sarahkoschak

Trees of the Mount Alexander Shire Region – upcoming exhibition

Posted on May 17, 2016May 17, 2016 by sarahkoschak

Trees ain’t trees!

Where did the idea get about that our trees all ‘look the same’?

The problem has been around for a long time: in 1770 Captain Cook wrote about the NSW coast: ‘the woods do not produce any variety of trees.’ In 1836 Darwin claimed that ‘the extreme uniformity of the vegetation’ was ‘the most remarkable feature of the vegetation’ he observed in Australia. And in 1939 the poet AD Hope talked of the ‘drab green and desolate grey’ of our vegetation. And he compounded the insult by suggesting that the Australian people were just as monotonous…

Maybe these very worthy experts weren’t looking hard enough?

email Death Throes - Rise and Shine — Death Throes, Yellow Box , Rise and Shine Bushland Reserve – Photo by Damian Kelly Nov 2015

Our new exhibition of photos is set to have a go at overturning the still widespread notion that our trees are monotonously uniform. Trees of the Mount Alexander Region aims to highlight the amazing variety to be seen in our local indigenous trees: even those of the same genus—for example, eucalypts—can exhibit a wild variety of shape and colour, as well as hosting an extraordinary diversity of wildlife.

Newstead Nankeen Kestrel a_14-01-18_20 crop — Nankeen Kestrel, Moolort Plains – Photo by Patrick Kavanagh Jan 2014

This is FOBIF’s 6th photographic exhibition. The exhibitions all focus on our local environment and aim to highlight the beauty and importance of our bushlands.

In January 2016 we had a ‘call for photos’ for a tree exhibition and photos sent to us were placed on our Flickr page

We selected 23 photos from over 100 sent to us to exhibit in two exhibitions. The first one was at TOGS cafe in Castlemaine in March 2016 and the second one is at the Newstead Railway Arts Hub. All photos are for sale.

The photographers featured in this exhibition are: Janet Barker, Neil Barrett, Frances Cincotta, John Ellis, Patrick Kavanagh, Damian Kelly, Geoff Park, Harley Parker, Mitchell Parker, Ern Perkins, Bronwyn Silver, Bernard Slattery, Jen Thomas, Marion Williams, Chris Worland and Deborah Worland

Exhibition opening will be at 10.30 am on Saturday 4 June. Everyone is welcome.

The exhibition runs from the 4th-26th of June and will be open at weekends and the Queens Birthday holiday on Monday 13 June. Opening hours are Sat and Sun 10am to 4 pm. If you would like to view the exhibition outside these days/hours contact Bronwyn Silver on 54751089.

A celebration of colour: Karen and the Kids opening night this friday

Posted on April 20, 2016 by sarahkoschak

Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 5.11.19 PM

Karen’s upcoming show is an inspiring exhibition bursting with colour, character and imagination!

Opening night is this coming Friday 22 April at 6pm, and the night will be filled with festivities, with live music by Andy Rigby, Natasha Mullings and Peter Sullivan, and catering by hospitality students from the Castlemaine Secondary College. Everyone is welcome!

Well loved artist, teacher and Newstead local Karen Pierce presents a long awaited celebratory exhibition, Karen and the Kids, marking her retirement after 45 years teaching art and craft in schools around Victoria. In addition to her work as a practicing artist and private art tutor, Karen has worked in art education at schools across the state, including Altona North, Flemington, Brunswick, Maryborough, Maldon, Kangaroo Flat, Golden Square, Kyneton, Castlemaine and most recently in her home town of Newstead.

Karen and the Kids - Karen Pierce pictured with Ship Shapes painting and kids models IMG_3541 small

Karen and the Kids is a rare opportunity to see a huge body of retrospective and recent work in one location and will be a treat for anyone with a sense of creativity and adventure. Karen and the Kids represents a selection of the work of thousands of creative hands, hearts and minds over almost five decades and will surely inspire many more.

A celebration of colour, imagination and versatility, the kids artwork on display presents a true smorgasbord for the eyes, with all manner of brightly decorated puppets, hobby horses, creatures and contraptions – showing us there is truly no limit to the imagination. Karen’s own paintings combine these childhood creations into finished works of art – bringing together brash marches of hobby horses, oceans of rainbow fish and tides of pirate ships.

