Studio Work ABOUT my art & others

On a recent trip to Hobart and i ducked into TMAG (Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery) to find an exhibition of Oliffe Richmond (1919-77) - a Tasmanian born artist who built a distinguished career in Britain as a sculptor and educator. I particularly loved the sketchbook drawings. and i loved this vehicle in the pottery & ceramics room

I wrote  here  about delivering 4 works to the Out of Hand Exhibition held by Stitching and Beyond.    This year, I have exhibited, for the first time, in the exhibition held by Stitching and Beyond, Hobart.  I have been a member of the group for a few years and have been stitching for many many years; decided for the first time to exhibit.  With over 200 entries in the exhibition I am honoured to have received the Curators Choice Award for this piece 'Conversations by the Creek (Winter) the other 3 pieces are Conversations by the Creek (Summer) and Conversations by the Creek (Early Spring) and Under a Big Sky .

UPDATE:  an article in Art Guide Australia 2 October 2025. It wraps up with this thought " “Wright’s works are not easily reduced; they draw you in with beauty, then unsettle and provoke with layered meanings.” Shapeshifting: The Art of Helen Wright Queen Victoria Museum and Gallery: Art Gallery  at Royal Park Until 1 February 2026 This article was originally published in the September/October 2025 print edition of Art Guide Australia." Helen Wright - I  have loved this artist's work for years. And how fortunate we are to have an exhibition of her works showing in Launceston at the QVMAG Royal Park .  Do yourself a favour ! a few of my favourites here that are representative of the diversity.   and i love the titles she comes up 

I took a few photos of the exhibition at the opening and after all the excitement of winning the Curator's Prize I never got back to it. This is the Out of Hand exhibition organised by Stitching and Beyond Hobart. I love these baskets ...   As well as hunting down my own pieces, these are some of the entries that took my eye at the time.  My apologies to those whose names i did not get - if you know please let me know to update my images.   my blog post does not do the exhibition justice - do get along to see it if you are in Hobart.  a few more links here to explore about the 2025 Out of Hand Exhibition - Christie Lange  Salamanca Arts Centre Stitching and Beyond

  Swiss Miss (Implosure) 40″x34″; collage on a print of a collage on rag paper; 2015 published  KOLAJ February 2018 On a trip to Switzerland to visit my lovely daughter and future son-in-law in 2013 I was creating collages in between sight seeing.  The final piece above started with this original that came together from Swiss magazines in my collage journal.  Stage1. Stage2. - once i was home again i scanned the original collage and added the red background, smoothed around the image and heightened the contrast in areas.  The image (above) was printed on 40x34" rag paper and I went to work on it - adding more collage elements, stencilling and pastel accents. The final piece, framed in a lovely hardwood, was exhibited in Tasmania in 2017.  See a short (silent) video here  exploring the details. 

Heading to Hobart to deliver works for 4 of us from the Northwest. The Stitching and Beyond annual exhibition called "Out of Hand" opens on Thursday 25 September 6pm at Long Gallery Salamanca Place, Hobart. a sneak peek here - i will post each one in full once the exhibition opens. I have been stitching for many years - my night time activity while watching shows on TV.  This is the first time i have chosen to exhibit textile works - it took some figuring out how to hang them; each requiring 'something different'.   

  a lovely drive to Longford, a visit to  Blenheim Gallery  to see the last days of an exhibition titled " Eyes in Both Directions"  by  Paul Bishop  (paintings) and  Geoff Farquar-Still  (sculptures)  I loved Paul's work at this exhibition - love his approach to painting, to how he thinks about the process and his works, his sense of humour and openness about the process. Read his artist statement of the works here. ©Gina (images 2025) See the catalogue of works that were exhibited at BLenheim Gallery. Paul Bishop and his work is known to me as I was fortunate enough to be part of the Snakepit in the 90s where he was also a contributing artist, along with many well known artists in the north of Tasmania. This period of my life was the most rewarding, creative and inspiring that set me on a path of 'knowing' what i wanted to do (whilst working a fulltime job). The group of artists, (that grew to a very large number) were non-judgemental, we...

This print came out of a residency and ultimately an exhibition at Cradle Mountain. Titled:  MAPPING TIME (the road to Cradle) click the image for details .  I was fortunate enough to be accepted for 2 residencies at  Cradle Mountain  which was such a wonderful experience.  Each residency was 4 and 6 weeks duration during 2017 and 2019 culminating in an exhibition in 2020 at the Cradle Mountain Hotel Gallery.  Blog articles on the residencies and solo exhibition, culminating from the gum trees on the road to Cradle. This is a limited edition of 13 prints -  details &  purchase here

On many drives up to, and during 2 residencies at Cradle Mountain   it was the gum tree that became my focus and ultimately a solo exhibition.... I love these shapes and noticed the impermanence of some of the trees as i travelled the road back and forth from Devonport, over an 18 month period. see some of the exhibition artworks here. explore limited edition prints here

 i am getting ready to do more chemigrams as soon as the rain (and winter) clears. Spring maybe, summer definitely.   So what is a chemigram? Here is a technical rundown - in short:  A chemigram is a camera-less photographic image.  You apply darkroom chemicals directly onto photo paper resulting in a unique, abstract image.  This technique is a mix of photography, drawing, printmaking.  Artistic experimentation, i think, is key. Mark making experiments yield a diversity of possibilities. This is undertaken by applying resists, allowing light to affect the paper (exposure), and placing the paper into developer and fixer solutions.  The image relies on direct interaction with the darkroom chemicals on the photographic paper. Outcomes are affected by the different resists, chemical interactions and exposure times resulting in unique and often abstract images.  have a look at the book of experiments i created whilst exploring chemigram technqiu...

The Bridge Gallery in Burnie is a temporary space for the Art Gallery while construction of the Arts Centre is underway.  We travelled to Burnie to pick up the  Oistre book  which was a finalist in the Burnie Print Prize 2025 , and encountered a splendid, awe-inspiring exhibition. There are 21, i think, artist books where each artist responds to each Afghan womans experience of living in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021. i have posted a few images i took on our visit (below).  The images are not 'professional' but give me a sense of the presentation and ideas that i enjoyed immensely. I love how each book presents as 'the same' however upon opening, each book has artwork entirely unique to the story of each Afghan woman.  The creativity and diversity of artwork and story kept me in the gallery, going from book to book, for nearly an hour.  Just marvellous.  Techniques included typesetting, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking...

                                                 I am so pleased to hear i am a finalist in this prestigious prize which will be exhibited in March 2025.  Once the exhibition is up I can post my work here. updated  April 2025. Images and artist statement of the book OISTRE posted here