Visiting MONA

 Greetings from Tasmania!

I have been down here on this beautiful island part of Australia since Saturday. Based in the Devonport area we travelled south to Hobart over the weekend and spent all day Monday at the MONA museum. What a fabulous art gallery this is, with some amazing art work on display. Some of the works can be confronting but never boring. If you haven't had the opportunity to visit yet I can highly recommend it, it is an extremely well curated collection of art. But for those who would like to see some of the art I have found this online to give you a bit of a taste: Tour

MONA is underground, and the sandstone walls of the dug out area are kept on display - natures art (1.20 time). The water wall is amazing (1.25) One of my favorite pieces was the Leda and the Swan sculpture (at 2.45 time). The cabinet of wonders holds rare book editions and a delightful collection of antique hand held globes (3.14). People are confronted by the vulva wall (5.42), and the bubble car is a hoot (5.46). As I said, it is a wonderfully astonishing collection of art, very well presented.

We drove the Midland Highway down to Hobart, and on the way up and back I had fun trying to spot all the silhouette sculptures of 'Shadows of the Past'. I managed to see 12 of the 16, so a pretty good score.

A fabulous weekend  - oh, if you are considering a trip to Hobart, I can highly recommend the Waterview B & B in Margate. It's a bit out of town, away from the horrible Hobart traffic. The bedroom views are stunning, the host welcoming, the breakfast substantial! A lovely place to stay.

Charcoal Studies

 Playing with charcoal is fun... messy, but fun. Here are some demonstration works from my recent Thursday morning classes:

Reductive drawing of Sunflowers by Linda Weil ©

Reductive charcoal drawing (or reverse/negative drawing) is a creative method where you first darken the entire sheet of paper with the side of a charcoal stick, then smudge back with your hand or rag to create an even grey tone. Your eraser then becomes your drawing tool and you use a white eraser to define the main forms. A kneadable eraser or blue tack or even tape can be used to further define white highlights. Darker elements are added with soft charcoal. It is a very malleable and almost sculptural way of drawing - but make sure your paper can handle the process.

Positive charcoal studies with white charcoal highlights on toned paper by Linda Weil ©

Drawing in a positive method is often more intuitively comfortable for students, and charcoal is a quick and expressive medium for fast studies. By using a toned paper and white charcoal for highlights you can get some good effects. The top page are all studies where each was done in under 3 minutes. The bottom studies took a little longer, each shell between 5 to 15 minutes. 

Inktober52 & upcoming shows

 All caught up!

#22 Mountain: by Linda Weil©

And the new prompt for this week is: 

𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗𝄗

Two local shows coming up soon - I will have works in both. 

Camberwell Art Show 2022

25th June to 3rd July 2022
First started in 1969, the Camberwell is one of Melbourne's oldest and most respected Rotary Shows. It's a big show, with lots and lots of works on display - so plan on spending a good few hours there. Information HERE

Moonee Valley Art Show 2022

St Bernard's College, Essendon West
9 & 10 July, Gala Opening July 8 at 7pm

Since its inception 10 years ago the Moonee Valley show has grown in size and prestige. Relocating this year to a newer, larger venue this show makes the trip across town worthwhile. Information HERE

Inktober52 catch up

Whew! I have really fallen behind the eight-ball with these Inktober52 drawings. No excuses, just plain lack of motivation really. But I sat down on Thursday and started from where I left off and now I only have this weeks to do, which is:

 #23 Mountain.

But until then, here are the last four:

#18: 'World' by Linda Weil ©- the Earth map is always shown with the Northern Hemisphere prominent. Just thought I'd show it the 'right' way up as seen from space. Australia in its proper ascendance. 

#19: 'Origin' by Linda Weil © The news out of the US over the past few weeks has been very sad and disturbing - which is what influenced this take on the prompt.

#20: 'Flower' by Linda Weil © For this week's class I set a Charcoal Reductive drawing of sunflowers as the exercise. As I had a few sunflowers left from the session I thought I would try them in ink.

#21: 'Mouse' by Linda Weil © This one was easier - one of my 'Mecha-Mice' in ink.

Good news!

All three of my submissions for the Camberwell Art show were selected. So look out for them there this year at: Camberwell 2022

As well, my little echidna sculpture will be shown at the National Awards Exhibition of Miniature Art, NSW. So for all my Sydney friends, or if you Victorians are travelling north, do drop in and visit this rather wonderful exhibition

Catch ya's later!