Dardanup Art Spectacular and Art Trail - 2025

 Hi everyone! Phew! Well the Dardanup Art Spectacular and Art Trail are over for another weekend. Now time for a relax? Or I just have to catch up around home after letting a lot of things slide over the last month or so while getting ready for the Tree Street Art Safari and then the Dardanup Spectacular and Art Trail - just 2 weeks apart! 

The weekend started spectacularly on the Friday night opening of the Art Spectacular art exhibition held at the Dardanup Hall. I went to the exhibition not expecting to win anything and came home with two wins! So very exciting! 

I was awarded first place in the Photography Theme "Rhythms" for my image Island Rhythms, and Highly Commended in the Open Theme "Rhythms" for my cyanotype sun print Dance of the Peppermints. 

And my grandson was award Highly Commended in the Secondary Student category for his image of a Splendid Fairy Wren. Congratulations Owen. We are so proud of you! Also he sold the image at the exhibition!

As part of the "Rhythms" theme we had to write a blurb. Here is mine -

Island Rhythms

This image was taken at the South West Multicultural Festival. Since time began people have responded to sounds and rhythms, creating their own unique songs, music, movement, dance and rituals to tell stories and pass down folklore, history and traditions. These may be unique to their own culture but they open a window of understanding and enjoyment, showing us how universally connected we are.

Dance of the Peppermints

Cyanotype sun print of Western Australian peppermint tree leaves on Printmakers paper. My art practise is inspired by nature. When you walk through the bush you can see and hear the leaves creating their unique rhythm and dance in the breeze.  Plants respond to changes in their environment - the passage of the sun and moon, the length of the day, temperature, wind, drought and rainfall - responding to climatic changes by moving their leaves and open and closing their flowers. They are a visual representation of the rhythm of the seasons.

Congratulations to other members of the Photography Group of Bunbury for their awards in the Photography section - Winner in the Open Photography was Jodie Deeley for What Was That?, Theme Photography Winner - Jill Harrison for Island Rhythms. Highly Commended in Open was Chris de Blank for Male Red-Tail, with Special Mentions to Jodie Deeley for Humanity, and Trevor Spivey for Sunflowers. Highly Commended in Photography theme Rhythm was Deborah Schramm for Stairway to Heaven.

Here is a link to some images of the awarded art works at the Exhibition. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/15yCKb5WDU/

Over the weekend there was a trail that visitors could drive visiting various locations where artists were exhibiting and selling their work. I was located with four other artists, who I have been exhibiting with for the last three years, at the old Dardanup Convent. 

Thankyou to the Dardanup Art Spectacular and Art Trail committee, sponsors and judges for making this past weekend happen. Congratulations to the awardees and everyone who entered their amazing work in the Art Spectacular. A huge thankyou to Ifor and the Dardanup Catholic church for welcoming the girl gang back again to exhibit in the old Dardanup Convent for the art trail and the wonderful girls of the girl gang (you can see us in the photo below) - Sandra Nysten, Jill (me), Sylvia Nysten, Gemma Mangano and Christine Blowfield. I love sharing this space with these ladies.

Sadly one of our girl gang was missing this year, Cynthia Dix, having passed away recently. We send our thoughts to her family.

I am privileged to share the space with these amazing talented artists. I am in awe of them and their work. 

And a few images of my display in the convent. Yes I have a lot of stuff - photography and botanical eco-prints and cyanotypes. 

A huge thankyou also to everyone who visited, chatted, enjoyed and purchased from me over the weekend. You validate what i do. Also thankyou to the constant support of my husband. I couldn't do this without you.

I have been exhibiting on the Art Trail since 2014, firstly at Denise Gillie's Lyndendale Gallery where I first shared a space with Christine Blowfield, and where I exhibited for a few years, then at St Mary's Anglican church in Dardanup from 2021 for two years with Christine, Sandra & Sylvia, and then at the Dardanup convent for the last three years. It has been a wonderful way to showcase my work and make some sales. 

