Winter Trees

Here are the two finished works as described in yesterday's blog. Click on the image to get a better view:

Winter in Bathurst

Winter in Bathurst gets me down. I'm a gardener, so I have to avert my gaze from the bleak barren backyard. I burst forward when the veges do.

I had a bit of an early spring clean with my kids in the last school holidays. We came across a very large bag of forgotten textas and started doodling. Textas are not usually my first medium of choice, but it was nice for a change. This is my first attempt on printer paper. (you can click on the image to enlarge it)

Then I thought, there's a series in this, why not celebrate the bare trees, honour them in some way, and use some nicer paper in the process. I photographed some of my favourite deciduous trees around Bathurst: elms, oaks, claret ash. This one is on very large beautiful heavy artist paper that a friend gave to me.

This row of trees has a real presence in the street. Here's hoping they don't get cut down. It's only half finished, so I'd better get cracking.

Anyway, these trees are helping me find my way through Winter.

Art Workshops

I'm starting up classes in my home studio. Over the last couple of years I've held many workshops from schools and community centres to adult educational art.

For this workshop I was invited to a friend's shed out of town. Around 8 or 9 women were gathered for an afternoon of still life painting. Views from the windows out over the paddocks were lovely, but we turned our backs on those and concentrated on the still life arrangements which were set up on the trestle tables, everything from freshly picked roses and dahlias to gourds and pots. I wove my way between the easels and talked of tone, composition and light. Afternoon tea was a treat with homemade biscuits and little cakes. Needless to say I enjoyed myself enormously.

Classes will run on Tuesday evenings, commencing in August. You can phone or email me for details. 6331 0224 or art@catherinehale.com.au

Further progress on the Studio

The view from the studio back down towards the house. It's actually sited in the best possie on the block. Nice and elevated.

The little studio gets a coat of Red Stop Dulux paint to match the house. Some finishing touches still needed. Plus a trench for the electrical cabling, 30m long has to be dug, some of that under paving. Ahhhh, this will test all familial relations!

The Studio Build Continues

The tarp goes over the ply ceiling and the carpenters can finally work undercover from the rain.

The windows go in: larger windows facing north, smaller ones on the south and east sides. These and the double doors were all sourced from The Shed, the second hand building material suppliers in Orange. They are not necessarily much cheaper but they do add charm to tie in with our 120 yr old weatherboard house.

Hardiplank cladding, a less expensive option than timber cladding. It comes with a timber grain, so no one is the wiser, once its all painted.

I was after exposed rafters, rather than a flat ceiling. I like the sense of space it achieves and the interesting architectural qualities. Not having a ceiling cavity then meant issues for heating and cooling. Two types of insulation were used in the roof, under the iron: foilboard and air cell. These new products, plus windows that can open in the gable ends to allow cross ventilation will help maintain the temperature enormously.

A Series of Small Landscapes continues

Further in the series of small landscapes, really an ode to my adopted town, is this one:

Rooftops, Oil on canvas, 320 x 340mm

 

This painting is from the west side of town looking east across to St Stanislaus College, a high school for boys perched on the top of the hill, with rusty rooftops in the foreground. When deciding on a vantage point for painting this series I was generally looking for a foreground, a middle ground and the mountains in the background. This is what sets a town like Bathurst apart from some other country towns - always the views to the surrounding hills. I took a photo and then worked my painting up from that, back in the studio. Sometimes I will paint en plein air. I think you have to be pretty organised to do that and have all your materials handy. Also you have to have more time as passersby stop to talk. Rather nice really.

Looking East, Oil on canvas, 320 x 340mm

Both of these works sold in my last exhibition in November.

Studio Progress

Work on my new backyard studio started in November 2011.

Siting was tricky. It is a medium sized town block but I need to maintain as much northerly sun as possible for the vegetable garden. The views from the North corner make this the top spot. I will have to sacrifice some of the garden, relocate chickens to another corner, and lose a little sun in Winter.

The position of the studio in the top North corner of the suburban block.

Holes dug 600mm deep into gravel and filled with concrete, ready to take the piers

A platform is built to raise the studio off the ground. I was after a timber base rather than concrete: an unforgiving surface when standing up all day. Again a raised base was great for views but not so good in terms of shading the vegetables.

The timber frames are erected and I can get a sense of the height of the space

As Jedda the dog looks on...

Back to Work

The November exhibition The Three of Us was a great success. Liz and Julia of The Little Gallery in Bathurst proclaimed that 200 or 300 people attended the opening. There were ukelele players performing on the street welcoming people in; Karin's homemade cheese biscuits were a hit and Richard Perram, Bathurst Regional Gallery Director handed out generous opening comments. By the end of the 3 week exhibition I had sold half of all the works exhibited.

One little painting I was (almost) sad to see go. I had only painted it the week before so had not had time to get used to it being in the world. A silly sentiment. The poppies were picked from my garden. They would barely last 30 minutes in the vase so had to be replaced regularly.

Grandmother's Vase
Oil on canvas