Starting Monday 18th  and ending Sunday 24th September, the Marion Art Group displays its latest exhibition. This promises to be another high quality display and can be found on the top floor of the shopping centre adjacent to ‘Mr Minute’ during normal shopping centre opening times. This time, the painting donated to be raffled for ‘Grow SA’, is a gorgeous warm sandhill-scape by Liz Maxted. Looking forward to seeing many members of the public at the exhibition.

I have eight pieces on a half-screen and four in the ‘un-framed’ basket for the above exhbition. One of my pieces, “Wallaroo Rocks” below, has been freshened up with the addition of a shell in the forground to provide more depth to this piece.

‘Wallleroo Rocks’, Acrylic on canvas, 400x 300 mm.

I am now starting to think about preparing for a couple of end of year/early next year, exhibitions: The City of Marion Exhibition at Gallery M and the Victor Harbor Rotary Art show.

I am hoping to provide some insight into preparations for these two exhibitions via these posts, in the next couple of months.

Oh and I did sell a painting way back in May at the Colonnades Shopping Centre.

‘Pioneer Cottage Gate’ Acrylic on canvas, 300 x 200 mm. SOLD

A very successful experiment. Marion Art Group entering as a group at the Flagstaff Hill Art Show 2017. To be part of such a well organised and run exhibition and play a significant role in its success was a feather in our cap. As a group, we sold 66 paintings, two thirds of which were from our very successful, ‘un-framed’ basket.  I was also part of the team of 12 artist from our group which staged a ‘Group Demonstration’.

Personally my sales were more than I could have hoped for. 3 out of 4 acrylics on the screens sold. These acrylics were a new development in my theme about Australian wildlife’s ability to camouflage themselves in their surroundings. Now I am trying to concentrate on one creature in the composition, in proportion to its habitat.  I am working on achieving some realism and believability to the finished work. My aim is to create a mood through use of colour and technique of the different habitats I am painting.  The inclusion of fine details of the habitat are intended to draw attention away from the ‘hiding’ creature.

‘Wading in Karijini Ravine, WA’, medium sized acrylic on canvas board, SOLD

‘Resting at Arkarra Lagoon’, Qld, medium sized acrylic on canvas board, SOLD

‘Escape from Stanley Chasm, NT’, small acrylic on stretched canvas , SOLD

I was very pleased to sell 8 out of my 11 small paintings from our ‘un-framed’ Basket. These were mostly watercolours using very intensely coloured inks. I have been experimenting with this medium lately. I have discovered that if I use my many photos to get started with the focal point of the composition ( A tree, a bush, a bird, a wrecked car etc) and then use very soft wet on wet techniques to make up the backgrounds I can complete these small pieces in one or two hours. Ideal pieces to add a mount-board to and sell for $40-$60 !!!!! (And very enjoyable to create!!!). I was surprised that they sold so well.

‘Abandoned Thames’, small watercolour using Schmincke inks, SOLD

‘Moody Range’, small watercolour using Schmincke Inks. SOLD

‘Wild Scrub’, small watercolour using Schmincki Inks. SOLD

‘Hidden outcrop’, small watercolour using Schmincki Inks. SOLD

‘Fraser Island Tree’, small watercolour using Schmincki inks. SOLD

‘Storm Lit Beach’, small acrylic. SOLD

‘Stately White Ibis’, small watercolour using Schmincki ink. SOLD

‘Proud Wedge Tail’, small watercolour using Schmincki inks. SOLD

My fourth year at Victor. This year 1110 entries. Down in numbers from previous years. With two days to go approx. 400 paintings sold. All 3 of mine included. This is the first time I have sold all three!. I think this means that I will be invited to submit 5 paintings next time???????

‘Abandoned Cottage’: Acrylic on canvas, 700 X 450 mm, SOLD

‘A Nostalgic Retreat’: Acrylic on canvas, 700 x 450 mm, SOLD

‘Timeless Elegance’: Acrylic on canvas, 700 x 450 mm, SOLD

My painting at the City of Marion Art Exhibition at Gallery M did not sell….but…..a very discerning young lady and her husband wanted to buy it off me to help decorate their newly painted dining room. Of course I didn’t accept payment from flesh and blood!!

‘Renmark Back Waters’: acrylic on canvas, 700 X 450, GIFTED.

This has been an amazingly profitable start to 2017. I now need to get down to some serious creation so I have material for other exhibitions this year.

