Tag Archives: art

Gully Arts Show: First and Second Prizes

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It’s that time of year, again: when the Library walls get a little bit more colourful, and we host beautiful and unique artwork from artists across South Australia. The Gully Arts Show always attracts great crowds, and it’s proof that art can bring a community together! The Gully Arts Show is run by the Lions Club of Tea Tree Gully, and we appreciate all of their effort and support.

If you were unable to view the artwork in person, or if you would just like another look at the cream of the crop, here is a list of the first prize and second prize winners for each category, and pictures of their art:

Paintings A:

First Prize: “Forty Niner” by Gerhard Ritter (below)

Forty Niner Gerhard Ritter

Second Place: “Under the Canopy” by Pauline Miller (below)

Under the Canopy Pauline Miller.JPG

 

Paintings B:

First Prize: “Reflections at the Pines” by Alan Ramachandran (below)

Reflections at the Pines Alan Ramachandran

Second Place: “Red Panda” by Glenda Parker (below)

Red Panda Glenda Parker

 

Ceramics A:

First Prize: “Mood Indicator” by Belinda Martin (below)

Mood Indicator Belinda Martin

Mood Indicator Belinda Martin 2Second Place: “Evening Bath” by Gerhard Ritter (below)

Evening Bath Gerhard Ritter

 

Ceramics B:

First Prize: “Hidden Treasures” by Joe Dennis (below)

Hidden Treasures Joe Dennis

Second Place: “Blue Bowl” by Anita Taylor (below)

Blue Bowl Anita TaylorBlue Bowl Anita Taylor 2

Porcelain: 

First Prize: “An Asian Experience: 1” by Kay Pope (below)

An Asian Experience 1 Kay Pope.JPG

Second Place: “Delightful Poppies” by Betty Hermel (below)

Delightful Poppies Betty Hermel

 

 

Harry Potter, the illustrated editions

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You can now borrow the wonderful illustrated editions of the first three Harry Potter stories through the One Card Library network:  Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

HP trilogy

These books are illustrated in full-colour and are accompanied by J.K. Rowling’s original text. We have grown used to picturing the novels’ characters as played by the actors in the Harry Potter films. British artist and illustrator Jim Kay presents the reader with a new, unique interpretation of the magical world we love.

 

22248756805_496fe1d7a8_h Owl post

The Owl Post

 

Jim’s style appears fresh, spontaneous and sometimes whimsical. However when you examine his captivating pictures, you discover how Jim achieves an amazing amount of detail and texture through brushstroke. Jim’s images could even be used as the foundation for an animated version of the Harry Potter films.

SortingHat-large

The Sorting Hat

jim-kay-1_759

Buckbeak the Hippogriff

Peruse and enjoy some excellent features such as the Marauder’s Map, portraiture and detailed schematics of magical creatures, such as the Phoenix and the Grindylow.

snape

HP2_Phoenix_layers_edit

The illustrated editions offer readers a wonderful way to revisit the Harry Potter stories or introduce new young readers to the series. Read them as a family or to yourself, curled up in your favourite armchair, in the company of your magical familiar.

Reserve the Harry Potter illustrated editions through the Library’s online catalogue.

kitty cropped 2

On the Pottermore website you can  read a fascinating interview with Jim Kay, in which he discusses how he is inspired by real people to depict the characters in the Harry Potter books.

 

 

Way back when, Wednesdays

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History in pictures

If you are driving along Montague Road at Modbury you might notice a very large, distinctive mural painted on the wall of the Karadinga Recreation Centre, which is situated opposite the City of Tea Tree Gully Civic Centre. Formerly a YMCA facility, Karadinga is now run by the Uniting Church of Australia. According to the Karadinga Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Karadinga-Sports-and-Recreation, its name is a corruption of the Kaurna name for the Modbury area ‘Kirra ung dinga’. This means “the place where the red gums grow by the creek”.

IMG_4520 Mural

So what is this artwork about and who is responsible for its creation?

The Karadinga mural is a visual record of our local history since European settlement. On page 28 of the edition dated 28 January 1987, the Leader Messenger reported on the mural, which had been completed in December 1986.  It was painted to commemorate the Centre’s tenth birthday and the 150 years since the State of South Australia was founded. The project was designed by artist Stefan Twaine-Wood and subsidised by the State Government and Watyl Paints. School children and members of the local community helped to paint the mural.

Karadinga mural article

Karadinga mural with children

The mural takes us across time in its depiction of local icons, which are based on historical photographs. The City of Tea Tree Gully area is painted as being expansive, verdant and fertile. In the foreground, Tea Tree Gully’s farming heritage is celebrated. The image on the left of the mural is taken from a 1910 photograph. Behind the hay paddocks are the Tea Tree Gully Hotel (circa 1886) and to the right, the Greenwith Methodist Church, built in 1863.

