As a writer I understand the courage it takes to lay yourself bare on the page with words and it is no different with the world of visual art. Joanne Braddy’s strength and determination shines through her works as she pushes herself to paint from within. Her paintings, drawings and ceramic sculptures employ strong symbolic elements of dark angular lines, strong colours and anguished faces to portray inner pain, giving us a glimpse of the depression that Joanne has battled with for much of her life. By sharing her emotional journey, Joanne hopes that she can help move others toward a space of awareness and healing, and by doing so, begin to break the stigmas surrounding mental illness.

Strength – Joanne Braddy

“My paintings are an expression of my inner world. Through my art I’ve found the courage to break the silence.” Joanne Braddy.

Her foray into her creative began at a young age. As a dreamy and passionate child, Joanne found solace in drawing and in her twenties, she studied Visual Arts at TAFE where her teacher found her work unique and emotionally moving. This gave Joanne the courage she needed to begin working as a full time artist from her home studio in Brisbane. Joanne says, “I decided to push myself to paint what I felt. It was so hard to put these feelings on the canvas as with every stroke of the paint brush I was going through my emotions inside. But each new painting was a new journey I had to take.”

Broken Reality, Joanne Braddy

Joanne identifies as an expressionist painter, influenced by some great artists such as Joy Hester. In a similar way to Joy, Joanne focusses on human faces and eyes, bringing out intense psychological states. And we see more abstract elements like those such as Louise Bourgeois, another significant influence on her work.

In recent months, Joanne has exhibited work in the Wesley Church, Fortitude Valley in conjunction with Art From The Margins and Mental Health Awareness Week, and she is currently exhibiting at Aspire Gallery as part of Epic Assist’s #thefuturewewant collaboration, ending tomorrow 3^rd of December.

“I have become a passionate artist only to paint the truth – no more hiding, no more silence, I’m not the quiet one in the back of the classroom anymore. I have learned to not give up, to listen to my own voice inside – it defines who you are.” Joanne Braddy – to Epic Assist.

Crossroad, Joanne Braddy

Joanne’s authentic works have also been shown in multiple group exhibitions outside Brisbane, in Sydney and Melbourne. She was a finalist in both the Moreton Bay Art Awards in 2013, the Cook Hill Gallery “We Get By” Competition in 2015 and has received the People’s Choice and Highly Commended awards from Art From The Margins.

“It’s the everyday stuff I go through that I put on paper,” Joanne she told Art From the Margins. “A lot of my work is basically to make people feel more comfortable with their mental illness, to realise that they’re not alone.”

Broken Mind, Joanne Braddy

If you’d like to support Joanne and see more of her work, come in to the Aspire Gallery today or tomorrow

Epic Assist’s ‘The Future We Want’ Exhibition Event

Or see more of her works and follow her journey online here:

JBraddyArt on Facebook

http://www.joannebraddy.com/

Ali. x

As an artist, Rob Andrews’ creative mindset is one of growth and experimentation. He works in several ways often reinventing past work or expanding it to offer depth to different concepts and themes. His work ranges from mixed media drawings to abstract paintings and sculptural assemblages.

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Rob invites his audience to be active cultural participants and engage with his work using an open and critical mind. He says “representation, abstraction and symbolism are used to explore ideas about self, the psyche, identity, duality, memory, place, disconnection and/or alienation…All of my work is meaningful to me, as it results from responses to the world around me.” Despite this, the representative nature of his work lends itself to a more a subjective interpretation.

In his less abstract work he has experimented with genres such as still life, self-portraiture and landscape. His self-portraiture often feature layered, surreal elements, with hints of cubism much like his earlier architectural interpretations.

He is influenced by nature as well as built landscapes and space, and says “Where you live and the places you visit always have some influence on how you see (and re-see) the world.” Rob has lived, worked and traveled in many places but he’s “called Brisbane home for a little over 20 years [and] the light, colours and patterns in many of the landscapes in Queensland have always intrigued him.”

One important facet of Rob’s creative journey is his persistence in finding new ways to explore ideas and his courage to be bold about their representations. Throughout his work, he draws attention to our default cognitive settings, encouraging us to be judicious and fluid in our thinking.

“Perceptions of art are very subjective. And succeeding as an artist depends on what you define as success. I don’t think you ever reach a point where you need to stop achieving goals as an artist. There are always new ones to achieve, such as re-thinking how it is you use the media you work with (e.g. acrylics, pencil, collage, etc.) and how you tackle the subjects that interest you. Persistence and resilience are essential skills that will help an artist achieve his/her goals. Success for me personally comes from sticking at it, while knowing that you might fail at times. The art world is very subjective, and success means many different things to different people. If you are happy in what you do and it connects with some other people, then you are succeeding.”

