A recent new venture for me, I want to drive more Australian art into my brain and I figured the best way to do this is to travel the country for an extended period of time. Obviously it won’t happen now for a while until Covid 19 has all ended but one day……….
As such, I bought an empty Ford Transit and we converted it ourselves into an off grid camper with full solar set up. I have done a van tour with my wife Gaynor which you can find on this YouTube link
What a great trip we’ve just had. Two blissful weeks in the United States with a holiday built around attending the Society of Animal Artists annual exhibition in Oradell, New Jersey. I have to admit I was delighted to be even juried into the society as a member a couple of years ago because their standards are extremely high. Then I found I was juried in as a signature member, the highest level you can be juried in at. Surprise number three came when I was accepted to their annual exhibition at my first attempt. Anything else would be the icing on the cake so image my joy when I won an Award of Excellence, the highest award they give at the exhibition. Blown away!!
The rest of the trip was a blast. We hiked in the Appalachians in New York State with great friends and fellow scratchboard artists Lori Dunn and Cathy Sheeter, took photographs of Peregrine Falcons right across from New York City, and then we did the usual touristy things in Manhattan.
This is the medal I will be receiving for my Award of Excellence
With my Meerkat Montage
Lori Dunn, also a recipient of an Award of Excellence, with her wonderful art. There were six scratchboards out of 125 pieces in the exhibition and two of them received Awards of Excellence (eight were awarded) a strike rate we can be proud of.
Cathy Sheeter with her amazing kingfisher clayboard
Tamara Pokorny with her incredible scratchboard of a lionfish. I don’t even know how she does what she does!
Julie Askew with her piece Lifeline 4, Red-Crowned Cranes
Kim Diment won the cover of the exhibition catalogue with her Green Sea Turtle “Adrift in Turquoise”
The long and short of it, SAA President Reneé Bemis being dwarfed by artist Rachelle Siegrist and board member Cynthie Fisher
Our home for a week. The Hiram Blauvelt artist in residence Cathy Sheeter lives here and kindly hosted Gaynor and I. It was such a beautiful place.
Exhibition venue the Hiram Blauvelt Wildlife Art Museum
The Mansion on the same grounds. It is in a state of disrepair and if ever there was a perfect venue for a haunted mansion movie, this is it.
Peregrine Falcon with a bluejay dinner. This was quite a distance away so I am zoomed in as far as I can go
Black Rat Snake
Pupae of a Sphinx Moth
Gaynor and I signing off from an amazing trip.
One of my favourite artists, Avril Thomas from Magpie Springs Gallery, Vineyard and Cellar Door, is holding an exhibition of small works from people all round the world. Proceeds from this show will go towards helping Marilyn Jetty Swim raise money for Cancer Research with Cancer Council SA, something that is very dear to Avril. All works are unframed and only 4″x6″ to make postage easy and inexpensive. The art will be displayed at her gallery in the Adelaide Hills and sales will be via auction. Gallery hrs:- Fri Sat Sun 11 – 5 Magpie Springs, 1870 Brookman Rd HOPE FOREST SOUTH AUSTRALIA 5172
Check out Magpie Springs Facebook page and also the “It’s a small world” page.
I have been honoured to be asked to take part and have sent this small piece called “A mother’s Protection”.
I wish I was in London this week. The David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year exhibition has been on at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London and the photos of the artwork that I’ve seen have been absolutely stunning. This is a link to the work that’s been hung on the walls this year. It looks like it’s been a very successful event and will raise much needed funds for wildlife conservation, something that drives David and all of us wildlife artists.
A fabulous artist friend of mine, Martin Aveling, sent me a link to a blog by well known artist Katherine Tyrrell where she had written highly about my “Meerkat Montage” which was a lovely surprise. It’s always good to see that people appreciate your work so a very big thank you to her.
Also, here are the two pieces that Martin got accepted into the show. I absolutely love his work and find his clever use of “what to” and “what not to” include very attractive.
“Bateleur” by Martin Aveling
“Clear to Land” by Martin Aveling
I’ve had a very good month. I submitted my Meerkat Montage to the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year annhual exhibition. This esteemed event attracts entries from all over the globe and a very small percentage gets accepted. Last year I got into the category “Selected but not hung” with a grazing zebra which was very nice but this year I have managed to go one better by getting into the actual exhibition. The event will be at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London from June 27th to July 2nd 2016. It’s particularly important to me because David Shepherd was my original inspiration in wildlife art, something he’s been a pioneer of since the early 1960s. I believe I have five of his books and three of his prints. We as a family have also adopted elephants and wild dogs that his wildlife foundation saves so to get into his exhibition is awesome for me.
Then to cap it all off I applied to join the legendary Society of Animal Artists. This society is full of my heroes. I skimmed through the member list and saw amazing luminaries as associate members. They have a higher level called Signature level but that’s reserved for the best of the best – a bit beyond me I would have thought. So here I was waiting for my application to be judged and hoping I would get in (apparently 75 people applied this year and only 25 were accepted) when I get the email saying “Congratulations, you have been accepted as a Signature Level member”. This didn’t even enter my head that I would get this result. I have been indeed honoured this month and am very grateful. Along with being able to sign my work with the letters MSA for my Master status in The International Society of Scratchboard Artists, I can now also add the letters SSA as a signature artist of the Society of Animal Artists.
Here are a few recent pieces I’ve done
Patrick Hedges 