Anish Kapoor at the MCA

If you get a chance, go and experience the Anish Kapoor exhibition at the MCA in Sydney. It has been described as 'a ground-breaking exhibition that challenges, intrigues and excites’ by art almanac.

It is one of those exhibitions where the images simply dont do the work justice. 

Large scale works play with light and illusion.

And because touching is forbidden many of the sculptures are puzzling and intriguing - they play tricks with the mind.

I just love the large corton steel sculpture called Memory, above. You can view it from the outside, and in another room you can look into it - from what first appears to be a large black square painted onto the wall - it is actually a void into the Memory sculpture. Amazing!

Many of the works are reflective and encourage the viewer to interact with them.

The exhibition is on until 1 April 2013.

As seen in House & Garden

Late last year I was invited to include my wares in a photo shoot for House & Garden. So I obligingly sent them some of my current works including tea towels, ceramics and constructed textile pieces. 

I have been hanging around news agents and surreptitiously flicking through magazines waiting in anticipation for this issue to appear on the shelves.

My carved ceramic cup is on the right hand side behind the lemon juicer.

To my delight they included my work on two pages: my ceramics (above) and almost an entire page to my constructed textiles (below).  Click on the images for a larger version of the image.

The results were fantastic and I am very flattered to have my work photographed alongside other artists who I greatly admire.

A big thank you to everyone who was involved in the photoshoot.

Hill End Residency

Its official! I have been selected to be an artist in residence as part of the Hill End program -  Im so excited as its considered to be one of the best residencies in Australia (according to Artshub).

image courtesy of theage.com.au

Its such an interesting looking place full of beautifully preserved buildings left from an 1800's gold rush in the area, when a 286kg nugget of gold was found.

image courtesy of simonbeedle.com

I will be following in the footsteps of some of Australia's great artists. In the late 1940's Donald Friend and Russel Drysdale discovered the town and Donald Friend became so enamoured with the area that he ended up living here for a number of years. During this time he was visited by other great artists such as Margaret Olley, Jeffrey Smart, Jean Bellette and Paul Haefliger. Later the region inspired Brett Whitely, John Olsen and a number of my contemporaries. 

Russell Drysdale, Hill End, 1948
Image courtesy of www.geelonggallery.com.au 

Artists Jean Bellette and Paul Haefliger also lived in the area. It is filled with relics from their time ( they moved to live overseas with the intention of returning regularly to the cottage, as a result it remains largely unaltered with works of art, books and furnishings that echo their presence.)

Image courtesy www.hillendart.com.au

image courtesy www.homelife.com.au 

Im looking forward to continuing my investigation of early Australian pioneering times whilst at Hill End.

Behind the Scenes: I heart Canberra tea towels

A behind the scenes look at my tea towel design for the Centenary of Canberra being printed by Copperhead Printers.

Amazing machinery, lovely people and very cool that they listen to my favourite station: Triple J

Images of the printed tea towels can be found here

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In the studio - creativity and chaos

I always find it interesting to see inside other people's studios - its a fantastic mix of creativity and chaos...

a much loved sewing machine borrowed from Mum. Its about as old as I am.

 So I thought I would invite you into my studio

I just love all the colours of these spools of thread

This is where the messy stuff happens 

An attempt to throw a very tall vessel

Hello Beautiful

Hello beautiful!

Thats what I say every time I see Melbourne.

The streets of Melbourne

Everything is done so stylishly and effortlessly, from the graffiti in Hosier Lane in the CBD, woven wicker sculpture in Federation Square by Patrick Dougherty and a spot of tasteful yarn bombing just up the road, a project that was supported by the City Council.

Graffiti in Hosier Lane in the CBD

Wicker work in Federation Sqaure

Views of the City from inside the sculpture

Yarn bombing

And talking of tasteful, we indulged in a delicious slice of Chocolate Fig tart from the charming 19th Century Hopetoun Tea Rooms -  a real treat and a must if you are in the area. 

Chocolate Fig Tart

We spied some beautifully presented macaroons ...

Macaroons

and found some non homogenised milk by Jonesy's Dairy Fresh - and enjoyed scooping the cream floating in the top of the carton. Yum! Decadent top quality milk at regular prices (only $4 for 2 litres. I refuse to buy the cheap milk from Coles or Woolies)

Jonesy's non homogenised milk

By this stage we were travelling through the countryside and found a charming some charming scenes

and a fabulous shop that sold local produce and delicious home made cakes, including an intriguing Persian cake that was flavoured with cardamom. Unfortunately I was too full from lunch to indulge, but Ive found a similar recipe here.

Inside Cliffy's Emporium

Love letter from the resident jam maker - cute!

 And to top it off a National Trust plaque that reads:

"On this spot on the first day of March 1755 nothing much happened. It was a very, very peaceful day".

Miles Franklin

Lately I have had a bit of an obsession with Miles Franklin and all things to do with pioneer Australia.

It started when I picked up a copy of her novel My Brilliant Career, which was first published in 1901 when she was 19. Although the novel is fiction, it has long been speculated that many of the characters in the book closely resemble her family. Born in the Brindabella Ranges (close to Canberra) her family moved when she was little and she grew up in Thornford, approximately 20 kms south west of  Goulburn.

Unfortunately the dwellings on the Thornford property or at Talbingo Station no longer survive so we can only imagine the buildings she grew up in. 

I was interested to learn more about the era in which Miles Franklin grew up (she was born in 1879) so I have visited a couple of dwellings that relate to that time in the region. 

Blundell's Cottage

Blundells Cottage was built in 1860 and pre-dates Canberra. It currently sits in a prime position nestled on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, only a hop skip and jump away from the centre of the city.  When it was built the cottage was close to the Molongolo River (now the lake) and surrounded by paddocks. 

Lounge room in Blundell's Cottage

It is a wonderful example of how life was lived in this tiny cottage, and it contains many  artefacts of the era. Unfortunately though, many of the objects do not relate to the families which lived in the cottage.

If you follow the link it takes you on a virtual tour and you can experience it too. Fun!

The Kitchen at Mugga Mugga Cottage

Next visit was Mugga Mugga Cottage, another stone cottage built in the region in the 1830s. This is wonderfully preserved and all artefacts within the house belong to the Curley family who moved in in 1913, which I think gives greater understanding on how the spaces were used. I love the separate kitchen (kitchens were built separately to prevent kitchen fires burning down the rest of the property) and particularly the 'make do' approach turning fruit crates into shelves which can be seen on the right hand side of the above image. Such innovation. 

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