Eritrea before the outbreak of civil war, with Surrealist

Photographer Bill Mosley. An exhibition of paintings and photographs from this experience was shown in

Melbourne and Sydney.

“In 1998 Bateman was "discovered" by Andrew Peacock who at the time was fighting a close election with

Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

Peacock bought a collection of his works and later encouraged Bateman to visit America when Peacock

became the Australian Ambassador.

The Australian Embassy subsequently commissioned two paintings, one a large (4 x 2-metre) Bush Mural

for the conference room.

1998 Bateman traveled by road across America from California to Washington D.C., painting desert

landscapes along Historic Route 66.

The next year 1999 Bateman held a major exhibition at the Embassy of Australia Washington D.C.

In the same year he was invited to be the Australian representative at the Contemporary Art Fair in

Malaga, Spain.

In 2007 Piers was invited to exhibit at the Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair.

Prominent people in the Arts took notice of Bateman’s work, inviting him back to exhibit and later a position

in 2009 at Shanghai Institute of Visual Art as.


PIERS BATEMAN GOES TO CHINA

In recent years Piers Bateman discovered China, where he taught as an Honorary Professor at the

Shanghai Institute of Visual Art under Fudan University in Shanghai, China .

“One of the highlights of my time in China was the bronze sculpture that I was commissioned to make for

the University Grounds. This was a project that took two years to compete from conception to installation. I

owe a debt of gratitude to John Chen and his skilled workers at his foundry for their expertise on this

project.”

A selection of portrait studies - Piers Bateman.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Institute_of_Visual_Art

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fudan_University

‘Girl and Bull’ - Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts, China . . It was a long process mainly due to

sourcing the finance. Now it is finally installed outside the faculty of fashion and design.


Piers Bateman and sculpture and detail of

the Girl at Foundry, Shanghai China.


The Bull at the foundry, Shanghai, China.


“Art is to me the most important thing after survival needs. By art I include of course

all the arts. I like to say as a definition of art. Art is the seduction of the senses. Art is

to be explored, enjoyed questioned and collected.” - Piers Dudley Bateman.

“Piers was an adventurer and great inspiration for just heading out there and doing it! We saw the Australi-

an Desert through Piers’s paintings, our local Bush and later the works from China more recently. He made

his mark as a strong and unique Australian Landscape artist and did not ever ‘sell out’ to the fashion of the

day with his art.” - Jenni Mitchell - Eltham South Fine Art , Victoria.

“Piers loved the sea, books, traveling, painting, Jazz, history, British cars and his friends. He especially

loved Jazz, not modern or experimental Jazz but real Jazz by all the Dukes, Earls & Counts of the early

20th Century. I often heard him make an analogy between music and painting by comparing line,

composition and colour to notes, chords, rhythm and tempo. He also believed that the best way to support

the arts was to buy art. So go out and find something that will give you joy every time you walk into the

room and put it on your wall.”- Conrad Batman © 2015

All content of article and photographs courtesy of Bateman family and friends © 2015 All Rights Reserved.


‘Shanghai Jazz Party’ - Piers Bateman.


‘Schubert’s Lake’

Pen drawing

Robyn Werkhoven© 2015


How much do you want the things that you want?

The loudest sound I ever heard

came from a place where all traces of past loves

are siphoned into inestimable lakes at the bottom of which

Schubert's scattered ashes muse on how

unfinished his symphony actually was

- Carlin McLellan © 2015


DIANA

MIDDLEBY


DIANA MIDDLEBY - INTERVIEW

Diana Middleby, a Newcastle professional artist and former gallery director, has had twenty three years

experience in the art industry.

When did your interest for art begin?

“My passion for art began when I was a young child living in Newcastle and in my parent’s basement I saw

for the first time my great aunt, Maud Armstrong’s, original oil paintings. They were the most beautiful,

exciting images I had ever seen and at every opportunity I would go to see them. Decades later I tried to

find Maud’s paintings only to be told that they had been destroyed in a house fire!”

Describe your work:

“My work goes through stages, depending on experiences in life and my state of mind. At the moment I am

using water colours and finding the discipline it takes to master the materials affects the subject matter of

my work. Butterflies, birds, faces and botanical style flowers have emerged from the watercolours. I am also

working on a few commissions of flower, bird and fruit artworks which are oil paintings on a large scale.”

Image page 34: Swimmer #3 oil on canvas H122 x W33 cm Diana Middleby © 2015


What inspires your art?

“I am inspired by nature and as I live on a flower farm, I am surrounded by the diversity and beauty of the

natural world. Unusual faces of characters that I may read about or meet also inspire me. Examples of

strong biblical women dominated my earlier works.”

What are your greatest achievements?

“My greatest achievements in art, apart from the many exhibitions of my work over the past three decades,

have been the art galleries that I have created at Tighes Hill. The first one was the Tighes Hill Gallery/Bus

Stop Gallery on Elizabeth Street in partnership with Robyn and Eric Werkhoven from 2003 to 2007 and then

the School of Arts Gallery (SOAG) on Elizabeth Street from 2009 to 2012. In a financially difficult art climate

at the time of the GFC (Global Financial Crisis) we opened the SOAG Gallery and managed to make it a

successful business. I managed monthly exhibitions of Newcastle and the Hunter Valleys best and

well-known artists as well as some emerging new artists. I was given great support from a range of regional

and overseas art lovers and collectors and I am eternally grateful for their support.”

