National Works on Paper Prize opening

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This weekend we had a family adventure. We travelled to the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery to attend the opening of the National Works on Paper Prize. The exhibition was beautiful, the gallery was welcoming and there were some pretty stand out artists in attendance!!

I am very pleased to say that I am the winner of the Ursula Hoff Institute Emerging Artist Acquisitive Art Award 2016. Kidlet jumped up when my named was announced and hugged me and was so proud – it was a beautiful thing. I am feeling super honoured and pleased and even though I hadn’t slept much because kidelt has been up in the night and we had travelled for hours – I just felt so motivated and excited to get back to drawing. So after the wonderful celebration that was the opening, we went and ate to much Thai and went back to the motel to watch a movie and I drew.

happy Photo borrowed from the MPRG facebook page.

 Wrestling three, ink on paper, 75 x 105cm, 2015

Wrestling three, ink on paper, 75 x 105cm, 2015

Sorting

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I sorted out my studio space today – it’s detached from the house and has become the dumping ground for many a box. So, since school has gone back I have taken this opportunity to start clearing and cleaning. ( This sort of activity helps with missing kidlet too! )

I threw away so many memories today. It was time. I’ve been dragging a lot of stuff around for a long time.
Oh, and I found sketch book after sketch book and have rescued what I can. Time to store some things better, I think.

Rick Amor Drawing Prize 2016

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Morning Song, ink on paper, 76 x 56cm , 2016

Morning Song, ink on paper, 76 x 56cm , 2016

Friday night was the opening and announcement of the winner at the Rick Amor Drawing Prize at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. Peter Wegner took out the prize with his beautiful drawings of a friend who had gone into palliative care.

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If you have ever seen anyone at the end of their lives, this work truly captures this time. The line work is delicate – it’s so beautiful and it’s so sad. You should see more of his works on paper at his website here: Peter Wegner works on paper

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Today I got to take my little girl to see all the drawings, she was very keen to see mine even though she saw me make it. I felt like she was proud of me, that was super special.

The Rick Amor Drawing Prize is on until the 2nd of October.

Next week – National Works on Paper at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery and then my kidelt turns 6!

Paul Guest Drawing Prize

My drawing Crawling has been shortlisted for the Paul Guest Drawing Prize. The exhibition will run from the 27th of August to the 16th of October at the Bendigo Art Gallery. Here is the link to the full list of finalists, there’s some great artists listed : LINK

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Crawling
By Lily Mae Martin
75 x 105cm
Ink on paper
2016

Poppet

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School holidays have been fullllllooooonnnnnn. We traveled almost three hours to get to a birthday party, we danced and ate cake. There’s been drawing and tears and sleep and not much sleep and so much anime and Pokémon. We baked election day gingerbread and did yoga and cuddled in bed on rainy mornings. It’s just at the halfway mark, and I finished a big drawing.

Studio kitty, Author and Finisher, Sanctuary and Winter Masterpieces exhibitions and haberdashery

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Friday it snowed twice and kidlet had her last day of school for the term. The above photo is from Friday evening – Kira kitty exploring the studio before curling up to sleep. I love her company. When I turn off the lamps and gather my things to leave she uncurls herself, meows at me and follows me down the stairs and back into the warm house.

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Saturday morning and it’s freezing. There is ice on the footpaths and roads. I walk very slowly but purposely to the train station, this is not a good morning to not be able to find my only pair of gloves. I sleep on the train for a few hours before making it into Melbourne town. It’s coffee and art time with friends. First up is Author and Finisher at Kozminsky by Nicholas Jones. The gallery is on the second floor and the space and the art is beautiful. There’s so much loveliness to take it, it felt really special to be able to see that. It is quite a sizeable exhibition and we were lucky to have Nicholas there to talk to us about making of particular pieces, the stories behind them and the practical sides of things like printing and framing.
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Then I went to the NGV to see the Degas exhibition. Contours feature so strongly in his works, they were so lovely to see up close. I found the famous ballet pieces charming but my favs for me were one off portraits of a peasant woman and a large bather rendered in pastel, and of course – the dead fox in the undergrowth.
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Lastly I go to see Becc Ország’s exhibition, Sanctuary, at Nicholas Projects. Beautiful drawings rendered in graphite, with delicate additions of gold leaf.The largest piece in the show really stood out for me, The Source of All Things ( Birth of The Rivers ) – it added a whole new experience to the drawings as a whole. Very dreamlike and making me recall magical places I have visited in my life; coastlines of Italy and Snowdonia in Wales.

