Pittwater Life June 2022 Issue

Art Life
Art Life
Gemma prizes her
Wynne achievement
Pittwater artist Gemma Rasdall fulfilled
a five-year career dream last month
when she was selected as a finalist in
the 2022 Wynne Prize, with her entry hanging
in the Art Gallery of NSW until August.
The prestigious Wynne Prize, staged
concurrently with the Archibald and Sulman
Prizes, has been awarded annually
since 1897 for the best landscape painting
of Australian scenery.
Gemma’s series of watercolour panel
paintings of views from homes on Scotland
Island, where she is based, was
among 34 artworks chosen from more
than 600 entries.
Gemma painted her series
of 24 small works – ‘Framed
by life offshore’ (top) – while
staring at the hand-drawn
‘inspiration board’ message
she had pinned to her studio
wall (pictured).
The process marked a reset
in her artist’s journey.
“I’d mainly been painting
acrylic paintings, mixed
media paintings of seascapes
for the past 10 years. Towards
the end of last year, I was
struggling with overworking
my paintings a lot,” she said.
“I started doing watercolour works on paper;
they’re tiny. I was trying to be deliberate about
every brushstroke I made because you see every
brushstroke. But they’re fast, so if you mess it up,
it doesn’t matter.
“I did heaps of these and I was really enjoying
the process… I wanted to tell a story about the
island and I thought this was a good way of doing
it.”
Gemma asked her neighbours if she could visit
their houses and do sketches on their balconies.
“I did this with my friends from the island, from
all angles of the
island.”
Each panel
faces a different
aspect and is
captioned underneath.
“I’ve entered
the Wynne Prize
three times,”
Gemma said.
“I have this big
sign on my wall
for the last five
years, ‘Get hung
in the Wynne Prize’… being selected as
a finalist was so unexpected, but such
an amazing feeling.”
The artist’s statement for Gemma’s
entry reads: “Welcome to Scotland
Island: a short boat ride, casual paddle
or vigorous swim from Church Point
Wharf on Garigal Country, NSW. We
offshore dwellers blow in and out
with the tides, basking like seals when
the sun shines and washing up like
drowning rats when the squalls hit.
This place and its people – a quirky
and multifarious community – warm
my soul and flood my creative practice
with colour and movement. This artwork is a
collection of moments captured around the island
and its surrounding bays from friends’ and neighbours’
houses. It is an ode to the place I call home.”
Gemma’s artworks have featured on the cover of
Pittwater Life, including last month.
On May 13, the Wynne Prize was awarded to
Nicholas Harding for his Cabbage Palm-focussed
painting ‘Eora’.
Meanwhile Gemma’s current exhibition ‘Water
access only’ continues at the Bather’s Pavilion,
Mosman, until June 20.
– Nigel Wall
* More info artgallery.nsw.gov.au
Studio
show ‘For
the Love of
Pittwater’
or the Love of
‘FPittwater’ – a
collection of local
marine life and oceaninspired
artworks by Jo
Bell – is the June feature
exhibition at The Studio
at Careel Bay Marina.
Jo, a passionate
volunteer member of
the Organisation for the
Rescue and Research of
Cetaceans in Australia
(ORRCA), uses her
platform to raise
awareness, educate
and inspire others to
protect the ocean and
its inhabitants.
She describes her
collection as a “love
letter to the local area”,
with the artworks
inspired by Pittwater
available for viewing
and purchase in
support of ORRCA.
(Ten per cent of sale
proceeds will be
donated to ORRCA.)
‘For the Love of
Pittwater’ will be
launched at The Studio
by Laing+Simmons
Young Property on 2
June and is open 8am
to 4pm, Monday to
Saturday, and Sundays
from 8am to 12pm.
* View a collection
of Jo’s originals
and prints at
oceanloveart.com
Colours abound
in Spectrum show
F
ollowing the success of their recent Autumn Art Exhibition, the
Northern Beaches Art Society will present their 76th Annual
Awards Art Exhibition and Sale at the Newport Community Centre
from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 June.
Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan will open the exhibition,
‘Spectrum’, and present all the awards on opening night.
“Our enthusiastic members, who are all local artists, will be vying
for three major awards and all the paintings will be for sale,” said
NBAS President Heather Macorison.
“A number of our new members, who joined after visiting the
previous exhibition, will have works on display at this exhibition
and visitors will be able to see a vast array of works in a variety of
mediums and styles in oils, watercolours, acrylics, and pastels as
well as drawings covering a plethora of subjects.”
Also, visitors will be able to purchase raffle tickets to win a beautiful
watercolour painting by Lyndall Clegg (all proceeds will go to
the Ukraine Crisis Appeal, with the winner drawn at the end of the
exhibition).
Visitors will also be able to vote for their favourite painting in the
‘People’s Choice’ prize, with the artist who gains the most votes for
their painting awarded a prize.
‘Spectrum’ will be open from 2pm on Friday 17 June and on Saturday
from 9am to 5pm and Sunday from 9am to 4pm. The Official
Opening will be from 6pm to 8pm on Friday 17 June, when drinks
will be served.
Purchasers of exhibition paintings can collect their artworks
after 4pm on Sunday 19 June.
* More info northernbeachesartsociety.org
Art Life
46 JUNE 2022
The Local Voice Since 1991
The Local Voice Since 1991
JUNE 2022 47