What are your future aspirations?

“My future aspirations are to explore a range of new materials in my art work I am very interested in

tapestries and soft sculptures and looking at the work of Jannick Deslauriers and Grayson Perry for

inspiration.”

- Diana Middleby © 2015


King Proteas #4(detail )

Oil on canvas

H64 x W50cm

Diana Middleby

(C( 2015


Day Lillies (detail)

Oil on canvas

H91 x W60 cm

Diana Middleby

© 2015


Undecided

Oil on canvas

H56 x W66 cm

Diana Middleby

© 2015


Judith Holofernes (detail)

Oil on canvas

H169 x W78 cm

Diana Middleby © 2015


Sunflowers

Oil on canvas

H44 x W35 cm

Diana Middleby

© 2015


Yellow Gum Blossoms

Oil on canvas

H40 x W30 cm



For painting commissions

please contact Diana Middleby

Email:

[email protected]

Arum Lilies - oil on canvas H120 x W30cm




ESSAY - ERIC WERKHOVEN

On the edge of being exhausted,

needing your presence to break the cycle.

In far away whispers, getting closer.

You run away with my thoughts and pluck them out of thin air.

Both slightly down graded, to wait for a more appropriate moment,

to set a man free on crutches

to set a man free with broken wings.

This may well be the appropriate timing to put our dreaming

back into its higher place of recognition.

Find myself thinking about some of the people we meet,

and linger awhile in (my) thoughts (there).

Sometimes it works wonders, but then we want more,

what’s partially real, to hold the key to both our understanding,

as if for one moment it’s a fair assumption.


To hear the world around us, and help us joining up these links.

Even the remnants of our ancient past,

and these more recent events that mean so much at the time.

To equip ourselves with a tenacious glue, weight bearing evidence,

and actual footage in whose memory we are upheld,

in the status quo of what’s current and vital, and perfectly suited.

You work me up in a frenzy, you fuel me with wordless longing.

Less known are the things we are yet to learn about ourselves.

They seem at times more like a remedy,

for some of the ills we have accumulated.

To be able to create a static bubbling effect,

to reach the surface from deep within.

Seeking a person of your calibre to have a toast with.

- Eric Werkhoven (C)2015


PETER SPEIGHT - RETROSPECT


PETER SPEIGHT - RETROSPECT

Newcastle, Hunter Valley Sculptor.

The indomitable and charismatic sculptor Peter Speight, sadly left us in 2012. Peter’s spirit lives on with

family and friends’ great memories and a prolific parade of his wonderful satirical, provocative, witty and

poignant sculptures epitomising the human condition.

Peter was born in Maitland NSW 1965. From years 1993-99 he attended Newcastle University, B.A Visual

Arts (Hons.)

His studio / home was in Newcastle, surrounded by a chaotic scene, a multitude of timber pieces , tools

and wooden sculptured figures and hybrid creatures in various stages of completion. Peter sculptured and

partied ‘hard’, loved the beach, psychedelic rock music, Jimi Hendrix, philosophy, reading and his dogs.

Peter was a passionate artist, with a perpetual intrigue to explore the psyche of human beings in their

universe. His chosen medium was recycled wood and found objects. He regularly exhibited in Newcastle

galleries with sell out shows.

- Robyn Werkhoven © 2015

Photo on opposite page: Wickham Park 2011 - courtesy of Ian Norris © 2015


Peter Speight working in his studio…..photo courtesy of Ian Norris .


Tribute excerpts 2012.

“Peter’s sculptural pieces were always rich satirical candour, social commentary and psychedelic

undertone. The exploration of the tangible, the spiritual and hallucinatory were always subjects to Peter’s

heart and saw fruition through his art work.

Peter Speight had established a significant following in Newcastle and his work will always be highly

regarded and forever treasured.” - Colin Lawson, Director ArtSystemsWickham Gallery 2012.

“A sculptors life - and carving especially - is characterised by tough physical endurance and Peter pushed

his bones hard, turning out countless original carvings, mixed - media assemblages, and numerous

drawings.

A label he sometimes personally claimed, ‘Outsider Artist’. Is not an accurate fit. While Peter chose a path

beyond the pedestrian mainstream, eschewing the often gratuitous nature of the institutional and commer-

cial art world, he remained a passionate and omnipotent part of the local arts community and a perceptive

critic and mentor. Generous in heart and spirit but never false in his flattery, Peter’s instinct for language

and materiality gained him wide respect amongst artists.”

- Una Rey, Art critic & writer- excerpt from Tribute ASW Gallery 2012


Peter in his studio

Photo courtesy of Dean

Beletich.


PETER SPEIGHT - AGAINST CONVENTION

Maitland Regional Art Gallery

Exhibition 5 December 2015 – 7 February 2016

“Peter Speight was a Newcastle based artist who grew up in Maitland, in 2012 he died unexpectedly. This

exhibition is a celebration of his unique sculptural practice that many in this region own or have seen over

the past decade since he started exhibiting in the late 1990s. Speight was a prolific artist and this exhibition

is only a small representation of what he produced during his lifetime.

