Opening Drinks 7pm Thursday 13th November

This series is an exploration of mediums, textures and natural imagery interpreted using brush, camera and technology. This series ‘Kalorama’ is created with a deep affection for my natural environment and other experiences I have encountered along the way.

See more of my work on artistsonline.net.au – this is my website and is open for any artist to join free of charge. Coming up is a new website that should be up and running in the next month: worldartgalleryonline.com and waggonline.com (chat and exchange).

Vivienne Carter

RELIEF
TIRIKI ONUS
16 OCTOBER – 3 NOVEMBER 2008

Relief, so called because of the 3D relief aspect of the artwork, is a showcase of some of the recent technical shifts in TIRIKI ONUS’, style of artwork. This exhibition is an attempt to combine a life-long love of sculpture with the practicalities of creating and showing 3 dimensional works. Many of the ideas for the works in “relief” have been gestating for many years, and the introduction of new mediums and techniques has allowed Tiriki to play with ideas from his past as well as new concepts, permitting him to create a show that’s essentially just for fun.

“These are the works I’ve been looking for an excuse to make, an excuse to be free with ideas despite the consequences. This makes RELIEF egocentric, self centred and completely lacking in altruism, but hopefully it will make it fun.” - Tiriki Onus, 2008

This exhibition is to be opened by Gary Foley at 2pm on Sunday 19th October. Foley is an internationally renowned indigenous Australian activist, academic, writer and actor. Best known for his role in establishing the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972, and for establishing an Aboriginal legal service in Redfern in the 1970s. In the last thirty years, Gary Foley has worked as an actor, academic and curator.

STATE OF MIND
the sunny side of mental health
Artists from the PATS and TRACTION programs
2 - 12 OCTOBER – Mental Health Week
Opening Wednesday 8th October 6:30pm

When times are tough, it can be difficult to see the bright side of life, but that is just what a group of young Yarra Ranges artists have done. The artists, aged between 12 and 25, have had experience with mental health issues. All of them have managed to reflect on their experiences in a positive way and the outcome is the group photographic exhibition, State of Mind – the sunny side of mental health, being held at the Burrinja Cultural Centre. Presented by Shire of Yarra Ranges Youth Services, in partnership with Burrinja and UnitingCare Community Options, the exhibition will be shown during Mental Health Week from October 5-11.

Yarra Ranges Mayor Tim Heenan, who will officially open the exhibition on October 8, said the aim was to show positive images created by young people whose lives have been affected by mental health issues in some way.

“The artists are all members of the Shire’s Paying Attention to Self (PATS) and Traction programs that work with young people in the shire who are coping with a range of mental health issues,”

“The art work is fantastic, but more importantly, by exhibiting it we can help to increase awareness about mental health issues in the community, while we celebrate the creative talents of the young people involved.” - Cr Heenan said.

The love of flowers and flower arranging is universal. Those who study Sogetsu Ikebana develop a new appreciation of plant material, which includes the harmony of colour, line and space in design. Students develop creativity, friendship and inner peace.

Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging, commenced with the spread of Buddhism from China in the 6th century. Over the centuries, changes in custom and environment have been mirrored by changes in ikebana. It no longer retains its religious significance, but has become a purely decorative art form accepted throughout the world.

new photographic works
29 AUGUST – 20 SEPTEMBER 2008

To be opened by Brian Gilkes
(Master printer, former Lecturer, Dept of Photography, RMIT)
Friday August 29, 2008. 6.00pm

In this emotional series of photographs Ben Blacket paints his midnight stories of isolated suburban youth on the outskirts of Melbourne. Exploring the edges of social dislocation, danger and dark despair, Ben’s pictures tell of his journey through depression and point towards a fierce hope for the future.

“my name can be stretch. i am a 20 year old photographer / artist from tecoma, victoria. i’ve used the situations and people i’ve encountered during the past 14 months ago. i’ve tried to highlight the emotions or feelings one might go through in the healing process that is RECOVERY. whether it is love, loneliness, happiness or sadness.

because life changes, so does art. it’s all how you see it….
i’ve learnt that you can do anything if you really, really want to. Even if you don’t want to, you should for the people around you.”
Ben Blackett

The Chan Academy Australia presents the exhibition The Four Seasons, The Four Friends. This exhibition is based on the ancient ink painting style originating in China. The art form has been adopted by Buddhists and used as a form of Meditation, creating an art that is aesthetically beautiful.