For more images from the Dardanup Art Spectacular and Art Trail - you can visit their Facebook page - Dardanup Art Spectacular

That's about it from me for today.  You might also like:

Australian Dragon Boat Chams & Dardanup Art Trail - 2014

Dardanup Art Spectacular & Art Trail - 2017

Dardanup Art Trail - 2021

June art trail and bushwalking - 2022

Art in Dardanup and the Ferguson Valley - 2019

Weekends of Art & Dance - 2014

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Do you enjoy art trails? or exhibit at one? Perhaps yo would like to tell us about it in your comments. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

If you are looking for a translate button - it's there near the top on the right hand side. 
   

Mosaic Monday @ Soul & Mind & So On

Saturdays Critters - Viewing Nature With Eileen

Travel Tuesday

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ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Until then, enjoy your day...Life only comes around once, so do what makes you happy and be with people who make you smile. 

Blooming Art 2024 - Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, Western Australia

 Over a cold, wet and blustery weekend, it was time for the Blooming Art 2024 exhibition, in conjunction with the Floral Designers Club of Bunbury. 

Held annually in the beautiful Chapel Gallery of the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery (built in 1897, as the Convent of Mercy), the blooming art brightens up a winter's day. 

As well as various categories of competitions for Floral Designers Club members, the club invites a number of artists and related art groups to participate by choosing artwork from the City of Bunbury Art Collection and responding to it by making an ephemeral artwork with flowers and plant material.

Here I share some of them.

Jacqueline Gibsons interpretation of Kangaroo Hill by Phillip Hansen

Donna Fortescue's interpretation of Guy Grey-Smith's Landscape 1969

Deanne Wenn-Mayne's interpretation of Eigma 33 by Janis Rudolfs Nedela - includes little yellow ducks and invited children to draw a picture of a duck with the provided pencils and take a duck home. Deanne who lives with Functional Neurological Disorder dedicated her piece to all the children who visited.

Kaylene MacLoughlin created a beautiful felted vase as part of her interpretation of "Waiting for the Boat 1986" by Helen Grey-Smith. 

Merle Topsy Davis's interpretation of Drawing for Painting by Ted Snell

Carolyn Nicholls's showcases the plight of the Red Tailed Cockatoos in her interpretation of Occupied Territory by Kay Gibson

Kathleen Pinkerton's interpretation of The Silent Camp by Graham 'Swag' Taylor represents a campfire and the loss of children taken from aboriginal camps. "Some is missing forever, will they ever be returned".

The centrepiece this year put together by members of the Floral Designers Club was a mermaid

Among all the wonderful floral art works by the designer club members I couldn't go past Catherine Meads display which won Best In Show and 1st Class 1 - Designer of the Year 2024. Obviously the judges couldn't either.

In 2014 I was an invited artist for Blooming Art. You can read about my experiences here: Blooming Art 2014. Below is my exhibited piece. The painting is by Alisa Small, called Up The Gorge to Tallering Peak.

To find out more about the Flower Designers Club of Bunbury and see more of the exhibition and the work they do. Flower Designers Club of Bunbury

A few images of the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery. It really is a beautiful space. I've just realised that they covered up the chapel stain glass windows for the exhibition.

While we were at the art galley we had a look at other current exhibitions including The Claude Hothin Bequest of historical artworks, and the Iluka Visions annual exhibition of student artworks from high schools in the South West region.

More about the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, it's history and exhibitions: Bunbury Regional Art Gallery

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   

Mosaic Monday @ Soul & Mind & So On

Saturdays Critters - Viewing Nature With Eileen

Travel Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

Talking About It Tuesdays @ Slices of Life

ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Until then, enjoy your day... it won't be back. 

Sculpture by the Bay- Dunsborough 2023- Western Australia

Last weekend we visited the Sculpture by the Bay exhibition as part of the Dunsborough Art Festival. This is an annual event which has been held in Dunsborough since 2011. 

Always very interesting to see the range of large sculptures through the park along the foreshore and along Dunn Bay Road, and the small scultpures in Christian Fletcher's Gallery. 

I was particularly drawn to those with an environmental message. 

Below top left you can see - 

- Insiduous by Heloise Roberts - Flowers made from plastic bottles attached to trees and trailing through the garden representing insiduous introduced species that are suffocating our native ecosystems. This piece seemed like it was lit by solar lights in the middle of each flower. Would have been good to see at night. 

And below that -  Cumulonimbus by Shanti Gelmi & Louise Grimshaw - using waste and products of over consumption, it reflects on the effect of climate change on our environment. But I did love the little plastic creatures. 

