Yesterday I went to the Art Gallery NSW to see the Monet and the Impressionists exhibition.
It would have been Monet’s 168^th birthday yesterday if he was still alive.

“The method of Impressionist painting, where a picture is assembled in a riot of flecks of colour, reflects the kind of experience to which the eye of a big city dweller has become accustomed.”

The paintings were beautiful with an array of mostly pastel shades; I particularly liked the Water lilies and The Seine at Chatou.
There were so many flecks of colours that some of them reminded me of the magic eye images from the 1990’s. I felt if I stared long enough something 3d might pop out at me!

Claude Monet Water lilies 1905          Claude Monet The Seine at Chatou 1881
Museum of Fine Arts Boston                Museum of Fine Arts Boston

“We live on a thin crust over a bubbling mass of molten lava and the fuel of hell. What’s marvellous is that, in spite of everything, we’re alive. Do you understand? To make up for the suffering of the living, there’s the joy of life.”
Sidney Nolan 1967

This morning I went to the Queensland Art Gallery to view the Sidney Nolan exhibition. The exhibition is the first major Nolan retrospective since the artist’s death in London in 1992.

Sidney Nolan was born in 1917 and grey up in St Kilda, Melbourne. By the time he left Australia in 1953 at the age of 36 to permanently life in England he was already celebrated as this country’s most exciting contemporary painter.

He was very well known for his Ned Kelly series with ‘the black shape of Ned Kelly cutting violently into the landscapes of great delicacy’.

In July 1947 Nolan left Melbourne for Queensland. He was intrigued by a lady Eliza Fraser who was shipwrecked on Fraser Island in 1936 after whom it was renamed. Nolan spent time on the island which resulted in an exhibition of Fraser Island paintings at the Moreton Galleries in Brisbane in February 1948.

In 1957 after migrating to Britain Nolan began a Mrs Fraser series (almost 20 years after he first explored it) suggesting that the episode had a strong impact on his work and was instrumental in his development as an artist.

Convict and Mrs Fraser,1957 Print & Canvas.
During this period Nolan experimented with the effects of layering. He worked in a dark key, using wiped back paint to allow white grounds to gleam through. Towards the later stages of his career the artist made large scale spray painted abstractions.

[Information via QAG.]

Today I caught up with my lovely Aunty Cheryl to view the Picasso exhibition in Brisbane and for lunch. This is the first time the exhibition has been held outside of Europe. We arrived at 10am when the gallery opened and were surprised at how quickly the exhibition filled up and was extremely busy the whole time we were there.

‘I am interested in expressing the metamorphoses of forms into new bodies, from the furtherest origins of the world up until my time.’
Picasso

I really liked Picasso’s ‘Paysage de Juan-les-Pins’ (Landscape at Juan-les-Pins)1920. Oil on Canvas. ‘…this scene seems infused with an impression of happiness.’
I find the bright colours and abstract effect visually pleasing and even inline with today’s current design trends.

The exhibition features over 100 works from Picasso’s extraordinary collection plus more than 80 important works by the artist himself. A range of documentary photographs also feature.

‘Picasso & his collection’ includes paintings, drawings and prints by artists such as Chardin, Matisse, Renoir, Cézanne, Rousseau, Miró, Modigliani and Braque, as well as an extraordinary selection of Oceanic and African works. …… Picasso’s collection was donated by his family to the French state after his death in 1973, and is now held by the musée national Picasso in Paris. An exhibition of Picasso’s collection has only ever previously been mounted in Paris, Munich and Barcelona.

Queensland Gallery of Modern Art

Today started off with a trip on the mono rail to check out Paddy’s Market’s then a walk and lunch in the Chinese Garden of Friendship which is located in the heart of the city in Sydney.

The Gardens are so tranquil and relaxing, I enjoy a visit to them every time I come to Sydney with their beautiful sheltered pavillions, graceful bridges and enchanting landscapes. This trip I decided to get right in mood and was dressed up as a very sexy geisha!!! (pictured here practising my geisha lips) I even had a Japanese tourist take my photo thinking I was employed by the Chinese Gardens! How funny!

There was also a beautiful family of ducklings as I fed the carp some bread. They were not afraid to swim above the carp that were quite considerably larger!

Wish I had my fishing line!

After lunch it was off to check out the Powerhouse Museum and the Zero Gravity Space Lab. This is a fun interactive that created the illusion of being in a weightless environment, where I found out what it is like to live and work in space. You stood in a chamber while the outside moved creating a feeling of weightlessness (I got abit dizzy!).

I also found this beautiful image of Princess Diana at the museum.

Tonight it’s off for some Salsa dancing at Vivas on the Rocks! 
Oh My Gosh, I had the time of my life. 
We met up with some friends from a Sydney dance club called Salsa Live and the fun begun.

I’ve never been swung around like a rag doll by so many hot men in my entire life! What a treat to actually dance with professionally trained dancers, with excellent technique and for once I wasn’t trying to lead!

The live band had your hips swinging and the whole atmosphere was absolutely electric and extremely saucy!

It was nice to be in a licenced venue where the people were not rude and drunk but fun, friendly, could hold a conversation and move on the dance floor!

I didn’t know I was so flexible!

Yesterday I flew into Sydney with a girlfriend for a working holiday.

Upon checking in to our 2 bedroom apartment we were advised we were on level P?
As there was no explanation as to what P meant on the lift buttons we decided to confer with others in the lift and came up with, pretty foxy level, princess’s level, but on a trip in a different lift it clearly stated Penthouse. I like this booking through wotif, I never know what sort of surprise accommodation I’ll be staying in! Very prestigious!

