Meet Lilybeth Mayhew

Meet new IAVA member Lilybeth (Betty)Mayhew. We asked Betty a few questions about her art practice.

What was your earliest memory of an interaction with Art?

When I was about 4 years old in 1946 I remember drawing elaborate fairy houses and sharpening my pencil by rubbing it underneath the dining room table. When we were moving the table later we found all of my pencil scribbles underneath. These fairy dwellings  were very elaborate with rooms and furniture. By the time I went to High School I discovered art books in the school library which was a formal introduction to the work of the great artists.

 How would you describe your art practice? (Media; influences, approach?)

I have always looked for patterns in the world around me. In 1979 an acrylic of rooftops won the Wollongong Show prize. Water colour was my chosen media for many years, later developing into intricate collages of the Illawarra. I am currently using acrylic on canvas to try to extend my approach. I have kept extensive travel sketchbooks, in concertina form, encouraged by Wendy Sharpe on a painting trip to Luang Probang. When I return from a travel experience I use these to recreate art works of the place. Cesky Krumlov has yielded great results in collage, as has Kyoto and Dubrovnik. My large water colour and collage of Jerusalem sold at the Royal Easter Show in 2017. Place and pattern are my inspirations.

 Do you have a favourite artist and/or artwork?  What is it that makes them  your favourite?

Colour-wise, my work  is most like Chagall but I have been inspired by Australian artist Bernard Ollis with his unique perspective on landscape, using distortion of line to give a new perspective on a place. His city-scapes and  still- lifes  use colour and pattern in a distinctive manner. A North coast painter named Charlie Wrencher is also an inspiration with his treatment of the landscape. My all time inspiration, though you cannot see it very much  in my work, is William Robinson and his use of a fish eye lens distorting the landscape. He enables the viewer to look through the centre of the landscape at the sky, as if one were lying on the ground in the centre with the natural features framing a patch of sky. Some of my work(now sold)  has explored this perspective of the sky surrounded by the elements of landscape.

 Most recent adventure or achievement?

In January I was the winner of the Kiama Art Prize with a collage influenced by William Robinson,  which was a great validation of my work.

 Any current goals you’re working towards?

I have three entries for Postcodes, and three for the Royal Easter Show on which I am working. I am open to any exhibitions which are on the horizon. I have entered the Mandorla Religious art award in Western Australia, in the past, and plan to try again in 2024. My current goal is to represent aspects of the Illawarra through landscape and pattern. A large paint and  collage of Newcastle is planned this year, necessitating a trip to the area to sketch.

Visit Lilybeth’s Artist profile.

Jamie Cole in his studio.

Meet Jamie Cole

Meet new IAVA member Jamie Cole. We asked Jamie a few questions about his art practice.

What was your earliest memory of an interaction with Art?

My first memory of art was a print outside my mum’s bedroom of Picasso’s Blue Nude. The painting features a female figure with her back to the viewer and I remember wondering if it was my mum. I was struck by the emotion in the work, the sensitivity and loneliness of the figure. 

My first interaction with creating art was in 1975 when I got 1st prize in the Ramsgate Primary School 2nd Grade Art Prize. I had forgotten about this award until my mother found it and presented it to me on my 50th birthday. It was another 43 years before I entered another art prize. This time it was a Special Award – Figurative in the 40th Annual Kiama Art Society Exhibition. This was a tongue in cheek self portrait titled “@21+ 30” which celebrated the 30th Anniversary of my 21st birthday.

 How would you describe your art practice?

I’m a Pop artist with a strong social comment. My influences are Pop and urban art and I create quirky and colourful acrylic & mixed media pieces. My work is easily recognizable and always contains my signature collage. My influences are the Pop artists from the 1950’s and 60’s, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg and the 1980’s, Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat. My Australian influences are Brett Whitely and Martin Sharp.

 Do you have a favourite artist/s or artwork? 

My favourite artist is Keith Haring. Haring was the first artist to go from the streets to the gallery. His work could be seen all over the subways and streets of NYC. What makes Haring so special is that he was an activist and an artist, using his unique style of Pop art to bring awareness of HIV/AIDS and education of Safe Sex throughout the 80’s until his death in 1990.

 Most recent adventure or achievement?

I have been fortunate enough to have had two solo exhibitions as part of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Festivals in 2019 and 2020. The exhibitions were Mardi Gras Premiere Events and held at Artsite Gallery in Camperdown, Sydney. Both exhibitions contained a strong social message about the Queer Community with the most recent dealing with the stigma that still exists towards HIV.

 Any current goals you’re working towards?