I enjoyed the play of light and reflections on the fish in The School by Richard Aitken - reflecting on the warming of the oceans and the delicate balance. 

I really liked The Plant Apocalypse by Year 6 students at Dunsborough Primary School and their teacher Karen Seaman -  a colaborative piece using recycled paper, cardboard, plastic, salvaged fishing rope and wood, using metallic patinas to disguise the origins of the materials and creating a skyscraper that has been overtaken by nature. 

Musical Bones by David Johansen was a piece that encouraged interaction. Made from an old piano and bits and pieces inside to create the sound. Lots of fun! 

My husband particularly liked Brian Plank's - Kite - each piece moving independantly at the whim of the wind. 

Below 

- Jillain Warnock has used her artworks printed on aluminium to create Spiral Journey of the Spirit.  

- Plastic rope has been unravelled to make the tail of Kerry Walker's Peacock  

- and recylced objects have been used to create a dog as part of Merrilyn Whisson's piece - To Fetch A Pail of Water. 

In Size Matters by Margaret Rees - a hungry seagull is sizing up his options for breakfast, knowing the future of the ocean's sustainability is on the line. The pylon base is salvaged timber from the old Busselton Jetty. 

Below here you can see - clockwise from top left - 

- Shorts too Big by Greg Banfield created from windfall jarrah tells the story of hand-me-down clothes. 

- Tempest - by Wayne Smith - Created from corten steel this piece is like a whirling dervish or dust devil in the desert outback. 

- Metamorphosis by Rod Barnes - made from metal including old car doors representing the Year 2080 where machines reaching out to assist in developing mechanical life forms to restore beauty and wonder to the world. 

- Stealth Birdhouse by Keith Lush would almost disappear in the garden follage. 

And a few of the small sculptures - clockwise from top left - 

- Best Laid Plans II by Shanti Gelmi - representing the manipulation of dreams and expectations and the delicate balance between honouring wishes versus following your own path made possible by parental scarifice. 

- Lil'Bird by David Barbour made from washed up driftwood. 

-  Don't be afraid to think outside the box by Sue Smorthwaite representing the importance to think and decide for yourself whilst still being mindful of the need for social cohesion and tolerance of other views. 

- The Money trap by Louise Grimshaw aims to provoke discussion about the assumption that more money equals more happiness and the risks associated with obtaining more at the expense of simple pleasures. 

- Our Prickly Earth by Joshua Nicholas - made from wire, nuts, and washers represents the state of our global climate which is at least, a bit prickly. 

I hope you have enjoyed this look at the Dunsborough Sculpture By the Bay. You can see more at Sculpture By The Bay. Click on Galleries, then 2023 Sculpture By the Bay Gallery to see all the entries and prize winners. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   

Mosaic Monday @ Soul & Mind & So On

Travel Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Love what you do - Tree Stree Art Safari 2017

Some inspiration for you today and a look at the Tree Street Art Safari.

It's so important to love what you do, embrace your passions, and spend time doing what it is that moves you, what makes you uniquely you, and in doing so spread the joy. Your passion will show in your work. If we are happy in what we are doing, some of that will rub off on the people around us.
We only get one shot at each day, so make it a good one.

My photography is evolving into a different place. I'm following to see where it leads me. 
I hope you follow where your path beckons too.  

 Last Saturday I visited the Tree Street Art Safari which is centered around the beautiful heritage houses in what is known as the Tree Street area of Bunbury.  Artists and residents open their homes to display their own art work or host the art work of others. 
These artists are obviously following their own individual artistic paths and loving what they do.

 Unfortunately I wasn't able to get around to see all of the artists, but these are a few of those who I did visit.

 First off I visited Jeana Castelli who is an Australian landscape and seascape artist. Originally painting in oils, Jeana told me she has recently been painting with acrylics. She has been exploring and experimenting with various techniques and a variety of mediums and processes to create texture and outcomes in her work. 
You can see some of Jeana's work on her Facebook page - Jeana Castelli on Facebook

 Next on my list was Denise Gillies, from Lyndendale Gallery, and Lynne Mitchell who are printmakers and mixed media artists both from the Ferguson Valley and members of the South West Printmakers. Their work is influenced by the natural environment and landscapes and vary in styles from representational to abstract. 

