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An online virtual tour featuring highlights of recent shows

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Kalorama
November 2008
Relief
November 2008
State of Mind
September 2008
The Rite of Spring
September 2008
Ben Blackett - Interpretation
September 2008
The Four Seasons the Four Freinds
August 2008
TAKEN FROM LIFE
August 2008
Vessel
July 2008
Sew me a story - Our lifes journey
June 2008
Dandenong Ranges Open Studios Exhibition
May 2008
Secret Life of us
March 2008
Transmography - Mark Westaway
March 2008
Vivid Visions
January 2008
Derek Erskine
December 2007
Innovative Collabs
October 2007
Interchange Outer East
September 2007
Finding the Wild Woman
August 2007
Exhibition of Works by Supported Residents
July 2007
Alex Maisey - wildlife photography
June 2007
Elemental
May 2007
Blasphemy
March 2007
All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go
March 2007
Zandrina
February 2007
Da Bronx Photography
December 2006
Inspired
December 3006
Rosemary Marchington - Without all the Masks
October 2006
The Melbourne & Sydney Stencil Art Festival
October 2006
Contemporary Quilters
September 2006
CHONK | ORGANIC
August 2006
TRUTH AND UNTRUTH
March 2006
Felters at Burrinja
December 2005
Bending the Limits
December 2005
Reflections
September 2005
Emerge
September 2005
Australian Landscape Photography
November 2005
No Bouquets
August 2005
Collision
July 2005
Nichola Clarke
March 2005
Two Expressions of Natures Form
February 2005
Thirst- D.Ranged
August 2004
From Paint to Pasta to Plaster 
September 2004
See Through Plus
October 2004
The DRCCC Open Studios Exhibtion
April 2004
From the Tea Cup and eXpressions
July 2004
Material Girls
July 2004
Threads of Time
December 2003
Lime Moon
August 2003
Happy House
February 2002
100:001
April 2002
Neil McLeod
April 2002
Coonara Community School
May 2002
Terror
September 2002
Brendon Murray
December 2002
The art of the costumier
December 2002
Tracks Though The Bush
March 2002
Precious Little
Apruil 2002
Jaqueline le Souf
July 2001
Deranged
Autumn 2001
Alan Jones
March 2001
   



KALORAMA
Vivienne Carter
6 – 23 NOVEMBER 2008

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



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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.

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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.

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THE RITE OF SPRING
Ikebana Exhibition
23-28 SEPTEMBER 2008

An exhibition of Ikebana, Japanese floral art, arranged by students and teachers of the Sogetsu School.

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.

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BEN BLACKET
interpretation

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

 
Ben Blackett - Laughing Face

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

 
Ben Blackett - Motion Face
 
Ben Blacket - Station
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THE FOUR SEASONS, THE FOUR FRIENDS
Chan Academy Australia
9-24 AUGUST 2008
Opening 1pm Sunday 10th August

Official Opening by Shire of Yarra Ranges Mayor Cr. Tim Heenan

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”

 
 
The Chan Academy is located and run by the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd
33 Brooking Street, Upwey, Ph: 9754 3334.

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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.

 

 
Gabrielle recently moved from Wollongong in NSW to settle in Ferntree Gully. She is a mother and fulltime painter, and has exhibited widely across Australia. Working across media, from sculpture and painting to drawing, Gabrielle is interested in people and their relationships. Her artwork is figurative and expressive as she aims to capture the emotion and spirit of her subjects.

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VESSEL
Sebastian Nicholas

2nd - 20th JULY 2008
Opening 12:30 Sunday 6th July

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


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SEW ME A STORY
The Fabricators - Lynette Forrest, Joy Serwylo, Helen Cameron, Hani Ron,
Joan Warren, Frances Higginbotham, Wendy Ferguson, Wanda McLeod


16 – 22 JUNE 2008
Opening 7pm Thursday 19th June

Formed over ten years ago, the Fabricators are a group of 8 mainly local women who meet monthly to create unique collaborative textile art. Some of the original members still in the group and are practicing artists in their own fields, while others create for fun and community. They work on each others projects, passing them from member to member to create multiple original artworks. These are sometimes given to other local women in need.
Stretching, sewing, and tearing at the boundaries of textile art, the Fabricators have formed a supportive friendship group and generous creative community. With their inaugural exhibition, ‘Sew Me a Story’, the Fabricators would like to invite the wider community to share their stories.
“Working with the Fabricators is an exercise in creativity: a stretching out of my own ideas and techniques, a development of the special friendships of women, a delight at the results when the next step of a project is pulled with a flourish from the bag at our monthly get togethers.” - Helen Cameron

