It's late April and a cool change has finally found us here in Perth. Just this morning I pulled my fluffy winter slippers out from storage and put them on my feet before shuffling into my studio. This change is lovely and much anticipated. It was a long, hot summer. These past few weeks, as Autumn has nestled in, have been largely about experimentation. I've been making all manner of things and producing a lot of pieces that don't really sit well within my current body of work, but it's all par for the course. I've learnt that when these urges to break my own rules show up I need to go with them, and I always learn a lot from riding those waves. I'll reign my focus back in soon.
At the beginning of this year I decided that I was going to start applying for as many exhibition opportunities as I could in order to build up my CV and get my work out of the studio. For the past several years my fine art work has been on the backburner as I focussed more on illustration and I really wanted to shift back to making fine art my priority. So, I started the year off applying for lots of art prizes and group shows, anything to really get me back in the game, and well, it payed off! I'm excited to say that I have a few upcoming events in which I'll be participating.
Currently I have two small pieces in Temp Gallery's Temp 200 exhibition. You can check out those works HERE and HERE.
My piece 'Point Peron' was shortlisted as a finalist in the Minnawarra Art Prize - Yay! The show runs from May 4 to 19 at the Armadale (Western Australia) District Hall.
My piece 'Reef ' will be exhibited in the City of Wanneroo Art Awards and Exhibition from May 22 to July 13 at the Wanneroo Regional Gallery.
I have a framed four part etching of humpback whales up for grabs (see image below) in the Lawley Art Auction - a fundraising event for arts programs at Mount Lawley Senior High School. The Auction is to be held on Saturday June 15 and from all accounts it's a fun and lively artsy event extraordinaire!
So all of that is making me feel as though I've started to garner a sense of direction and momentum with my work after a few years of change and disruption. It's really lovely to be going to art events too! I've been to lots of openings and exhibitions lately, exploring the art world over here in Western Australia. There is so much going on over here and it's cool to see. I'm all for it!
Well, that's a wrap on April. It's been busy in a good way and though there's lots going on I don't feel overwhelmed. I'm looking forward to lots of cosy days of making and experimentation over the cooler months. I feel like this winter is going to be a fertile time for progressing my ideas and pushing my work both conceptually and in regards to tehnique. I'll probably blog a lot more over those months as the weather keeps me indoors. But if you are interested you can always keep up with my shenanigans on instagram at @michellefleurartist
Take care and talk soon! xx