My current goal is to keep happy, healthy and to keep creating. 

I love supporting and working with artists in our community and giving them a platform to exhibit through the Art Bar Kiama. My work is evolving and has now includes 3 dimensional pieces. I want to continue to build on this and push boundaries. I would love everyone to see the world through my eyes and hopefully by doing so, create a little happiness.

Visit Jamie’s Artist profile.

Jamie Cole in his studio.

IAVA Artists Talk at Wollongong Art Gallery

Tony Hull and Kim Shannon - Saturday 14 November at 2.00pm

Illawarra Association for the Visual Arts (IAVA) presents Artists in Conversation:

Tony Hull and Kim Shannon - Saturday 14 November at 2.00pm

Tony Hull has had eight solo exhibitions, won numerous awards and prizes and his work is held in many private and corporate/ public collections. He has been an artist and teacher for nearly 40 years and received a Doctorate of Creative Arts from UOW in 1997. The major part of his practice is painting with watercolours and oils and his subject matter includes portraiture, studies of the human form, still life, and landscape which are often completed en plein air.

Kim Shannon lives and works in the Southern Highlands. She has exhibited widely in Australia and overseas, had 16 solo exhibitions and won several awards. Kim taught at TAFE and currently teaches at the Bowral and District Art Society and takes workshops in regional NSW. Still-life is her preferred genre and she enjoys finding beauty and meaning in the everyday through the medium of oil paint which has the potential to create such tactile and visceral surfaces.

BOOKING ESSENTIAL. FREE, but only 40 seats available so get in quick.

UPDATE: This event is fully booked. Should you wish to go on a waiting list, please contact us.

Meet Lauri Smith

Meet IAVA member Lauri Smith. We asked Lauri a few questions about her art practice.

What was your earliest memory of an interaction with Art?

My earliest memory would be of making stuffed doll puppets out of my pillows at home in primary school (much to my mum’s dismay!) and my collection of rocks I would find around the neighbourhood and paint faces on them… 

 How would you describe your art practice?

I approach my work first through the initial sketch of my inspiration or concept, which usually come from my bizarre and vivid night dreams. My process to bring these images to life comes from my background in special effects and prosthetic making, where I create the sculpture from oil based clay and then I mold and cast them using life-like silicone rubber and finish them by airbrushing or hand painting and adding some hair punching if required. I sometimes also reproduce them in different stone materials too. 

 Do you have a favourite artist/s or artwork? 

I love surrealism and hyperrealism so I would say I’m most influenced by the movement of magic surrealism. 

I love the surrealist artist Leonora Carrington from the 1930s-70s, her paintings are so imaginative and really tap into another dream-like reality.  

Another influence for me was growing up with the Jim Henson movies such as The Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, the puppets and worlds that artist Brian Froud creates for these movies has always had a big influence on me. 

 Most recent adventure or achievement?

I had my first solo show at the Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne at the end of last year as well as I was recently awarded the Curator’s Choice at a group exhibit at The Project Contemporary Artspace in Wollongong.   

 Any current goals you’re working towards?

So many! Currently finishing a doll series I have been working on for an exhibition in Melbourne early next year as well as I have started collaborating with a close friend of mine who is a really creative writer and we have been working on a picture book together that we hope to launch next year :)

You can see examples of my work on my website or more process pics on my Instagram.

View Lauri’s IAVA profile.

Lauri in her studio

Lauri in her studio

Meet Julie McCurry

Meet IAVA member Julie McCurry. We asked Julie a few questions about her art practice.

What was your earliest memory of an interaction with Art?

There are actually a few interactions that I clearly remember. Earliest interaction would be when I was  6 years old. There was a poster of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the front of the classroom and I was fascinated by the use of thick impasto strokes of colour. Then when I was 7, I couldn’t understand why my peers would draw tables with the legs sticking out and not straight down, I clearly remember giving someone instructions about perspective.

 How would you describe your art practice?

I’m definitely a colourist. Even looking back at work that I created over 40 years ago there is definitely a distinctive link with colour. My style changes, but the colour...never. I’ve tried to pull back with colour with certain paintings, but somehow my hand goes straight to the primary colours. My  other passion is swimming, so in summer I head to a few locations always with my gouache disks, brushes and small diary to record the area where I snorkel and swim.

 Do you have a favourite artist/s or artwork? 

Currently my favourite artist is Australian painter Amanda Penrose-Hart represented by King Street Gallery in Sydney. Her depiction of moody, misty Australian landscapes using oil paint and palette knives, mainly of the area near Bathurst and Sofala where her studio,is located is in stark contrast to my use of colour and connection to coastal areas. And Rosemary Valedon for the methodical way she plans her still life paintings.