Then it was onto collecting things for three little girls who are turning six soon. I stumbled into the haberdasher, l’uccello, in the Nicolas Buidling and it was such a visual treat. What a day.

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Here are the links to the galleries and artists mentioned, as well as a review written by Esther Anatolitis on Nicholas Jones’ exhibition. Have a click and get down to see these if you’re in Melbourne CBD soon.

NICHOLAS JONES: AUTHOR AND FINISHER by Esther Anatolitis

Nicholas Jones

Kozminsky

Edgar Degas NGV

Becc Ország

Nicholas Projects

l’uccello

Close Up

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It took about two weeks to find my way with this work, which was hard but so worth it. Now I can’t wait to get to drawing and I do have to stop and do adult things and parent things but I am so lucky my studio is just out the back so once everyone is in bed I can just get back to it.

I think I will get this done sooner than I thought, and I have a second one planned.

Drawings from the sketchbook, drawing on the drawing board

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Quick drawing I did of a beautiful teddy bear my Grandmother made before I left Brisbane last week.

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Blind contour line drawing of Jeanette Winterson when I saw her a couple of weeks back.

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Growing my hair out, sort of like a hair helmet at the moment! I am thrilled about it, as you can see 😉

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Quick sketch I did at the dinner table while waiting for the vegan red beans and rice to cook down.. Kidelt drew next to me.

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Naked!

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More naked!

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Today I found a wooden toy phone for $1, it’s pretty cool and kidelt loves it.

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This is a very large drawing I have been making a start on this week.. It is so hard but I am really happy with how it is going/ growing.

Under Skin, Under Earth – A Tribute

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Under Skin, Under Earth. Ink on paper, 56 x 76cm , 2016

My Grandmother died a few days before I finished this drawing, it has been so hard to finish.

This begun as an experiment, which is the best part of not having a deadline – experimentation. I want to find ways to explore mortality – all the life and death lessons I have experienced over the last couple of years. I thought I would write about them – but that doesn’t feel like the right to do for me.

I’ve tried drawing people’s objects and painting still lives of flowers, while they were fun to do, they were not enough. I’ve been road tripping and sitting and reading and sketching and photographing and I get inklings of things and then I moved towards other things. I’ll get there, I’ll find it.

When I was a teenager, I spoke to Grandmother on the phone and she had asked me about my drawing. She always asked me about my drawing. When I told her I wasn’t doing that anymore she told me that I was being silly/ stupid/ ridiculous – one of those words, all of which I was deserving. I was such an angry teenager and was putting all that anger into being destructive towards myself instead of being constructive. Anyway, she said I was being silly/ stupid/ ridiculous – that I have a gift. I shouldn’t waste it.

So I’ve been trying not to waste it. I’ve had busy hands for a number of years now. In my early twenties I was making toys, she showed me how to make a simply teddy out of felt. I made a pirate one and Grandma examined it, said I was clever but I make repulsive things. I was really proud.I’ve been trying to make things that I think she would be interested in, my art has run the gamut of angst to art school to hyper sexualized to general interest and exploration of body to telling life stories. The kind of stories that Grandma’s would be interested in. It pains me that when our minds and experience become so rich, our bodies begin to age and fail.

Grandma passed away on Monday evening, I looked up the clock face of the Melbourne Town Hall around the time she left. When I got the texts and the calls and found out what time I remember this moment.. I wonder of it is connected. But maybe that’s just what we all do, try to find meaning in things and maybe there isn’t any meaning.

We are all so temporary. It’s heartbreaking.