The Chan Academy continues this ancient tradition in an Australian context. A few simple brushstrokes capture the beauty and charm of nature. Inspired by the natural surroundings and the change of seasons, a gum tree blowing in the breeze or a frog jumping into a pond.

Originally founded by the late Master John D. Hughes in 1986, this painting school has inspired many local people to take up this form of painting. ‘The Way of the Brush’ is now taught by Melba Nielsen at the academy in Upwey and this exhibition features many of her works, including some works by the painting school's students.

Melba is an accomplished artist, she worked as an illustrator for The Age in Melbourne for 11 years, she then worked as a freelancer and a book illustrator and has been Chan painting for the past 30 years. Her first major exhibition in Melbourne (1988) was opened by Gough Whitlam and her work in both oils and ink and brush on rice paper continue to evolve with the Four Seasons.

“Using the Four Friends; ink, brush, paper and water, we paint from nature through the Four Seasons and as nature grows and renews so does the Chan Painter”

TAKEN FROM LIFE

Gabrielle Willmott

23 JULY – 5 AUGUST 2008

Opening 1pm Sunday 27th July

From the first stages of pregnancy to the years ahead, the changes of the woman’s body, mind and emotions are monumental. Her body accommodates for the child growing inside the womb, Her mind and maternal instincts are sharpened as she becomes more aware of the responsibilities that come with nurturing a child. Her empathy and compassion deepens as she prepares to go beyond her own capabilities to show love for another.

Each woman’s journey of pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing are unique and varied, yet the experience in its self is common to all mothers. The exhibition ‘Taken from life’ will seek to capture experiences taken from several women’s journeys of becoming a mother.

Vessel is an enchanting new series of work by Canadian artist Sebastian Nicholas. Over ten years ago Sebastian had a dream where he was shown a spiraling column of luminous human souls descending from a moonlit sky, each carrying a vessel used to draw water from the surface of the ocean. Sebastian came to an understanding of the soul and container as vessels for gathering the experiences needed to continue the journey of life. This image remained with Sebastian, and eventually inspired his new series of work.

Combining the appeal of sculpture, drawing and painting, Sebastian explores an entirely unique visual form to give expression to the intangible. His vessels suggest many purposes while specifying none, instead celebrating ambiguity. Playing shadow against light, he creates the illusion of volume, hinting at the capacity and potential of an alluded internal space.

“I enjoy the different meanings of the word ‘vessel’ …and I like that the purpose of these vessels is ambiguous yet they all seem to be specific in their own way.” – Sebastian Nicholas

The Burrinja Arties are a Health and Community Care group of local people mostly living in supported residential accommodation who meet weekly at Burrinja. Over the last three years the Arties have worked weekly with Visual Arts Therapist, Lyn Forrest, to produce unique artwork that tells their story.

This is a truly innovative community arts project that challenges perceptions and celebrates a group of people that are often invisible in our community. They have come from many different life journeys but have ended up on the same path at Burrinja making art together. This exhibition is an expression of the artists individual life stories and their passage together through the Burrinja Arties group.

“This group of ‘outsiders’ have found their voices and their place in community through the support of their raw art expressions at Burrinja. This program is a truly amazing example of the Burrinja mission of building community through art”
-Lyn Forrest, Burrinja Arties Visual Arts Therapist

Featuring 22 hills artists working across a range of mediums,

Open Studios provides a unique insight into our artists’ work environments as well as their art.

The Dandenong Ranges has a rich and vibrant artistic heritage which continues today.

Open Studios allows local artists to share their artwork, and gives you the opportunity to get an
inside look into the eclectic and often hidden art world of the hills.

Visitors can use the touring map of artists’ studios, galleries and arts organisations to discover the many
talented artists working in our wonderful Hills environment.

All Studios are Open to the public between 10am & 5pm on the open weekend.

Click to see the Open Studio Artists’ map

An exhibition of painting, drawing, sculpture, jewelry and photography by six teachers
working in the Creative Arts in secondary schools in the Yarra Ranges.

