FRISSON & STANTHORPE

Elemental Oil on linen 50 x 95 cm 2009

STANTHORPE

I have just spent the weekend in Stanthorpe and have had a really great time. On Friday night the opening of the Stanthorpe Art Festival and Award was the gig to be at! It was a fabulous night, but alas I cannot report that I won. Nevertheless, I am thrilled to be a finalist in the Award, because the exhibition is fantastic with a very strong selection of paintings and ceramic works. Apparently over 1000 entries from 400 artists were submitted for preselection by judge John McDonald, [Art Critic for the Sydney Monring Herald, and author of Art Of Australia Vol 1] and 145 paintings were chosen to be in the exhibiton/award. So, you can see why I am very pleased to have been one of the chosen 145. Here's the link to the Stanthorpe Regional Gallery where you can see the prizes plus download a copy of the catalogue http://www.srag.org.au/

The painting above is the one selected for the Stanthorpe Art festival and Award. It is called 'Elemental'. I have previously written about this paintings...here's the link http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/07/elemental.html The price of this painting is $2400.00 AUD. Regular readers will identify the tree-of-life motif which seems to create a landform. The strips of 'rain' falling from the 'clouds' are painted both red and blue. This painting reminds us of the important visceral qualities of water, not only within our individual bodies, but also in the 'body' of our planet Earth. The tree-of-life is not just a landform, but it is also an expression of the internal life forces within us all. This painting moves between the intimate and personal to the vast and universal.

STANTHORPE WINERY
Whilst I was in Stanthorpe I visited a winery owned by a friend of a friend. For readers from overseas, Stanthorpe is a 2 1/2 drive south west of Brisbane. It is in an area called the Granite Belt...and there is a huge amount of granite! Stanthorpe is a fruit growing area and has a flourishing wine industry. It is also becoming a favourite weekend holiday destination with a large selection of various kinds of accommodation. The winery I visited was KOMINOS WINES http://www.kominoswines.com/ where I enjoyed the company of the very convivial owners Tony and Mary, as well as a selection of their fabulous, and award winning, red and white wines, including a delicious Nouvelle rose. And, yes, I bought some wine too!

FRISSON

Things are still continuing to move along really well with my solo exhibition FRISSON which opens on Thursday March 18 at Graydon Gallery, 29 Merthyr Rd, New Farm, Brisbane. The exhibition dates are 16-28 March, open daily 10 am -6 pm [Tues 16 from 1 pm -6pm].

I had a radio interview on Sunday with Richard Lancaster, and it was a great chatty interview where he asked me some interesting questions, ranging from a question about why I paint on linen to questions about my exhibition in Abu Dhabi in 2005. And, of course some discussion about FRISSON.

The question about what I paint on is actually a very good one to ask, because people often do not understand the significance. I paint on Belgian Linen because it is the best. This means it is expensive, but my brush glides over linen, whereas cotton canvases seems to grab at the brush interrupting the flow of my hand. Linen will last longer and respond to changes in climate better. I paint on linen because I enjoy it more and because I want collectors of my work to know they have purchased something where the material quality will be assured.

Cheers,
Kathryn