 Most recent adventure or achievement?

Most recent adventure would be my first trip out to Kings Canyon near Alice Springs(2019). Recent achievement, finalist in the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize (2020).

 Any current goals you’re working towards?

Maybe just try to concentrate on creating more paintings with oils and on a larger scale over 150cm. The only problem is when you need to transport your artworks...too costly. Currently my 100cm paintings fit perfectly fine in my car.

Visit Julie’s Artist profile.

Julie McCurry at Fishers Ghost Art Prize, 2019

Julie McCurry at Fishers Ghost Art Prize, 2019

Jennifer Jackson's 'Drawing a Day' Project

Moira Kirkwood has asked Jennifer Jackson to reflect on a challenge that she set herself a couple of years ago.

What prompted this project in the first place? 

 A couple of years ago, for Christmas, I gave my husband an A6 size book, blank, with the title A Sentence a Day for Christmas. Well he wrote for 2 days!

What a waste. The book had 365 pages with lines on the page and a suggestion for the sentence. I decided to ignore the lines and start drawing. I occasionally responded to the prompt but more frequently I sketched about the day or my life and family. The images are really little scratchings and were never meant to be shared. I used black pen as I always had one on hand. I did become particularly keen on some pens and their marks. Also, what you drew stayed on the page, you couldn't erase so you dealt with whatever marks you put down.

How did you feel about the project while you were doing it? Did you love it, or hate it, or perhaps both?

The project had differing levels of enjoyment. Some days you could draw forever other days it became tedious and some days there just wasn't time and you would have to catch up the next day. The further I got through the year however the more committed I became. There was a rush to the end and on reflection I fell that the drawings had improved. It Is a diary of thoughts, places, people and memories. I am enjoying reliving the year.

What part does drawing play in your ongoing art practice?  

Drawing is a way of thinking for me. The marks emerge on the paper and then, at times, transform into other states. I always loved the Dobell prize for drawing, a pity that it doesn't really exist anymore. Drawing is an essential practice for me and a means of seeing how my ideas have developed.

Do you have any particular favourite artists that you look to for inspiration? What is it about them that you like? 

I would have to say Brett Whitely and his ease of mark making, use of space and responses to the land. Equally Lloyd Rees amazes me with his observation and capture of depth in many ways. Rees also has remarkable mark making skills some very tight and realistic, others much looser and gestural. Margaret Woodward also creates drawings full of energy and expression. I think that I am drawn to artists with passion and a skill for using line.

Any current goals that you're working towards?

Currently and for a time now, I have been looking at the themes of history and time passing, linked to the land. I am trying to depict the landscape and the layers entwined within it. History, archaeology and relics of human existence are featuring in my search.

Meet Salwa Woodroffé

Meet IAVA member Salwa Woodroffé. We asked Salwa a few questions about her art practice.

What was your earliest memory of an interaction with Art?

I started drawing and painting at a very early age. I remember occasions when I was about 5 years old my parents admiring my paintings and showing it to visitors.

 How would you describe your art practice?

I love to paint but I do not like it to dominate my life.  I like to enjoy it as a hobby but not as a job.  My priority is enjoying life and the company of my family (98-year-old mum, husband, children and grandchildren).  I like travelling, music, gardening, reading, and keeping things around me tidy. 

Things that enthuse me to paint is my regular plein air painting trips that are usually followed by continuing the paintings or enlarging it in the studio. Also, I like experimenting with different approaches to painting or trying an idea that comes to mind or inspired by something I saw.

 Do you have a favourite artist/s or artwork?  What is it that makes it/them your favourite?

I love the painting style of so many different artists who vary in their approach to painting from an impressionistic to a naive or contemporary- modern work. My favourite works are the ones that demonstrate spontaneity,  professional application of paint and vibrancy of the colours.

 Most recent adventure or achievement?

Being awarded the winner overall in the Ardency Art Competition and being finalist in the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize.

 Any current goals you’re working towards?

  • Using different painting approaches to express my thoughts

  • Enlarging some plein air paintings

  • Paintings figures and portraits

To see more information and examples of her work: https://www.salwawoodroffe.com/

Visit Salwa’s Artist profile.

Salwa in her art studio.

Meet Joan Harvey

Meet IAVA member Joan Harvey. We asked Joan a few questions about her art practice.

What was your earliest memory of an interaction with Art?