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OUR LIFE JOURNEY
The Burrinja Arties

24 – 29 JUNE 2008
Opening 11am Friday 27th June

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



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JOURNEY

Dandenong Ranges Open Studios Exhibition

Opens Thursday May 15 at 7pm


Exhibition until 8 JUNE 2008

Each year Burrinja holds an Open Studio Artists’ Exhibition featuring a key work from each artist participating in the Dandenong Ranges Open Studios program.

This year all 22 artists have created work for the 2008 exhibition theme ‘Journey’,
promising inspiring expressions of physical, emotional and spiritual journeys.


This exhibition is a unique opportunity to see and experience work from all of the Open Studio artists in the one gallery.

Burrinja a great place to check out the artists’ work, pick up your Open Studios book,
and then start your own journey through their studios in the hills.


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


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SECRET LIFE OF US

Marian Blank, Narelle Gleeson, Sue Machin, Carli Wilson, Ingrid Wood and Natalie Vranjes
18 – 30 MARCH 2008

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 am inspired by magical realism, quirky narratives and life’s eccentricities in general.
Painting is a new medium for me and I am enjoying exploring its challenges and possibilities’

Ingrid Wood




‘My work is largely derived from organic forms and natural shapes.
I draw influences from my surrounding environment, shadows and the play of light and dark.
It is a fusion between a search for expressing my ideas in a form with relation to the body,
aesthetics and technique'

Narelle Gleeson




‘I have always gathered inspiration from my surroundings, in particular when I am travelling.
I have been very lucky to experience the way other cultures live and I try to portray these differences in my images.
Photography is a beautiful medium that is changing rapidly.
Although I enjoy the endless creativity of digital imaging, the challenge and satisfaction
created from traditional film capture and darkroom printing is my preference’

Carli Wilson



‘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




‘I like the idea that anything is possible in art, ceramic sculpture gives me freedom
to express my thoughts and ideas and I'm willing to accept the consequences of that freedom.
I am inspired by my life experiences. This collection of work is dedicated to my father,
he was a man who could appreciate beauty in all walks of life'

Natalie Vranjes




'My love is my teaching in The Arts.
I have been teaching for 31 years and continue to enjoy my involvement in education immensely.
In this way, I am not able to practice my own art making very often. When I do, I return to what is
familiar to me, my style. I find my drawing, especially the landscape and nude, a constant source
of inspiration and capture my vision in coloured pencil and gouache'

Sue Machin

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TRANSMOGRAPHY

Mark Westaway
23 FEBRUARY - 10 MARCH 2008

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

Electric Chair

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.

Forest Light
Nectar Kiss
Dogwood
You are invited to join Mark Westaway at the opening afternoon in the Jarmbi Gallery at BURRINJA on
Saturday 23 February 2008 at 2PM.

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VIVID VISIONS 2008
Showcasing the best local young artists from across the Shire...
January 21 - February 16

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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.


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Vivid Visions will be on show in the Jarmbi gallery at Burrinja from January 21 - February 16 2008. Admission is free.

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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,

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from the first Australians, the Aborigines, to the present European Immigrants. The final effect of the exhibition is one of exhilaration at an artist still finding new insights into painting and into his country after 2 decades of painting the landscape and people; and one whose work, even after 20 years, still has the capacity to surprise and enlighten new generations of viewers.

David Erskine at work in the studio
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David Erskine, Figures
David Erskine, Landscape

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Innovative Collabs
A joint exhibition by Bill Kemp and Helen Varner-Kemp
Opening Sunday October 14 at 2.30pm

Our Art is personal feelings of everyday experiences and relates to fantasy.
Our Collaborate work is unique as it explores and expresses concepts experienced together.
Innovation is our trademark.

