Artist’s amazing work of heart
ARTIST Melanie Delaney creates from the heart. She also created a heart that won her first place in the Mixed Media section of the Ocean Shores Art Expo last year.
‘The Expo created a wonderful springboard for my art career,’ she said.
‘Before that, I guess it was regarded more as a hobby. That was my first sale. Now my skills pay bills.’ Her work, My Heart’s Amaze, is an anatomical and meticulous masterpiece made from tiny pieces of rolled-up coloured paper.
It forms an intricate maze, while depicting the chambers and ventricles of a real heart. Beneath the surface is a phrase from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
‘The work reflects my personal quest to find love,’ she said.
The artist describes her method as ‘fiddly’. ‘It’s a bit like building a mountain out of pebbles,’ she laughs.
Ms Delaney says she was born with her hands in art.
‘I have always had the urge to create. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t make something. I am very tactile, so my style suits me. It’s also very therapeutic.’
To this wife and mum, Ms Delaney’s art provides a space for self-expression. Her husband Cameron fully supports her work and she often juggles motherhood and creativity.
Dandling an energetic toddler on her knee while rolling paper and piecing together a masterpiece is all in a day’s work for the Ocean Shores mum. ‘It can be very painstaking and frustrating, rolling tiny pieces of paper,’ she said. ‘But it’s worth it. The texture and feel gives my work a sense of substance.’
And now that she has discovered her medium, she plans to stick to it.
The Expo gave her the chance to test the water with her unique style.
‘Winning, and selling a piece, validated my work and gave me the confidence to plan my future as an artist. Much as I love art in an aesthetic sense, it’s important to view it as a viable form of income,’ she said.
Ms Delaney is busy working on her next entry for the Expo.
The theme for this years Ocean Shores Art Expo is Wild Things and it runs over August 28–30 at the Ocean Shores Public School.
Cultural and physical landscapes at NRCG in Ballina
This month Northern Rivers Community Gallery hosts the Annual NAIDOC Group Exhibition coinciding with national NAIDOC week celebrations.
The exhibition features paintings, weavings, textile and digital media works by local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. The Annual NAIDOC Group Exhibition continues until Sunday 19 July 2015.
On Wednesday 15 July at 6pm, as part of the Annual NAIDOC Group Exhibition, the Gallery will hold a special screening of Babe in the reeds: a story of massacres and resilience, a documentary film by local Aboriginal woman Lois Cook.
In this film Lois Cook very intimately shares the untold history of what happened to the Nyangbul people of the NSW north coast.
At the end of July a stunning group exhibition, From a Northerly Aspect, commences at the NRCG showcasing highly inspirational works by three distinct, accomplished painters from the northern rivers region: Peter Mortimore, Brian Cook and Jarrah Johnson. Inspired by the natural world, its pristine beaches, blue water, flowing rivers, rolling hills, rugged ranges and expansive skies, each artist depicts the landscape from a unique perspective capturing the raw emotion of nature’s spectacle.
The exhibition opens Wednesday 22 July and continues until Sunday 30 August 2015. The official launch event is Thursday 23 July, 5.30–7.30pm, and all visitors are welcome to attend.
For further information please call the Gallery on 6681 6167. www.ballina.nsw.gov.au/nrcg
Lismore regional Gallery
Glick incites a response that leaves us both uncertain and amused, confusing us into thinking.
Rodney Glick is an Australian artist currently living and working in Indonesia whose sculptures combine real, spiritual and imagined realms. Glick’s practice is intriguing on many levels – from his ingenuity with material, rigorous exploration of subject matter, intelligence and wicked sense of humour. Exhibition ends 11 July.
The Rennie Ellis Show exhibition of 100 photographs provides a personal account of what Ellis termed ‘a great period of change’. The photographs explore the cultures and subcultures of the period, and provide a strong sense of a place that now seems a world away; a world free of risk, of affordable inner city housing, of social protest, of disco and pub rock, of youth and exuberance.
Exciting new workshops with BSA
Awaken the self as photographer when Raimond de Weerdt leads a fun and informative weekend session covering: The camera as creative tool; Seeing the light and catching the shadow; The photographic self; and The world of other photographers.
Discover the age-old art of Japanese woodblock printing with Sam Sosnowski. Sam studied this beautiful technique in Kyoto, and comes to Bangalow to share how to create your own woodblock print using classical techniques for designing, cutting and printing with a Japanese barren. Suitable all levels.
Jewellery Courses
Live your dream and learn how to create your own jewellery or advance your skills to the next level. Award winning Jeweller, Chris Gortz, shares his experience of over 40 years and brings out the best from absolute beginners to advanced jewellery makers.
All tuitions are strictly one-on-one. Classes run for a week (5 days) and are individually tailored. They can include making your very first piece of jewellery to designing, including CAD, advanced jewellery techniques or gemstone setting. Residential classes are available from September. For further information, please contact Chris: [email protected], phone: 66845225.
