The National Gallery of Victoria winter masterpiece exhibition this year is Vincent van Gogh and the Four Seasons (on now). I finally got to visit on a particularly sombre, grey Melbourne Friday afternoon. Last year the big exhibit was Degas. It was interesting. I recognised familiar paintings of the usual suspects, admired paintings I'd not … Continue reading Review: A brush with Vincent
Art
This April is the cruellest month
It was my birthday last week; not especially an important one, except for one reason. I am now the same age as my mother. Weird. It's weird to imagine me leading her life, when ours diverged significantly. Weird thinking about the responsibilities and worries she had that I don't and never will. Weird to think … Continue reading This April is the cruellest month
Summer of Sundays +
It's finished and submitted and sitting in a Brooklyn art library, but it took ages to decide what to do for my second Sketchbook Project. It's about that most obvious of all lame art anxieties - that of the blank page. And, also about being 'good.' Sigh, or better. Thus I had almost a year … Continue reading Summer of Sundays +
Month of Sundays
The Drop by Drawing class on Sundays at the National Gallery of Victoria concluded. I miss it already. Last Sunday wasn't the same. For one, there was foster kittens, but mainly, I missed arting about. However, I can safely say my month of Sundays was a revelation. It's provided an official sanction, or permission for two … Continue reading Month of Sundays
No one view
Tis said there is only one view of Sydney, a vista that encompasses the Harbour, the harbour's old coat hanger of a bridge and the Opera House. Of course they are much-loved and instantly identifiable everywhere, even if our Prime Minister is not so much. Melbourne, meanwhile, has no single view. No one image sums … Continue reading No one view
Review: Not afraid, awed
My Sunday's are currently for art. Mine and other's. It began with the notion to (try to) attend all four Drop By Drawing events at the National Gallery of Victoria, for two hours every Sunday. I haven't, in fact missed any. This week I first took at look at the Art of Banksy (see earlier … Continue reading Review: Not afraid, awed
Review: Art(iface) of Banksy
On Sunday morning I visited The Art of Banksy exhibition, curated by Steve Lazarides, at The Paddock, an incongruously named gravel and concrete patch of space nestled alongside the train lines and the car parks that service the Birrarung Marr/Fed Square complex. For this exhibit's purposes, I guess it fits an aesthetic: centrally located desolation. Pay … Continue reading Review: Art(iface) of Banksy
And then I remembered
Completely forgetting about a short story being published is just one of the many ways I can tell I haven't coped very well with some less than wonderful personal happenings at the end of December and into January. But's that was how it was. And, I had a good day today full of art, and … Continue reading And then I remembered
New Year, Newish Me
After a difficult six months or so for a variety of reasons I won't bore you with here, I've plunged into 2017 with some new goals. In December, I joined a writing club - it sounds exotic - but basically it's a FB group where members make a commitment and get support to keep it. … Continue reading New Year, Newish Me
Review: De ga ga and state of the art
The Edgar Degas exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria is almost at an end. I have been thinking about it a bit, because while I was excited to attend, I didn't connect as I have to other 'blockbuster' exhibits. I wondered if it was me or Degas. Degas could be seen as a kind … Continue reading Review: De ga ga and state of the art
Writing Bec 