There's no biscuits like show biscuits

Hi, here's a new ceramic sculpture called Time Has Never Felt So Crumbly.

In a little bit of nice news, this piece has been selected as a finalist in the 2020 McClelland National Small Sculpture Award!

Big congrats to all the other finalists, for more info and if you'd like to see all the works in the exhibition please click here.

In other news, here's a new ceramic sculpture I was commissioned to make of an original 1926 first edition book of Winnie The Pooh.

It was a bear-ticularly special sculpture to make, as it was commissioned as a retirement gift by some colleagues to a much loved Primary School librarian.

And lastly, I just wanted to say a huge thanks to everyone who attended my NGV cooking themed live online drawing workshop last Saturday!

Here's a photo from the session that shows me demonstrating how to paint peanut butter onto a drawing of toast.


Thanks for reading, I hope you're safe and well and that you have a nice weekend, perhaps you might spend it like this new drawing I made of a cloud, cooking up a storm.

Bake to the future

Hi, here's a new ceramic sculpture I made of the fantastic baking book by iconic Melbourne bakery Beatrix Bakes.

Speaking of all things yummy, tomorrow morning I'm very excited to be hosting a free online live drawing workshop with the National Gallery of Victoria, and it's all about drawing cook book covers!

The workshop is designed for primary school aged children but all are welcome! 

The workshop's tomorrow morning (Saturday August 1st) at 11am. 

To watch along, please click here!

And thanks so much to everyone who attended my NGV workshop a couple of weeks ago that was all about ice-cream, here's a couple of photos from it.
In other news, a huge thanks to the Chapel Street Precinct for recently commissioning me to paint a couple of murals.

This one, titled Life is like a box of crayons, will hopefully bring some smiles to those who pass it.

Thanks so much for reading, I apple-solutely appreciate it, and I hope you have a spec-spatula weekend!

Every frog has its day

Hi, here's some ceramic sculptures I made of the new freddo frog ice-creams.

Acrylic on earthenware ceramic.
Each sculpture is 18 x 3 x 8cm.
2020.

These ice-creams are toad-ally delicious. A few weeks I first tried one of the frog ice-creams and I knew I had to make some sculptures of them ASAP, (As soon as popsicle!)

Speaking of ice-creams, tomorrow morning I'm very excited to be hosting a free online live drawing workshop with the National Gallery of Victoria, and it's all about drawing ice-creams!

The workshop is designed for primary school aged children but all are welcome! The workshop is tomorrow (Saturday July 18th) at 11am. 

To watch along, please click here!

Thanks so much to everyone who attended my previous NGV pet drawing workshop a couple of weeks ago, it was so much fun!

Here's one of the drawings I made during it of my neighbours dog popping its head over the fence to say hello.

Hope you're really well and hope to see you soon. Or you should I say, hope to see you spoon!

Here's a new drawing I made of some spoons :)

Thanks for reading, and so as another week melts away here's a new ceramic sculpture of a Bubble'O Bill.

Melted Bubble'O Bill
Acrylic on earthenware ceramic
26 x 3 x 25cm
2020

Life is like a box of crayons

Hi, here's a new ceramic sculpture I made at the beginning of lockdown of a box of crayons. So many colours to try!

Acrylic on hand sculpted earthenware ceramic
Each crayon sculpture is 10cm x 1cm x 1cm
2020

These works were commissioned by Cement Fondu gallery as part of a new online project responding to the current pandemic.

The project's called "Don't let yourself go" and features a series of 13 newly commissioned videos by lots of great artists, and I was invited to create a series of ceramic sculptures to be featured on the homepage. 

To quote Cement Fondu's co-founder Jo Skinner, when reflecting on all the incredible artist contributions to this project, "It is a beautiful, funny, poignant and provocative time capsule of an unforgettable period in our personal lives and shared history."

To check it out, click here!

Still crayonzy after all these years
Acrylic on hand sculpted earthenware
12.5cm x 3cm x 7.5cm
2020

In other exciting news, this Saturday morning I'm hosting a free 45 minute online drawing workshop with the National Gallery of Victoria!

This workshop's aimed for children around primary school age but all are welcome. During the workshop we'll be drawing cat and dog portraits (or should I say, paw-traits!), as well as looking at some artworks from the NGV collection that also feature pets.

It's happening this Saturday, July 4th, from 11am. To watch along, please click here!

Thanks for reading, hope you're having a pup-ticularly nice week!

Drawing of my friend Toms dogs
Oil pastel on paper. 29cm x 42cm.

Auctions speak louder than words

Hi, hope you're really well!

There's only one day left to bid in the online fundraiser auction raising money for the Sydney based community radio station FBi!

To place a bid on my piece or to see all wonderful other works available, click here!

Huge thank you to everyone whose bid on my piece so far! 