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Embodiment of the growth mindset is arguably one of the most important things for an artist and Rob is a great example of this. Psychology often frames mindset in one of two ways: a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. The latter being more favourable because it assumes a fluid opinion of intelligence and sees failure as part of growth, facilitating development and potential success.

“My philosophy as an artist is based on being willing to experiment with different forms of art-making and therefore accepting that you will sometimes fail in your attempts.  Be resilient and persistent. Keep learning and challenging yourself. Success builds on hits as well as near misses. Someone once said that an important part of being an artist involved being willing to make mistakes – you will have become an artist when you know which mistakes to keep.”

If you want more info on Rob and his work find him here:

Website – Robert Andrews

Email: smartarts111@hotmail.com

Another artist that lets his creativity fuel his growth is Logan artist, Mark Davey. Although he is known for his paintings, Mark doesn’t like to restrict himself creatively. He dabbles in mixing media, adding found objects, drawing, wood sculpture, photography, writing poetry even trying his hand at music despite admitting he isn’t very good at it. It doesn’t matter though, his creative journey is what matters to him. This kind of liberation, the freedom to express ourselves without reservation is something we seem to have forgotten how to do.

“The more I put into my art the more I get out of it. Practice and experimentation are the best ways to learn, just attack it, no restrictions, it is a never ending obsession.”

Mark Davey Acrylic Abstract

This liberating mindset is evident in his work. Mark’s playful abstracts and expressive landscapes feature sweeping, fluid brushstrokes that tell of his confidence to let go of his self- criticism and doubt. Something he earned after more than 20 years creating. And because of this his “style changes and evolves regularly, [he’s] constantly experimenting.”

Mark Davey in his studio

Mark said he is conscious of not being restrictive about the sources of his inspiration, but since he often finds solace in his back yard and the environment around him, it is often featured in his work. In his previous post, he said “There are so many things to paint locally, I am making the most of it while I can, at the same time pointing out the beauty in the area.”

Mark Davey beach cityscape

Having painted in excess of two thousand paintings during his career, Mark’s art has become his way of life. Every crevice of his house is filled with colour, his creativity fuels his ambition and gives him a reason to grow and express himself.

“The further I get the more the thirst and passion grows. Anything is possible in the future. A gallery director once told me I was the kind of artist to become notorious.”

Mark Davey abstract

Get in contact with Mark:

Via email inyourart@gmail.com

Instagram – Mark Davey

Facebook – Mark Davey

You can catch both Rob Andrews and Mark Davey at Miami Marketta exhibiting a range of works.

Miami Marketta – 23 Hillcrest Parade, Miami, Queensland 4220

Find all the details on the Facebook event page .

Alinta Krauth is perhaps one of the most important women to come out of Art and Queensland at the moment, because of the way her art explores and conveys scientific data through digital installations, prose, sounds and music, but also because of this, her role as a woman in the ‘tech’ industry.

Her complex digital installations feature interactive sculptures, often combining visual and aural effects with digital poetry in public spaces. She is an expert at creating an environment that engages the senses to trigger physiological responses from viewers, sometimes inviting them to interact with a control box she has created herself. Her work transverses digital fields on and offline, whether it is by using code to create interactive maps of real geographical areas, encouraging people to explore their environment by sending messages to neighbourhood trees, or by taking real data, animating it and overlaying audio to provoke thought and discussion.

2015 The Roaring Borealis Projection Art 3D Installation

Her combination of art and technology is by definition pioneering as each work needs to be site-specific. She has grown accustomed to the challenges and restrictions that come with installations in an array of venues using her talents to prove time and time again, that being a woman does not impede her ability to create art within a technical industry.

Much of Alinta’s art is influenced by science and the environment and her work also opens up an important dialogue about the relevance of art and culture to explore and convey scientific data.

“In my head art and science is so intertwingled that I find it hard to separate them. To me, they’re different ways to explore the same data – that data being the world around us and the universe beyond. In the end, the sciences make an easy to read version, and the arts make an easy to love version, and both are necessary to allow the general public to be involved with, and find these topics important.”

Her experimentation with links between these fields is informed by her tendency to think visually and be influenced by music and prose. Which makes sense when you consider her background in the performing arts and creative writing.

