A Fable

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a great and glorious nation. Favourite amongst his subjects was the court painter of whom he was very proud. Everybody agreed this wizzened old man painted the greatest pictures in the whole kingdom and the king would spend hours each day gazing at them in wonder.

However, one day a dirty and disheveled stranger presented himself at the court claiming that in fact he was the greatest painter in the land. The indignant king decreed a competition would be held between the two artists, confident it would teach the vagabond an embarrassing lesson. Within a month they were both to produce a masterpiece that would out do the other.

After thirty days of working feverishly day and night, both artists were ready.They place their paintings, each hidden by a cloth, on easels in the great hall of the castle. As a large crowd gathered, the king ordered the cloth to be pulled first from the court artist's easel. Everyone gasped as before them was revealed a wonderful oil poainting of a table set with a feast. At its centre was an ornate silver bowl full of exotic fruits glistening moistly in the dawn light. As the crowd gazed admiringly, a sparrow perched high up on the rafters of the hall swooped down and hungrily tried to snatch one of the grapes from the painted bowl only to hit the canvas and fall down dead with shoick at the feet of the king. 

'Aha!' exclaimed the king. 'My artist has produced a paintiong so wonderful it has fooled Nature herself, surely you must agree that he is the greatest painter who has ever lived!' But the vagabond said nothing and stared solemnly at his feet. 'Now, pull the blanket from your painting and let us see what you have for us' cried the king. But the tramp remained motionless and said nothing. Growing impatient, the king stepped forward and reached out to grab the blanket only to freeze in horror at the last moment.

'You see,' said the tramp quietly, 'there is no blanket covering the painting. This is actually just a painting of a cloth covering the painting. And whereas your famous artist is content to fool Nature, I've made the king and the whole country look like a bit of a twat'. 

Extracted from 'Wall and Piece' a book about Banksy. (Thanks Dave!)

​Painting by Peter Dee

Hill End Residency 2011

I have recently returned from an artist residency of four weeks in the historic township of Hill End, NSW. The residency is a collaborative venture between Bathurst Regional Art Gallery (BRAG) and National Parks.

I stayed at 'Haefliger's Cottage' which  was equipped with a separate studio and a rustic outdoor 'dunny'. 

The landscape and people of Hill End provided me with much inspiration. It was difficult saying goodbye to such a richly historic and alluring place.

There were visits from friends whilst I stayed in the cottage; thanks to artist David Wallace, photographer Felicity Jenkins, artist Craig Loxley, artist Sandra Winkworth and artist Tom Doherty for their company during my stay.

There are numerous artists who reside and practice their craft in Hill End. I was fortunate to meet Bill and Genevieve Moseley who run 'Hill End Press' and Lino Alvarez and Kim Deacon who run the pottery studio. I also met artist Juz Kitson was also on a residency administered by the National Art School.

I set myself a goal of completing 8 artworks while staying in Hill End. I came away with 7 and a collection of coloured soils and other plant material for future artworks. 

Most evenings I would sit by the fire reading and thinking about the history of the town. Dotted around the streets of Hill End are plaques and photographs of cottages and businesses which have since been destroyed. Once a thriving hub of gold seekers, the town is now host to a variety of animals who seem at home in the frosty landscape. The stillness and darkness of the evenings provided a magical glimpse into the night sky which I have not seen quite so clearly since my days in Jindabyne. 

Exploring the surrounding areas became an opportunity to relive rich historical associations. I took a drive down the 'Bridle track' to the Turon river and happened upon an old mine shaft which led deep into the mountainside. Using the flash of my camera, I was able to see ahead into the claustrophobic space where miners chiseled away at the walls of the tunnel in the hope of finding gold. 

I am greatly appreciative of the opportunity to stay in Hill End and vowed to return to continue the love affair with the town.  

A Poem

Some time ago I bought a small book of poems from the poet, Craig Billingham, who lives and works in the Blue Mountains. I thought I would share one of my favourite poems from the book titled 'Storytelling'.
Craig was born in England in 1973 before migrating to Australia in 1987. He has a degree in Philosophy from Macquarie University and currently works as an English as a Second Language teacher working in the mountains.
'Storytelling' was published in 2007, and he is currently working towards a second collection of poetry, and a novel.

 Of his writing, Craig says-

"I think I'm interested in poetical forms. I quite like writing to a form, although I'm not strictly a formal poet, but I do write in regular stanzas and I've tried to write sonnets and longer narrative poems. So my style is one of being a loose formal poet, I suppose." 

Chameleon 

by Craig Billingham

I would like to stop changing colour.

I would like to settle in this tree

and see out the hour, the day,

the four seasons being green,

green on green, green on maple leaf,

green against the mud and snow.

I would like to shun your limelight

and stay my deepest shade of green,

stay green when leopards havoc my home.

New Work

Thanks to the deadline of an upcoming exhibition and an approaching time away in residence at Hill End, I have completed some new work. These are the first works made in the new studio after moving from Katoomba to Wentworth Falls NSW. The studio is a converted garage and suits me fine for the time being. It is a hop, skip, jump to the kitchen for many cups of tea and time to mull over the process. It's also important that I do get up often as the nature of my work has me in an uncomfortable posture for long periods of time and causes a lot of strain on my neck, back and eyes.

Thank you to Graeme Wienand for his patience and talent for the wonderful photography of my work. I know it is not the easiest artwork to document! You can find information on Graeme's photographic services and and Fine Art PhotographyHERE

'silent 0411.1' mixed media 400mmx570mm