Bidding ends this tomorrow night, (Friday June 26), at 7pm, (Eastern standard time).

Feeling a bit deflated. (Flat Earth Balloon)

Acrylic on kiln fired ceramic

14 x 3 x 5cm

2020

In other news, here's a little interview I did last week for Cement Fondu Gallery. 

Thanks so much for reading, hope you have a nice rest of the week!

Name
Kenny Pittock

Location

Melbourne

What do you do
Drawing, painting, ceramics, cook gnocchi

How would you describe what you create

I like to use words, play and wordplay, to create drawings, murals and ceramic sculpture responses to Australian iconography and celebrate the mundane.

The object you can’t live without

Clay. It's such a slow medium, which sometimes can be a bit frustrating but working with it everyday can be a bit like meditation.

Favourite art purchase

A painting of a bus seat by Lisa Radford, a portrait by Tom Polo, an abstract ceramic sculpture by Lynda Draper and a small sculpture by Abdul-Rahman Abdullah. 

Those four artists are all friends and mentors to me so they feel particularly special. All four were acquired through art swaps, so I feel very flattered that they each have a piece of my work as well.

A period in time you identify with most
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away. Well, either that or right now in 2020.

Listening to while you work…
Usually podcasts or music, although this last week I've been listening to the audio book of 'Growing up Aboriginal in Australia', a great collection of nonfiction stories. 

Watching….

Schitt's Creek. I wasn't really expecting to like it when my Mum recommended it to me, but I actually fell in love with this Netflix series. It has so much heart and is laugh out loud funny.

influenced by…

Tracey Moffatt's photographic series from 1994 called 'Scarred for Life'. This series of works showed me how to combine image with text in a way where they both are enhanced by each other. It also combines narrative storytelling, humour, darkness and mundanity in a way that's been a big influence on me. 

describe your work in 3 words…

playful, poignant, painstaking 

Favourite gallery gift shop. 

I really love the Ken Done gallery gift shop, because it feels like such a natural extension of the Ken Done gallery. I also love being in that gift shop because when I’m in there it means I’m in Sydney and I love being in Sydney.

What’s next…
I'm currently working on a series of ceramic sculptures for the Melbourne Town Hall, and in July will be painting a piece of public art for the Royal Children's Hospital. Also a few group shows coming up later this year that I'm excited about.

(Drawing of Moira Rose, from the Netflix series Schitt's Creek.
Acrylic on paper. 21 x 21cm. 2020)

The pear necessities

Hi, hope you're really well!

I just wanted to start by saying I wholeheartedly support the Black Lives Matter movement happening in America and all around the world. We still have a very long way to go in terms of respecting and learning from the Indigenous people of Australia and my eyes and ears are remaining open to listening and learning this week and all weeks. 

I'd also like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, whose land I'm currently working on, and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging, who have been creating art here for thousands of years.

Here's a new ceramic sculpture of a flat earth balloon.

14 x 3 x 5cm. Acrylic on ceramic. 2020

This piece, called "Feeling a bit deflated", is included in the FBI Radio online fundraiser auction, starting today and on until June 26.

I'm so pleased to be able to help support such an important community radio station alongside 70 incredible artists including Abdul Abdullah, Joan Ross, Tony Albert, Zoe Wong, Jason Phu, Ken Done, Lynda Draper, Reg Mombassa, Lindy Lee, Phil James, Mike Parr, Tom Polo, Pru Stent and Honey Long, Deborah Kelly, Nathan Beard, Barbara Cleveland, TV Moore, Megan Cope and so many more.

You can place a bid on my piece, and see all the available artworks, by clicking here!

In other exciting news, a new Drop-By Drawing video I recorded back in March with the National Gallery of Victoria has just been posted on the NGV's youtube channel.

You can watch it here;

And in fun news related news, here's a pic of me on the news this morning giving a quick drawing lesson to the weather presenter!

Huge thanks to the NGV, and also Channel 9's Today Show, for inviting me to drop by the national gallery at 5.30am this morning to make some drawings on live tv!

And so to finish today's blog post, here's a pic of Tim the weather presenter holding up a drawing I made of a pear. 

Thanks so much for reading, I really a-pear-ciate it!

Apocalipso now!

Hi, here's the five flavours of 2020- Denial Donut, Bargaining BubbleGum, Angry Orange, Depressed Durian and Acceptance Apricot.

I made these new ceramic sculptures as part of an upcoming project I'm excited to be working on with Cement Fondu Gallery. The project launches in June, more details on that coming soon!

In the meantime I just wanna say a huge thanks to everyone who enjoyed the fish drawing video I made with Bunjil Place Gallery! 

Here's some of the amazing fishes that were drawn in response to it by some awesome young artists.

Here's a big blue eyed fish eating a little fish, by the incredible Gus!