This morning we were up early to do a Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. The systems in place with the climb were meticulously thought out and made for a smooth climb and an extremely successful business due to this obviously in depth strategic planning. The view was sensational!!!! I was pleased to find out I’m not scared of heights.

I did find a few negatives on my experience:

1. I should have worn gloves as the air was cold and I know how cold my fingers get on my motorbike! But I was unassertive and didn’t ask for gloves though I felt the guides may have offered them as it was very cold and the hand rails were freezing.

2. The trip was way too long, 3hrs without a toilet break! OMG after two and a half hours, I spoke to the guide and my friend and I were unleashed from the group, shuffled into an emergency lift, escorted through walkways and chambers of a pylon to find a secret restroom. The strapping male tour guide was extremely professional and swift in undoing al our equipment and suits. We found this very amusing!

3. There was also alot of stopping for no reason and long delays without commentary which I found unnecessary. Without this the climb would have been at least half an hour shorter and maybe just doable without feeling like having an embarrassing accident.

4. I noticed our tour guide had a nice sun protective hat on. I wish I had this option! Even though I had applied suncream before the climb I still ended up with wind and sun burn to my face. I was surprised sun cream was not on the list of what to bring or supplied as we all know the high dangers of sun cancer in Australia.

I’m glad I did the climb but I would not do it again. I was alittle disappointed as I expected to feel some sort of exuberance / accomplishment and as if I’d faced a fear when at the top but all I felt was irritation with the delays and my face getting sunburnt!

After lunch we decided to check out the Museum of Contemporary Art and view Sydney’s international festival of contemporary art the “2008 Biennale of Sydney” exhibition. This was very interesting though we were alittle worn out from the climb.

The high light of the exhibition was an exhibit by Helio Oiticica who was born in 1937 in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil.  The room was full of coloured hammocks with pictures of Jimmy Hendrix projected on all the walls plus his music playing quite loudly. We relaxed in the hammocks for a few minutes and decided to get out before we dozed off!

Oiticica believed in liberating the viewer and saw his installations of sound, mattresses, live animals, rubber and sand as spaces of emancipation.

This evening we attended the Phantom at of the Opera at the Lyric Theatre at Star City Casino.
This was the high light of the day!!!
Ana Marina played Christine and Roy Weissensteiner was the Phantom. Their voices and performances were amazing, the orchestra was dramatic, the costumes were elaborate, the props beautiful and quite creative. The whole combination was magnificent and absolutely spectacular!! 

Now this experience I would definitely recommend!

Self Portrait - (acrylic on canvas)  1996         Self Portrait (Computer art) 2008

House Paint on Canvas   2007                                       Dad (Pencil)

Stained Glass Windows given to my parents 1996

James Dean (Pastel)    1996                 Jimmy Hendrix (Watercolour)  1996

Prince (Pastel)   1996           Elvis (Photography)  1996             Elvis (Pencil) 1992

Elvis (Acrylic)   1996             Rainforest (Gouache)  1996

    Butterflies (Gouache)  2002   Self Portrait (Pencil) 1992

The above butterflies and this underwater painting were gifts for my parents. (Gouache) 2002

The pathway from the artroom at Hervey Bay Senior College.  (Pencil)  1996

My parents on their wedding day (Pencil)

 Toni’s Present (House Paint on Canvas)  2006               Pencil 1989

House Paint on Canvas 2005

Dean Vegas (Computer Art) 2008

Last night I was fortunate to be able to attend the Official Opening of the Andy Warhol Exhibition in Brisbane. I ran into Chris Foley our State MP for Maryborough who is also in my Master of Professional Studies class. There was free food and drinks, plus books and merchandise to purchase and I must say what seemed to be at least 1,000 people dressed in their finest. I had a fantastic time studying all the pieces, films and activities even producing a Pop art portrait of myself!

People are always calling me a mirror and if a mirror looks into a mirror, what is there to see.

Andy Warhol

I was totally in my element, my mind won’t stop racing with ideas after viewing this exhibition! Thank you to the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) you have taken my artistic thinking to a new level…..my clients will love you!

Today I attended a special previewing of the Andy Warhol Exhibition at the Brisbane Modern Art Gallery. The exhibition is not actually open to the public till Saturday the 8th of December 2007. The curator led our group of 9 through the exhibition explaining the time frames and thoughts / events behind his artworks.

….Exclusive to Brisbane, Australia’s first major Andy Warhol retrospective brings together more than 300 works spanning all areas of his practice from the 1950s until his death in 1987 - paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, photographs, films, videos and installations.
One of the most influential and important artists of the late twentieth century and the figurehead of Pop art, Andy Warhol created some of the most recognisable images of modern culture. The exhibition includes his important Death in America works; iconic images of Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Onassis, Mao Zedong and Elvis Presley; and his Campbells soup cans….

At the beginning of this year I had written about Andy Warhol in my Master of Professional Studies university portfolio assignment and to actually have the opportunity to view one of my favourite artists work and style (Pop art) is absolutely amazing.
This man had an extremely complex mind verging on either profound insanity or sheer genius in my opinion. Some of his artworks are so ususal, especially the Oxidation Painting (1975) he personally urinated on to see the reaction the acrylic paint would have on linen (I could not figure out the logic behind that one)!!!

Click here to see me on the New York Art News website…
(The Eyes And Ears Of The New York Art Scene)!