Sunny Sydney

Sitting here at the Barometer Gallery enjoying the beautiful Sydney weather and talking about my exhibition to the locals on their way to and from Five Ways. If you are out and about drop in and say hi or call in for a cold drink or a cuppa.

Installation view of 'Molonglo: Domestic Blueprint'

Just down the road at Sabbia are two beautiful exhibitions by Jenni Kemarre Martinello and Jess Loughlin.  Jess's is beautifully quiet and contemplative whilst Jenny's is full of pattern, form and colour.  I love the new shapes of the dilly bags in glass.

Natural Wonders at Barometer Gallery

Sorry for the lapse in blogging over the last few weeks, but I have been all over the place (literally!).  So many posts to write and not enough time.  One post that will be coming up soon will be an overview of my recent workshop 'Experiments in Printing with Mordants and Natural Dyeing" that I taught for Fibre Forum at Geelong.....stay tuned.....I then had to deliver work for the 'Artisans in the Gardens' exhibition at the Sydney Botanic Gardens, as well as complete my mini-residency at Playing Field Studios which I have posted below.
So.......I'm now in Sydney at Barometer Gallery with my exhibition 'Natural Wonders', which explores the hidden beauty and history of Canberra at the time of settlement through to today.  It opens tonight at 6pm and runs till 9 November.  For more information click here.

 

 

 

Natural Wonders at Barometer Gallery, Paddington

This morning in the gallery I gave an impromptu artist talk to students who were on a tour with Isobel from ArtLib, so it was great to talk about Canberra's history and the reason I chose the two sites I did for collecting plants for my naturally-dyed textiles and paper. In fact it was quite a pertinent conversation, given that the ACT Government wants to expand its transport infrastructure by installing light rail, and there is a lot of opposition in the media about it.  Looking at the early contour map of Canberra that I have embroidered into the tablecloth (above) I recounted to the students that in Canberra's early planning stages Walter Burley Griffin had envisaged a city of around 22,000 people and had drawn up plans for this expansion that included green corridors, parks and the city.  However, the Councillors at that time pooh-poohed this number of inhabitants....and made him redraw the plans to suit a city of only 16,000 or so....! They could not think far enough ahead into the future to see that Canberra would prosper and grow.  What on earth would they think now with a city with over 360,000 inhabitants and growing? Can Canberrans think further than next year or the year after to envisage a city -a vibrant capital city - of over half a million????  Get rid of the Canberra cringe folks and plan for the future.
Now I'm off my soapbox, here's another installation shot of the work in situ:

 

 

 

 

'Mapping' and 'No Man's Land', naturally dyed textiles

I will be minding the exhibition for the next couple of weeks, so if you are coming to Sydney to visit Sculpture by the Sea, Paddington is not too far away.  Do pop in and visit.  Check the gallery website for opening times, but feel free to contact me outside of gallery hours...I am more than happy to open up for you if I am nearby.
Cheers
Julie

Playing Field Residency Talk

Come and hear me talk about my mini-residency at Playing Field Studio this Sunday.  
I have been loving the vibe that is happening in this part of the city this week.  It is so quiet and peaceful in the studio and then you walk out the front door and people are milling around, gathering at the Food Co-op next door to shop, eat and listen to music at nights.  I have been eating lunch there everyday myself and feel totally energised! Plus they have some great cakes for afternoon tea.  The Childers St precinct is just around the corner, as are the wonderful coffee shops and restaurants.  The Drill Hall is diagonally across the road and yesterday I spent some time in there looking at two wonderful exhibitions including some amazing ceramics by Hellen Fuller.

Artist Event Community Arts Residency  You're Invited... Interested to see what our residency artists have achieved during their time in the studio? Please come along to a FREE showing of their work. Sunday 12th October 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm Playing Field Studio 2 Kingsley Street, Canberra Julie Ryder (Visual Artist) will discuss how the her work benefited from the residency. Please come along and enjoy this free networking event. Tea & coffee will be provided.

Playing Field Residency

I started my Playing Field residency this week, and have been having fun walking around the Kingsley Street precinct taking photos and becoming inspired by the urban architecture.  I aim to produce a series of block prints on paper every day, paying attention to architectural details and interesting patterns found around this downtown studio. I will be giving an artist talk this coming Sunday - for more details click here.

Top: Block prints on paper with inspirations below