At the beginning of this year I set out to enter all of the seasonal exhibitions at the Victorian Artists Society, which I achieved and am also excited and grateful that all works entered were admitted into the three Select exhibitions. I go through a rigorous review of my works on hand and aim to enter works that are in keeping with the seasons, although this isn't necessary. Luckily this year there were a number of works already available and given the restrictions of 2020 - 2021 and then for personal reasons in 2022, it was high time for them to be seen in public.
The 2023 Seasonal Exhibition entries at the VAS in review
VAS Winter Select Exhibition: Still Life with Buddha Hand Fruit (acrylic/mixed media on canvas) A new painting started and brought to the finish line in time for the Winter Select exhibition this year. Alot more challenging than my previous still life fruit paintings, this time positioned within a simple setting, to mix things up a bit. The Buddha Hand fruit has also enjoyed a very good season this year and it is often difficult to find them as they are growing in demand every year and the season is very short. It was delightful to finally get to paint them from life to completion this year, as they are so fragrant.
VAS Spring Select Exhibition: Still Life with Blood Orange (acrylic/mixed media on canvas) This painting was created in 2021 and initially entered into the Small Works Exhibition at the Brunswick Street Gallery in 2022. Three of the six still life mixed media works entered into that exhibition sold. I was actually working on another larger piece for the Spring Select Exhibition 2023 and changed my mind at the last minute. I decided against doing any further work under the intense pressure that inevitably builds up to get things finished and just spontaneously put down my brushes three days beforehand. Reviewing my choices for these shows this year, I am glad I did so, as there is a sense of continuity, with two emergent styles: the contemporary acrylic/mixed media pieces and the more traditional oil paintings. Behind the scenes the scale of my still life paintings is also gradually increasing... more about this later!
Overall, the VAS Spring Select Exhibition 2023 is a large and diverse showing of art works by VAS members spread over the three upstairs galleries. Members have the opportunity to vote for Artist of the Year, a privilege I take very seriously. My choices this time reflected an even distribution of both contemporary style works and more traditional paintings. I believe there is great value in respecting the old traditions and also embracing the new.
The Spring Select Exhibition 2023 details are as follows:
Sept 8 - 25, 2023 in the Frater, McCubbin and Hammond Galleries held at the Victorian Artists Society, 430 Albert Street, East Melbourne Mon - Fri 10am - 4pm and Sat - Sun 11am - 4pm The Opening Event will be on Tues 12th Sept at 7pm.