His cheeky personality is now embedded in everything that he made, predominately known as a sculptor

who used recycled wood and found objects, he was starting to exhibit drawings that reveal an artist who

was only just beginning to make his mark.” - Maitland Regional Art Gallery. © 2015


Victory 2001 Hammerhead 2004 Circus Noir 2005

GALLERY: Sculptures - Peter Speight © 2015


Sex X. X. X. 2003 King Shit 2003 Sex X. X. X. 2003



Acrobats Death & Taxes Dog Inside Your Body 2005

Circus Noir 2005 Last Man Standing 2001



Surrender 2001 SPLIT - 2011 The Oracle 2012



Skin Head on a Pony 2000 Circus Noir 2005 Ringmaster - Circus Noir 2005

GALLERY: Sculptures Peter Speight © 2015


Life and Death, recycled wood, 2004 - Peter Speight.

All rights reserved Jennifer Speight © 2015.


Exciting news! ARTZINE has run a very successful artists competition worldwide to design a new national

flag for Australia. The winner is Hal A. Hamburger of Crassville, U.S.A., who Nigel interviewed last week.

The competition sponsor was an American philanthropist who wished to remain anonymous.

In this exclusive interview Hal, an extremely patriotic American, said he did his best to extend American

values worldwide and creating this new Australian ensign was a wonderful opportunity. He said his first

inspiration came from the former Australian flag, which is known as “London by Night” in the U.S. He

thought simply replacing the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes would be fine. But fellow Americans

violently opposed this - it would mean Australia would have six stars rather than just one like as all the other

U.S. States. Since all Americans can carry guns (and most do), Hal, thinking of his personal safety, thought

it best to drastically change his design concept.

Hal said his second and winning inspiration came from China. Down at the docks one day he saw a Hong

Kong flag ship flying two flags, with the Chinese national flag on top and the Hong Kong flag below. What a

great idea! So realistic and practical!

NOT NEWS - Nigel Nerd


So Hal’s winning entry means that in future Australia will have two flags, with the U.S. flag flying supreme

and a completely redesigned Australian flag below. Nigel enquired about the redesigned flag.

Hal explained “It has the top half in golden yellow, bottom half in green with a grey and white shark in the

middle of a central blue oval.”

“What are the particular meanings involved here?” asked Nigel. Hal replied “The gold and green colours

have a deep spiritual significance for Australians. These colours represent sport, which is the dominant

religion in Australia.”

The shark can be interpreted in more than one way. It mainly represents, of course, the Australian banking

and finance industry. But also, being surrounded by the blue sea, it is a warning to all Australians not to

venture into deep water, financial or otherwise.

Hal went on to say he was so pleased that there was bi-partisan political support for the new flags. Liberal,

National and Labor parties all agreed that the “two flag new look” reflected reality – American commercial,

military, political and social dominance in Australia.

After the interview Nigel marvelled at the symbolism of the new Australian flags. Nigel also applied for a

U.S. passport. - Nigel Nerd © 2015 All Rights Reserved.


Charles Rennie

Mackintosh

Lorraine Fildes © 2015


Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928)

The innovative style of Charles Rennie Mackintosh is seen throughout the city of Glasgow. His architectural

masterpiece, Glasgow School of Art, was voted by the Royal Institute of British Architects as the finest

building designed by a British architect in the last 175 years.

At 15 years of age Charles Mackintosh was an apprentice at the Architectural Glasgow Office of John

Hutchison. During his apprenticeship he supplemented practical experience in the office by attending

classes at the Glasgow School of Art. He took classes in drawing, painting, modelling and design. In 1886 he

completed a course in Elementary Architecture, and in 1887 he passed a course in Building Construction.

On completing his apprenticeship, Mackintosh accepted an assistant’s position into the Architectural Office

of John Honeyman & Keppie in 1889. They allowed Mackintosh to work on important commissions even

though he was only an assistant. It was a major vote of confidence in Mackintosh’s architectural ability.

Honeyman & Keppie’s Architectural Office was invited to compete for Glasgow’s new Art School. One of

their entries, clearly designed by 28-year-old Mackintosh, won. The governors only had money for half,

which was built over three years and opened at the end of 1899. Later money was found for the other half of

the project and Mackintosh was able to complete his masterpiece.


Mackintosh became a partner in the Architectural Office of Honeyman & Keppie in 1901. In the first few

years of the new partnership Mackintosh had plenty of work and the future looked promising. The

commission for The Hill House (1902–4) came to him because the client, the Glasgow publisher Walter W.

Blackie, had admired his designs for the School of Art. It was the biggest domestic commission of his career.

Kate Cranston also became one of Mackintosh’s most important clients. She employed Mackintosh to

design her fashionable tea rooms in Glasgow. He rebuilt 217 Sauchiehall Street as the Willow Tea Rooms

(1903), giving it a startling asymmetrical façade. His last Scottish architectural undertaking was the Scotland

Street School (1903–7), a major new building for the School Board of Glasgow. This was the most lucrative

job he carried out at this time, combining features derived from 17th century architecture with abstract

geometrical decoration outside and dramatic spatial effects within.

Reasons for Mackintosh’s initial success in his career:

In the late 1880’s a new architectural philosophy concerned with creating functional and practical design

was emerging throughout Europe: the so-called "modernist ideas". The main concept of the Modernist

movement was to develop innovative ideas and new technology - design concerned with the present and

the future, rather than with history and tradition. Heavy ornamentation and inherited styles were discarded.

