My First Solo Exhibition

I've been entering exhibitions for probably 12 years now.  Early involvement was with the local Hobby Artists Group and then the Australian Society of Miniature Art (Tasmania).  Participating in a group exhibition has lots of benefits, particularly mutual encouragement, sharing sitting requirements and carrying only a fraction of the cost of running the event.  The commitment included is not very great.  Only a couple of pieces need to be produced and the arrangements required are shared.

One of the first pieces I sold was a miniature of an orange-bellied parrot, photographed by Dr Nick Stacey:

I had only been involved in the local miniature art society for twelve months, when I was asked to serve on the Committee, after which I was very active in running the group's annual exhibitions and served variously as Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, Public Officer, Secretary and Vice President (not quite all of these at the same time!).

In 2021, I arranged a group art exhibition, A Tasmanian Blend, held with three other artists (Barbara Etter APM, Karen Stack and Kimberly Clack), at the Channel Museum in Margate.  At that time, I was painting mainly miniatures and didn't think I had enough pieces to fill the space the museum provided for exhibitions.  It would have taken quite a few at that size!  The others were great to work with.  Unfortunately, the last COVID restrictions meant that there weren't many people going through the Museum, but I did sell.  The subject was our dog, Henry, and I painted him in pastel.

Later, fellow-artist, Fiona Verdouw and I held an exhibition of our plein air church paintings produced over two years.  We titled it, Painting the Past, and it was held in the Cloisters of St David's Cathedral in Hobart.  

With material that Fiona and I had prepared, an article was shared on an international website, OutdoorPainter.com: here.

In recent times, I've sent artwork to exhibitions all over eastern Australia as well as selling overseas.  I think Australia Post has done quite well out of me.  

I heard about twelve months ago that a café in Wynyard (north-west Tasmania) offered wall space to artists for a month at a time.  Cafés are not necessarily the best place to hang work since people don't go there primarily to look at artwork.  However, I thought I would give it a go.  My husband was born in Wynyard and we've spent a lot of time there visiting family, so I had done some plein air painting locally and had lots of lovely reference photographs.  We had also had a meal at The Vault and really liked it.  It's a converted bank.  The bathroom used to be the safe and has been kept looking like it originally did, with the addition of pennies resined into the floor! 

I applied and was given the month of September this year.  This year, life has been crazy with one son being married on the mainland in May and two daughters engaged and getting married in the next few months.  We've also helped my dad clean up and sell his property, and move.  Around that, I managed to produce enough artwork to fill the space provided.  Most of my paintings were done on panels and my husband learned to produce floating frames for all the various sizes.  

And we hung it!  People in the café at the time were very excited, recognising spots that are significant to them.  The staff were lovely and, overall, I think it looks really good.  

Afterwards, we enjoyed a tea/coffee and a snack with Brian's brother and sister-in-law!  If you are local or travelling that way, go in and have a look.  Let me know if you've seen it.