Drawing Workshop with David Fairbairn

I was lucky enough to attend a  4 hour workshop on Portraiture at Caloundra Regional Gallery  yesterday with David Fairbairn.
He currently has a12 year retrospective exhibition of his work at the gallery, which is travelling around the country . The current show continues until Dec 4 , 2011, and is certainly worth a look.
The majority of the works were very large drawings on a number of  Arches sheets of paper stapled to a Matt board behind perspex and white frames. They are very beautiful and exquisite in all their rawness, energy , honesty and grubbiness. Some remind me of  Frank Auerbach .
What did we do?
1.We drew our faces by feel not sight.
2.On another sheet  using a mirror, again we drew our faces, looking and drawing as if feeling our faces. The aim was to follow the direction of the surface and aim for an open webbing effect over the surface.
3.Take the sight drawing and tear or cut it up, keeping in mind the contours of the face.
4.Arrange and glue on another sheet so that the idea of your portrait is still there but it is distorted.
5. Photocopy  and then work with the photocopied versions.

From my understanding what he was trying to do is push the participants beyond illustration. Emphasise" the  process as art making" , "aim for an honesty of expression".

June 2011

It took me all day (and some more)to craft a new artist statement. It reflects some different thoughts on how my art practice is developing this year. Here it is:

Artist Statement June 2011

World as Lover

‘World as Lover’ is a new body of work which reflects and explores my own personal philosophical shift into that of Deep Ecology.

For me layers of haze have been removed to reveal what I’ve always intrinsically known:

‘that all is one  and interconnected……that all exists in relationship to the whole’.

The philosopher/mathematician G.W. Leibniz in 1670, stated “Reality cannot be found except in One single source, because of the interconnection of all things with one another”

It is my view that humans do not exist independently as separate or superior beings to the whole…..we all have equal right to be here; the plants, the animals, fungi, insects, the soil, the mountains etc

In fact it is our dominant “anthropocentric” view combined with an unquenchable thirst for economic growth that is currently killing the planet and its life forms at an ever increasingly accelerated rate.

As the human race has become more “advanced” and “civilized”, so has it become more alienated from its source, its roots, its connection to the mother Earth.

In the same process as we are killing whole species, cultures, poisoning the air, rivers, sea, bulldozing rain forests, filling in our wetlands etc so to are we slowly killing ourselves both spiritually and materially.

In my latest work I want to evoke the life forces, hidden Earth Spirits in the landscape. I want to listen to the Earth, feel the Earth,and make use of all my senses to examine all my connections, as my process for art making. I want to explore the spiritual connection of what it means to be part of this magnificent functioning ecosystem.

I also hope that through my work others may look beyond the shallow destructive economic growth rhetoric to a future based on ecological sustainability. I hope others use their life force energy to fuel their own enquiries to find a deeper connection with the Earth and all its wonderful life forms.     

“World as Lover” comes from the title of the book “World as Lover: World as Self” written by Joanna Macy, Parallax Press 1991.

Sydney March 2011

Stayed in Sydney for 5 days at Circular Quay. It has become such a ritual...drop off stuff at hotel, soak up energy of Circular Quay, eat lunch at MOCA, go to Parkers, drop goodies off at hotel, walk to AGNSW (one of the 7 Delights of the World)...
  found myself this wonderful little hill top position next to the Botanical Gardens where I wheeled my new (oh I love it)  painting back pack  late each afternoon and  painted.(  found wearing  black was the go ...people give you a wider birth...one doesnt look so friendly...unlike red  a beacon for the curious)...This quadtych was my favourite piece. I am working with smaller sized and better  quality paper.. ..prefering the hot pressed paper as it is smoother.
besides the food , and getting distracted in the delightful retro shops big time...the highlights were visiting the Wendy Sharpe retrospective show twice at the S. H. Ervin Gallery (i so admire her dedication) and discovering Kate Rhodes (i so admire her letting go ), and it was a delight to meet Pat Hayward potter( so quirky , so one off...trouble is that also means you cant actually order anything ...got to just be at the right place at the right time...next right place being 13 May at Maitland Gallery ...to be considered

Maleny Plein Air painting

Glasshouse Mountains

After having driven around Glasshouse Mts everywhere trying to find "the spot" for painting, found a comfortable, quiet view of the mountains from a distance. I realise they arnt very big mountains, none the less I really like mountains.

Shorncliffe Plein Air painting Day 2

Someone needs to collect their tank. It was washed up along with masses of other debris after the Jan 2011  flood. The picture is meant as a dyptch.Thankyou Linda for taking piccies.

Shorncliffe Plein Air Painting

I painted these 2 one afternoon. The tide was coming in pretty steadily . I really liked all the little dotty rocks .

2nd Day Woolumbin

Plein Air Painting at Woolumbin (Mt Warning Caldera)

These are my drawings from a Plein Air painting trip to Mt Warning. It was such a magic location facing the Pinnacle... had to go back for more the next day.