Black holes

Been very much enjoying a blog called "wandering the dream space" which puts into words all sorts concepts that I find difficult to express verbally. The most recent post is about a photographic artist called Gary Fabian Miller who takes images of moving purity and spirituality (I have borrowed one, above right) without a camera.

I was reminded of an image by Louise Hearman (below right) which has always troubled me, in the sense  wanting to move on quickly and not linger and that, along with the contrast between the two I find interesting. What is it that is so frightening about the second one? That core of black emptiness, the decay at the rim? Something struggling to surface, long repressed from childhood?

Superficially similar pictures but quite different, and equally powerful emotions in response.

Brett Whiteley at theTarrawarra Museum of Art

Wendy Whiteley with Brett Whiteley's Self-Portrait in the Studio at TarraWarra Museum of Art in Victoria. Picture: David Geraghty Source: The Australian

Whats not to love about this place?
Food, wine, art, architecture, beautiful scenery, affordable contemporary ceramics for sale by Vic Greenaway, Sandra Black, David Ray, all in the Yarra Valley an hour out of Melbourne.

Brett Whiteley The telephone 1976, oil on canvas, 91.8 x 91.3 cm. Gift of Eva and Marc Besen 2001, TarraWarra Museum of Art collection. © Wendy Whiteley

Always thought Brett Whiteley's work was wonderful but only ever saw it piecemeal before- so interesting to see it all in one place, in the flesh so to speak. Many of the pieces had three dimensions with real sticks and stuffed birds literally coming out of the surface- these are the things you just don't see unless you get up close and directly experience his work which can be fun, tactile and vibrant and then other times incredibly dark!
The exhibition closes on March 20th, 2011..

Henryk Szydlowski

Recently saw some work by a Polish-Australian artist, Henryk-Szydlowski

There was something really attractive and compelling about it, which does not show up so well on-line. The colours were jewel like, luminous, the style picasso/kandinsky-esque. (I am sure there is a more elegant way to put that) To my untrained eye  they look simultaneously "retro" yet contemporary.. Here are some examples of works sold at auction; Lawson-menzies & Leonard Joel over the last few years.. I might watch out for the next one!

Arthur Boyd, potter..

As promised last month, some images from the travelling exhibition, "white gums and ramoxes" currently at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. The white gums refer to Merric Boyd's work, the ramoxes to a mythical beast (combining a ram and an ox), featured on his son Arthur's. Arthur is perhaps better known for his paintings on canvas, however examples of his paintings on huge platters and ceramic tiles were a revelation, the colours bright and sumptuous, far from the more utilitarian cups and plates I have previously seen. Apologies for the photo quality- straight from my phone to you..

A Boyd obsession.. this time, David and Hermia

I can't recall where this all started but the more I read and research this family, the more fascinated I become..( and disturbingly, the more pottery I collect)

David was the third son (and fourth child) of Merric and Doris Boyd, grew up in Murrumbeena at "Open Country" and like the rest of the family, was artistically gifted. He married Hermia Lloyd Jones in the late 1940s, also an artist and together they made beautiful ceramics for the next 10-15 years, travelling to London and France before returning to Australia and eventually pursuing other creative media.

Here is my collection so far.. Just so different to anything else around at the time - (it was the time of gumnuts & drip glaze followed by the Bernard Leach "stoneware revolution") - but still carries that Boyd flavour, and so tactile- the glaze on the small coffee cup is like satin..

Merric Boyd at the MPRG, 9/12/10

Here are some images from the exhibition earlier mentioned, "White Gums and Ramoxes", featuring ceramics and watercolours from the Bundonon Trust and including a sculpture of Merric's famous son Arthur as a boy.

Apologies for the poor quality- they were taken surreptitiously with my phone, but I think they show a good sample of Merric's work. Especially loved the alert, mildly surprised koala sitting on the edge of a beautiful windswept tree pot.

The real revelation was the ceramics by Arthur Boyd however and when I get the chance I will post some more pics..

Merric Boyd- reading a pot..

Went to the November 2010 Leonard Joel auction (second pic down) to buy something by Klytie Pate the other day (see top pic) and came home with this pot by Merric Boyd (third down) which was signed and dated 1915.

Klytie is getting out of my reach.


Am finding myself fascinated by the whole Boyd clan and am looking forward to reading "The Boyds" by Brenda Niall after christmas.
Meanwhile, here is my (slightly over-romanticised- and who knows how accurate) research about my own special example;

Merric Boyd was about 27 years old when he made it, the year he married Doris Gough and within two year would depart for the second world war.

He had been making ceramics for about 5 years and living at "Open Country" for two years and this pot is made from local clays, less than a kilometre from where I live.

This pot reminds me of the female form- I am not surprised that it is the year he was married!

It has one of his typical, gnarled trees, in the blue and cream from that period but its more optimistic, upright, less weathered than his work from later in his life, after the war, after his kiln burnt down, after his epilepsy started to worsen and his religious preoccupations became more intense, and his trees become more bent and windswept (examples at right).

There is a small landscape on the other side which is typical of Doris's work and I believe, like many of their pots, that this was a joint effort..

There is a travelling exhibition of his work and that of his possibly more famous son, Arthur Boyd, at the mornington peninsula regional gallery over the next three months which I am planning to visit..

Angkaliya Curtis

Heres another of my favorites from Tjungu Palya; Angkaliya Curtis, born in 1928, which makes her umm.. 82 years old.

These pictures are from the websites of Outstation gallery, Marshall Arts and this last one "Cave Hill" from the Telstra award was acquired by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.


If i had a spare $9000 this is where it would go!

Most of my preferences in Aboriginal art have been for the more breathtaking abstract works, but there is just something terribly endearing about these aerial views of camels and witchetty grubs and other creatures clustering around waterholes. I hope I am this creative and productive at 82...

More Klytie..

Further to my last entry I find I am increasingly fascinated by Klytie Pate's pottery. Serves me right really- I bought that first vase thinking I could sell it and buy what I really wanted and instead I got hooked on it. Shapes and colours are clearly visible in online pics but what you don't see is the sensual, tactile nature of the pottery. I have bought three items since my last entry; A beautiful exhibition sized bowl with a startling yellow interior and an external incised magnolia design highlighted in gold lustre, which is not unlike a similar example at the powerhouse museum that has been dated 1940-1950.

This was followed by a hilariously sinuous coffee pot with a "cats ear" lid which just makes me think of Dr Seuss. I fell in love with it at the Amanda Addams auction viewing but thought it was out of my price range. Then it appeared on ebay within my range. I think it was meant to be mine!
The handle is broken and poorly repaired but do I care? Well, maybe a little- I am yet to get a quote on a professional repair, its too scary.

Finally a jug, smooth, fine, not bothered by a fussy handle, which just makes you want to stroke it..

Klytie Pate

I just sold a broken vase on ebay, which attracted more attention than anything I've previously listed. This has prompted me to find out more about the maker, Klytie Pate, and to try to discover why people would collect her work so passionately- I mean, there were 33 people watching this broken vase with a missing rim, and 8 fierce bidders.
The more I see of her work, the more I understand; superbly executed, beautiful, art deco designs based on mythology and nature. Poignantly it seems she passed away only a couple of weeks ago, at the age of 97...