Out for a walk at Strathnairn, we wanted to explore the new trails, which we did, and we also admired some art. I promised I would post about it later, so here it is! The featured artists at the exhibition at the cafe are Shakir Rayman, Stephanie Boyle, Louise Spencer, Katie Volter and Belinda Gill.
This exhibition explores the relationship between public and private space through a series of works in acrylic, watercolour and pastel. It features contrasting views of outside lives to personal interiors exploring the quiet sanctity of a home.
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| Inside out - National Portrait Gallery, 2024 by Belinda Gill |
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| Morning Walk, 2024 by Belinda Gill |
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| Silent Canberra, 2024 by Belinda Gill |
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| Visitor for Morning Tea, 2024 by Belinda Gill |
One of the things I really like about galleries is the way the artwork interacts with the natural light through doors and windows.
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| On the Way to Bateman's Bay by Shakir Rahman |
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| The Creeping Forest, 2023 by Louise Spencer |
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| Just Hanging, 2024 by Shakir Rahman |
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| Reflections and Reflecting, 2024 by Stepahnie Boyle |
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| Moors of Strathnairn, 2023 by Shakir Rahman |
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| Autumn Hues, 2023 by Shakir Rahman |
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| Through the Looking Glass, 2023 by Louise Spencer |
There was another exhibition from the members at the Woolshed Gallery - all the work was available for sale and there were some great pieces of art. The Woolshed itself is visually pleasing with its different shapes and colours.
Once again, I am drawn to the use of light and colour, from gathering storm clouds above a familiar Canberra landmark in Rod Usback's archival pigment print to the childlike blocks in the black and white landscape of Kathleen Brigdale's polar station.
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| Storm Brewing at the Carillon, Rod Usback |
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Mawson's Antarctic, 2023 by Kathleen Brigdale
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The wind turbines are picked out on the shores of the rainswept Lake George in Jenny Blake's moody acrylic piece, and this contrast of sunlight and shadow is also foregrounded in Emma McNeill's chilly pastoral scene. And I know I have banged on enough before about my love of liminal spaces, so I was intrigued by Roger Hancock's Mediterranean interpretation.
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| Rain on Lake George, 2023 by Jenny Blake |
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A Touch of Frost, 2023 by Emma McNeill
 | Espacio Liminal, 2024 by Roger Hancock
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Besides the watercolours and acrylics, there are some really interesting mixed media, textile and cermaic pieces, which are rather glorious, such as the embroidery and natural dye on silk that comprises Indigo Moonrise, or the cocoon ends which run through the layers of cotton, silk, tyvek and lutradur in Robyn Diener's stitched collage of strata.