Mackintosh introduced art nouveau to Scotland and modified it in a much more streamlined way. He was

very popular for a short time and then found it difficult to get assignments.


Like his contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright, Mackintosh's designs often included extensive specifications for

the detailing, decoration, and furnishing of his buildings. His work was shown at the Vienna Secession

Exhibition in 1900. Mackintosh's architectural career was a relatively short one, but of significant quality and

impact. All his major commissions were between 1896 and 1906, where he designed private homes,

commercial buildings, interior renovations and churches.

Despite his success in Europe and the support of clients such as Blackie and Cranston, Mackintosh’s work

met with considerable indifference at home and as a result his career declined. Few private clients were

sufficiently sympathetic to want his ‘total design’ of house and interior.

Changes in architectural fashion:

The extreme individualism of Mackintosh's work naturally restricted the number of clients who chose him,

but the main reason for the decline in his career was because the architectural tide or fashion had changed

and American influence dominated world architecture from 1909. Public enterprises wanted the new

“classicism” for their public buildings. A fundamental shift had taken place in architectural taste

internationally, America being particularly important in this respect – away from eclecticism and

individualism and towards a single, dominant version of classicism.


Near the end of his life, Mackintosh abandoned architecture completely. He wrote despairingly of the

influence of America, and of those who championed the new classicism that America represented. By 1914

Mackintosh had despaired of ever receiving the level of recognition in Glasgow that he felt he deserved. In

an attempt to resurrect his career, Mackintosh resigned from the practice and with his wife Margaret

Macdonald moved to London.

This was unfortunate timing, for with the onset of the First World War all building work was severely

restricted. Adventurous plans for a suite of artists’ studios and a theatre were never built. However, after

making adjustments to the exterior of a mid-terraced house at 78 Derngate in Northampton (1916), the

client W J Bassett-Lowke commissioned Mackintosh to redecorate a number of the building’s interiors

including the Guests’ Bedroom (1919). These designs illustrate a bold new style of decoration and

construction, using primary colours and geometric motifs. It was an output of extraordinary vitality and

originality but it went virtually unheeded. A move to the South of France in 1923 signalled the end of

Mackintosh’s architectural career and the last years of his life were spent painting. He died in London on 10

December 1928.

lllustrations:

The only Mackintosh building permitting photographs inside was 78 Derngate Northampton, and as it was

the last architecture project he worked on I use it to demonstrate his ideas on interior design. The other

buildings which I photographed from outside demonstrate clearly how he had moved on from the old

classicism to art nouveau and then even further with his designs - even more modern than art nouveau as

they are not overdone with outside decoration.


Glasgow School of Art


Glasgow School of Art

On the 23d of May 2014 a fire damaged the Mackintosh building

and (in 2015) there is no visitor access to the interiors of the

Mackintosh building whilst restoration takes place.

This photograph shows the impressive northern façade of the

building. All is very streamlined and the wrought iron decoration on

fence and windows is very subdued – certainly in contrast to the

outrageous Art Nouveau decoration added to the buildings in Riga,

Latvia.

Sited at the edge of a steeply sloping south facing hill, the art

school, stretches along an entire block, facing a major street to the

north. This north side presents a simple, horizontal rectangular

mass with large, industrial windows which light the studios, alternat-

ing with masonry piers. This facade is set behind a stone and iron

railing, interrupted at the centre with an art nouveau iron arch under

which steps lead up to the asymmetric composition of the entrance.

In contrast the east and west facades are narrow, tower like

masonry walls above the steeply sloping streets, into which small

paned metal windows recall Scottish baronial architecture.

Photo: Dalhousie Street side of Glasgow School of Arts – illustrating tower

like walls and small paned metal windows.


The Daily Record Building

The Daily Record Building was designed by Mack-

intosh in 1901 to house a Scottish newspaper, the

Daily Record. It was built in a very narrow poorly-lit

laneway. To maximize light and make the building

appear brighter Mackintosh adopted a striking use

of colour on the exterior, combining yellow sculpted

sandstone with blue and white glazed reflective

bricks. Mackintosh’s classic motifs are all here, as

well as the figurative Tree of Life, created by

variations in the brickwork reaching skywards.

Completed in 1904, the lower floors were used for

newspaper production and the upper floors for

offices.


The Hill House

Most of Mackintosh’s best known buildings are close to the Glasgow city centre. But travel 20 miles west along the

Clyde and you come to a much different setting. In 1902, Walter Blackie, director of a well-known Glasgow Publishing

House, commissioned Mackintosh to build a new family home, in the leafy town of Helensburgh, overlooking the

Firth of Clyde. The commission extended to the gardens and much of the furniture, as well as the interior fittings and

decoration.

Externally, The Hill House was notable for its simple and solid massed forms with little ornamentation, yet internally

the rooms exuded light and space, and the use of colour and decoration was carefully conceived. Considered to be

Mackintosh’s finest domestic work, The Hill House was finished in 1904 and is now in the care of the National Trust

for Scotland.

Walter Blackie later wrote that, when Mackintosh handed the house over to the family, he’d said: "Here is the house.

It is not an Italian Villa, or an English Mansion House, or a Swiss Chalet, or a Scottish Castle. It is a Dwelling House",

which suggests the many influences which this famous architect incorporated.


