Somerset Regional Art Gallery

 CROSSDALE5

 Exhibition opening 

 Saturday July 24,  2021

 Five artists from Crossdale - Sharon, Shirley, Jane, Ian, Jan

Sharon Lee

With fear of climate change and the arrival of Covid-19, 2020-21 encouraged me to coddiwomple - to travel purposefully forward to an as-yet-unknown destination. En route discovering how necessary it is that we maintain hope. 

With hope in mind, I have created bright, multi-layered narratives. Each a visual haiku of the memories I yearn to keep and dearly hope persist. 

In the works on canvas I have started with a black background, and over this I have layered acrylic glazes to establish the painting, before finishing with rich lushness and viscosity of oils; the brightness signifying new beginnings and growth. The inclusion of birds represents: wisdom, adaptation, diligence, rebirth, courage and all the many attributes we will need to use to repair and maintain our ecosystem.

At the commencement of my coddiwompling story and at the end, I have placed sculptures with a serious question in mind, If nature was watching would you be kinder? A third sculpture designed as a nest, while asking the same question, does hint at the chance of new beginnings. Each piece combines the use of found objects, paper clay, acrylic and resin.

The works display my continuing appreciation for nature and her ability to re-calibrate and rejuvenate, without ignoring the undesirable aspects of: a world without; a world with too much; and a world which cannot sustain.

 

Sharon Lee

ARTIST

Growing up in Papua New Guinea, living on an isolated Island in Bougainville, 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 nature. While owning an art supply shop within the Brisbane Institute of Art for more than a decade and managing an Artist retreat allowed me to observe and learn many creative, technique based processes.

In my work I combine my appreciation for a good story with the excitement I get from rearranging nature’s complex - and often ephemeral assemblages. Max Ernst (1891 – 1976) said, ‘an artist must have one eye on the outer world, while the other eye looks towards the inner world.’ It is with this in mind that I create multi-layered paintings evocative of the landscape, while inserting an irrational or troublesome idea into the imagery. However, unlike the melancholy of Ernst, I hope my works are a joyful experience, encouraging the viewer to connect with their own memories and conscience. Hopefully creating their own unique narrative.

Tipped to shop - again

Tip Shops People's choice Competition, on again

This year there are twenty individuals chosen to enter the annual competition - which of course means I have a lot more competition to win the monetary prize . . .  (but that just makes it far more interesting.)

Walking into the  Acacia ridge Tip shop, I did not need to introduce myself  - they remembered me by my very heavy piece of furniture, which was my entry last year. (Drinks cabinet won in 2012) After talking to the friendly and helpful volunteers,  I walked around to the ringing cries of  "please - something not so heavy this year . . . . " so, with this in mind, I looked for small things.  

46 COLEBARD Street West, Acacia Ridge, 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BrisbaneCityCouncil

Endeavour Foundation Tip Shop, Brisbane. http://www.endeavour.com.au/page/shop/tip-shops/

Once again I was confronted by a plethora of items. Would I Mosaic, paint, collage, print or redesign a piece of furniture? SMALL furniture.

Now here i am, with an extraordinary mix of old, new, and items that screamed 'don't go there' and others that I just needed to take home, with no fixed idea of outcome in mind.

I loved the look of them and though I did not know what they would become, I was  sure they had potential... . . .  I think!

I have an old broken light with glass fixtures (one missing, presumed broken) Toys, bowls, plumbing waste fittings, plates, more toys and half an old lamp base . . . . mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I want to use as many of the available things that I can, so that my end project will highlight the issue . .. which is, WASTE. . . . NOT to be wasted. . . . .

Not waste, that is rubbish, but waste that is just thrown away and could be given a new life with some cleaning, remodelling and imagination . . . . sometimes that is, LOTS of imagination!

So if you need a something why not try the TIP SHOP and assist the Endeavor Foundation at the same time, while also helping reduce the amount of WASTE that goes into our dump sites.

So now to making something - keep your fingers crossed and I will keep you posted,
Cheers

Go on . . . you never know what you will find . . .
46 COLEBARD street WEST, Acacia Ridge

Tip

Tip Shop People’s choice Competition - continued

Anyone who knows me, knows I love to recycle. I hate the unnecessary purchasing of the NEW. If there is something I need and I can find it in a condition I can 'MAKE NEW', I am a very Happy lady. So for me this invitation to enter the Tip Shop competition is more about highlighting the unecessary WASTE of things that are thrown out . . . .  and the ability to RE-NEW or RE-INVENT, than about the winning . . . . though that would be a nice BONUS.

The main criteria for entry into the Tip Shop competition was, to choose a piece of furniture or bric-a-brac, which we had to transform into an interesting piece of FUNCTIONAL art.

We selected a cupboard. A BROWN uninteresting OLD TV cabinate, that someone had discarded.  . . .that was made of good strong wood.

        ·         First we had to decide what we wanted to use the cupboard for ?  FUNCTION

·         We had to decide what was it going to look like ?  CREATIVETY/ ART

We decided, rather than painting our own design or using mosaic on the cupboard; we wanted to use some of the many pre loved books, available in the Shop,  in a form of Collage.

 

All BOOKS at the TIP SHOP are sold for $0.50 cents each, so we were able to find quite a few amongst the MANY that would not be wasted when we cut them up.  We deliberately chose books that had been loved to the point of being obviously damaged, or those altered with artistic additions of crayon and pencil by previous owners, or ones that we felt were out of fashion.

We thought WHITE outside . . . .  . .RED inside, with GOLDLEAF & crushed velvet.

We decided we wanted the cupboard to look like a CHILDRENS TOY CUPBOARD on the outside,

while serving the function of a DRINKS CABINATE on the inside.

I looked on Google to find information regarding the practicals processes of fixing holes, sanding, painting etc.. . . . .

We decided it needed the addition of a few shelves for glasses and Bottles.

MATERIALS

Sandpaper

Paint.   White, 3 in one for outside.

 RED paint for inside

Goldleaf

PVA glue for adhesion of goldleaf

Material to line inside.

Rollers for paint

Brushes for glue and paint

Drop sheet to prevent mess

Nails

Glue.  Wallpaper paste for collaging

Scissors to cut out images

Extra wood to construct shelves

Wood beading,  to support shelves and frame collages

Hinges for doors

 Let the WORK begin . . . .

With our Cupboard from the TIP SHOP and purchases from BUNNINGS  - we got started . . .  .

#     Washing the cupboard to remove the dirt

#         Sanding to remove the old varnish and then washing again to ensure surface was clean to paint.

#       PAINTING, painting and more painting.

It is starting to LOOK like a VERY FINE piece of FURNITURE.

Stay tuned . . . .