In the background, we can see a representation of the Hope Valley Reservoir, constructed between from 1869 to 1861. Behind the reservoir are the more modern edifices of Tea Tree Plaza (which opened in 1970) and the Modbury Hospital (which was opened in 1973) alongside the former nurse’s home (now operating as the Torrens Valley Institute student residence).

Behind all of these works of human history lies the timeless beauty of the bush and the hills of the Mt. Lofty Ranges. Overhead, the mural features a huge sprig of the native tea-tree, the popular name for Leptospermum lanigerum, after which the suburb and the City of Tea Tree Gully were named. It is said that when the first colonists arrived, after being so long at sea, they were delighted on seeing beautiful thick growth of the tea-tree growing over and covering the bed of the River Torrens, (Page 118, Settlement to City, third edition, Auhl, Ian, 1993). It is reputated that they used the plant to brew a tea, (Page 6, Tea Tree Gully Sketchbook, Auhl, Ian and Millstead, Rex, Adelaide, 1975).

If you would like to find out more about our local history why not reserve these books online or enquire next time you visit the Library?

#waybackwhenwednesdays

A Trail of Tales…photo album

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Tea-Tree-Studio

Have you seen our 2016 Adelaide Fringe Festival event: A Trail of Tales?

It’s a colourful and whimsical display put together by local writers and artists – a mutually inspired installation of words and art at Pine Park, just behind Gallery 1855 in Tea Tree Gully.

Writers used Pine Park, Anstey’s Hill and Tea Tree Gully as locations to pen their stories, poems and fairy tales, while the artists used the stories to create the artworks.

All of the stories and artworks have been spread throughout Pine Park, adorning trees, turning the fragrant space into a colourful, magic storyland.

Local schools have also been enjoying the display. Several school groups have made excursions to Pine Park for a special fairy story time, held beneath the fragrant trees.

It has also been a popular spot for families to wander through during this year’s Fringe Festival.

Don’t miss it – head to Gallery 1855, at 2 Haines Road in Tea Tree Gully, and it’s just a short walk up to Pine Park, behind the art gallery.

Thanks go to our writers and artists who collaborated together on this massive project. They include: The Tea Tree Gully Writers’ Group, Gallery 1855, Off the Couch, Tea Tree Studio, Tea Tree Gully Green Army, Paddock’s Creative Writing Group, SpecFic Chic, Carole Simmonds, Michael Sneyd and Tea Tree Gully Youth.

To see what people have been saying about A Trail of Tales, read this review by Helen Meyers

 

Everyone ought to live like a Parisian. Apparently.

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A suite of lifestyle guides based on the lives of Parisians have been published over the years. On bookshop and library shelves you may have seen titles such as French Women Don’t Get Fat, French Women Don’t Get Facelifts, French Women for All Seasons,  French Children Don’t Throw Food and the recently published, How To Be Parisian Wherever You are.

French women don't get fat

The book that started the ‘French women do it better’ genre….Mireille Guiliano’s French Women Don’t Get Fat

All the books aim to sell a certain idea of the Frenchwoman to we the less sophisticated foreigners. From start to finish, pages are filled with illustrations, photographs, lists, recipes, how-to’s and plenty of no-nonsense advice for improving your life by adopting Parisian ways and customs.

The latest offering, How to be Parisian Wherever You Are, is written by four accomplished French women, who have set out to explain “the art of beauty —the Parisian way.”

Their advice includes:

‘Smoke like a chimney on the way to the countryside to get some fresh air.’

‘Don’t feel guilty about infidelity.’

‘Cheat on your lover with your boyfriend.’

How to be Parisian wherever you are

Take some notes when you read How to be Parisian Wherever You Are…or don’t.

Still, you have to wonder – how many actual Parisians resemble these stereotypes in real life? UK Guardian journalist Hadley Freeman once lived in Paris and believes there is no such thing.

She recently wrote on this very topic: ‘…the funny thing is, in all my life of being related to Parisians, visiting Parisians and eating baguettes with Parisians on their scooters, I have never once come across a single woman who fits the stereotype peddled by these books. These idiotic guides present an image that is about as representative of Parisians as Four Weddings and a Funeral is of the average Brit.’

Whether or not real Parisian women truly fit the stereotypes by always looking chic, having lovers, eating baguettes and staying thin, the books are beautifully laid out, compact (most will fit in your handbag) and present stunning images of French life. They will certainly provide inspiration and give you a chuckle or two.