The Hill House


The Willow Tea Rooms, Sauchiehall Street,

Glasgow

Throughout his career Mackintosh relied on just a handful of

patrons and supporters. The Glasgow businesswoman Catherine

Cranston proved to be one of the most influential of these and her

series of tearoom interiors (designed and furnished between 1896

-1917) provided him with a great freedom to experiment.

In 1903, Kate Cranston, asked Mackintosh to design and create

the Tea Room at 217 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. Although

Mackintosh worked in partnership with Kate Cranston on all her

Tea Rooms, this was the only project in which he had complete

control over every aspect of the design, including the teaspoons

and waitresses' dresses.

The Willow Tearooms is very much one of the main Mackintosh

features in Glasgow, attracting visitors from all over the world,

with the room today still having in situ the original doors, windows

and mirrors.

The Willow Tea Rooms in Sauchiehall Street is one of the few

buildings designed by Mackintosh still being used today for its

original purpose.


Detail: The Willow Tea Rooms, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow.


The Scotland Street School

This building is of a most imaginative design which would have been ultra-modern for its day. Designed

between 1903 and 1906, it was Mackintosh’s last major commission in Glasgow and displays the architect’s

genius to perfection. One can stand and marvel at the impressive leaded glass towers, the magnificent

tiled drill hall, the carved stonework and his mastery of the interplay of light and space. A functioning school

until 1979, it now offers visitors a fascinating glimpse into education in Glasgow in the past.

Mackintosh designed the school around a corridor system, allowing the rear, south facing, wall to be a bank

of windows, letting maximum sunlight and solar heat into the classrooms. He included the standard school

requirements of the time: separate playgrounds, outside toilets, entrances and staircases for up to 1250

girls, boys and infants, a cookery room, a drill hall and electric lighting. Glasgow's circular subway system

will take you from the city centre to Scotland Street School, which is near to Shields Road station. The

station itself advertises the School Museum with large representational drawings of the school on the

railway platform walls.


The Scotland Street School


The Mackintosh House

in the Hunterian Gallery

The Mackintoshes lived at 78 Southpark

Avenue from 1906 to 1914. The house was

demolished in the early 1960s, but the

original fixtures were preserved and

reassembled, complete with the contents,

as part of the Hunterian Art Gallery.

Mackintosh made substantial alterations to

the house in 1906. He re-modelled the

proportions and natural lighting of the

Victorian end-of-terrace house. He

decorated the interiors in his distinctive

style, remarkable for his disciplined

austerity.

When the house was rebuilt by the

University the architects took pains to

ensure that the sequence of rooms exactly

reflected the original.

That attention to detail even extends to the

same views and effects of natural light, as

78 Southpark Avenue stood only some 100

metres away.

The interiors have been furnished with

the Mackintoshes' own furniture, all to

Mackintosh's design and decorated as

closely as possible to the original.

As there was no photography allowed

inside of the reconstructed house I have

only been able to include photographs of

the outside. The front door was of

Mackintosh’s geometric design. The front

door of 78 Derngate Northampton (the last

private residence he worked on) was

much more elaborate than the one shown

here.

Opposite: Detail of Doorway


78 Derngate Northampton

78 Derngate Northampton – completed

by Mackintosh for the toy maker and arts

patron W J Bassett Lowke in 1916-1919,

the tiny conversion of 78 Derngate

represented Mackintosh's last completed

commission.

At last a private dwelling house that I can

photograph from the inside! As this was

also one of the last buildings Mackintosh

worked on it shows some of his latest

ideas in interior design


78 Derngate Northampton

- detail of doorway.


Dramatic guest bedroom of 78 Derngate Northampton


Dramatic guest bedroom

of 78 Derngate Northampton

The first thing you notice on entering the room however is the

astonishing boldness of the décor and textiles.

Most of the walls and ceiling were plain white, but black and

white stripes ran up behind the beds and turned a right angle

at the ceiling to fill the space over them in an allusion to a

canopy. By such simple means a dramatic and totally unusual

effect was created.

A story goes that Mrs Bassett-Lowke anxiously expressed to

Bernard Shaw who stayed here in 1919 , a hope that the

décor would not disturb his sleep – to which he replied that

she should not worry, he always slept with his eyes shut!


Recess for Wash Basin -

In Bassett-Lowkes bedroom was a neat ‘glass

porcelain’-tiled recess with a wash basin with

integral splash-back, built into a cupboard in a

manner advanced for the period. Note the rose

motif around the stand and also the rose

pattern reflected in the mirror.


The Loungeroom light fitting –

The overhead light came from a slightly

medieval style candelabrum hanging from a

strange decorative white ‘waffle’, designed

to reflect light. The original ceiling fixture has

been replicated.


Stair Screen –

The stair screen Mackintosh designed is a

brilliant treatment, an open wall drawing into

the room the space allotted to the stairs,

while the panels of decorative leaded glass

in the lower part let light through two ways.

Firstly. natural light to brighten the stairs

down to the kitchen during the day, secondly,

electric light from the stairs illuminating glass

at night.


Kelvin Grove Art Gallery and Museum –

Glasgow’s main art gallery and museum has a good sample of work by Mackintosh and his wife Margaret

Macdonald. This panel shows the famous rose motif which was often used in interior designs in

Mackintoshes buildings.