First time exhibiting at the Port Adelaide Rotary Art Show had its rewards! Sold two out of three and ………’Tree Life Belair’ not only sold but was obviously  popular with the public to be given it’s second Peoples Choice award. This means a lot to me as the Port Adelaide Rotary Art Show is a fairly prestigious art exhibition which has been going for thirty years. A feather in my cap!! The painting  is large, it is light filled, it is quirky and draws people to it to look more closely. The camouflaged animals idea is still selling. This year I will look for a different approach to this idea to keep me interested in the concept.

Note that ‘Tree Life Belair’ was developed from a small study of the tree which sold at Gallery ‘M’, shown in the last Post.

Tree Life, Belair

Also sold is a Painting left over from the Maxwell’s Solo exhibition three years ago. Sometimes persistence pays off with paintings that we feel are good enough to sell.

Currency Creek Cart

Now about to drop off three paintings to the Victor Harbor Art Show. All of old buildings from the Fleurieu Peninsular rendered in sepia tones. It will be interesting to see if they sell. If not then they are ideal for the Goolwa Rotary show coming up in March.

Marion Art Group restarts for the year on January 16. Looking forward to getting back with the group and having a good year together.

‘Within Belair National Park’, acrylic on canvas, 300 mm x 100 mm, SOLD

‘Life on Liverpool Road, Goolwa’, acrylic on canvas, 400 mm x 600mm, SOLD

‘North Beach Walleroo’, acrylic on canvas, 400 mm x 250 mm, SOLD

‘First Light’, acrylic on canvas, 250 mm x 200 mm, SOLD.

‘Last Light’ , acrylic on canvas, 250 mm x250 mm framed, SOLD

‘Pecking Order’ acrylic on canvas, 300mm X 400mm, SOLD

Various paintings sold at Marion Shopping Centre and Gallery M at the Marion Cultural Centre.  I am having a good year with sales, especially with the small pieces.

The  Marion Art Group has now completed its exhibition program for the year and we now are looking at plans for 2017.

I do have some paintings ready to go for the Victor Harbour Show early in 2017. Therefore I can concentrate on the process of looking for inspiration for an already prepared 700 mm x 450mm canvas to enter into the end of the year City of Marion Exhibition. Peoples Choice awards two out of the last three  years is a good incentive to enter something special!!!

I wonder……… do something with flowers just for a change. Hardly a male’s subject, but if a striking, light filled, dramatic composition then this is a possibility…… some thought and going out with my camera for some fresh subjects is the way to go!!

It has been busy.  Much organisation and work leading up to MAG’s Autism SA fund-raiser August 13th and 14th, at which I sold one of my unsold paintings from 2015.

‘Bougainvillea in shadow’, acrylic on canvas, 400mm x 300mm, SOLD

At this event I also sold a donated painting at silent auction. My fellow artists at MAG encouraged me to donate a ‘hidden creatures’ creation.

I am getting to the stage where I have completed many of this type of painting and although I am, in the main, still selling them, I am fast approaching the time I need to move on. The last few have been a little stilted and ‘forced’ rather than flow naturally off the brush.

‘Life on Mary River, NT’
acrylic on canvas,
700mm x 550mm SOLD at silent auction

I currently have 4 small pieces in Gallery M, Marion Cultural Centre  at MAG’s latest exhibition, ‘LARGELY miniature’.

We are also about to exhibit at Marion Shopping Centre from  Monday 19th to Sunday 25th September. I will have a full screen displaying a variety of sizes of  paintings from miniatures  to  600mm x 400 mm canvases. 12 pieces in all

I am now trying to complete some back-up paintings just in case I sell. Must admit though , I haven’t sold well at Marion Shopping Centre in the past.

Hopefully at the next post I will have some more sales to report.

At the Marion Art Group Colonnades Shopping Centre Exhibition in March  and at the Hallet Cove Shopping Centre Exhibition in May/June I was very pleased to sell  more paintings. I was very happy with this result and am getting a sense now, of what tends to sell and what is perhaps not so appealing to the public. It seems that my hidden animal impressionistic paintings are still popular. Other wildlife and landscape work, providing they are loose, vibrant and somewhat different in angle or composition are also ‘saleable’.

‘On the Road to Strathalbyn’

‘Mothers Protection’

‘Pondering Percival’

‘Mother’s Love’

‘New Life on the Onkaparinga River’

‘life on the Onkaparinga River’

AND……………..

