Thursday 19 February 2015, 3pm
I finished a week’s residency at Tweed River Art Gallery
yesterday. I’d first seen the Margaret Olley space a couple of months ago and
was keen to have a crack at it.
The Nancy Fairfax Artist in Residence Studio was a wonderfully
well-appointed space to work and live in. The staff were particularly
accommodating and allowed me access to Margaret’s space to work in. It’s a very
popular gallery and I had many enjoyable chats with the punters who were
streaming past.
I arrived on Wednesday afternoon and tried to loosen up with
a sketch from the deck of nearby Mt. Warning. It was a bit frustrating as the
cloud cover and light was constantly changing. Eventually I turned my back on
the mountain and resolved the drawing without the distraction of the view.
“Cook's Warning”
11/2/15 450x600
I started in Margaret’s space the next day and went for the
low-hanging fruit first. I clogged up the passage and had to move aside for
wheelchairs and walkers a few times.
“The Yellow Room”
12/2/15 600x900
Love the row of objects on the mantelpiece. It was becoming
obvious that the challenge was going to be to render the detail and keep the
drawing loose at the same time.
“Hat Factory”
12/2/15 900x600
The composition got away from me a bit in this one. Might be
able to save it.
“Hat Factory 2”
13/2/15 600x900
Audrey looking through the slit window in the background
(not a good likeness). I need to work on those titles.
“Kitchen Window”
13/2/15 900x600
Caught a punter looking through the back door. Cooking
utensils and a tin of brushes on the windowsill. Margaret stored her brushes
bristles down, no wonder they’re so mangled.
“Bonnard's Cat in the
Hat Factory”
14/2/15 600x900
The cat was a gift to Margaret, made from brass, but looks
like papier mache. Sculpture based on Bonnard’s painting “Le Chat Blanc”.
“Hat Factory 3”
14/2/15 900x600
The strongest work in the series. Took me about three hours
and I got shown the door at the end of the day before it was finished. Had to
do the top R/H corner from a photo.
“Holy Corner”
15/2/15 600x900
A muster of religious sculptures in the corner of the Hat
Factory. The curtains were tattered scraps. Curator’s nightmare.
“Chinoise”
15/2/15 900x600
A setpiece arrangement of Olley objects for the visitors to
attempt to render on supplied ipads. Very popular with the kiddies (and
consequently the grown-ups). It was interesting the way the folds in the screen
accentuated the two-point perspective of the building. Did the Chinese discover
perspective before Brunelleschi and Masaccio? Maybe, after all, they’re
inscrutable.
“Yellow Room 2”
16/2/15 600x900
A view of the Yellow Room through the side window. I’ve
omitted the ornate iron window grille. Makes life easier, and I was pretty
knackered by this stage. A few people were excited that I’d drawn the dresser,
for some strange reason. Why not the cribbage board?
“Ganesh's Temple Rat”
16/2/15 900x600
Had to have a go at this one, lots of personality in that
rat. Had to draw it from afar, maybe 10 or 12 metres away.
“Yellow Room 3”
17/2/15 600x900
Back to the Yellow Room one last time.
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“Coffee and Fags
(after Olley)”
17/2/15 900x600
Being a bit cheeky here. I (roughly) copied one of
Margaret’s paintings, but replaced the grapes with cigarettes. Just a bit
annoyed at the way she sanitised her paintings. There are ash trays and
lighters scattered all over the place, but they never seem to appear in her
work, all created under the influence of nicotine.
There’s a faint line on the right edge of the table where
Margaret has corrected the table’s perspective. Interestingly, the card lying
in front of the cup seems to show no trace of perspective at all. A spicy
discord.
As a final tribute to the gallery, managed to scrape the
energy together for one last drawing, a diptych nocturne of the view from the
deck of the residence. Bunyas left and centre, brutalist gallery to the right,
scattered lights of Mur-Bah in the distance. Orange gallery light streaming across
the grass.
“Bunya Nocturne”
17/2/15 2@ 450x600
Hard at work (thanks to Aud for the pic) –
And now for something completely different, here’s an
abstraction from the last round of life drawing a couple of weeks ago.
“Violet”
7/2/15 900x600
Got a few week’s studio time ahead of me.
