I Miss Earth Worms. Do You? Exhibition Brisbane Institute of Art BIRD 2024

Following on from our last exhibition at the Toogoolawah Regional Art Gallery, The Condensary, where the subject was Birds, I have researched and am developing the theme to incorporate my concern for the environment.

                  

Process/Inspiration - Photographs of my children, drawings, collage, oil on canvas. 60cm x 60cm oil

                                                         

 

I MISS EARTH WORMS. DO YOU?                                            60cm x 60cm Oil on canvas

Main story - understory

Bees, fleas, worms, germs,

humans are but one part of the ecosystem.

We have become the impatient species. Too busy to let nature replenish itself and too puffed up with our own sense of importance to acknowledge our utter dependence on its generosity.

- David Suzuki

Travelling around the world and Australia, we have seen various monocultures. Large expanses of a single crop. And while these are hugely efficient for crop production and harvesting, they have devastating environmental impacts.

In this painting the child/birds are eating processed food stored in small plastic containers. The mat is plastic. There is no diversity in the crop in the background. A monoculture. A system recognized to destroy biodiversity of creatures in the soil, including worms.

BIRD Exhibition Nov 2024

Brisbane Institute of Art 

November 9th - 19th  Exhibition  BIRD

Sharon Lee    Linda Black    Lyn Derrick

Our group have been exhibiting together for over twenty five years.

Following on from our exhibition in The Esk Regional Art Gallery, 2019-2020, our group has decided to continue with the theme 'BIRD' 

We booked gallery NONA for 2022, but the flood and renovations meant the exhibition was postponed. We re-booked for 2024. 

In a way this delay was a blessing. It gave us plenty of time to develop a better series of works. 

For me the theme of BIRD is tangled-up with the threats to the ecosystem. I want the viewer to ask of themselves and our society : when will we accept that there is a symbiotic relationship between nature, humans and the environs, and that we are all the same when threatened by catastrophic conditions?

   

I have never been interested in simply regurgitating images from books, or copying pictures without there being an idea behind the process. I tend to want there to be a concept. So to start, I look for inspiration. 

1/ Which birds? Just the threatened or any, including the common? 

    Australian or worldwide?

2/ Start the process with drawing birds and children separately.

When I came across this jigsaw, that my own children once adored, it gave me an idea. What if humans were physically and psychologically joined to birds? 

If what happened to one, happened to the other?

Through environmental storytelling I have decided to portray birds with human bodies, to signify that no ecosystem exists in a vacuum. What happens to animals, birds, vegetation and humans is inevitably tangled together.

3/ Cut them up and arrange so the amalgamated child/bird looks as if they are one species.

                   

     

Draw them with the chosen combination. Then decide

 

4/ Medium - Oils or acrylics?

5/ What will they be doing? Will the backgrounds highlight catastrophic conditions?

6/ Color's, atmosphere.  A reckoning? Warning? 

    Or should I make the threat more subtle? 

    Love this process . . . 

ALCHEMY

We are travelers on a cosmic journey,

stardust swirling and dancing in the eddies

and whirlpools of infinity.

Life is eternal.

We have stopped for a moment 

to encounter each other,

to meet, to love, to share.

This is a precious moment.

It is a little parenthesis in eternity.

-Paulo Coelho

60cm x 60cm

Oil on canvas

In this painting Alchemy, it is about the seemingly magical process of transformation, or creation, or a combination. 

When I think about the children that will live in the future, I feel that the world will desperately need magic, transformation and creation.

The girl in this painting is the gift giver.  She has a plant in her hand, representing new growth. The other is the storytelling. The recorder of history. 

The temple represents fire, earth, air, water and the unknown of the void. The sea represents strength, endlessness and hope. The mat shows new growth. The taking of tea represents harmony, balance, hospitality, and friendship.

The sky has a blush representing the world’s ability to reset. HOPE

   

Growing up in Papua New Guinea, living on an isolated Island in Bougainville, PNG and then moving to acreage in Crossdale, Queensland, I have always felt fortunate to be able to observe and interpret the kaleidoscope of colors and designs, in habitat with areas of natural biodiversity.