Denise is a generous supporter of other artists through her Gallery on Crooked Brook Road in Dardanup. You can see more of Denise and Lynne's work at the Dardanup Art Trail later in April. 

 You can visit Denise and Lynne on their Facebook pages - Denise Gillies and Lyndendale Gallery and Lynne Mitchell  

 
Next I visited Neil Turner's art space. Neil was away at an exhibition in Brisbane but I had the opportunity to chat to his photographer wife, Sue-Ellen. 

Originally a farmer in the wheatbelt, Neil has been turning and sculpting timber for over 34 years.
Neil is well known internationally for his beautiful wood artistry, but also produces functional pieces from locally sourced woods that we all can enjoy. 

You can visit Neil, Sue-Ellen, and their daughter Kallie on Facebook at Turner + Turner
 and on the web at Neil Turner Artisan

 I was very pleased to be able to catch up with Deanna Mosca before she took her exhibition to Melbourne. 

I met Deanna recently at the Stirling Street Arts Centre where she works and tutors. Her work under the label D_Ranged, is in the style of pop and urban art, reflecting ideas on popular culture. 

This series of portraits which Deanna is taking to Melbourne are painted with acrylic ink on raw canvas and linen, with strategically drawn threads adding another dimension to her work. The eyes in these portraits draw you in, and they reflect a vulnerability and fragility. 

Here is an article in the Bunbury Mail newspaper about Deanna's Melbourne Exhibition - Local Artist on National Stage (Bunbury Mail)

You can visited Deanna on Facebook at - Deanna Mosca

 
Next up I visited Helena Sahm who I met at a Summer School workshop in January. Helena explores the built environment in her work, using a combination of recycled and new materials, particularly paper and cardboard, in three and two dimensional works. 

As part of her art practise Helena makes amazing sculptures from recycled cardboard boxes. 

You can see some of Helena's work on Art Finder - Helena_Sahm

I also visited my friend Jane Flower from Folios and Fibre. Jane is well known for her eco-dyeing and conducts workshops throughout the south west. I have attended several of her workshops in eco-dyeing, book making and Japanese Boro-bag making over the last couple of years. 
 

Jane practises the gentle art of eco-dyeing using Australian plants. There are no chemicals used in her dyeing process which is entirely natural and can be considered “slow” art.  Jane uses ecologically sustainable dyeing practices using the leaves and flowers of native plants to dye and print onto silk and other textiles.  The results are alchemic and individual – no two pieces are the same. I am really fascinated by the serendipitous nature of eco-dying and am looking forward to learning more from Jane.

You can see some of Jane’s work on Facebook - Folios and Fibre and on the web at Folios and Fibre 

Also part of the Art Safari was an Architectural Tour with architect Kent Lyon around the Tree Street area, exploring the history of the area, and discussing the changes and highlights of a century of design. 

At St Boniface Cathedral you could take time out by listening to the Canto Belles and Silver Tones, and at "Nana's House" you could sit and chat and enjoy a cup of tea in the Interactive Tea Tent, constructed from salvaged knitted and crocheted blankets.  

I only managed to scratch the surface of the Art Safari which was on from 11am till 5pm. I heard from one of the artists yesterday that 600 people came through her art space, which shows how popular the initiative is. The Tree Street Art Safari is a wonderful opportunity for artisans in Bunbury to display their work. You can read more on Facebook here - Tree Street Art Safari on Facebook


The next local art event in our area is the Ferguson Valley Art Spectacular and Art Trail from Saturday April 29 till  Sunday May 7, 2017. For more information Dardanup Art Spectacular 

I will be exhibiting at Lyndendale Gallery where I will have a range of my images for sale, as well as greeting cards and my images printed on cushions and tote bags.  

This is a new part of my photography art practise. I invite you to stop over at Red Bubble to see what is currently on offer - Life Images by Jill on Red Bubble

 Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!
 And like the message on one of my new range of greeting cards says - be true to yourself. 

 Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed my little look at the Tree Street Art Safari. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
 

Mosaic Monday 
Life Thru the Lens 

Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at Lifestyle Fifty
The Weekly Postcard 
Sky Watch Friday