See www.artcollabs.com.au


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Wiremagic 1 - Bill Kemp and Helen Varner-Kemp  
Wiremagic 2 - Bill Kemp and Helen Varner-Kemp

Tesslars - Bill Kemp and Helen Varner-Kemp

Skyhigh - Bill Kemp and Helen Varner-Kemp

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Interchange Outer East
Presents works by its program artists

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


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Finding the Wild Woman
Valezka
Exhibition July 26 to August 5


“I would like to share my journey with you. A woman’s journey. One that has taken 36 years thus far and still continues.

I am just a woman, just a mother, just a wife, just an artist.

In my work I express my loves and fears, my many dreams and many shapes and forms. It shows I am ever changing, constantly moving from one vision of myself, of womanhood, to another. I hope you enjoy my story.”

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Valezka was born in Chile, South America, and immigrated to Australia with her family in 1973 when she was three years old. She is a self taught artist from Cockatoo who draws inspiration from the rituals of daily life, from motherhood and from her South American heritage. In her paintings she tries to express the power, courage and strength she sees in all women.

“The Circle of Women Exhibition”, in 2006, told the story of my search for the women, or feminine energies that surrounded me. Some were human, some ancestors and some were aspects of myself. All of them had been waiting for me to acknowledge them, waiting patiently, speaking to me in dreams, feelings and visions. I finally listened to them and asked for help and guidance in my life and the result was the series of paintings in the exhibition. All of this happened during my 4th pregnancy and culminated in the amazing birth of little Valeska.

In this year’s exhibition called “Finding The Wild Woman”, I feel I have awakened to the power of the Earth. My greatest search this past year was to find a teacher to guide me. To my surprise I found one. Her name is Amber, and she has challenged my view of the world, my view as a human being. Amber is an aged grey mare, who came into my life by chance in 2006. She has not only taught me to see life through another species’ eyes, but when she became a mother 6 months ago, I saw similarities in her journey through motherhood and my own. We have become sisters, kindred spirits, two females meeting in a special place to learn from each other. It has been an unbelievable experience and this new exhibition aims to share this with you.


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Exhibition of Works by Supported Residents
Exhibition Friday June 29 to Monday July 2

This vibrant mixed-media group exhibition features works created during a weekly workshop run by Burrinja with funding from Home and Community Care to provide people living in insecure housing circumstances with an artistic and social outlet
This is an arts-based skills and learning program where participants can learn art techniques and about community and culture, all in a relaxed and friendly environment.

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


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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.”



This was Alex Maisey’s first solo exhibition of works,
bringing together the art of wildlife photography and the our Dandenong Ranges environment.

Jarmbi Gallery.
Friday June 8 – Sunday June 24
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Burrinja is pleased to present

Elemental’ - earth, wind, fire, water

Dandenong Ranges Open Studios Exhibition
Opens Thursday May 17 at 6.30pm.
Exhibition until June 3


Each year Burrinja holds an Open Studio Artists’ Exhibition. The exhibition features a key work from each participating artist in the Dandenong Ranges Open Studios. The 2007 theme is ‘Elemental’. This exhibition is a unique opportunity to see and experience work from all of the Open Studio artists in the one gallery.

Elemental has been chosen for this year’s theme as a great way to engage the artists and community with the unique environment of the Dandenongs in which we live.

Burrinja is a great place to start your artists’ studio tour!
Jarmbi Gallery at Burrinja is free and open 10.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Sunday.


Daniel Rigos - The reunion of opposing thought.
Daniel Rigos - The reunion of opposing thought

Sue Jarvis. The Barber at the Top of the Town
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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.

Sue Jarvis. The Barber at the Top of the Town

 


Henrietta Manning – Storm Passing, Scotland
Henrietta Manning – Storm Passing, Scotland

For more information on Open Studios see the Open Studios Page

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There is no middle ground for the artist…
There is a time and a place somewhere in the world where your beliefs would be your death sentence.
We live in a world of polarizing communities – people killing and being killed. Where martyrs suicide for their beliefs.
What is it to believe? What is it to blaspheme?