I managed both an art supply shop at the Brisbane Institute of Art and an artist’s retreat in the beautiful Somerset Shire for over a decade. And both of these ventures allowed me to learn many creative, technique-based processes. Intaglio, Lino, mono and screen printing, have influenced the way I approach line, composition, design and color. Learning the processes used in sculpture, ceramics and jewelry-making has contributed to the way I process ideas and express spatial form.

I blend my appreciation for compelling narratives with the excitement of manipulating nature’s complex and transient structures. It was Max Ernst (1891 – 1976) who said, ‘an artist must have one eye on the outer world, while the other eye looks towards the inner world.’ And it is with this in mind that I create multi-layered paintings evocative of the landscape, while inserting an irrational or troublesome idea. However, unlike the melancholy of Ernst, I hope my works are a joyful experience, each a visual haiku of a memory I yearn to keep, while encouraging the viewer to connect with their own memories, to generate their own unique narrative.

Birds have always represented wisdom, adaptation, diligence, rebirth, and courage. All the attributes we will need if we wish to repair and maintain our ecosystem. By portraying birds and human children combined, I question, if birds were considered priceless treasures of worth, perhaps our relationship with them and the ecosystem would be more considered. Perhaps if we considered birds as being as valuable to us as our own children, we would apportion them more value—more care?

By using environmental storytelling I hope the viewer will not be instantly repelled by the horror of the concept, but take the time to look at the bright colors, scenery, toys, and allow the images - the time needed - for them to ask their one overriding question: when will we accept that there is a symbiotic relationship between nature, humans and the environs, and that we are all the same when threatened by catastrophic conditions?

Sharon Lee 2020-2024

Japan 2024

 Trip by land and sea. Two weeks by bus and train. 2 weeks on ship. Great but exhausting.

        

Full story on Instagram lees.art

2024 Exhibition Paint Like a Master

March 2024   Kilcoy art Gallery        kilcoyart.org.au

In 2023 Cameron and I joined the Kilcoy Art Society as a way to meet people in the wider community. Since then I have exhibited in two exhibitions. 4 small oil paintings in the first, and a low relief wall sculpture using  paper clay, acrylic, gold leaf and resin in the Paint Like A Master exhibition.  

 

 

 

As always, I started working toward this exhibition by doing some research.

The word MASTER - by definition - it is a person who shows great skill or proficiency. An expert, a virtuoso or wizard. 

Today Vincent Van Gogh is considered a master. His paintings are worth millions 

Yet Vincent Van Gogh - who to us - is considered a MASTER, was, in his time thought of as a NOVICE. He did not attend art school, so his contemporaries thought his work lacked technical skill.They described it as sloppy, lacking in precision and finesse. Thought his Colors were overly intense and unrealistic.

Yet - Van Gogh - described himself as a musician of color Said he tried to use color as a symbolic language of his emotions. To express the terrible and incredible passions of humanity and today we understand that the intensity of Van Gogh’s palette symbolizes the way he struggled with his inner turmoil. 

 

To me STARRY NIGHT which he painted while in an asylum represents all this angst and beauty. It is his psychological response to the world. 

 

Through bold, emotive use of color and expressive choppy brush strokes his work displays directness, freshness, vitality and passion. And we consider it a masterpiece. 

 

Then I looked up the word LIKE. Paint like a Master. LIKE - means having the same 

characteristics or qualities.

To me these qualities were - the way he displayed his inner turmoil,with colour, intensity, vitality and passion. 

 

It wasn’t primarily about producing something to be sold. Vincent In his 10 year career as an artist - having produced some 800 works - Sold 1

 

In my response to produce something LIKE Starry Night - I chose a circle to portray the timelessness of his mental condition. To show the disquiet and choppiness of his life - I have portrayed his trouble thoughts - looking out from his asylum. 

To represent his passion and vitality I used impasto and color. Thick layers of Paper clay with Bright Acrylics & Gold Leaf . To symbolize the restraints placed on him by his contemporaries and society - I have Imprisoned the work behind a layer of hard resin. 