Kelvin Grove Art Gallery and Museum –

This dining setting at the Kelvin Grove Art Gallery and Museum shows the high back chairs that Mackintosh

used to furnish dining rooms and tea rooms at the domestic premises he designed.


aurora corporealis - David Graham

clipping across the northern sky

an aurora corporealis called Carlin

hellspont of inspiration & candid utterance

between café coffee & hard liquor

this rainbow Bukowski spews haiku

while scheming collage conundrums

& midnight ’zines / I have a memory

from the meadow of the sleeping tram


where the mosquitos suck on poetry all night

while the summer hours cling like dew on the roof

dripping and draining up to the cricket-croak moon

before slipping back to the rhythms of friendly speech

with him smiling mildly through the steam

of green tea infused with the afternoon’s jasmine /

it is warm tonight too & the bats

are crying in the trees for you

they want to be in a Northern sky

with lights & the spectre of Carlin - David Graham © 2015 All rights reserved.


Original

Handmade

inspiring

224 Dowling Street

Dungog, NSW


DUNGOG by DESIGN - artisans collective

Interview - Kathryn Wittman.

“Dungog by Design members have a vast diversity of background – what links us is our current residence in

the Dungog area and our need to make. Some members have worked as artists all their lives, some have

studied, some have finally listened to the call to make things with their hands and have started late in life.

We’re attracted by beauty, by weirdness, by the functional and wearable and by the tactile: it’s a treat for the

senses to enter our shop and be inspired by what we can make. We love that we can bring ‘the world of Art’

to our small country town and be inspired by each other.”

What inspired you to open an art gallery/shop?

“When Dungog by Design first met in April 2014, with nine members all heads full of dreams and possibili-

ties, one of our first goals – and we thought it would be years and years off – was to open a gallery shop in

the township of Dungog. We have been inspired by artisan’s collectives in our travels – as close by as

Stroud and as far away as Scotland – and by gallery visits. Our secret motivation is to share our wares with

the world, one small town at a time, starting with Dungog. “


Jenny Trevethan Pamela Priday Alexandra Wade


What style/type of exhibitions or merchandise do you have available for sale?

“With 26 members, Dungog by Design has a wide range of handmade items available for sale in our

Dowling Street shop. We have ceramic wares, stitched, dyed and upcycled clothing, jewellery, hand made

books, paintings, prints, hanging work, timber furniture, quirky hats, vibrant fabrics, wrought iron objects,

knitted clothing, functional and decorative gifts, felted work, machine-knitted whimsy, cards and bookmarks

and locally made soaps. Our individual members’ range evolves with our exploration of materials and each

item is unique.”

Your future aspirations for the gallery / shop?

“Part of our charter points to Dungog by Design being involved in promoting our town as a destination for

visitors. We want to provide a space where visitors can see the best on offer from local artists, and a selec-

tion of guest artists. We anticipate holding exhibitions in the space adjacent to the shop. Dungog by Design

wants also to provide community workshops that allow us to share our skills with interested people. In the

short term, we want to continue the success of our first five weeks and consolidate the work of running a

shop with numerous staff, all volunteer, and many vibrant ideas.”


Eco dyed clothing , dress by Kat Wittman.


“Dungog by Design has 26 members who create via: painting, printmaking, felting, textile art, ceramics,

jewellery, clothing design, natural and synthetic dyeing, papermaking, bookbinding and making, illustration,

knit, spin, stitch, crochet, and felt, fishing-fly creation, wood carving and blacksmithing. And sometimes

combinations of the above!”

Sarah Dare, bookbinder, paper artist and bookmaker – an incredible restored Victorian Bible

Liz Hughes, textile artist – divine woollen and silk eco-dyed cushions

Alexandra Wade, illustrator – finely painted native birds on canvas and cards

Jenny Trevethan, textile artist – intricate traditional cross stitch in contemporary forms

Anne Balmer, painter and textile artist – chunky children’s vests in watercolour yarns

Kat Wittmann, textile artist – felted river stones with stitch detail, a tactile surprise

Judy Moore, textile artist – knitted baby’s wear in stylish modern natural yarns

Neil Buckman, Fly tyer – minute handmade fishing flies presented as framed artworks

Simone Turner-Ryan, painter – detailed landscapes and portraits

Karen Sowter, soapmaker – delightful beauty products using all natural ingredients

Pamela Priday, textile artist – vibrant silk scarves with abstract illustration

Dawn Thompson, textile artist, book maker – charming handmade paper concertina books


Barbara Ramsay Robyn Werkhoven Hand dyed silks.


Julie Fitzgerald, painter, textile artist – fine drawings of proud trout

Gerdi Schumacher, textile artist – wondrously light felted clothing

Donna Cavanough, painter – large framed ink drawings evoking flight

Lisa Wiseman, textile artist – wild wearable colour in combinations of hat, scarf and hood

Robyn Werkhoven, painter – exquisite painted pendants on a colourful beaded necklace.

