In recent months I’ve been working bigger and bolder. I’m doing a series of large scale charcoal drawings (76 x 112 cm), as well as oil pastel and watercolour works (24 x 64 cm). The subject matter of these is the little valley I walk through every day on the way to the studio.
A second new strand in my art practice has been collaborative. A project between Newcastle Printmakers Workshop and The Makers Studio Central Coast entailed artists completing prints started by members of the sister printmaking group. These works resulted in an exhibition titled ‘Reshape Remake Recreate’ at Gosford Regional Gallery (October 24 – October 30, 2024).
Currently, I am excited to be collaborating with inspired creative, Ali Sobel-Read. A collaboration between Newcastle Printmakers and Newcastle Studio Potters, the ‘Synergy’ project entails a potter and a printmaker responding, through a new piece, to the work of their collaborative partner. In a delightful coincidence, Ali Sobel-Read, a Newcastle based potter, is originally from Pennsylvania, where I spent a chunk of last summer doing an artist residency at Soaring Gardens.
Ali and I met a few weeks ago to show each other work-in-progress. My printmaking has been moving in new directions inspired by Ali’s use of pattern, colour and superimposed imagery. Meanwhile Ali has been integrating some of my arboreal imagery into her new work, exploring relationships between layered colour and pattern, in preparation for her final ceramic piece. Watch this space. The Synergy exhibition will be held at Back to Back Galleries, Newcastle, Friday September 12 – Sunday September 28.