“As teachers, our lives are always busy and our creative energies are channeled into providing artistic education,
inspiration and opportunities for others"

This exhibition is an affirmation of our own abilities and identities as artists. It is an opportunity
to explore the continuum of our own artistic development and focus on the joy of creating

‘I have always loved pictures and have been painting for as long as I can remember.
Still life interests me a great deal. I love the sense of order and intimacy that can be felt in a still life picture.
We are surrounded by still life in our domestic lives and it is often the simplest combinations
of colours, textures and patterns that I find the most beautiful. Colour provides my greatest
challenge when I paint, but also, my greatest inspiration and joy'

Marian Blank

Mark Westaway
23 FEBRUARY - 10 MARCH 2008

* trans mog ri fy
verb, humorous - to transform magically, esp. in a bizarre or grotesque manner.

With a background that encapsulates not only photography and digital media, but also graphic design, painting and screen printing, Mark communicates fun, shape and colour in a range of disciplines and media. He utilises multi media forms to create ideas that are inspired by nature and the imagination.

The Vivid Visions exhibition showcases the best artwork by year 11 students from right across the Shire of Yarra Ranges. The exhibition features 23 works done in 2007 by some of the most outstanding art students from many of the local High Schools, including Monbulk College, Mater Christi College, Billanook College, and Mountain District Christian School.

Now in its fourth year, the Vivid Visions exhibition continues to provide a forum for Year 11 students to express themselves creatively and be represented publicly in the community. Vivid Visions always offers a wider range of artistic expression, and this year is no exception. With a mixture of installation, film, photography, painting, sculpture, and print making, Vivid Visions dramatically highlights the amazing creativity of our local young people.

DEREK ERSKINE
An Exhibition of Free Expressionist Paintings at Affordable Prices

Opening November 23 2007. Until December 17.

Derek Erskine is best known for his near-abstract landscape/figurative paintings, in which he discovered, in the words of one critic, ``a way of making the Diversity of the Australian Landscape seem viscerally igniting’’. Those who have experienced a long journey by car or train through rural Australia will immediately recognise where Erskine’s imaginative landscapes derive from: he paints the endlessness and vastness.

Erskine's new exhibition is now reminding collectors that there are many facets to his art; and that, like all great artists, Erskine is an individual who even in his early career constantly strived to extend the boundaries of his work.

What is compelling about this very diverse, and often experimental work is the sense of the artist’s curiosity: about nature and about what paintings possibilities are. And above all, about how to go about defining the character of the Australian landscape.

To say that Erskine is obsessed with the Australian landscape is obvious, yet, more often than not, he has been discussed as an international artist; his work routinely compared formally to artists as diverse as Cezanne and Picasso,to Australian abstract painters of the 1960s. But a new way of looking at Erskine’s work, which is perhaps just beginning to dawn in the ‘2007, is that he was not just an internationalist, formalist painter but also a deeply Australian and regionalist artist. His work conveys a strong sense of specific landscapes layered through the enduring cultural memories of the peoples of our region,

Exhibition September 12 – 30

The exhibition will comprise textiles, mosaics and some jewelery.

Interchange Outer East is a non for profit organisation based in Ferntree Gully which works alongside people with a disability. Balance is a stream of this organisation which is a day service that adults attended 5 days a week. We have created an art program that offers textiles, painting, jewelery, mosaics and drawing. The art work in this exhibition is selected from these programs. The participants have exhibited previously and really enjoying seeing their art work displayed for others to enjoy

Students explore different materials and artistic ideas in a supportive and creative environment, develop techniques in the use of form, line and colour, develop personal awareness of self in a group, and explore their own individual style with guidance and assistance from creative arts therapist Lyn Forrest.

Over the past 5 years this active group of residents has formed a strong and unique bond. Come and explore their wonderful creativity.

Fort Heart Factory Space
12 invited artists from different creative back grounds
Exhibition: Tuesday July 3 to Sunday July 8
Meet the Artists – Opening: Tuesday July 3, 7pm to 9pm

Fort Heart was developed by creative director James Heenan in 2004 starting from a passion to help others.

"...Fort Heart Originally came from the quote 'for the art' but after a miss spelling and spacing error ‘fort heart’ sounded a lot better" James says.

After spending 5 years working with Reach - a youth work organisation inspiring and motivating young people, James decided to form a company which helps upcoming or talented artists express themselves in any way, shape or form "....art is emotion, a feeling, art can be anything and formed from anyone, art is movement, music-sounds, art can be political, confronting or enhance a meaning, art is simply an expression of ones-self”, James says.

