Familiar Unfamilar is a touring exhibition of prints by 45 Australian artists, celebrating the 45th anniversary of the Print Council of Australia and Curated by Rona Green. Darren’s work “Train Wreck” is included in this folio of prints, which also features other prominent Northern Rivers Printmakers.

The show will be at Tweed Regional Gallery from 1 June – 12 August and the official opening is on Friday the 29th June – artist and Exhibition Curator, Rona Green will present an Exhibition Preview at 5.00pm, followed by the official exhibition opening at 6.00pm (for 6.30pm).

You can check out the online catalogue of works, here.

Hope to see you there!

part if the ‘Beautiful Freaks’ series…

Back to the studio floor…

part if the ‘Beautiful Freaks’ series…

Back to the studio floor…

Go online at http://eightcollective.com/ and browse the artworks behind the QR Codes, or use your smart phone to read them from the screen.

The access points to these artworks have been created through both ‘analog’ and digital technologies, in the form of exquisitely printed and embossed codes that serve as digital portals to online artworks questioning the notion of portraiture.

Eight artists developed a suite of three works to be viewed online in some form. A interactive image, film, animation, a digital work, the image of a real object, a portrait and a fragment of text relating to identity. Who is who, which work goes with which portrait with which piece of text?

By engaging and interacting with these works through the ‘portals’ of twenty six exquisitely printed and embossed QR codes and the associated work, do we find that distinct idenities begin to reveal themselves to the viewer?

The project has been designed to engage a techno-savvy audience into visiting art galleries, it can travel and is ongoing, allowing for the possibility of more participants, more codes and more exhibition opportunities . If you are interested in hosting the QR project exhibition, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Please leave us your feedback on the project, and while you’re there, subscribe to our mailing list to **WIN** 1 of 3 limited edition, letterpress embossed, QR code screenprints! Winners will be contacted by email at the end of the physical exhibition at the Lismore Regional Gallery.

This is the animation work I made for the project, using some of the silhouettes which are a part of some new screen prints I am making. Called, “Wolf Girl (Metamorphosis)” and featuring the track “NEWYORK+L’OGRE_liveEcurie”  by  NEW YORK.

Arts Northern Rivers have a great looking new website, and amongst it all a new creative networking portal for all the wonderful local creativity…If you haven’t had a look yet you really should.

Arts Northern Rivers Inc is the peak body for the arts and creative industries in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, Australia.

I recently signed up and set up an online profile on the Hive and was really pleased  when the lovely folk there asked if I would like to be featured in this months In Focus feature. To read the interview and find out about the things that are going on here at Ms Browns Lounge, click here.

Here’s the interview reproduced here…

You’re a fairly recent graduate of Southern Cross University’s Visual Arts Program, what goals did you set yourself for your first five to ten years in practice?

I began my career years ago at Enmore Design Centre and had been working in Sydney as a Graphic Designer.In 2003 I moved to the Northern Rivers to study at SCU and I completed my undergraduate studies in 2006, majoring in printmaking, and spent some time working towards setting up my design studio ‘Ms Browns Lounge’ through the NEIS program.In 2009 I graduated with first class honours with the goal of finding a physical space to set up my design and print studio and work full time establishing myself as a contemporary artist and freelance designer.At the time it was (and still is) my goal to develop my own arts practice alongside Ms Browns Lounge with the long term vision of setting up a print studio with a focus on design, letterpress, book binding and traditional print processes.

Your plans were helped along when you were awarded a $10,000 ArtStart Grant, through the Australia Council’s Emerging Artist program. What objectives did you include in your grant proposal, and how did you set about realising your vision?

Yes, I was really fortunate to receive my grant when I did, and in 2010, I was able to put the essential part of my plan into action!My proposal was focused on the necessity of having a studio in order to further my practice and support myself as an artist. I also spoke about the potential for a studio space to assist in supporting my arts practice through creative industries endeavours such as my design services, workshops, and collaboration/project opportunities.Once I had been successful with the grant and began looking for a space, I came across the purpose built, Lismore Art Space (LAS). Renovated and set up by local photographer, Ted Harvey, LAS is a large art space with five separate studios, garden and communal areas in which to work. With such a great space available it wasn’t hard to find other artists to fill the other studios and my plans changed quickly from finding and working in a studio on my own to managing Lismore Art Space!

