It is hard to not get excited for me when all the work is coming together, some has gone off to the framers, the photo’s are being sorted, invitations printed and even new business cards.

It is a strange thing that creates utter chaos in my life, having an exhibition. The order of things get tipped upside down and usually fall back in place in time for the opening (hopefully).

Bit of peep to illustrate the point…

The show is called Flourishing.

It insinuates, new growth, and a kind of settling in to the world. We have lived here for nearly seven years, the garden is a little younger than that but has absolutely flourished. The home now looks like it was always here.

I feel like I have always been here too, the lovely community around us for support and fun, the amazing landscape and this sensational studio. So with your indulgence, I think I too have flourished.

The new work is different. I began each differently, and deliberately stepped way out of my comfort zone to play with new pallette’s and build the works in new ways. I have all the same elements of texture, repeated pattern and intense layering. It has all just been done in new ways.

The Art Trail this year runs for two weekends, and the days in the middle. It starts on the 30th of April and finishes on the 8th of May. I will be open and welcoming all from 10 – 5 on the weekends and Wed 4th, Thurs 4th and Fri 6th 10-4. The Ferguson Valley has a range of lovely places to visit on the trail, along with some great places to eat, all of which are open weekends and Thurs/Fri.

This year the work on show will be my exhibition Flourishing.

Just down the road at Peppermint Lane Lodge will be a Sculpture Trail. It is the second year Kim has put together and this year is bigger and better than the last.

She has created some works herself and many local artists will be transforming her property into a walk full of surprises.

Welling Forest Cottages and Conference Centre have artists involved in the trail and are a fully licensed venue for food and wine tastings, certainly worth a visit.

On display will be the work of Michelle Gauntlett, who some of you will remember. Previously she has had collections of her jewellery. This year she too has taken a new path and will be showing Metal Forms made from precious metals, along with a small range of jewellery.

We will be offering homemade pies, soup and muffins on the first weekend, along with a taste of local wines. So would love to see you here, come hang out in the courtyard, relax and see some great new works.

Nearly the end of November already!

It has been a busy time since the Exhibition at Linton and Kay.

The show was a great success and had wonderful support.

There are still some works for sale at Linton and Kaye if you are after that special Chrissie gift!

The Bunbury Regional Art Galleries has taken ten pieces on tour. They have hung a small show at Northcliffe at the Gallery where the Understory Sculpture walk is and runs till Dec 15.

Since then I have been working on some new works, a large landscape for my husband. He feels sad because the paintings in the lounge room keep going to new homes! So it was time to shower him with special attention and a big new painting. It is a bit of a diversion for me but still has all the “Jenni” elements in, lino printing, pattern and stencils. The image is one of a few I have been hanging out to play with. I di a small one for the Art Trail as our theme was Images of the Valley. It was fun and so there will be a few more to come.

I took lots of great pics when we had a controlled burn here a few years ago and they have been waiting patiently for me to get to them.

To see the image, go to the Gallery section and click open New Works.

I have been playing around with Encaustic as a medium too. It is totally compelling and smalls great too!

Whilst I have a seriously long way before I feel like I am the one in control…there have been some small finished works at Yallingup Galleries and they have been very well received. It is such a rich and luscious medium to work in and the transparency and floating layers are just beautiful.

Once again, check them out in the new works section. Some are still available at Yallingup Galleries.

www.yallingupgalleries.com.au

This terms workshops have been fantastic. The results from all participants has been sensational and far surpassed all of our expectations!

From raw beginners to much more experienced artists there has been a lot of exploration, courage to try new things and great conversations between all those who attended. The being with like minded people can be almost all the inspiration needed.

Each workshop has given me so much energy and I thank all those who have made them a great pleasure to facilitate.

The highlight of course was the Weekend Art Camp at Wellington Forest Cottages and Conference Centre.

Wendy’s amazing catering ensured we were never remotely hungry and it was so good to keep working and have someone cooking and then serve the remarkable results up for us. She is an artist too!

Wendy with Sunday Morning Tea!

The guests were from varying levels and interests and made for a fun group. From exploring things outside their comfort zone, to chilling on the couch’s with a good art book by the roaring fire they all made the most of each minute. Michelle and I were kept busy well into the nights!

The overall consensus was “We want more!”

