Visitors to the Meeniyan Art Gallery on Sunday enjoyed the chance to meet a couple of the artists currently exhibiting there.
Jenny Peterson of Boolarra and Phillip Island’s Bill Binks chatted about their creative approaches and techniques.
Their exhibitions are running alongside that of Wooreen fibre artist Meg Viney who was bitterly disappointed not to be able to attend as she was unwell.
The trio of artists are all inspired by nature.
Bill’s exhibition, ‘The Things That Matter’ reflects the constantly changing moods of the sea and sky in his acrylic paintings, with his sculptural works also on show.
He explained his choice of acrylic paint.
“It dries quickly, as opposed to oils,” he said, adding that the latter may take a day and he is too impatient to wait, despite believing oils lend themselves to creating greater subtlety and nuance.
Bill spoke of the inspiration nature provides.
“I go down the beach first thing every morning and I go for a walk and have a dip,” he said, adding that as well as seeing the water close up, he is constantly aware of the fabulous skies that are occurring.
Bill described what he loves about sculpture, including the tactile nature of clay.
A limestone sculpture, ‘Sea Nymph 3’ is among his works on show in Meeniyan, a medium he works less in now due to difficulty wearing a mask.
He loves the feel of the limestone once he gets a curve going in it and rubbing his hand over it as he is chiselling, sanding or doing whatever else is required.
Jenny’s exhibition, ‘One Walk’, is a collection of prints based on a landscape observed during a morning walk last September, including Pike’s Track and Circle Track in the vicinity of Boolarra’s Old Mill, and featuring organic objects gathered during the walk.
Jenny spoke about her use of an etching machine, which she described as resembling both a laundry mangle and a pasta machine.
“It gives you a gentle and consistent pressure,” she said.
She described the process of creating one of her ‘There and Back’ works that incorporated the design of a double-headed arrow sign with natural objects.
“The black and white background is printed, so that’s inking up the double-headed arrow sign and putting that through the press, then once that’s dry I’ve gone back using the same piece of paper printing the plants over the top; then I’ve come back for a third time for the collage part, so it’s three layers,” she said.
While her black and white printing dries overnight, her soy-based coloured ink needs a week to do so due to its oily consistency.
The whole process demonstrates Jenny has greater reserves of patience than Bill, while Meg’s creations require even more of that commodity.
Meg invited Jenny to exhibit alongside her in the current exhibition, with the pair agreeing their artpieces complement each other.
“There’s a nice connection between our work although she’s using leaves and plant fibres in a different way,” Jenny said.
Meg’s exhibition, ‘Scrolling Through Time’, is inspired by traditional Japanese packaging and by the handwritten scrolls widely produced prior to the introduction of the printing press, using materials such as her hand-felted lace and handmade paper.
Her friend and fellow artist Sue Gilford introduced Meg’s works to those present, saying Meg depicts a world a lot of people undervalue.
As a pyrographer, Sue said she is quite rough with wood, contrasting that with Meg’s artistic approach.
“This requires delicacy, fineness and a meditative process,” Sue said of Meg’s creations.
She spoke of the captivating nature of the scrolls.
“The fact it’s rolled up, it’s making you think, and I want to enquire about it,” Sue said.
Those keen to experience the current trio of exhibitions at Meeniyan Art Gallery have until April 29.