Little Boxes detail

 

“I think in chaotic, absurdist animation and macabre cinematography. I think in relations – how different people, themes, and imagery relate to each other. And from that comes some kind of messy interaction that I try to create between human and artwork… Creative writing influences my work a lot – some of my works are considered ‘digital poetry’ or ‘digital literature’ works, as they are centred around a narrative story or poem.”

2015 Wind blisters those who try to run – Projection art onto landmark historical building

See how stimulating Alinta’s interactive light projections and sound effects can be as she blends the art and science in Fish Lane, Brisbane as part of the World Science Festival 2016.

Friday Night Laneways – Fish Lane South Brisbane

And explore more of Alinta’s work below:

www.alintakrauth.com

http://www.worldsciencefestival.com.au/news/explore-brisbanes-vibrant-laneways/

http://www.climeart.com/

www.treemails.net

Ali. x

Wayne is a local, creative photographer who has spent much of his life time developing his skills behind the lens. His love of connecting people through photographing landscapes was first inspired by his travels to Hong Kong and China at 28, and he has since photographed the parts of the UK, the US, Europe, New Zealand, Hawaii and of course Australia, amongst other places.

His compositions feature strong focal points and clever use of light that embodies his landscapes with surreal depth, bringing them to life and drawing the viewer in. As such, his works portray a deeper narrative, given strength by vivid colour and detail.

Tree coast Landscape

Wayne’s complex relationship with his camera has certainly paid off. He is a predominantly self taught artist, with some exposure to photography as part of his background in medical science where he learnt to shoot in the days before digital equipment.

“My first SLR didn’t have a “Green” button where I could just set to auto and click away. I had to know how to get the right exposure manually. Also, you had to wait till you received your prints back from the chemist or photo lab before you knew if you had a good picture or not. These days of digital you can see your image straight away.”

 

In the digital era, landscape photography isn’t without its challenges. Wayne’s work is about bringing the beauty of the landscape alive in a way that makes the viewer feel as if they are really there. And this is a complex and time consuming process.

Ghost town police car off Route 66 Arizona

 

“In a portrait shot, facial expressions and eyes can convey an emotion response, however it is more difficult to obtain emotion in a still subject such as a landscape. It is the creativity of a photographer to bring an emotion to the forefront of the viewer when shooting a landscape… One of the jobs of a good photographer is to be able to bring out the beauty of the picture and make it look “real”.”

 

Tree of Life, Oregon

When I asked Wayne who his main influences are, he pointed me toward Peter Lik and Trey Ratcliff but also said despite the high profile of these photographers, it’s not necessarily about spending thousands of dollars and having the best equipment. He recommends joining a photography club, searching out tutorials on YouTube and learning as much as you can. Then you can find what you love to photograph and specialise in it.

Waterfalls, Portland Oregon

Want to see more of Wayne’s amazing work? Catch up with him next weekend with an opening celebration event of his showcase at Gem’Appelle Designs, on Saturday 12th March at 4pm. 10 Bailey Street, West End. Find out more on the event page here.

11th-16th March 2016                                     eScapes by Wayne Budge will showcase at Gem’Appelle Designs

8th April 2016 – 21st May 2016                    Solo exhibition – Logan Art Gallery

23rd April, 10am to 12noon                          Introduction to digital photography: Photography workshop for beginners with artist Wayne Budge. If you’re a camera novice and are interested in learning to take better shots, then this “Photography workshop for beginners” is designed just for you. Photographer Wayne Budge can help you understand all those buttons on your camera, as well as teach you about ISO, shutter speed, aperture, exposure, and explain how all of these things affect your photographs. Get off the “green” setting and learn to be more creative with the different modes on your camera, as well as how to use manual settings. It doesn’t matter whether you have a small compact camera or a DSLR, our workshop will help you get the most out of your camera.

http://loganlibraries.org/documents/WhatsOn_FebApr2016_ArtGallery_web.pdf
13th July 2016 – 21st August 2016             Solo exhibition – Boonah Regional Art Gallery

4th Nov 2016 – 11th Dec 2016                      Solo  exhibition – Lockyer Valley Art Gallery

Follow Wayne on his website and Facebook page here:

http://waynebudge.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/waynebudgephotography

Ali x.

When you look into the haunting eyes of the girls that Logan Artist, Braidy Hughes has painted, you can’t help but be moved. Each girl exudes a unique personality behind their quirky, imperfect beauty and as Braidy confesses, their stories are deeply personal, often elicited by painful emotions or memories. Her surreal, expressive style with paint and pen is self taught, and while she did go to University, Braidy felt it didn’t suit her and left to pursue her more organic, solitary approach to creating.

