"SEED AND DRIFT"

Exhibition of Paintings and drawings by Nina Machielse Hunt

Opens: Friday 22^nd March 2013 at 6pm

Jayes is pleased to introduce this emerging artist in her first solo exhibition at the gallery.  Nina Machielse Hunt gives a fresh insight into the land and sea.

Nina says of her work “I do love being alone in the landscape; walking, sitting, thinking, feeling and absorbing it. More aspects are revealed the longer one looks, actual, imagined or desired. To look and simply breath is my meditation and is becoming a cherished luxury.

I also enjoy drawing en plein air, however I use these scribbles essentially as a spring board and the initial observation tends to shift in the studio. Through the cycle of application and rubbing back and application again the painting eventually takes on its own life. The original landscape I had observed is reinterpreted and an emotional energy is generated during the process. This reinterpretation is evident in the colours, textures, abstractions and all the subtle decisions I make. The original moments of contemplation are suggested in my recent larger canvases of uncluttered spaces and atmospheric colour. 

Recent new experiences have given rise to new challenges which have directly informed this body of work. Certain moods that I experienced on becoming a mother and living in new and unknown landscapes emerged. The colour choices and abstractions reflect my internal state of mind. Frustration, panic and ultimate calm is at the core of each painting as the process was fraught with external and internal factors and emotions. At times my relationship with the landscape is less contemplative!  The simple act of digging, splashing, being covered in sand, dirt, mud, water, snot and sunscreen with my young children. This physical primal response to the landscape is reflected in the gestural marks on several works. Fast, impulsive and confident marks, like that of a childs.

With this body of work I have tried to achieve a cohesive balance where each painting is operating on several levels, formally and intuitively. Invariably there is an element of abstraction”.

The Seed – A symbol of endurance, surviving incredible hardship.

To Drift – To move continuously through to the present.

We invite you to join us at the opening on Friday 22^nd March

 and meet the artist in person for what will be a delightful show. The exhibition closes on 28^th April, 2013.

"After the Fire" - Ceramics from Marjo Carter, Pauline Wellfare, Valerie Stuart & Margaret Ling

"After the Fire"

Exhibition opens: 6 July 2012 at 6 pm

Exhibition runs to 29 July 2012

Fire in its many forms has a potent and primitive place in the collective memory.

We recall the conflagrations that devour the countryside.  Yet we are also familiar with the hearth and stove where fire provides warmth and food. 

          

In this exhibition, some very different examples of the wonderful transmutative powers of fire, flame, heat and smoke when harnessed by the ceramic artist, are clearly evident. Each artist has an individual response to, and expectation of, the fire.

Margaret’s pots are simple, robust, handbuilt forms which wear the complex markings that result from the flame and smoke of the pitfire. Surfaces come alive with the suggestion of movement - a visual terrain across which the eye can travel.

By contrast, Pauline's fine porcelain pieces, transformed by heat but unmarked by it, reference the renewal of life and growth through seeds and pods, so delicately carved and polished. 

The soft, evocative qualities of smoke create the distinctive visual effects and surface decoration on Marjo’s pieces. And Val, significantly inspired by the forms and textures provided by nature, responds to the red hues of earth, enhanced and enriched by the passage of flame.

Results often prompt the imagination of the viewer, reading into the intricate matrix of pattern created by the passage of fire, flame, smoke. 

Marjo Carter

Artist Statement:

Currently, my studio practice revolves around individual handbuilt pieces that feature the softer, evocative nature of smoke firings. I have found much enjoyment in smoke firings, using natural sources such as leaves, grasses, pine needles, etc to create distinctive visual effects and surface decoration.

Another unique aspect of my work is the application of hand lettered calligraphy to the works, adding poetic meanings and depth to the pieces.

Margaret Ling

Artist statement:

I am inspired by nature and the primitive - the colours, the forms and the textures of the natural world around us.

              

My pots are simple, robust, handbuilt forms which wear the complex markings that result from the flame and smoke of the pitfire. Through this process I am looking for  surfaces that are alive with the suggestion of movement - a visual terrain across which the eye can travel.

The surface drama contained by the stillness of form.

                                          

 Pauline Wellfare

Artist Statement:

Making pots has been a passion for 25 years now, and I can’t see myself doing anything else.

Surface treatment is an important aspect of my work.  I like the work to be both a tactile experience as well as a visual one. Pieces are carved, sanded and polished a number of times during the firing and finishing processes in order to achieve the smooth, subtle surfaces I desire. The major inspiration for form, colour and decoration of my work comes from native vegetation I see in the surrounding bush, as well as the plant life I find in my garden.

                

Valerie Stuart

Artist Statement:

My work combines both wheel and hand building techniques. I use a variety of surface decoration and firing techniques in order to achieve a desired effect. My inspiration is drawn from everyday forms and textures provided by nature. When taken out of their context these characteristics impart a feeling of familiarity and surprise when viewed in a different framework.