Lismore Art Space is currently home to your graphic design and print studio, Ms Browns Lounge, and also provides a workspace for three other local artists. What else happens there?

LAS plays host to a variety of art and community related goings-on, including workshops, put on by myself as well other residents of the studio, and we also have groups and teachers hire the space for their own arts workshops.We have had some fantastic events in the space, notably the Masters Performance event by artist Kellie O’Dempsey and the Splendid Arts Dinner last year.Currently there are a few artists in residence; Darren Bryant, Lisa Wise, Mel Robin, Fiona Fell and we also have a photography business working out of the space: Big Scrub Media.In partnership with printmaker Darren Bryant, LAS will soon be home to Ms Browns Press as we continue to set up and expand our print studio and presses into an open studio to offer print facilities as well as master printing services, book binding, letterpress and more.

You are also part of a new artist collective called 8, with membership including Lismore Art Space residents and other local artists from the Lismore area. What is the idea behind the collective, and how do other interested artists get involved?

The idea came about simply through some conversations with other artists who shared the desire to work collaboratively on conceptual projects. The eight artist collective is a collaborative group formed out of the simple mutual desire to work together on projects that we are unable to realise as individuals.Current artists working within the group are Julie Barratt, Darren Bryant, Raimond De Weerdt, Karla Dickens, Joanna Kambourian, Brendan McCumstie, Michael Moynihan, Wendy Powitt, Scott Trevelyan and Lisa Wise.

The QR Project, currently on exhibition at Lismore Regional Gallery (until May 6), is the first collaborative project to be undertaken by 8 collective members. Showing in conjunction with the Northern Rivers Portrait Prize, the QR Project asks visitors to utilise Smart Phone technology to access a series of self-portraits and other conceptual works dealing with the idea of the portrait, using unique ‘QR’ barcodes. How was this idea developed, and how can the broader audience also view the show online?

This exhibition was borne out of the ideas and musings of eight member Brendan McCumstie who brought it into a number of discussions, and from this the QR Project grew. Eight artists from the group developed a suite of three works to be viewed online in some form. The works include interactive images, film, animation, a digital work, the image of a real object, a portrait and a fragment of text relating to identity.Visitors engage and interact with these works through twenty-six exquisitely printed and embossed QR codes.In this collaborative project we are proposing that it is only through our own engagement with one another that we can make sense of the information we are presented with, and addressing the idea that is a necessity of engagement to communicate and relate to more than just the visage of person.The project has been designed to entice a younger audience into visiting art galleries. It can travel and is ongoing, allowing for the possibility of more participants, more codes and more exhibition opportunities.If you can’t visit the gallery or don’t have a Smart Phone just visit http://eightcollective.com and you can view the works online by clicking on the codes.

In between all of these new initiatives, you also have your own art practice. What inspires your personal work, and when, where and how do you share it with the world?

Yes! As my father used to say,” What’s the point in being bored!”I do have my own art practice, and it is the central driving force behind it all. I enjoy connecting with like minded creative people, am an avid social networker, and really have a passion for my profession. I find that being active and engaged with what I love constantly affords me more opportunities to share in so many ways!My own work is at times very personal in nature and reflects my own research and interest in my particular cultural, social position and identity. Pattern, repetition and decoration feature heavily.I have a strong exhibition practice and have been involved in some significant survey shows, group shows, projects, folios and collections including the 2High emerging arts festival in Brisbane and recently Pastemodernism3 at Outpost in Sydney.My practice encompasses both traditional and digital printmaking and also installation and new media. I am just embarking on a new body of work which intends to push the boundaries of a traditional printmaking practice by working with commercial print processes and of course (naturally!) incorporating installation as well as design concepts and elements. Like me my work is often hybrid in nature and doesn’t follow all the rules…!

Sunday Sessions Screenprinting at the Lounge

Every Sunday in March at Lismore Art Space
(begins 4th March 2012) 
1pm – 4pm 
$35 (with valid student concession $25) 

Do you want to hang out and print in a laid back atmosphere, gain access to a skilled printing tutor and work on your own projects? Come spend Sunday screenprinting at the Lismore Art Space!

