Art & Adventure for 2024!
Summer has been in full swing with working on the farm, regrettably leaving little time for art, with my focus on the grape harvest. This year’s vintage hasn’t been the best with crops down and birds up! The early ripening of fruit due to the weather has made for a busy little valley for the last few weeks.
Vintage 2024 and growing merlot grapes
With the vintage now over, its back to work. Reflecting on the end of last year, I’m grateful for the amazing exhibition, ‘Hawkesbury’, that I had at Art2Muse. Thank you to everyone who came to the opening and all the special people who bought work. I’m thrilled to announce that my work can now be found at Art2Muse Gallery Sydney. Director, Katrina Holden has kindly taken my work on, and I can proudly say I am a stable artist. Yay!
The outlook for 2024 is promising to be a wonderfully creative and fun year. I have a few projects in the pipeline, starting with a special studio event scheduled for late March or early April, featuring a release of older paper works . Once confirmed, details about this release will be shared first with those on my mailing list before being announced on social media.
In 2023, I had the fortune of being chosen to document the closure of the Liddell Power Station in Muswellbrook. Come June, a collaborative exhibition hosted by the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre and Singleton Arts and Culture Centre will highlight the efforts of myself and fellow artists who took part in the Liddell Creative Residency. I’ve created six very large charcoal on paper pieces which feature machinery parts and equipment of the station. The body of work is called ‘Mother’ which is the affectionate term the loyal staff called the station. Through this body of work, my aim is to shed an intimate light on a topic often fraught with controversy: climate change.
Later in June, I'll embark on a journey to my beloved La Macina di San Cresci in Italy to participate in an artist residency. It will mark my third time in the residency, a privilege I deeply appreciate. This place feels like a second home to me, and I’m very excited to return. Reflecting on my past visits, I discovered the below piece of writing after my first experience. As you can imagine my heart belongs there and my soul can’t wait to return.
“Artists are interesting creatures. We can be obsessive, dedicated, spirited and single minded in our pursuit for that perfect realisation of our art. We tend to be outsiders and are often that square peg in the round hole, so when you find an oasis like San Cresci you hold on tight -- for it’s that sense of belonging which welcomes you.”
Rath, 2014 Residency Artist Book
2014 artist residency at La Macina Di San Cresci
In the latter part of the year, I’ll focus on preparing for a solo show at the wonderful Grainger Gallery, Canberra, featuring lush and soulful pieces inspired by the atmospheric plains surrounding our nation’s capital.
So, it’s full steam ahead with new exhibitions and projects, in addition my work remains on display at Moree Gallery, Grainger Gallery, Art2Muse, and Watershed Gallery.
Thank you for sharing this journey with me, I wouldn’t be here without you.
Sending love and best wishes for an adventurous year ahead.
Yours in art,
Bec x