My earliest memory of an interaction with art would be from primary school when kids would ask me to draw lighthouses, palm trees etc and I remember being surprised that they couldn’t do it themselves. I remember being impressed daily by a Van Gogh print which was hanging on the classroom wall one year. I clearly remember my first encounter with abstract art when the art teacher in 1 st form high school opened a book and showed us Paul Klee’s Sindbad the Sailor. Bells rang for me and I was hooked on from then on.

Do you have a favourite artist/s or artwork? 

I enjoy the works of international artists including Richard Diebenkorn, Howard Hodgkin and Patrick Heron. Locally, my favourites would probably be Elizabeth Cummings and Idris Murphy.

How would you describe your art practice?

My interests in art are all at the painterly end of the spectrum. I just start a painting with nothing definite in mind then make a series of revisions as I go along until I am satisfied with the result. I often have to obliterate before I can rebuild and this can be time consuming and disheartening but is the only way I can work.

 Most recent adventure or achievement?

I think I am getting a little better at solving problems in paint so I guess I could count this an achievement.

Any current goals you’re working towards?

My goal for the futures is to become more proficient in the use of colour.

For more infomation on joan Harvey’s art practice, please visit her Instagram page.

You can view Joan’s Artist profile here.

Joan in her art studio.

Joan in her art studio.

Meet Pilar Helmers

Meet IAVA member Pilar Helmers. We asked Pilar a few questions about her art practice.

What was your earliest memory of an interaction with Art?

I enjoyed collecting rocks, moss, shells, flowers, stones and feathers and setting them out and placing them together so they could be admired – (I still do this!).

 How would you describe your art practice? (Media; influences, approach?)

I am an oil painter on board and photographer, producing larger works. My approach is to create a series of artworks around a theme. I do not produce work in the same style and use many different styles and brush techniques. When painting I do not necessarily know what style I will use, until I start, and oftentimes to achieve what I want I need to experiment and master the style first, or as I progress. I have no idea why this occurs. Basically the rendering of the work must appeal to me aesthetically and simply look and feel ‘’right’. Between series I often return to a series of still life’s which I enjoy. Using photography I explore small details and textures, up close, creating worlds that in spite of being photographic realism and not recognizable and appear more abstract.  Main influences have been Romantic art, such as Turner, Post Impressionism particularly Cezanne and Rousseau and Abstract Impressionism such as Rothko. I admire the genre of still life painting and artists such as Morandi and Van Gogh. Australian artists such as Hossein Valamanesh, Clarice Beckett, Bronwyn Oliver and many Australian landscape artists are also an inspiration.

 Do you have a favourite artist/s or artwork?  What is it that makes it/them your favourite?

Turner – a genius. His rendering of light, use of colour, his skill to let go of structure late in his career to produce luminosity and the scale and inspiring content. Still life painting of Morandi creating such calm, delicacy and whimsy from inanimate objects; as if they almost had personality and something to say. Becket’s street scenes, producing atmospheric worlds. All of these features appeal to me.

 Most recent adventure or achievement?

Very happy with a recent still life of ancient roman tear catchers or lachrymatory bottles (pictured in her studio).  

 Any current goals you’re working towards?

Looking for a small group of other artists locally to share a studio space on weekends. Getting into regular practice on the weekends to put together series’ of work to approach overseas galleries. Entering art prizes and exhibiting with IAVA!!

I have a website which has more information and examples of work: https://pilarhelmers.com.au/

Visit Pilar’s art profile page.

Pilar in her studio.

Pilar in her studio.

Meet Keith Rutherford

Meet IAVA member Keith Rutherford. We asked Keith a few questions about his art practice.

What was your earliest memory of an interaction with Art?

One of my earliest interactions with art goes way way back. I guess I would have been seven or eight in a school classroom, don’t even remember the teacher, and we were doing a painting of cracker night. My painting showed my father kneeling over to light the bonfire. I remember clearly stuffing up Dad’s feet. Instead of them being neatly tucked under Dad’s legs they were pointing skywards.
Despite this my teacher obviously thought it was still good enough to single out and display to the rest of the students. I already knew, like all kids, I loved to paint and draw but this experience was like a revelation to me in that it set me apart from others. It gave me a sense of valued status.

How would you describe your art practice? (Media; influences, approach?)
I am an abstract Expressionist painting and drawing, for the most part, the landscape. My Art is open format and a balance of line, mass and tone in a painterly and spontaneous way.

I use oil paint and, although the landscape keys my art, there is no horizon or vanishing points and therefore no perspective in my work. The latest series is an aerial view of a very small part of the beach across from where I live.

Spontaneity and freshness influences my art direction. My mark making becomes the subject of the painting.

Do you have a favourite artist/s or artwork?  What is it that makes it/them your favourite?