Sunday Sessions Screenprinting is a public access class giving people with some experience and interest in screen printing the opportunity to work on their own screen printing projects and develop better skills & techniques with a tutor on hand to provide guidance in the finer points of the serigraph!

The class is aimed at those with basic experience in screenprinting who want to improve their skills and work on printing projects in a group atmosphere, sharing techniques, ideas, skills, networking and inspiration! Bring your own screen with images on it (get in touch for more on how you might go about this, we currently don’t have exposing facilities but are working on this, in the meantime we can suggest some affordable options if you need assistance with this!) The Sessions will encompass and include specific learning outcomes that the participants are interested in, including printing on textiles, different inks, suppliers and more.

$35  (Student Concession $25) for 3 (or probably 4) hours of printing with Joanna Kambourian at the Lismore Art Space. Includes some acrylics supplied (limited colours), butchers paper, some printing medium to use, printing stations, textiles printing table, some squeegees, rags, as well as snacks, drinks, coffee & tea. Bring lunch! 

Click to Register Online
(Pay & Register up to a week in advance for the following Sunday, via secure paypal account or credit card transaction online or just email us for more info or to book offline.)

New edition of prints today in the Lounge, “The Headless Chook“. A productive week in the studio, actually working on prints and not on the computer! Ink JOY!

Oh! and in the Press today, DB began restoring a little Holbein he found in the bin….!! All it needs is a bed and its ready to go…

Happy Friday!

On scanning it to save to read later, I found this poem by Dylan Thomas, as a prologue to the text and a dedication to the writers’ Father.

Ironic as my first solo show was one whole year after I lost my Dad and the work was so relevant to our relationship, my Father also shared the authors Father’s birth and death dates of 1940 – 2008. What a strange googling experience, to come across an article which is so apparently relevant to me on so many levels! Weird.

Hence why this blog post – being part reminder to me to read this article (and you if you’re interested) and part because its such a beautiful piece of writing and it too is an appropriate a dedication to my own Dad. Enjoy.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

DYLAN THOMAS

Prints by Sascha Bravery

A quick post because I want to share these great images of Ms. Browns Lounge studio taken today by one Ms. Sascha Bravery…you should follow her tumblr blog for inspiration, there is always interesting visual content by her or by others she finds in her travels.

Sascha has come into the studio the last couple days, to get ready for a group show happening this weekend in Brisbane. Coming armed with some great drawings – and looking for advice on printing them for the show.

We found some lovely Magnani paper and she has produced some great works = these will be exhibited this FRIDAY at the …

First Level 2 Open Studio
6:00pm until 9:00pm
51 Mollison Street
Factory 1 Level 2
BRISBANE  

“The Mission of the Level 2 Open Studios is to increase the popular awareness and participation in the community of artists in residence in the Absoe Building’s Level 2. We promote the arts community through collective marketing and outreach efforts to provide the Level 2 artist and their guest artists to organise a regular group show, which is free and open to the public.”

Soooo….If you’re in Brisbane, get along to it and support this great community of artists and take home some awesome art!!

I have been working with two awesome lads who are behind Lazybox, to make this very first downloadable issue happen. They have been working tenaciously at collecting creativity from all over and putting together in this great initiative and after the success of Issue#1 (in the form of a simple blog) this is the next step for them.

The magazine is a vehicle for their own creativity and showcases creative talent from around the world. The online mag is the idea of brothers Oli and Dougal Shaw who intend to produce Lazybox 4 times a year.

For a mere 5 bucks, you can download the lazybox ISSUE #2 package, which includes, a .pdf magazine full of great creative content, a .jpg wallpaper to grace your desktop and an audio file to delight the ear bones….a great deal!

So show some support, spread the love and check out this offering by Dougs & Oli, and if you like it, you can tell a friend, submit your own work, design a cover and be a part of the LAZYBOX world.

This is a big success to get this project off the ground and they have worked hard to make it happen…so I echo the sentiment they posted on their blog;

…It may not be perfect. No, it is f*****g perfect. It’s tangible. It’s real. It’s no longer an imaginary box floating around in our minds.

The idea from the beginning was always about staying inspired, meeting inspirational people and sharing that feeling with someone else.

We really hope that feeling transmits.And if you dig, please share the love.After all, That’s what it’s all about, people….