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| Shane's gone touring |
Castlemaine and the surrounding districts: Chewton, Maldon, Newstead, Taradale, Campbells Creek and Elphinstone have the highest proportion of artists per head of population of any district in Australia.
So last weekend, Mrs Wombat and I took off to Dja Dja Warrung country to check out some of the 120 artists or 80 studios open to the public in the region's Open Studios Program and the Art trail.
It was an excellent opportunity to catch up with Ulli of Rilke Design in Castlemaine whom we haven't seen for some years, an Art School friend from decades ago who recently renewed contact and also to make a surprise visit to another art school colleague.
First stop was Newstead and David Bradtke who was showing his paintings with ceramicist Angie Izard
A talented painter and a fine potter.
Good conversation and very interesting works and a re-union which shall be maintained.
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| Angie Izard, no# 5 |
It was then onto The Newstead Arts Hub where we met Photographer, Margund Sallowssky,
whose aerial Photos of Iceland which were so painterly as to almost defy their origins.
Utterly stunning works.
The levity of Jane Wells' automata was deliciously quirky.
Hand cranking a bobbing and rotating dog's head and the flapping of the Pterodactyl's bony wings were a delight.
Small cold-cast bronzes of dogs were also very tactile and well formed
Digital images and Cyanotypes toned with lead acetate as well as bones, fur and string made up Kaye Dixon's,"Bone Women" exhibit... that darkly tended toward the morbid.
Across the tracks to the Red Shed Arts Workshop...
Mary C discussing her contribution to the whole...
It was a terrific workshop/exhibition space.
Around the corner was Selina Wilson's studio, with beautiful acrylic paintings which I found reminiscent of Turner and Frankenthaler.
Lovely stuff.
John Perry's was next ; his studio in Newstead a veritable Aladdin's cave of art history and fascinating conversation about influences and painters.
We were at art school at the same time ... in fact I spent more time with the painters than the sculptors... they were a lot more interesting.
Ron's work is big in every sense. Bold, colourful, humourous and sensitive.
A good catch-up.
Melissa O' Rourke's delightful Blue Lady's and Italian paintings rounded out the day in Castlemaine.
It was a great day, with lots of very affable and interesting people who were very generous with their time and conversation.
Normally, in this space current politics is ranted about but not this time as it sort of sullies what was a lovely time on the art trail.
Suffice to say that anyone taking notice of what is happening in the land on the Septic Tanks and is appalled by it should realise the The Ugly American Murdoch facilitated the Orange Baboon's rise to power and is playing the same game here in Oz.
We cannot afford to be complacent about his malign influence and that of others of the same ilk
Hoo-roo, Petals.
Shane.