PROCESS Paper clay - is it dries hard without the use of a kiln. Build up layers - using a slurry of paper clay, water and PVA glue. Joined at the back with Chux, and slurry. To repeat shapes I produced molds using PINKY SIL or Plaster. I sealed the finished work with gesso, painted it with acrylics and sealed it with resin.

 

 

Exhibition PNG 1982 - 1988

Papua New Guinea  -  North Solomon Province  

Madehas Island, Banu plantation and Teopasino plantation 1976 - 1988

Coffee shop Exhibition Rabaul 1982 - 88

There are many enjoyable aspects about living here in PNG. One is the people and other's are the landscape and bright colors. However, I am aware that the vibrancy and clarity found here in the tropics, can appear unbelievably bright. 

In our shop - trade store - where we sell anything from fish hooks, lengths of material, underpants, and bicycles to tinned fish and out-board motors, there is a broad representation of all these colors, shapes, and languages. I often find myself rearranging the shelves, be it physically or mentally, so that the juxtaposition of patterns and colors, is pleasing. Firstly I need to work out the composition. I always find it is best to do a few drawing.

 

For this exhibition I have completed a body of work where I have included some of the people who work for us, and I have used the shelves and counters, and their contents, to make what I hope are pleasing compositions. (Thank you to June who suggested I use masking tape to keep my lines straight and Heather who showed me how to make stencils.)

Lately I have been enjoying doing the preliminary works in pastels, and I am pleased with how these look, and will explore pastels some more.

Painting, oil on canvas  18 inches x 18 inches.

                                   

 Coffee shop Exhibition Rabaul 1988

 Well life is full of unexpected happenings. Cameron has been accepted to fill a position as General Manager on a plantation just outside of Rabaul. We will have a holiday in Australia and move to East New Britain when we return.

I have such mixed emotions. Firstly I will miss many of the people we have come to think of as friends and I will miss the environment, and coastal waters.

I guess there are many advantages. Our son will be able to attend pre-school and mix with more children his age. And I will be closer to shopping, health clinics, and a creative artistic community.

Will forward these works to Rabaul for the next exhibition. Extremely thankful to Ron and Bill who run the coffee shop. They frame my works and ensure they are hung in prime position on their walls, ready to be viewed by the passengers who travel to Rabaul on the cruise ships. Big thank you.

      

  

(We have enjoyed our time here on Teopasino Plantation, however we can feel a certain build-up of unrest throughout Bougainville. Not that there is much directed at us personally, but it is worrying, especially as we have a small child to consider. Because of the unrest we have not travelled as much as usual which  means that I have had more time to paint. However Cameron has made inquiries regarding a transfer, and a move seems imminent.)

Kieta Art Society Exhibition  1987  (Paintings developed over last two years)

I Have been busy trying to complete a body of work for the Kieta exhibition. Am finding doing work with a young person underfoot is not as easy as it was pre-child, however I am lucky that I have help to maintain the house, garden and to keep an eye on our son, and entertain him while I work.

Oil on canvas, again in square format. A variety of subjects in 9 paintings.

I have aimed to show the atmosphere. The feeling of spending time in the tropics. The buildings, the landscapes, the clarity of skies and water, and the ability to travel by sea. That feeling of lengthy days by the water - in solitude or shared with friends. I have taken quirky attributes from various buildings and added them to others so that no one place is a true replica . . . however, anyone who has travelled extensively along the length of Bougainville from Buka to Kieta will surely recognize certain aspects.

  

Some are taken looking down, as the subject was viewed while we were flying in a helicopter or small plane.

  

  

 

 Kieta Social Club Christmas Exhibition  1986

Any excuse to travel to Kieta and I'm there. We will travel along the coast dropping in on friends and visit favorite spots along the way. Once in Kieta we will stay with our dear friend Keith (Chubby) and that in itself will be a treat. He is a consummate cook on the BBQ, and Cameron and I are looking forward to a lovely steak and crispy salad . . .  and good stories.