James hopes this form of expression can create a positive environment that’s full of fun, encourage networking and reach young people to help combat depression and youth suicide.

Fort Heart is a collaboration company supporting young artists and creative individuals.

On the 3rd of July 'stage one' of the Fort Heart factory will commence with 12 invited artists from all different creative back grounds expressing their talents in an exhibition in the Jarmbi Gallery at Burrinja.

James is also working on a fashion label which involves and adapts art onto the cat walk "it’s a label which will base itself on fashionable art, to gather inspiration from art and provide it as a walking canvas or an expressive garment or accessory.”

The ‘Fort Heart factory space’ will run in Jarmbi Gallery from the 3rd to the 8th of July - with the opening night on Tuesday July 3, from 7.00 to 9.00pm with music, a chance to meet and greet artists and check out some new up-coming talents.

Fort Heart company will be throwing a few others parties and art events around Melbourne - before hitting the rest of the world in 2008 so be sure to keep an eye out for the factory and other exciting things to come.

If you’re an artist and what to find out more feel free to email Fort Heart at james@fortheart.com.au

Alex Maisey
Wildlife photography from Sherbrooke Forest
Jarmbi Gallery.
Friday June 8 – Sunday June 24

Alex is a local wildlife photographer who is involved in conservation groups in the Dandenong Ranges, such as the Sherbrooke Lyrebird Survey Group and the Friends of Sherbrooke Forest.

Alex has spent many hours in the forests learning about the animals and birds he photographs.

“I have a deep understanding of their ecology."

"I have been home-schooled for five years, and balanced my time between schoolwork and photographing wildlife. The motivation for my photographic pursuits comes from my passion for wildlife, conservation and my wish to promote the understanding and appreciation of our environment.”

“I strive to show my subjects in a more personal and intimate light, giving them personality and character that would not normally be witnessed.”

Dandenong Ranges Open Studios
(Working Studios Making Art)

Open Studios is a fabulous arts, community and tourism initiative of Burrinja, with funding support from the Shire of Yarra Ranges through the Community Cultural Grants program, and from the artists themselves and Burrinja.

2007 will be the fourth year that artists of the hills have opened their studios to the public.


Featuring 26 artists and 23 studios, Dandenong Ranges Open Studios provides an inside look at our artists' work environments as well as their art. Open Studios features artists working in all media, and taps into the continuing rich and vibrant artistic tradition which has always been a major part of the Dandenong Ranges.


Open Studios provides an innovative way for artists and the community to directly engage with each other on an on-going basis.

It allows for interaction between people of all ages and all cultural/social backgrounds. It is an inclusive, no-cost cultural activity for the community to participate in, building social engagement and cultural awareness, and by providing the opportunity for increased economic activity and thus sustainability for artists, it enables such artists to continue creating in innovative ways that contribute to community.

Blasphemy – the sacred and the profane
is an explorative exhibition featuring 24 Artists working across all media.

You are invited to join special guest
Rachel Berger
and the artists at the opening on
Thursday March 29, 6.30pm

The exhibition opening will feature performance works from three exhibiting artists & soundscapes by Roderick Price.
(Listen to ‘Digital Collapse’ excerpt HERE)

Exhibition until to April 22, 2007

Blasphemy seeks to explore visual, performative and aural responses from artists to its key guiding questions, fundamental inquires such as: Do you as an artist seek to exist outside or to challenge the ‘middle ground’, and if so, why? What role does the potential of art to ‘challenge’ hold in today’s post-everything affluenzic society?
Can the artist play a role in interrogating society and the individual in their ‘unfounded complacency’? Should they? Or is this simply another judgment in itself?

Burrinja invites you to experience the exhibition and interrogate these vital questions in the context of the works and the artist’s statements.

A full publication of Artists’ Statements from the exhibition will be available here to Download shortly.

Blasphemy the exhibition
Burrinja Gallery & Café: Mon to Sun 10:30am – 5:00pm
351 Glenfern Road
Upwey Victoria 3158
Australia
blasphemy@burrinja.org.au
03 9754 872

Class Details: Saturday September 23, 30, and October 7, 10.30am-2.30pm.
Class size: Strictly limited to 12 participants
Cost: Free!
Ages: 14-18
Bookings Essential on 9754 8723.
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