We've become members a few of months ago, and this was an exclusive after-hours viewing.
This is a well-thought and extensive study of his life work. There are many paintings, drawings, pastels.... And photographs as well.
I liked the way it was curated and displayed chronologically.
We joined a guided tours by a lady called Pam. She was brilliant. She seemed to know all about exhibits in her head. After the tour, we kept talking about his works for another 20 min or so, and we were reminded by security guards that the exhibition was closing!
We went to Eades Park in North Melbourne this morning.
I found this building, used to be a school I was told, very interesting, so set up my easel here.
I struggled a lot to get its proportion and perspective right. I deliberately chose this subject to challenge me. I've found buildings are always difficult for these reasons.
I spent about 2.5 hours before lunch. I decided to leave it for now.
When I got home, I did some touch-up on window and trees, but, not much.
It was a very cold day, but great to see many artist friends.
Students from Gregory Smith School of Painting get together once a year for this award, created by Greg to commemorate and celebrate Ramsay's achievement, and heritage we try to carry on.
Our friend Rachel is this year's winner. Seeing her meteoric progress as a painter, there was no suprise for her winning. Everyone could see it coming.
Great artist she is. Congratulations!!
Have a look at the quality of these paintings. Oh, I also got a small award for that tiny Plein air painting I did at Aireys Inlet recently. That was nice.
It was a great evening, and the gallery was packed.
Very nice to see many familiar faces and having a chat.
Banyule council seems to be very keen on promoting art and supporting local artists. Not only did they organise the exhibition, but also they will run some workshops as well. That's great.
"Puss and Books" and "Alphington Wetlands, Summer 2016". Framed by Kate.
We took a walk to Birrarung Marr to see Circus OZ this evening.
Last year, Kate took me to this circus, I had never seen them. I loved it so much that we decided to go see them every year.
What a great show it was! 'TWENTYSIXTEEN', according to their website, is true to the core value of Circus OZ, with astonishingly powerful performances and seriously funny comical acts.
These guys are incredible. I wouldn't go into details, but we loved every single minute of it.
We recognised some familiar faces. I particularly loved a unicycle adajio by Kyle Raftery and April Dawson. With beautiful piano music, it was very lyrical, poetic and super physical performance.
We had a small chat after the show. They were lovely.
Thanks to all people involved in this production. We had a great time.
At the end of the show, the circus asked for donations for Refugee Resource Centre. That was very nice.
I'll definitely be talking about them and recommending them to my clients in the salon for weeks to come!
I assembled objects from a storage. It's interesting when Greg showed me different compositions. Obviously they all looked very unique. Some are better than others in terms of tonal varieties and shapes.
I'm reasonably happy with this one. It was a good start.
This year, the event came to Melbourne. One of our apprentices in the salon, Paige, took part in a cutting competition this morning. I was very proud of her. And she was awarded "Highly commended."
For someone who has just finished the third year apprenticeship, her haircut today was brilliant. Again, judges seemed to have a different value system and didn't see the way I saw it. That's a pity.
I have my own set of values and philosophy when it comes to cutting a hair, and I'm sure they're somehow different from others'.
Shaving hair at underneath section with clippers and bring down hair from the top section, and cut a line, layering a bit, straighten it.... To me, that's a lazy haircut. And there are so many of it. I have enormous difficulty in understanding why these haircut is valued in a haircutting competition.
Paige didn't use clippers. She did proper scissors-overcomb. She utilised classic graduation and layering technique. Her hands were shaking. She was nervous. But, she didn't choose an easy way to create a shape.
It was a great performance. I liked it a lot. There were some strangers came to her and congratulated her on her work. That was very nice. Of course, there were things I would like to comment on this particular haircut. And I hope she will learn something from it.
Doing a live cutting competition is, in my opinion, absolutely necessary step to furthering our skills and confidence. I can't think of anything more direct way to challenge ourselves and move on to much higher level of creativity. It requires tons of time, energy and preparation.
On the day, you're on your own, nobody is going to help you. However, it offers the best opportunity to learn. Everything you do during this intense period will be forever engraved in your mind. You'll never forget it.
The number of participants has been shrinking every year. It's so easy not to do it. Many young hairstylists are unwilling to do it. "It's very hard." "Competition is not for me." I will never hear these crap.
The point is, she did it. That is the difference between her and others who didn't. She has moved on to the next level. I'm sure her work in the salon will be different now.
Congratulations to all participants.
All photos were shot by me.
In the afternoon, I went to see Sassoon. Mark, Edward and Daniel.... Very best in the world.
We went to this year's graduate performance this evening.
We loved it last year so much that we were very excited about this time as well.
We didn't think the opening, whereby audience were standing on the floor among performers and watching tight rope performance up close, was very successful. I'm not keen on this 'gallery style'.
However, once we were seated, the rest of the show was brilliant.
We saw so many talents creating great act one after another.
It was a great evening. And good luck to all those students for their bright future.
My mentor Gregory Smith did an awesome portrait demo this evening.
Watching his painting develop is always a fascinating experience. Well, especially when you yourself is a model.
His dogged pursuit of true visual experience direct from life is legendary. As a tonal realist painter, he has always been trying to move up to the next level.
And after seeing his recent works, I think he is now entering another, higher level of creativity.
Just see how he works.
Starting from nothing but a dark stain in a canvas, no initial drawings at all, great piece of art emerges almost by itself, as if, waiting to be discovered by Greg.
This man is great. Not only as an artist, but as a teacher.
It's a privilege to have an opportunity to learn from him.
Honeysuckle Cottage is a very charming place to stay. We're so lucky to have found this peaceful place. It was actually very sad to leave.
Then we drove to Erskine Falls. I liked it a lot.
We decided to stop over again at Aireys Inlet because we loved the lighthouse very much.
This time, we sat on a folding chair and did a pochade box painting.
We spent about 1.5 hours. Dark clouds started to clear towards the end, and it was very quiet. We had a great time.
Oil on panel. 7.5x9 in.
We dropped by Geelong Gallery. This exhibition of our favourite painter was definitely one of the best exhibitions we've been to this year.
Streeton's masterful way of capturing the effect of light is truly magical. We just kept looking at them, stepping back and forwards, trying to study as much as we can.
It's not a blockbuster exhibition as such, but, I think this one is very important and worthwhile. I'm so glad that the gallery put together these great paintings.
Oh, by the way, I bumped into Herman Pekel in the gallery, and said hello to him. He's my favourite painter and it was a big bonus!
It was a very fruitful holiday trip. We loved it every minute of it.
Artist on ABC TV Portrait Artist of the Year 2025. Studied tonal realism oil painting with Gregory Smith. Also working as a hairstylist in his spare time at Covet&Co in Ivanhoe, Melbourne, Australia