Am unsure how popular my topic will be? However, I love books and reading and whenever we have travelled from Madehas plantation, or Banu to adjoining plantations, they all appear similarly blessed with huge bookshelves full of books and oddities. Love the pottery, masks, paintings and photographs that are positioned in amongst the books. Admire the way the light penetrates the rooms. The use of lamps lit by electricity or use of tilly lamps. The comfortable seating, low carved or cane coffee tables, and the use of wood that offers a unique smell and a feeling of timelessness.

Yes! I love these 'libraries.' 

These paintings are an amalgamation and mish-mash of the various places we have visited. Not one painting is a true representation of one library. The tall architectural structure was seen inside a building at only one plantation - but it was enthralling. Have taken the liberty of using it in all these works.

We have Dalmatian dogs and a blue heeler, and a huge orange cat. I have taken the liberty of including them in these paintings.

From idea to completion, these were worked on over a three year period. (lots of masking tape and using a ruler!)

Paintings 24 inches x 24 inches  Oil on canvas

  

 

Kieta Exhibition 1986          (Work from 1985 -1986)

 I am unable to make the trip to Kieta for the exhibition but a friend is delivering my work to the venue and said they will pay attention to the way they are viewed and  return any that do not sell.

                                  

In these four paintings, I have included some of the people that have worked for us, be it here on Teopasino, Banu or Madehas plantation's. I have included our much loved Blue-heeler dog, Bruno and our Dalmatian dogs, Sasha and muttle. Once again these paintings are not a true representation of any one place, but an amalgamation of people, buildings, clothing, food and scenery that I have admired. I have tried to portray a feeling of place rather than an exact replication.

Oil on canvas 24 inches x 24 inches.

 

 

Kieta Exhibition 1985        (Work in process 1983 -1985)

 Another reason to complete a small series of works, with an opportunity to exhibit.

Am doing some oil on canvas studies. 16 inches x 16 inches. Most of the work represents time spent on various plantations. These plantations are usually established along the coast line. Tennis, bowls and afternoon drinks are a huge delight.

  

  

 

 

Rabaul Travel Lodge Exhibition  1982-1984 

Lovely to be invited to exhibit a collection of paintings at the Travel Lodge in Rabaul. We will use the opportunity to do shopping for the Trade store and to show Arron the Big Smoke.

Because most of the audience will be people on holidays or expatriates visiting, I have decided to send a selection rather than keep to one theme. 

Some of the works have been from previous exhibitions, or paintings started, completed or thought about in previous years.

In some of them, I have taken remembered images from our travels along the coast line and our visits to various cocoa and copra plantations along the Bougainville coast line, from Buka to Kieta.

Again, I have taken the liberty of including familiar images: our pet pig Grunt and our dogs, along with people we know, or have known. And I have aimed to relay a feeling of place rather than a true photographic image. 

I also feel a need to state that I would not manage to produce these works if I did not have people in our employ that helped clean the house, cook, maintain the garden and help look after our son, Arron. I am deeply grateful for their help which allows me to complete the art.

Once again I have chosen to keep to a square-ish, small-ish format.

Oil on canvas  Most are approx  24 inches x 24 inches.

  

 

 

 

Rabaul Yacht Club exhibition 1984-85

I love the Rabaul yacht club set right on the beach with the veranda aquaplaning out over the water. In the past we have enjoyed fashion shows, an audience participation show of Monty Python, with Basil Faulty and Manuel causing chaos, and fund raising events. This opportunity to exhibit some art is most welcome. (Not least because it gives me an excuse to travel to Rabaul and stay for the weekend.)

 

These paintings were influenced by a new supply of balloons that we ordered to be for sale through the trade store. Some of the balloons have images of dogs, ducks and cats and they are a huge hit with all the children, and many adults.

 

Oil on canvas 24 inches x 24 inches

Thank you to my father for framing the paintings. He lugged the wood up fro Australia and made it into frames while here on holidays.

Thank you to Milton, the Captain of the ship, The Bertide, who picked them up from Madehas Plantation and delivered them to Rabaul, in advance of the weekend.

 

 

Rabaul Exhibition   1982

Always exciting to have a reason to produce a new body of work and have a reason to travel to Rabaul.

There are no restrictions on size, medium, and they do not need to be framed.

I have chosen to do some drawings, and oils on canvas. 24 inches x 24 inches