Midnight Snack, by Ann Ravenshield 2022, Acrylic/Mixed media on canvas
UPDATE: SOLD before the Opening Event!
Thank you to the buyer for supporting my work.
My latest colourful painting "Midnight Snack" is currently on view at the Victorian Artists Society as part of the VAS George Hicks Foundation Contemporary Exhibition. Members were challenged to stretch the boundaries of their practice and this I have endeavoured to do on a number of levels, including the use of mixed media elements within my signature style metal foil framing device.
The midnight snack monster has been made with an air drying compound (not air clay) and other various mixed media elements such as the glass eyes and shell teeth. The avocado and grape were painted from life - a definite boundary stretch as these were previously trigger foods from childhood, which has spontaneously resolved since painting them. Perhaps sourcing the produce from the same store that supplied my parent's restaurant back in the day was a powerful healing catalyst.
The shell was sourced online from Singapore and the background came as a flash of inspiration, from nowhere. The bloom on the grape is my interpretation of the ominous shadowy form in the water underneath the sea vessel in JMW Turner's painting, The Shipwreck, a large reproduction of which used to grace the family dining room wall.
This piece amongst others in this exhibition will be on show until 21 March. The gallery is on the first floor, my piece is located in the McCubbin Gallery on the right at the top of the grand flight of stairs as you enter the gallery. There is alot to see at the VAS as this is one of a number of exhibitions on show at this time. It's wonderful to finally visit this iconic space again after the lockdowns of the previous two years.