Clarice Beckett exhibition

In the afternoon, we drove down to Bayside Arts & Cultural Centre in Brighton. 

 

'The Ordinary Instant' features more than 50 paintings by Beckett. It's unbelievable to see so many of her paintings displayed together. Most of them are by now very familiar to us ( we've been a great fan of her works and doing some research ), but, to see them with naked eyes was a very special visual treat. 

For a gallery run by local council to put together this exhibition is truly remarkable. I'm guessing it shows the wealth of the area. 

Anyway, this exhibition is the most memorable one. 

 

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Twenty Melbourne Painters Society exhibition

We drove to Gren Eira City Council Art Gallery this morning. It's a very classy and roomy space. 

Renowned for its high level of quality, this year marks 98th anniversary. Its origin with regards to Victorian Artists Society is a fascinating one. 

There was a guided talk by Clive Sinclair, and he gave us a quick but insightful overviews of each member's works. It was very good. 

There are so many great paintings on the wall. Starting from my favourite Herman Pekel. Julian Bruere, Barbara McCallum, Joseph Zbukvic, Maxwell Wilks.....

What a talent! We're all privileged to have so many great artists in Melbourne and have this prescious opportunity to see them all. 

It's very nice to see the gallery offering a series of artist talks during the exhibition. It's a great way to engage artists with audience, creating very intimate connection between us. And that is, very unfortunately, lacking in the case of Victorian Artists Society. 

 

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Self-Portrait Oil Painting

After coming back from NGV, because it was raining, I tried a self-portrait. 

I haven't done it for a long time. I spent 2 hours. Its title is 'Self-Portrait with wicked mouth and eyes'😱😱

Oil on panel. 10x12 in. 

 

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Unplugged Live at NGV

I went to NGV this afternoon. 

Simon Maidment, Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, talked about David McDiarmid's six paintings on display. 

It was a very touching story, and I have to say, I wanted to hear more about his thoughts on the power of art influencing and changing our society. 

Then, Melbourne based singer songwriter Ali Barter performed three songs on stage. She's got fabulous voice, I liked it a lot. 

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Steve Jobs - film

What a disappointment! I felt it was a waste of time.
I would stick to a biography by Walter Isaacson.

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Plein Air Oil Painting

I set up my easel here this afternoon. 

This is now luxurious apartments, but, used to be Cairns Memorial Church, built in 1895 named after Dr Adam Cairns. It was destroyed by fire in 1988. 

I spent 2 hours. Architectural subjects are always a great challenge. I have to check perspectives and proportions constantly, in a very short period of time. 

I think I run out of time, it got very dark and I couldn't see it well. 

I'd like to come back and have another go at it when it gets warmer. 

Oil on panel. 12x16 in. 

 

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Plein Air Oil Painting

I took a walk to Victorian Artists Society in East Melbourne this afternoon. 

There's a Plein air painting exhibition and Kate is showing two paintings. It's a good exhibition, so have a look. 

I was thinking of painting in Fitzroy Gardens, but, this building across the street from Vic Arts caught my eyes. 

I remember Greg painting this one a couple of years ago, so, I decided to have a go at it. It's heritage listed, called 'New Temple Church' designed by, according to Google, noted Victorian architect Lloyd Tayler in 1872. 

I set up easel here, which was on traffic island. There were lots of cars passing by, so I put on earphone to shut out noise and listened to my favourite Ludovico Einaudi. 

As it turned out, it was quite a challenge. I spent 3 hours on this one. I tried to get perspective right very carefully. I'm reasonably happy with this one, considering windy weather. 

Oil on panel. 16x20 in. 
 

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Richard Ormond: Sargent’s Lady Agnew of Lochnaw

This lecture in Vimeo is one of the best I've seen on my favourite painter.
He is a grandson of Sargent's sister Violet, and has written a series of Sargent's complete artworks.

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