Gaye Shield, painter – expressive oil paintings, local cows a specialty

Ira Morgan, painter – observant architectural landscapes in watercolour

Jane Richens, textile artist – minimalist use of subtly coloured felt and found metal

Barb Ramsay, timber jeweller – finely cut native wooden jewellery depicting flora and fauna

Clare Tilyard, ceramicist – tableware and art pieces that flow with the surrounding landscape

Judy Henry, painter – intriguing small abstracts of texture and colour

Claire Briggs, textile artist – striking cotton shirts in bright contemporary fabrics

Ed Ramsay, wood carver – timber furniture reminiscent of the forest

Nigel Stokes, blacksmith – hand wrought iron with finely designed decoration


Clare Tilyard Barbara Ramsay


Original clothing by

textile artist

Gerdi Schumacher


Display of beautiful hand-

made books by Dawn

Thompson.


Forthcoming exhibitions at the gallery?

“Nothing advanced in preparation enough to share at the moment: but watch this space!”

Are you interviewing artists for forthcoming exhibitions?

“It’s likely our first artists to exhibit will be drawn from our membership. We interview for entry into Dungog

by Design: potential members present their work and ideas to a jury which reports to the group with a

decision. We’d love to have a local glass artist and artists who work with more natural materials would fit

well with our guidelines, shop aesthetic and customer interest.”

Contact Kathryn Wittman for further information on Dungog by Design:

Email: [email protected]

[email protected]

Photographs courtesy of Dungog By Design artisan collective © 2015



mailto:•%[email protected]

Conversations with Ghosts – homage to an artist.

February 12 – 28 2016, Back to Back Galleries, Cooks Hill, Newcastle.

Opening Friday 12th February 6 - 8pm.

Earlier in 2014 a group of artists met to discuss the possibilities of creating new works in response to the

title of a recent release by the Australian songwriter and musician Paul Kelly. “Artists have always had a

strong connection with those who have gone before them,” muses Gina McDonald, who hoped that this

suggestion would resonate with those involved.

“Of the artists participating everyone has chosen very different tacks, either extending from the work created

by their “ghost” or exploring their subject matter. It is a wonderful way to engage with another artist,

momentarily looking through their eyes, becoming ever more familiar with their art and gaining an insight

into the impetus they had for creating their work. It kind of removes you from your own work while informing

and extending your art practice at the same time”. Gina McDonald © 2015


Sue Stewart

(ceramics, installation)

My influential 'Ghost' will be Gwynn Hanssen

Piggott, who was influenced by Georgio

Morandi. For this exhibition I will make a still

life from a selection of thrown pots using a

personal throwing style


Sally Picker

(ceramics, installation)

I have long been a lace addict, using

lace images in painting, printing and

ceramics.

I have been inspired by Peter Paul

Ruben who has painted intricate lace

collars and cuffs in his portrait works.

The beauty of lace is a constant

inspiration for me and I continue

pushing the boundaries in this case

with the use of clay as my medium for

the laces.


Penny Wilson

(prints, artist books, installation)

My immediate environment has been

shaped by the sea and I have chosen

J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) as my ghost. I

am drawn to the movement and moods

brought about by his use of colour and light

and by his relationship with the sea.

Turner’s paintings showing the power and

force of the sea and Man’s hopelessness

against it bring to my mind the accidental

travellers of today. Turner painted ships of

apparently expendable slaves or convicts

going to a new world. If he painted today his

lost souls would surely be our “unwanted”

refugees.


Gina McDonald

(prints)

Bronwyn Oliver (1959-2005) Australian sculptor

is my ghost. I have always been drawn to her

work for its intangible aesthetic, her incredible

output of work and her relationship to the

natural world. In reimagining her sculptures as

etchings I have had the privilege in drawing

closer to the many layers of meaning that are

held beneath their surface.


Valé Zakarauskas

(prints, artist books, installation)

“My love of colour has always drawn me to the

work of Australian artist, John Coburn. He has

given me inspiration over many years through

his use of strong vibrant colours, spiritualism

& abstraction of nature and the landscape”.


We hope you can join us at “Conversations with Ghosts”

opening on Friday 12th February at Back to Back Galleries,

Cooks Hill from 6 to 8pm.

Back to Back Galleries 57 Bull Street Cooks Hill NSW 2300 T: 49 293 677

www.newcastlepotters.org.au


http://www.newcastlepotters.org.au

"Colour Rhythms"

November 11 to December 5

Nanshe Gallery

148b Beaumont St Hamilton NSW

Mal Cannon started painting in 1983 at

Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney and

began to study the dynamics of form. His

work is widely collected in Australia.

Mal is attracted to the drama of painting,

the physicality of it.

His long interest in the Eastern concepts of

liberation, freedom from limitations and

concepts of self has yet again produced an

exceptional body of work for "Colour

Rhythms."

"...There is a relationship between the

painter and the work which demands an

honesty hard to sustain and even though I

have studied classical styles, this work is

not limited by that structure."

- Mal Cannon © 2015

MAL CANNON


"Colour Rhythms" November 11 to December 5

Nanshe Gallery

148b Beaumont St Hamilton NSW

Lydia Miller has been painting professionally for

over 25 years and has studied Chinese brush painting

with the late Chinese Master Chen Wen Hsi. Lydia has

completed portraits for several leading political and

academic figures and her work is in private collections

in Australia, England, China, France, Hong Kong,

Singapore, Sweden and New York.

Lydia, has created a lushness together with strong

movement for "Colour Rhythms" and has taken the

traditional depiction of flowers to another level.