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


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Peter Forward The World is America
 

Exhibiting Artists:
Anna Robertson, Bernadette Burke-Reynolds, Joy Serwylo and Altered books collective, Claire O'Halloran, Denise Dempsey, Elaine Pullum, Fiona Ruttelle, Fiona Tomsic, Jenny Saulwick, John Churchward, Jud Wimhurst, Man Fred, Mark Westaway, Neil McLeod, Peter Forward, Phaedra Press, Robert Doble, Robyn Base, Roderick Price, Sam Riegl, Shelley Cormick, Sue Jarvis, Tirkik Onus, Underground Labs.

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Man Fred No Sanctuary 3
 

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.


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Fiona Ruttle Pawn Stars
 

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


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All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go!
an exhibition by
Cheryl Small

Until March 25, 2007


Cheryl Small - Untitled

Cheryl is a contemporary artist from Powelltown in the Yarra Ranges.
Working originally in ceramics and moulded works, she now concentrates on painting and collages.
Having previously run the 'Nefertiti Bo Peepi' gallery in Warburton,
Cheryl plans to again open a gallery in the beautiful Yarra Valley soon.
She has exhibited widely over an extensive career in the arts.

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Zandrina
An Exhibition of the Works of Artist Zandrina Tacey

Opening Saturday Feb 3, 3pm to 5pm
Guest Speaker: Madeline McCristal
Exhibition 3rd - 25th February 2007

Zandrina lives through her spectacular collection of artwork, which was mostly hidden during her lifetime and is about to be released to the public. It can reduce one to tears of happiness with its beauty and spectacular colours, which in form depicts females and families in an inspirational light. This enlightening exhibition gives a glimpse into her very private life and transports the viewer to another place..


A bird or a boat can carry a soul
A bird or a boat can carry a soul - Zandrina Tracey
My chair changes to a sphinx - Zandrina Tacey

I’ve lived my life while it was mine to live” (Journal 2004)
How hard can life get? When the cards were stacked against her, Zandrina re-lit the fuse and fought the fight of her life.
Rising from the depths of pain, Zandrina Tacey artist and poet, produced wonderfully positive, loving, inspirational
and very often-spiritual artworks and poetry.

Zandrina’s life was truly special, productive and blessed with artistic gifts. Cancer, for all its suffering, anguish and uncertainty brought out the fighting spirit in Zandrina and helped her to attain high quality in her artistic and poetic work and show the spirit of her journey on earth

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A selection of recent and not-so-recent photographic works by Michael Nadir Dewhirst.
The images come from many areas of Australia, from New York, and from nature.
The images are taken on both transparency and negative film.
Some of the images have then been scanned and printed onto canvas.
The texture of the canvas gives an added dimension to the photographic image.
Others are presented as montage.

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Inspired
Presented by 'The Steel Magnolias' of Sherbrooke Art Society
Opens November 22, 2006. Closes December 3.

This exhibition named Inspired was arranged by eleven devotee artists who have been painting together at Sherbrooke Art Society for many years, under the guidance of one of Australia's foremost artists, Glenda Wise. The medium is mainly in oils. All paintings will be available for sale, and can make a wonderful gift for someone who appreciates art.

‘The Steel Magnolias’ are:
Lydia DeGraaf, Jenny Feller, Great Fry, Julia Guglielmi, Deb Hunter, Malcolm Ives, Terry Lane, Sue Martin, Wendy Roads, Angie Steer, Glenda Wise

Rosemary Renouf will also be exhibiting photographs which were taken within Australia of scenery to inspire. These beautiful photographs are available as cards and will be for sale.

Inspiration for art is often found nearby in our beautiful Dandenong Ranges, and can be aided with the help of photography to complete a painting.

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Image - Rosemary Marchington oo

 

Rosemary Marchington
Without all the Masks

The essence of being nude“*
(*from a poem by Robin Blanchette)


Opens Saturday October 14, 10.30am
Exhibition until Sunday October 29


Rosemary Marchington is an emerging artist whose early works for exhibition convey a convincing combination of emotion and line which has found its place after many years being denied expression due to strict family religious influences.
The beauty and sensuality of the female form leads throughout her current works and is in part an expression of her emergence out of the strict collar of religion. Her works express on one hand controlled gentle works in black and white and then conversely, flowing forms brought to life with strong colour and powerful emotion.


Rosemary won the "Peoples Choice Award" at her first exhibition at the Fernlea House Art Exhibition in Emerald in October 2005, and was invited to participate in the popular Canterbury Art Exhibition where her works sold on the first night.