“I often drive my work by painting to music that I know will trigger an emotion or a memory. And these days, often when I work, I feel like a few close people that have left are there with me. It’s a way of keeping in touch with the moments in my life that I wish I had back. The girls are a reflection of this.”

The Only Way Is Up

Like many artists do, Braidy works intuitively entwining her personal stories into her paintings. She creates for no one but herself and this is why her images have such impact. They are genuine.  Braidy says, “people are drawn to art because they have reflected something in their work that someone else can relate to.” And creating is something that Braidy can’t help but do.

As a writer, Braidy’s work appeals to me in the same way a poem or a short story does. Each line in the story unfolds as you peel back the layers of cheerful colour, juxtaposed against the forlorn expressions, the repetition of certain symbols, patterns and the mix of the surreal and urban tones. The layers tease out an individual response in the viewer, much like the prose in a poem, the syntax, the beat and alliteration.

Saint Chloe

“Paint, paint, draw, draw and paint some more. Get messy.” Braidy Hughes.

Braidy’s work will be on display at Miami Marketta this Wednesday evening as part of their Tapas Club Night. Go and support her!

You can also find her work on Facebook and Instagram.

***

Exhibiting alongside Braidy is another Logan Artist, Phil B. Phil’s colourful urban style derives itself from a street art culture of textile portability, fun and, like Braidy there are plenty of quirky characters. His main tools are posca pens (acrylic pens) and spray paint on scraps of wood, cardboard, books, and other recycled items.

“I love working with poscas, I love vibrant colours and fun topics, especially vibrant, and I do more than half of all my artwork on the bus to and from work. I paint a lot of artworks on book pages purely due to they’re easy to carry, cheap to purchase, and they hold the paint really well without getting too wet or falling apart.”

#paintingonthebus

Viking on the bus

Although he is known for his Vikings, Phil’s illustrative talent doesn’t stop there.  Through development of his craft by painting every day (not just on the bus but also in his lunch breaks and waiting for his sons to finish karate…), Phil paints striking portraits and images of animals. His portraits feature expert use of light and shadow to create depth and show character, while the detail in his animal paintings portray his skill with a paint brush.

“I don’t limit what I can do, quite a while ago I made the decision to stop saying no, and stop doubting myself artistically.”

Snape

Skateboard art

Phil loves surprising people and it’s obvious that is one of the things people love about his work. His work can be found around Brisbane and on Facebook and Instagram . You might even catch him at a live painting event nearby.

@leighlee68: I’ve admired your talent for years now you never stop wowing me

@steisl_:  Imagine what you gonna create on the plane trip!

@dodgyusername: Your art is so versatile. I love it so much. You nailed her face.

Action shot – viking wall

We are excited to be heading down to see PhilB and Braidy Hughes’ work in person on Wednesday. Want to join us? Grab more details on the event here.

Love what you see? Comment below and remember, if you want updates on future events and local culture, subscribe using the button on the right >>>

Cheers,

Ali x

We’ve hit the ground running this year and there is already so much exciting stuff going on out there, and behind the scenes here. We’ve been madly curating the first few months of exciting features for you, talking to some mad artists, setting up creative challenges and tying it all together with one hell of a bow. And we are excited to finally announce our official blog launch!

Our regular posts and podcasts will all begin on Monday 29th February, get in and subscribe to the newsletter now, so you won’t miss a thing!

Before you groan… “We have to wait another month?” We have a little sneak peak of stuff going on locally in February to share, just to whet your appetites.

With a background in textile and design, OmiLee, a local emerging artist, has a unique style that transforms acrylic into textiles, plays with colour and abstraction, bringing refreshing depth and dynamism to local art culture.

Since making the decision to practice her art full time in 2010, she confesses it wasn’t until 2013 that she really came into her style with the palette knife, and by early 2014 she began work on creating pieces to complete two artist residencies, a solo exhibition in Helsinki, Finland and another in Logan. To avoid the excessive costs of transporting large artworks overseas, she began working on a much smaller scale, exploring new ways of manipulating her preferred medium, acrylic.

“Ever since I started painting, I had been collecting the dried skins of paint from my palettes and hoarding them for some unknown project down the track. I could see they had unexplored potential, and as most good things do, it just fell into place that this project was the right time and reason to experiment with them. It began with cutting and collaging skins to make images, then moved onto painting imagery within the skins and from there the sculptures formed.”