It’s difficult for me to single out one art work. The Art I am most drawn to shows an overall image that displays briefness and spontaneity. Such works that allow the paint to be the hero. I am also drawn to art that is experimental in nature.

Most recent adventure or achievement?
Recently with my current series I have been using recycled materials. In this body of work I use oils on canvas, recycled shower curtain, ribbed cotton or plastic wicker. In some of the work I use sand with the oil paint. So far so good. I am pleased with the results and this new adventure and experimental venture.

 Any current goals you’re working towards?

I am looking forward to the end of, or solution for Covid 19 so we can get out of our garrets and work with other like-minded artists and discover new art.

Visit Keith’s art profile.

Keith with his art.

Keith with his art.

Meet Ian Brown

Meet IAVA member Ian Brown. We asked Ian a few questions about his art practice.

What was your earliest memory of an interaction with Art?

I can remember painting a foam surfboard at a really early age in primary school and being so proud of it... stylised hibiscus with a glowing sunset (aargh)... obviously, I was searching for a large canvas even back then.

How would you describe your art practice? (Media; influences, approach?)

I've always thought of myself as an artist in search of a style but lately people say that a new work is different from my usual work... So I must have a style? I love anything abstract and enjoy pushing, splashing, dripping and scraping paint. I particularly enjoy working on large canvases. I constantly attend schools at venues like the National Art School trying to pick up new techniques. A couple of years back I attended workshops with Wendy Sharpe and Euan Macleod which I found so creative and inspiring. A recent week long workshop in Byron with Judith White pushed me out of my comfort zone and into hand printed collage. Her workshop has definitely influenced many of my latest works. 

Do you have a favourite artist/s or artwork?  What is it that makes it/them your favourite?

My favourite contemporary artist living in Sydney is Marisa Purcell. She is an excellent teacher helping me to become bold and uninhibited in my mark making. Stand in front of her work and you can melt into it... Her exhibitions are immersive. There is something quite spiritual about her canvases. 

Most recent adventure or achievement?

I actively work promoting art education for young children. My most recent adventure this year (pre COVID) was working with a foundation for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in Abu Dhabi. One of those wow moments was visiting the new Louvre in Abu Dhabi. It is spectacular and difficult to describe. Put it on your bucket list if it is not there already. 

 Any current goals you’re working towards?

I am enjoying working with my new (and old) friends in IAVA and I am thrilled to have some IAVA exhibitions in the future to work towards. I am currently finalising a 'real' website to promote my art (watch this space). 

Visit Ian’s art profile.
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Ian Brown in his studio.

Ian Brown in his studio.

Affordable Art in time for Christmas

(L-R Julie Donnelly, Jennifer Jackson, Melissa Ritchie, Alannah Dreise, Arja Välimäki)

(L-R Julie Donnelly, Jennifer Jackson, Melissa Ritchie, Alannah Dreise, Arja Välimäki)

Everyone loves the buzz of a market. It’s the colour, movement and excitement… but most of all, it’s the bargains! The Illawarra Association for the Visual Arts (IAVA) is setting up  booths at Clifton School of Arts and will be presenting a fabulous array of beautiful things on Fri 6 – Sun 8 December.

 Says IAVA President Moira Kirkwood:  “We create and exhibit our artworks throughout the year, but there are always pieces that are left behind. We want them to find good homes and are prepared to make the price right!”

 There’s all sorts of works on show over the  three days, from Alannah Dreise’s collagraph prints of theatrical figures, to Gill Day’s bold and vigorous landscapes.

 Melissa Ritchie has just completed a solo show at Kiama. This in-demand artist is influenced by graphic art and vintage design, creating both portraits and contemporary pieces describing everyday life with a hyper-realistic style.

 Julie Donnelly is a multi-award winning abstract artist. “ I love playing with light in my paintings. I paint everything from the desert to the mountains and try to capture the varying illusions that light can create.”

  Arja Välimäki’s work is sold internationally. Her paintings are about the beauty of our oceans, and she recently sold many works at The Other Art Fair at Barangaroo, seen and enjoyed by thousands of Sydney-siders. She has still has one or two left for locals though, so get in quick!

 The artists would love to see you throughout the weekend and will be available to discuss their work.  Join the artists for Drinks at 2pm on Saturday.  All welcome.

 ART SALE

with the artists of IAVA – Illawarra Association for the Visual Arts

 Clifton School of Arts

Fri 6 / Sat 7 / Sun 8  December

10pm till 4pm

Join the Artists for Drinks on Saturday at 2pm

More information phone Mary on 0434 160 337