Most felt it would be good to make it 4-5 nights so there would be a bit of time to explore the Park, hang out with friends in the cute cottages and generally chill a little, but still have an intensive art time.

So the cottages are about to be booked for the same time next year and my guess it you better is quick!

Studio Sessions

For the past six weeks, six upcoming artists have joined me in the studio for the day, to work on their projects with my help. The theory was that I too would work alongside them, so they got to see it happening too…well that did not happen too often but the workshops were a great success and the bring and share lunches, a feast, with wine an integral part of the day, to get the juices flowing and aid relaxation of course. Almost medicinal!

It has been great having the studio filled with energy and noise. I am looking forward to 2014 and doing it all again. If you are interested in becoming part of this, please contact me to put your name on the list.

Realistically I am probably not going to doing a December post so it here I wish you all a Very Happy Xmas and Creative New Year. Thanks to all who have shown me support in many ways this year, it is much appreciated.

Lots of Christmas Joy and Love.

Jenni

Fri 18^th October 4pm – Sunday 20^th  3pm

Wellington Forest Cottages – Wellington National Park

Ferguson Valley

www.wfccc.com.au

Come along for a weekend of immersion in your creative life.

Set in the beautiful National Park are comfy workers cottages where we will spend the weekend exploring the environment with our eyes open!

Time to relax and play with art materials, looking at the world with new eyes and hopefully making a great start on a work that will surprise you.

The weekend is fully catered by Wendy at the cottages. Her culinary skills are nothing short of very yummy!

Each cottage has three rooms so unless you want to chat all night with a friend, there is a room for each person to retreat to at the end of the day.

The plan for the weekend is to allow all to have a stretch with some guided drawing, seeing exercises, investigating the natural surrounds up close and from a distance. Confidence building with composition and colour use is an important part of the experience.

Moving on then to the technical aspects of creating a painting in acrylic, use of materials and techniques and the dreaded “making a start”!

There will be two tutors, myself and Michelle Gauntlett who have both had many years teaching at all levels. We will be gentle and encouraging but a bit pushy too!

There will be night bush walks, breaky in the cottages at your own pace, and sitting up around the fire, painting all night if your heart desires.

Included –

• Accommodation (bring your own linen)
• All meals incl morn/afternoon tea and supper
• Some materials
• Paper for drawing
• Drawing tools

Need to bring –

• Linen
• Canvas
• Acrylic paints
• Mediums
• Glazing medium
• Brushes
• Visual diary
• Wine/champagne to loosen up

Cost – $480.00

Bookings taken until the 20^th September

Non-refundable deposit $80.00 due with booking.

Email bookings to:

jenni@jennidoherty.com.au

97283458

The middle of Winter is not my favourite time! The gloom, the mud, and the general wetness of it all make me want to crawl under the covers with a box of chocolates and a fabulous book. (sorry a bit of a theme this time of year)

Lucky for me I have a deadline! The work for the Linton and Kay show that opens on September the 12^th is coming together and filling the studio and gallery space of my home.

The larger pieces are almost complete and now I have the fun game of playing with a number of smaller works. To be honest I find it much easier to work big and often struggle with the confined space of little. Maybe it is my claustrophobia coming into play!

This month the studio travelled to Peaceful Bay for a change of scene. That is always a good thing as cabin fever is a problem in winter. The south coast is so spectacular and the lack of population, mixed with amazing beaches, wild water, whales and a cozy little cabin all add to be very rejuvenating.

I always get reminded when doing the work for an exhibition just how lucky I am to get to do the work I need to. To have the time, to have the wonderful space, to have the wonderful support from the hard working, long suffering husband. Without all of those dots joining up it would be so much harder. For all of the above I often give thanks.

The pallet for this exhibition is a lot quieter than previously. I am wondering if it was a challenge I set myself or just a response to more subdued light at this time of the year. I have been using the notion of quietness, softness and slightly out of focus imagery to put together this work.

Between downpours this morning there were flashes of bright sunlight and I managed to catch one for you to see the productive mess in the studio.  The show at Linton and Kay Galleries will open on September the 12^th for three week. If you would like to be on the mailing list please contact me with your postal address .

The Gallery will have all the works up on their website prior to the opening. I will put the images up here too for you to have a peak.

Blue Wrens waiting for their morning treat….