And she created a 30 piece exhibit, entitled ‘Exchange’ that fit in one suitcase: 24 skin paintings attached to paper, 3 framed, 1 collage and 2 sculptures.

OmiLee uses acrylic skins to create sculpture

During her 6 week residency, OmiLee made time to discover and be inspired by Finnish art and explored new methods of creating. Admitting that “my professional and personal growth far exceeded my proposed outcomes.”

It is clear to us that OmiLee embodies the very elements that make up a good artist: The ability and confidence to push yourself, to be open minded, the ability to keep trying new things and… patience!

Even before leaving for Finland, OmiLee spent years experimenting with paint and media before she came into her signature style and even now, the use of acrylic skins can be a long process, taking up to 200 days to create a single sculpture.

“I am the kind of person who believes in the long-learning route, rather than the shortcut…” OmiLee.

Spark of Life – acrylic on canvas using her palette knife technique

OmiLee’s work will be on display at the Able Gallery in Loganlea until 24^th February and we sincerely recommend checking it out.

Another artist that embodies these key elements and is influenced by our landscape is Dr Merri Randell.

Merri is a digital artist who has a current exhibition at the Logan Art Gallery featuring some of her work from her recent Logan BushCare residency. Her works are predominantly audio-visual installations, animating images of local bush land to create an exaggerated experience of the vegetation and wildlife. The animation is subtle, but effective in mythologising the trees themselves. Instead of the usual photography where we typically see branches and leaves sweep romantically against the blue above, her images focus on the depths of the bush, the tangled roots, the grassy undergrowth. Highlighting the importance of viewing our landscape as a whole, bringing the viewers’ attention to the natural and sometimes chaotic and disgusting mechanisms that make up the entire ecosystem.

Merri uses animation and exaggerated sounds to make her pieces come alive

“I celebrate diversity by creating worlds full of beautiful, hybrid monstrosities that seduce, beguile and disturb… Maybe if mainstreamers can appreciate the reality of my monstrous trees, they might appreciate other things outside the norm – that these trees, places, people or cultures have value.”

It is easy to see her influences in her work. Her love of trees and the need to protect them. Her love of visual mediums, including dark cinema such as ‘Videodrome,’  (Cronenburg 1983) and shocking sculptures such as those from Sarah Lucas. Her work has an element of something wildly different and it excites and disturbs me.

The roots of the trees almost look and sound as if they are straws, sucking up water and nutrients…

There is no doubt that Merri’s work is effective in generating discussion about our surrounding environment. In our hectic, mainstream society we often take for granted everything that is going on around us. We recommend getting over to the Logan Art Gallery and checking out her work until the 20^th February. You can watch them online at merrirandell.com but experiencing her installations in person are really worth the effort.

Uncanny Nature Exhibition – Logan Art Gallery

If you’d like more information about OmiLee you can visit her Facebook , Instragram and Tumblr pages.

Or find Merri at merrirandell.com or on Logan Bush Care residency page.

Ali.x

Many artists dream to have the kind of success Mark Davey has had with his art, but the prolific local has worked hard and over his 20 year career he has been a part of over 40 exhibitions and has been nominated for multiple awards, despite ongoing health problems.

“My theory is with art there are no rules, you do whatever you want, when you want and it makes you feel good.”

Mark is a wood machinist and wood turner by trade who works in a variety of mediums, acrylic, oil, mixed media, pastel, pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, photography and timber, although his favourite is acrylic.

His main obsession is with painting, and as he calls it: “Painting beauty in a world of ugliness.” He draws inspiration from his garden and local scenes, but his subject matter varies and includes anything from abstract, nudes, landscapes and portraiture.

His latest exhibition, Lost in Landscapes, showcases Mark’s fluid, expressive style that grips the viewer and draws them in to the landscape. They are scenes local to the Beenleigh area; the pubs, the Albert River, a creek that runs through a park where he walks his dogs, the poincianas in his backyard and some more surreal landscapes. Mark says:

“There are so many things to paint locally, I am making the most of it while I can, at the same time pointing out the beauty in the area that is often looked upon in a derogatory way. It is good to exhibit these works on the other side of town to show off these scenes to an audience that would not know these areas and may change the way the area is seen to some.”

The exhibition will be running until 31^st January at Haven Espresso, 26 Farrant Street, Stafford Heights.

If you would like to contact Mark about this exhibition or any facet of his art please do so on:

Ph. 0410725617

Email.inyourart@gmail.com