"I only paint when I’ve got music in the background

because it frees me up and helps connect me more

quickly with my intuitive side."

- Lydia Miller © 2015

LYDIA MILLER


Newcastle Printmakers Workshop Exhibition

15 - 25 January 2016.

Old Fireshed Gallery in Wollombi


An Exhibition of original prints by

the Newcastle Printmakers Workshop

Earlier in the year twenty four artists from the Newcastle Printmakers Workshop began spending time in the

vineyards of the Hunter Valley region in search of reference points to create new works with. The vineyards

who agreed to have artists wander through their vines include Wollombi Wines, Undercliff Winery, Margan

Estate, Macquariedale Winery, Stonehurst Wines and Peppertree Vineyard.

Printmaking involves many different processes and techniques and the diversity of the members of the

workshop will be displayed in this exhibition of 50 works to be held at the Old Fireshed Gallery in

Wollombi from Friday 15th January to Monday 25

th January 2016.

The official opening will be held on Saturday 16th January at 2pm.

Printmakers: Helene Leane, Ileana Clarke, Jane Collins, Therese Wilkins,

Gina McDonald, Breony Delforce, Nicola Bolton, Shane Audrins, Alison Smith,

Paul O’Brien, Penny Wilson. Issue 13 - November 2015 121

Welcome to Gallery ONE88 Fine Arts. ONE88 is a curated exhibition space that allows established and

emerging Artists the opportunity to display their works in the centre of Katoomba - The City of the Arts.

186 - 188 Katoomba Street, Katoomba, NSW 2780 Blue Mountains, Australia.

Hours: Tuesday - Sunday 10:00am - 5:00pm

Telephone: (+61 2) 4782 0188

www.galleryone88finearts.com

A

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T

N

E

W

S


http://www.galleryone88finearts.com

‘BLENDED NUDES’

EDMOND THOMMEN

7 - 22 November 2015 Gallery ONE88

“Edmond Thommen describes himself first and foremost, as a

Photographic Artist. For him the magic starts with the camera and his

photographs.”

‘A COLLECTIVE’

KATHRYN GALLAGHER

7 - 22 November 2015 Gallery ONE88

“Sydney based Pop artist Kathryn Gallagher is best known for her

boldly-coloured paintings based on mash ups of comic strips,

advertisements and iconic Hollywood Celebrity.”


FEAST BACK TO BACK GALLERIES October 23 – November 8

Feast: Tableware to be used and enjoyed just as we enjoy family and festive dining

Featuring ceramic works by: Anne Gazzard, Barbara Greentree, Denise Spalding, Grant Keene, Heather Campbell, Joan Robinson and Nicola Purcell

Back to Back Galleries 57 Bull Street Cooks Hill NSW 2300 T: 49 293 677

www.newcastlepotters.org.au Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11am-5pm



23 OCT - 8 NOV

FEAST

Denise Spalding, Barbara Greentree,

Anne Gazzard, Heather Campbell,

Joan Robinson, Grant Keene,

Nicola Purcell (ceramics)

13 - 29 NOVEMBER

CANVAS & CLAY

Gary Boote (ceramics)

Merran Kilgour (painting)

4 - 20 DECEMBER

Christmas Takeaway

NSP Members’ Exhibition

Work can be “taken away”

Once purchased.

Back to Back Galleries

57 Bull Street Cooks Hill NSW 2300 T: 49 293 677

www.newcastlepotters.org.au



STUDIO LA PRIMITIVE

ARTS ZINE

Celebrated 2 years old on 1st

October 2015.

Click on cover to view the

previous issues.


http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/arts_zine_issue_1_oct_2013

http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/arts_zine_issue_1_nov_2013

http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/arts_zine_issue_3_dec_2013

http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/arts_zine_issue_4_march_2014

http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/slp_arts_zine_may_2014

http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/slp_arts_zine_july_2014

http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/slp_arts_zine_september_2014

http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/slp_arts_zine_nov-dec_2014_-

STUDIO LA PRIMITIVE

ARTS ZINE

Celebrated 2 years old on

1st October 2015.

Click on cover to view the

previous issues.

www.studiolaprimitive.net


http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/arts_zine_may_2015

http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/arts_zine_july2015

http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/arts_zine_sept._2015

http://issuu.com/robynwerkhoven/docs/slp_arts_zine_march_2015

http://www.studiolaprimitive.net

Laman Street Art Prize

established in memory of the figs

Hunter residents are invited to participate in the second bi-annual Laman Street Art Prize established to

remember the Laman Street figs.

Theme: ‘Celebrating Nature’ Prizes: Two Best-of-Show prizes ($2,500 each); Emerging Artist prize

($1,000); and People’s Choice prize ($1,000). Mediums that can be used: drawing, printmaking, clay,

wood, fibre, metal or a combination of these. (There is no painting or photography.) The work must not

measure more than 600 x 600 x 600 mm.

Exhibition dates: 22 January to 7 February 2016. Exhibition gallery: Back to Back

Galleries, Bull Street, Cooks Hill.

Deadline for receipt of entry forms: Monday, 30 November 2015.

For more information you can contact the organisers Anna and Bryan directly

at [email protected]



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Issue 13 - November 2015 132 ‘Proteas’ detail, oil on canvas - Diana Middleby © 2015

arts zine nov 2015

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