Here's a fishy Mothers Day card from an extremely talented 8 year old.

And here's Celeste with her fin-tastic fishy masterpiece!

If you enjoyed the fish drawing video and would like to try another activity, here's a new video I made for Bunjil Place Gallery where you can learn how to draw your shopping list, just like Michelangelo! 

Thanks so much for reading, hope you're safe and well and that the rest of your weekend is easy peasy lemon squeezy.

When you fish upon a star

Hey, have you ever wanted to know how to draw a fish?

Yes? Fantastic! Or should I say, fintastic, because in exciting news I've just made a new fish drawing tutorial video, filmed at home for Bunjil Place Gallery.
In the video you'll learn how to draw an animated fish named Calm Clive. The video's aimed at a younger audience but I think it's pretty fun for all ages. Hope you like it!

Big thank you to Sarah Lyons and everyone at Bunjil Place for inviting me to do this, and also a huge thanks to my partner Emmy for doing such an amazing job filming, not to mention letting me turn our living room into a film set.

In other news, here's a flyer for an upcoming exhibition I'm in called Shaping Wit, curated by Cassandra Hard-Lawrie at The Concourse gallery in Sydney. 

The group show was originally scheduled to be happening now but is currently postponed.  I'll let you know as soon as the new exhibition dates are confirmed and am looking forward to a time when it's safe to leave the house and hopefully see you there!
Oh and lastly, May the fourth be with you! To celebrate Star Wars day, here's a ceramic sculpture I made last year of a Chewbacca Pez dispenser, called Chewie on Chewie.

And here's Chewie giving you the side eye.

Thanks for reading, hope your week is going swimmingly!

Feeling like a melon bucks

Hi, hope you’re having an egg-cellent day.

Here’s a ceramic sculpture I made back in 2015 called ‘All my eggs in one basket’. 

This photo was taken at Anna Papas Gallery in Melbourne, in the 2015 group exhibition Death/Life curated by Sebastian Goldspink.

When I was making this work I had the egg sculptures drying outside my studio and when I went to check on them I noticed some of them were scattered around the ground with tiny claw marks in them. I realised a bird had mistaken my sculptures for actual eggs and tried to take off with them.

Having a bird think my ceramic eggs were real eggs was probably the biggest compliment my work has ever gotten.

In other egg themed news, here's a new ceramic sculpture I made of a Cadbury Creme Egg Ice-cream!

And in more egg-citing news, recently I had the opportunity to film a little drawing workshop at the National Gallery of Victoria.

Image courtesy of NGV.

For the video I chose to respond to Édouard Manet's 1880 painting ‘The Melon’ because it is the ultimate celebration of the mundane.

Image courtesy of NGV.

I find a lot of humour in the sincerity of still life paintings from this time and enjoy creating playful responses to the mundane in my own practice.


Thanks so much to everyone who's watched it so far, hope you enjoyed it!

You can watch the video here if you feel like drawing along with me.
And if you're in the mood for a little more reading, my friend Amy Gardner interviewed me this week for her new blog Hey Boofhead.

I first met Amy in 2012 when we worked together on an exhibition at Sydney gallery Alaska Projects and we've been good pals ever since. It was a really fun interview with super thoughtful questions, and you can check it out by clicking here!

Also, in the interview I mention how the people who make Bubble'O Bills have apparently just released a new ice-cream, it's Bill's sister, Bubble'O Jill.

I'm happy to report that I've since found a Bubble'O Jill at my local petrol station and here's a new ceramic sculpture I made of it.

Thanks so much for reading, I hope you have a Bubble'O Brilliant rest of the week.

Drop it like it's hot cross bun

Hi, hope you're having a very good Friday! Here's a ceramic work I made last year called Hot Cross Buns On A Recorder.

In other news, a big thanks to everyone who saw the recent group show Let's Play, curated by Tegan Iversen at CS Gallery. 

Here's one of my ceramic works from the show titled Three Drumsticks.

Another artist who featured in the exhibition was Evie Barrow, and here's a new ceramic sculpture I made of a great children's book she worked on titled Horatio Squeak.
The book's beautifully written by Karen Foxlee and wonderfully illustrated by Evie Barrow.

Horatio Squeak is a triumphant little tale (or tail) about a mouse who despite being small, learns the importance of speaking up, (or squeaking up!) It's a very sweet little story with a big message.


Here's a photo from February 29, only five weeks ago but way back when book launches were still a thing that existed and Evie was kind enough to autograph the sculpture.

And speaking of people who illustrate books, in exciting news, I illustrated a book!

The book's called 101 Things To Do When The WiFi Is Down.

A huge thanks to the author Ruby Ashby Orr for inviting me to illustrate it and Affirm Press for publishing it. 

Thanks so much for reading. Hope you have a nice long weekend full of hot cross buns, drumsticks, books and WiFi.