I’ve had a nice run recently. I submitted my nine piece Meerkat Montage to the annual exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists (being held right now in New Jersey) knowing that they only take a small proportion of the entries. I was delighted when I got accepted and even more delighted when they informed me that the art was further selected for their smaller travelling exhibition which is a massive honour for me. As such, even if it doesn’t sell over there, I won’t see it again for well over a year as it goes from one side of the States to the other. As such I couldn’t resist so I booked a ticket and will be flying over there with my wife Gaynor for the artists opening. We will be staying with our friend and most amazing artist Cathy Sheeter (check her work out – http://www.aphelionart.com/) and then we’ll have a holiday in New York City and be tourists.

I also won a highly commended award for my bonobo “Pan”  up at the Mcgregor Art Extravaganza in Queensland. I’m glad this has finally won an award because it’s one of my favourite pieces and being large, it took me forever to finish.

And then to top it off I’ve just won the scratchboard section in the Nossal Art Show in Victoria with “Temptation”, Meerkat and Grasshopper.

I’ve finished my solo exhibition for SALA (South Australian Living Artists) which is always fun and I’ve also been conducting workshops. When I go to schools I like to pass a small scratchboard around and get everyone to contribute to it. Hence the following two scratchboards have input from over 50 kids, about two minutes each. Their styles are so totally different and of course not everyone follows the fur direction or works out the light. We are talking about some kids being less than ten and when I was that age, I didn’t know which end of the pencil to hold so it’s understandable that the results are a bit “all over the place”. I then use the boards to show how forgiving a medium scratchboard is. I spend no more than 30 extra minutes on it with a bit of diluted ink and a fibreglass brush and the difference is massive. That’s what you get when you use the best boards in the world (made by Ampersand). The finished boards, (on the right) are darker because they’ve been varnished.

Who doesn’t love a meerkat!!

The International Society of Scratchboard Artists normally holds its annual exhibition in prestigious galleries in North America, but in Feb 2017 it is in South Australia. Come to the opening night, February 10th, and see some of the finest scratchboard art in the world. We have exhibiting artists from the US, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, China and South Africa, not to mention all over Australia in the lovely Stump Hill Gallery in the beautiful winery region of McLaren Vale in South Australia. Many artists are flying in to attend the show and it is a great opportunity to meet some of the world’s finest artists, see and purchase amazing art.
If you can’t come to the opening night, the exhibition lasts for five weeks until March 16th 2017.

I will have a couple of pieces in the exhibition and these are below, so if you are in the area, I’d love to see you there.

One day about 18 months ago a flat pack parcel arrived for me at home in Adelaide. I noticed it was from the US. I often send art to shows in the States and if it doesn’t sell, it gets sent back to me. However at this time I wasn’t expecting any returns. I noticed it was from my friend Diana Lee. Maybe she’d sent me a magazine? Excited, I ripped the parcel open to be faced – literally – with myself. Diana had colluded with my lovely but sneaky wife Gaynor and the result was a fabulous portrait of me. Totally unexpected and the best surprise one could get.

Great scratchboard artist friends Harold Farley, Lorna Hannett, Me, Diana Lee and Allan Ace Adams

To put things in context, Diana Lee could be described as one of the finest artists in the world without a shadow of doubt. She is a pioneer of scratchboard art and has inspired many many artists to get involved with this fine art medium. She was with me when we created the International Society of Scratchboard Artists with five other artists. Due in no small part to her, this society has now gone global and as a result, Diana has ended up touching even more lives. She certainly touched mine and my family’s. We all loved her and I’m devastated by her passing to an aggressive form of cancer.

This is the portrait she did of me and underneath that a selection of her art which will show you why I consider her so highly. However, no matter how good her art was, it didn’t match up to how good she was as a human being and I will sorely miss her.