Karen and the Kids also includes a special new series of original paintings from Karen entitled, ‘Edge of the Forest’ that capture the unique light and beauty of the Australian bush landscape.

“I’d be lost without my imagination. It’s essential. And everything you do is a part of a cycle of ideas. In fact, these new paintings of mine hark back to paintings I did in my final year of College.”

Many of Karen’s large-scale school projects – such as the Maldon Folk Festival stage banner, created in 1998 with Maldon Primary School – involve all students at every year level, and result in beautiful, distinctive assets for the local community.

There will also be plenty of creative artplay activities for kids to enjoy throughout the exhibition.

Opening night on Friday 22 April 2016 will be filled with festivities, with live music by Andy Rigby, Natasha Mullings and Peter Sullivan, and catering by hospitality students from the Castlemaine Secondary College. Everyone is welcome!

Karen and the Kids runs every weekend from 23 April until 8 May 2016 at the Newstead Arts Hub, a beautiful exhibition space located at the newly restored Newstead Railway Station.

Upcoming exhibition ‘Karen and the Kids’

Posted on April 8, 2016 by sarahkoschak

Our upcoming exhibition is called ‘Karen and the Kids’. This will be a retrospective of work from Karen Peirce, who has recently retired as art teacher from the Newstead primary school.

We can expect a playful, delightful and colourful display, including a selection of Karen’s original paintings. Karen has had a great impact in nurturing creativity in Newstead and we are excited that she is having this exhibition.

Opening night is Friday 22nd of April at 6pm and all are welcome. Katk

Newstead Open Studios 2016

Posted on March 7, 2016March 7, 2016 by sarahkoschak

Newstead artists and their studios are very much a part of the Arts Open 2016: Open Studio event running over two weekends – Labour Day long weekend 12-14 March, & Sat-Sun 19-20 March.

Newstead Open Studios Invite

There are eight studios offering diverse and fascinating art experiences: sculpture, painting, printmaking and ceramics.

You can also stop for a coffee or a meal at Dig Cafe, our local good food café, have a drink at one of our two pubs – one on each side of the Loddon River, or visit local wineries a few minutes drive north – Welshmans Reef or Chapples Cairn Curran Estate.

For more information have a look at the Newstead Open Studios website and also the Arts Open website

Open Studio times: 11am to 4pm daily, Labour Day long weekend 12-14 March, & Sat-Sun 19-20 March. Some studios may be open longer.

Upcoming exhibition: Studio Paradiso printmakers

Posted on March 5, 2016 by sarahkoschak

SP_ArtsHub_invitation

Part of Arts Open 2016 Open Studios
Newstead Railway Arts Hub, Dundas Street, Newstead

Exhibition Opening: 19 March 2016 by Melissa Proposch at 2.00 pm
All Welcome

Open: March 12, 13, 14,
March 19, 20 and
March 26, 27, 2016

10.00 am to 4.00 pm each day

About seven kilometres from Newstead on the Newstead Creswick Rd., tucked in the valley, are a Catholic church, some houses, and a red brick (ex) Primitive Methodist church with blue doors guarded by Italian pencil pines. A building where local communities met for decades to dance, talk about local matters, celebrate births, deaths and marriages, and play tennis on the courts behind the building. A place like many others in rural areas of Australia.

For the past fourteen years it’s been Diana Orinda Burns’ printmaking studio, Studio Paradiso. During these years Diana has run printmaking classes and courses, and consultancies for printmakers from all over Australia. The participants in these activities range from beginners to professionals preparing for exhibitions.
Diana has printed works for John Olsen, Tommy Watson, Mrs Bennett, Adam Cullen, David Larwill, Julian Meagher, Jasper Knight, Rhys Lee, Sam Leach, and James Drinkwater, among others.

Thus the building that’s home to Studio Paradiso stays true to its original purposes: a place where a community of artists and printmakers meet and practise.