A great thrill for me,  for the second time in three years,  to  win the ‘peoples choice’ award at the City of Marion Exhibition at Gallery M…..as yet unsold……but working on it.

‘Tree Life, Belair’

With the new year came some good news . Two paintings sold at the Victor Harbor Rotary Art Show. I was very pleased that these little ‘mono-triptych’s ( perhaps I have invented a new term??) were appreciated by someone and snapped up at the opening.

‘Get Down Man” mono-triptych, watercolour, 500 X 180 mm framed. SOLD

‘That’s mine’ : Mono-Triptych, watercolour, 420 X 200 mm framed SOLD

Better still , for the second time in three years I won the ‘Viewers Choice’ Award at the City of Marion Art exhibition from 150 other entrants. The piece was “Tree Life, Belair” 1.2 metres tall and 500mm wide, and one of my ‘hidden creature’ style of paintings. These do seem to be popular with viewers. However it didn’t sell. I did ask more than I usually do on advice from other artists so may have priced myself out of a sale.  Now it  has been ear marked for the Goolwa Rotary Show coming up mid March.

I am currently working on another ‘hidden creature’ painting to go with  ‘Tree Life, Belair’. This one is of the local Goolwa environment and features water birds.

The Marion Art Group has reconvened and is already shaping up for an interesting year. I have been busy producing eleven small paintings for our first exhibition of the year at Colonnades Shopping Centre starting on Monday March 7. I sold quite well at the Colonnades exhibition last year so hope for a repeat this year.

Happy reading and viewing to my supporters  who regularly log into this blog.

The Marion Art Group (MAG) has had another great year with three successful major exhibitions at local shopping centres. We have made  a significant donation to Parkinsons SA  from our Raffled art work  at each exhibition. I was thrilled to be asked to donate one of the paintings  for this cause.

The final exhibition in October at Marion Westfield Shopping Centre was  again very well received by the public. Sales were not prolific, but we were very happy with the quality and diversity of the pieces exhibited.  Personally I didn’t sell any pieces this time, but many other members did sell, in some cases for the first time. (always a bonus!!)

The big news is the group has ended the year with the birth of its very own web site. We have spent some time in the latter part of the year developing this site and we are pleased with the finished product. Have a look  and leave a comment on the contact page if you can.

www.marionartgroup.org

A very Happy Christmas and wonderful new year to my readers, viewers and supporters.

I’m looking forward to the new year and the creative opportunities it always brings.

……..and finally a word from the artist after a long break from updating this site. Contributing to exhibitions, caravan tours in search of warmer weather and commitments on our return have impeded my ability enter a post.

I am very flattered to have observed a constant flow of emails indicating a lot of traffic on this web-site/blog of late …and so it is important for me to let readers/viewers know how I have been progressing.

Back in May, the Marion Art Group’s exhibition at the Colonnades Shopping Centre was a great success, and I was thrilled to sell the five pieces below.

Milang Station, SA
Acrylic on canvas: 400 X 300 mm. SOLD

Rose Eden House, Goolwa
Watercolour: 40 X 50 mm framed. SOLD

Life at Mambray Creek, SA
Watercolour: 500 X 400 mm framed. SOLD

New Life at Mambray Creek, SA
Watercolour, 400 X 500 framed. SOLD

‘Abandoned Shed reclaimed’
acrylic on canvas, 750 x 450 mm. SOLD

At the same time the Lions Club of Glenside exhibition at the Burnside Hall was taking place and sold 2 out of 3 entries below.

Red Ruin, Strathalbyn Road
Acrylic on canvas: 600 X 600 mm. SOLD

Red Gums , Strathalbyn Road
Acrylic on canvas: 600 X 600 mm, SOLD

What a great result for me!!!……….

So  Sharon and I set out for  Alice Springs, at  the beginning of June, in high spirits and enjoyed the magnificent terrain in the red centre. The second half of this holiday was to  Hervey Bay,  lower Queensland , where of course our divergent Australian landscape was different again. I managed to complete a total of four small pieces whilst away and sold one on location at Hastings Point, NSW to the caravanner parked next door to us.

Sunset at Hastings Point, NSW
Acrylic on canvas: 400 X 300 mm. SOLD

Now I am trying to prepare for MAG’s  Marion Shopping Centre Exhibition in October. With some home renovations happening at the moment it is hard to find quality time to devote to art , but hopefully I will come up with some new paintings for at least  part of  my contribution to this exhibition.