You can borrow any of the above mentioned books from our library catalogue. ‘How to be Parisian Wherever You Are’ was released in late 2014 and is available to borrow here

A book for artists, bird watchers, or anyone who just likes birds

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Reviewed by Tea Tree Gully staff member Adrienne

I remember standing on grass surrounded by pelicans preening their feathers, while I tried to draw their beaks and feet for a biology assignment at university. My task would have been easier, had I been in possession of this excellent book. Capturing the Essence, Techniques for Bird Artists is worth reading if you are an artist, an art student or anybody who likes birds.

Capturing the Essence, Techniques for Bird Artists by William T. Cooper

Capturing the Essence, Techniques for Bird Artists by William T. Cooper

Experienced bird artist William T. Cooper provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the physiology of birds. Do not be overawed if you are a beginner – he starts with the basics, then shows you how to fill in the finer details to create a realistic image and background. The author examines the different materials and tools you can use, considers artistic perspective and provides direction on how to sketch tame or wild birds, at the zoo or in the field.

Cooper’s book is filled with many beautiful colour and black and white illustrations of his work, which in some ways reminded me of the anatomical drawings and watercolours of Beatrix Potter. You can reserve Capturing the Essence, Techniques for Bird Artists online through the library’s online catalogue here

New Gallery 1855 exhibition

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Contested Landscapes: natural and built environments undergoing change  is a new painting exhibition featuring the works of Robert Habel, which opens 2pm Sunday 21 September, at Gallery 1855.

Robert Habel, Palmer Landscape 3, 2011, oil on canvas, 140 x 127cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

Robert Habel, Palmer Landscape 3, 2011, oil on canvas, 140 x 127cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

Visual artist Robert Habel has been painting landscapes for over thirty years but not in the traditional sense.

His practice doesn’t acquiesce to the traditions, rules and nostalgic affirmations of the past.

Instead, his landscapes deal with issues of ecological and cultural sustainability.

To Robert, the depiction of land undergoing change or suffering abuse is as relevant in art today as idealistic landscape painting was in the past.

For more information about Robert’s creative practice please visit his website

Come along to Robert’s floor talk on Saturday 25 October from 2pm.

Want to know more about what we are doing in the Gallery and Studio? Visit our website

The inaugural exhibition at the Old Council Chambers Gallery

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Have a piece of your art exhibited in the inaugural exhibition in our new and exciting Art Space!

The inaugural exhibition is open to anyone who works, lives or plays within the City of Tea Tree Gully. Artists are invited to submit an application to exhibit one piece of art work being either 2D and 3D. For more details please read the Information and Application Pack. If you are interested in applying or have any queries please email Michael Treasure or call 8397 7426

Don’t forget you can have your say and vote for the new gallery name on our website: voting closes 1 October 2012

Reconciliation Week 2012

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"Carpet Snake"

‘Carpet Snake’-an acrylic dot painting mounted on an unframed canvas featured during the Tea Tree Gully Reconciliation Week Art Exhibition from local Aboriginal artist Tanya Sansbury.

The  Library and the Hive are celebrating National Reconciliation Week 2012.

What is National Reconciliation Week?
National Reconciliation Week is celebrated across Australia each year between 27 May and 3 June. The chosen dates recognise two significant achievements in the reconciliation journey; the anniversaries of the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision. The theme for this year is, ‘Let’s Talk Recognition’ with a strong focus on how all Australians can better understand and appreciate each other, the wonderful contributions, cultures and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Why are these dates significant?
27 May marks the anniversary of Australia’s most successful referendum and defining event in our nation’s history. The 1967 referendum saw over 90 percent of Australians vote to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders in the national census. 2012 marks the 45th anniversary of the 1967 referendum.

On 3 June 1992, the High Court of Australia delivered its landmark Mabo decision which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders  have a special relationship to the land which existed prior to the colonalisation and still exists today. The recognition helped  pave the way for land rights called the Native Title. This year is the 20th anniversary of the Mabo decision.

Check the Reconciliation Week webpage for details of upcoming events across council.

We all know the importance of recognition and how great it makes everyone feel. National Reconciliation week is a wonderful opportunity to recognize all Australians, and the unique place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders  within this country. So get involved by attending an event and do your part for Reconciliation Week.

School Holiday Art!

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These school holidays were brimming with budding young artists! With the aid of a wonderful professional, Hannah, as well as our resident Picasso, Megan, we ran two Manga Art Drawing classes where participants learnt invaluable techniques in drawing the unique Japanese style cartoon. The results were inspiring! Children and youth ranging from 6 years to 16 years proudly displayed their completed works. We will be keeping an eye out for the next Tite Kubo to emerge from Tea Tree Gully!