2012 winding down ... but not the studio!

Yesterday I was over at Percolator Gallery in Paddington, Brisbane, working in my studio downstairs when I had a visual communication idea to try out in the gallery windows now the year's exhibition program has just come to an end.  In Melbourne during the mid 90's I had a shop-front studio, in the creative hub of Fitzroy / Collingwood, where I constantly made the most of the lovely old shopfront windows for such purposes.

It took time and ideas to do that well back then ... so I was keen to see what could be done here having discussed the possibilities with artist Helena Lloyd, who is also the Gallery owner. I was inspired by the thought of re-using photocopied posters on seeds I'd done for a Sustainability Event in 2011, as a kind of wall-paper. 

When I return to the studio today I will see if the posters are successfully staying up in the heat... that might determine a change of plan... so we'll see. I took photos at dusk and then when it was completely dark last night.

The window easily lends itself to a little drama!

My studio is at the back down the left. The Gallery runs as a for-hire space and thus has a changing panorama of exhibitions which run for a week, or sometimes two weeks at a time. Its wonderfully located in a particularly scenic part of Brisbane on one of the ridges overlooking the city. Surrounded by cafes and small boutique-type stores it has a lovely ambience and neighbourly feel.

The wallpaper idea worked quite well as a backdrop to the paintings... two seascapes on the right which Helena painted when at Cuchiemudloo Island in Moreton Bay which fringes Brisbane, and an oval painting of Brachychiton seed pods I painted in 2010.

The quotes which run down the middle of the window communicate a clear message for anyone who strolls by and wishes to take a closer look!

Night time the window is stark and very readable from up close.

The entrance to the right shows a glimpse of a long narrow work I hung there last night.

I will be having a show here at the end of January, running for two weeks, which I am starting to focus more on now, adding to work completed already this year.

There is quite a bit of reading if anyone is curious and takes the time!

Last time I used these posters I had a far bigger wall to work with.

Claudia, a student of mine in 2010, standing before of a presentation at a Brisbane Sustainability Day  event I did in 2011... using these same A3 posters.

Black and white photo-copying was the perfect vehicle for an effective 'wallpaper' of seed messages and drawings. I've enjoyed taking my journals to the copiers and playing with the positive /negative feature on the self-serve machines. Some imagery becomes really strong or curiously more sensitive when altered in this way. It certainly makes for quite an interesting 'homage' to the seed!

Watch this space for news of the exhibition at the tail end of January!
bye for now,
S