Thursday, April 23, 2020

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.

Friday, April 10, 2020

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.

Monday, April 06, 2020

Life is like a P.O. Box of chocolates

Hi, hope you're really well, staying safe and having a nice day.

Here's a new drawing called Flatten The Serve.
In these scary times almost everything seems uncertain, but one thing we do know for sure is the correct way to make Vegemite toast. #flattentheserve

In other news, a huge thanks to the people who bid on my sculpture It's Way Too Sunny, Boy, as well as all the other fantastic artworks, in the recent Art Aid fundraiser exhibition held at Gippsland Art Gallery.

Together we raised an amazing $161,200 for the Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund, with all money going to those who lost their homes in the recent Australian bushfires.


In other news, here's a new Twisties themed trophy sculpture I was recently commissioned to paint.


It was a really fun project to work on, thanks to Brendan for organising it. The sculpture was commissioned as a parting present for a lawyer who loves Twisties.

And in other news, I got a new P.O Box!

I collect abandoned shopping lists so if you've written one and are done with it, please put it in an envelope and send it my way. 


The postal address is P.O Box 232, Batman, Vic. Australia. 3058.

Thanks so much for reading!

A few things I'm grateful for during this tough time are blogs, P.O boxes and the out of this world technology that allows us to remain connected despite being spacially distanced.