Artists from Diana’s classes have exhibited as groups or individuals during the Castlemaine Festival over these years, independently in commercial galleries, and in the Arts Open Visual Arts Festival held in years alternate to the Castlemaine Festival: this year in the community Railway Arts Hub in Newstead.

If you’re driving through the Sandon valley to or from Newstead look out for Studio Paradiso. Like many similar buildings in rural areas of Australia it’s associated with many local stories and activities. You might also imagine the artists at work in Studio Paradiso: their conversations and collaborations, including their accounts of problems shared and solved, and their responses to Diana’s guidance and suggestions about directions and possibilities in their work. And, of course, the cakes, cups of tea, eclectic music and roaring winter fires that fuel the artists. One problem yet to be solved is how to get Diana away from her teaching and supervising the presses so that she can enjoy and finish her cup of tea.

– Richard Sullivan

Newstead West walking tour

Posted on February 17, 2016 by sarahkoschak

The Newstead West walking tour, organised by Castlemaine District Community Health is a great opportunity to explore the other side of the town. The tour will be lead by Newstead Local Ray Stevenson, and will take in some of the historic buildings of Newstead:the old butter factory, the railway arts hub and Presbyterian church, plus the racecourse and the old goldmine dredging area.

The walk will end up at the Arts Hub where you can have a cuppa and take in the current exhibition.

When:Wednesday 24th of Feb from 10-11am
Where: Meet outside the Newstead Railway Arts Hub, Dundas Street, Newstead
Cost: FREE

Cancelled in the event of heavy rain or a Code Red Day
No bookings or RSVP required

Walking tours February 2016.jpg

Reiteration Exhibition

Posted on February 12, 2016 by sarahkoschak

Janet Barker has shared some of the images she took on the opening night of Reiteration. The images give us an intimate perspective of the works, something that may have been a little difficult on the opening night!

The exhibition is open through February: on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11-4pm.


: Julie Patey

reiteration - artists sally roadknight, julie patey, georgina duckett, sandra tobias at newstead artshub exhibition opening — Sally Roadknight

Zen Brush Painting (Sumie) workshop with Gerard Menzel

Posted on October 2, 2015February 13, 2016 by sarahkoschak

Gerard Menzel will be holding his Zen brush painting workshop at the Railway Arts Hub on Sun 25th Oct 2015, 11am – 4.30pm.
Earlybird $65 (before 18/10), full fee $75 or $65 concession
Numbers are limited to 8 people

Sumie (black ink on rice paper) is a beautiful way to paint nature and the world in all its beauty and grace as we see the world in a different Zen light, where the subjects essence or “kami” spirit is depicted. Zen painting is an art form, a way of living and breathing through the world.

The class will cover Zen insights, Sumie as meditation and art practice, the Zen way of painting and observation, and Zen as philosophy.

The origin of Sumie date back to the Southern School of Chinese Zen painting and it was transplanted to Japan by Esai and Dogen. Used to train the mind, it is one of the “Zen arts” including ikebana and shodo. The practice of painting is akin to Zen training of the mind body and senses.

Gerard Menzel studied with Andre Sollier and taught and exhibited in Australia and overseas. He has lived Japan where he also studied aikido.

A quiet corner: sculptural work by Chris Johnston, with Richard Sullivan's art books and hanging works by (L-R) Maritsa Gronda & Gerard Menzel — Gerard’s works from the inaugural exhibition hanging (center and right)

For more information and to book in call Gerard 0407 734 479
www.wildlotus-arts.blogspot.com

Materials $7 or BYO materials. To order a sumie kit before class phone Gerard.

Re-railing the railway station

Posted on August 14, 2015February 13, 2016 by sarahkoschak

In preparation for our inaugural exhibition, picture hanging rail has been acquired to fit out 3 additional rooms. Yesterday, Don, Prue, Julie, Sarah and Andrew went to work installing it all. Great hilarity ensued.

Just stay still, this won't hurt a bit... — “Just hold still, this won’t hurt a bit…”

The gravity-defying duo — “Are you sure we’ve cut this to the right length?”

If the spirit level says it level it must be level — “If the spirit level says it’s level, it must be level…”

A gavity-defying duo — “Why do you only notice you’ve left something on the floor when you get to the top of the ladder?”