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Rosemary's works on display at the Jarmbi Gallery centre around the female form and include charcoal on paper, chalk on artboard, coloured pastel on board and textured paper, and acrylic on canvas

Opens Saturday October 14, 10.30am
Exhibition until Sunday October 29
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oo Burrinja presents
The Melbourne & Sydney Stencil Art Festival
Exhibition September 21 to October 8

Emerging from the underground arts scene into the contemporary limelight, stencil art is shedding its illicit associations and proving itself to be an exciting, gritty, and often political art form. Burrinja is proud to present an exhibition of the best works from this year’s Melbourne and Sydney Stencil Art Festival’s. The Fine Cuts exhibition will see the works of many of the most respected stencil artists in the world today. The exhibition will be opening at Burrinja’s Jarmbi Gallery on Thursday, September 21 at 7pm and is a chance for hills residents to see the best exponents of the hottest artform around.

FREE stencil art workshops
To complement the exhibition Burrinja will be running a series of stencil art workshop for high school students. Over three weeks, the students can learn how to design, cut and spray your own stencil masterpiece, guided by two of Melbourne’s top stencil artists. Shoes, skateboards, bedroom walls – the whole world is a canvas when you’ve got stencilling skills! The free workshops will run at Burrinja and strictly limited to 12 participants.

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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Contemporary Quilters
‘stitches - textures - surfaces’
August 26 - September 17, 2006

Eight contemporary quilters with an eclectic range of influences
come together in a wondrous and inspiring eruption of colour and texture

To be opened by Joy Serwylo on Saturday August 26 at 2pm


Quilt - Suzanne Francis oo Suzanne Francis

Suzanne is a relative new comer to the art of contemporary quilt making.

Prior to this she spent many years teaching and learning many of the traditional crafts.

It was only upon the completion of a three year course at Box Hill TAFE, ‘Diploma of Art’ in 2002 that she began to explore contemporary ways of utilizing fabric with patchwork being the medium and also began to dye her own fabrics using silk paints and procion dyes.
Above - Quilt - Suzanne Francis

Quilt - Jann Haggart oo

Jann Haggart

Jann came to quilting as a non-sewer but with interests in fabrics and colour. After 10 years of making traditional quilts, she realized that something was missing, as she always wanted to make individual pieces.

In 1999, after a contemporary design workshop with Glenys Mann and a subsequent workshop with Joy Serwylo, the door was opened to the world of self creativity which gave her permission to “do her own thing”.

This has allowed Jann to extend her use of hand dyed and other alternative fabrics in her work which heavily reflects her love of nature.

Above - Quilt - Jann Haggart

00 Judy Leong
Judy’s fairy Godmother gave her a brush, some paints, a sketchpad, a needle and some threads and pushed her out the door into the jungle of creativity, and she has not stopped playing with her toys.
It gives her such a buzz to be able to come up with a workable design and then to be able to transfer that with the help of her ordinary sewing machine into a textile art.
It gives her enormous excitement when viewers are able to read the message, or be able to relate to its meaning and respond emotionally to her art work.


Above - Quilt - Noelle Lyon
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Noelle Lyon
Noelle began quilting in November, 1991 when she enrolled in a class for a “quilt-as-you-go” Post & Rail quilt which took her another 4 years to complete.

When the making of traditional quilts no longer offered her a challenge, she “drifted” into contemporary design and her quilts moved from the bed to the wall.
Wanting to explore textile art and design, she enrolled in a course at Melbourne Institute of Textiles in 1996.

Her love of hand dyed and painted fabrics, was enriched during this course, and she uses them extensively in her work.

Bright fabrics and geometric design features strongly in her work as does the use of computer design.

She experiments with the quirky and is constantly in trouble from the “quilt police” for bending the rules a little too far.

Quilt - Barbara Macey
Above - Quilt - Barbara Macey
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Barbara Macey

I began quiltmaking late and it happened by chance. Though I began sewing, embroidering and knitting at an early age I knew nothing about either art or quilts.
My work is not traditional but I use a tim-honoured foundation piecing technique adapted to my needs. I often make reference to traditional formats and motifs putting them in a different and unmist