It's Autumn...

The season is changing.

every morning of late I find my car strewn with leaves of the most exquisite shades ....
and as I pick them out of the windscreen wipers and vents I give a silent whoop of delight to the heavens for the magic in this simplest of chores..... I love the leaves!

                                             Jo x

Painting from life

I'm in the process of  trying to renovate.


I must admit though that this process is really dragging out mainly because I don't want to give the time  to chase tradesmen and hang around waiting for them to show up to quote. I made a major input some four months ago....walls came down, kitchen pulled out, furniture moved and stacked all over the place....then my young builder left to go back to his 'real' job.... you see I was his 'fill-in' on wet-days, 'waiting-for-architect-approval-days, and generally on days when his 'real' work, his contractors job, had stalled.


I'm digressing here.... but.... because of the reno, clean-ups are happening.


and it's amazing what is uncovered when you look into old folios found in an artist's cupboard!


I found these sketches, in pastel, done from life in 1993. I'm surprized they've survived the 'toss-out' bug....I'm pretty good at spring-cleaning old drawings and paintings!


they are quite rough....sketches done in less than an hour....but I'm posting them to illustrate how my art has moved away from traditional realism. 
from a traditional representative way of painting to a looser....oh and how I wish it was so much looser! ....interpretive way of painting the figure.
seeing these reminds me how much I love working from life, working from the model.







drawing from life
Jo-Ann Hunt
H750x550mm
H29x22ins
pastel on Mi-Tientes paper
1993









I was tempted to 'fix' his eyes....they are a tad wonky, and to make them darker....to 'fix' the tonal ranges of their skin, to rework them....but then I thought I'd just post them in all their unfinished raw glory!
If I was a  Portrait Painter... and hey....there's still plenty of time!.... I would do a number of these sketches before starting  on my canvas.....

drawing from life
Jo-Ann Hunt
H750x550mm
H29x22ins
pastel on Mi-Tientes paper
1993

detail








and then there was this.
another session,  another 'sketch'....just a couple of years back, painted from life in oils.
this painting is probably 4.5 hours worth, over 3 short sessions,  a week apart.... because the oil paint needed time to dry....

painting from life
Jo-Ann Hunt
H460x610mm
H18x24ins
Oils on Canvas

and obviously when I first set up my easel the bed support wasn't in position! neither was our young model....who happened to have the whitest skin I've ever seen on anyone....all that foreshortening....so tricky to draw to say not much!
(and to protect the classification rating on this blog and our young friend, I've added my tools of choice to the battered canvas....it was either cover the paint splotches,dents and scratches or protect both our reputations!)
 now all this wordiness and circumlocution (pun intended) is just to say ... yes I can draw.... I believe everyone is born knowing how to draw ....
and yes, can be 'retaught' if you don't believe me....



 ....but that's a possible topic for another post!





                                                          Jo x

It's not really grey!

Studio View...Room 1

So glad to be back in the studio today.


It's a new week, with a new body of work to start on.


 Head down, busy drawing , trying to work out the layout and composition for a large painting,


.... looked up...and this is what I saw.


This is what we in Melbourne call a 'dirty sky'.....it was really 'dirty' and threatening...


as in 'farmer', squinting into the distance..."Yeah....sky's lookin a bit dirdy todaaay....bedder move the flamin sheep!'


Then an hour or two later....not sure how long 'cos I was totally engrossed solving my design issues....


back to this.... a gorgeous custard yellow puff-ball of a cloud.....

Studio View...same window

You gotta love Melbourne's weather!

It never ceases to delight me that , tucked up there behind the grey, there's always  a sunny blue sky....

just sometimes you can't see it ..... a metaphor for life really!

                                                Jo x

                                               

St Kevins 2011 Art Exhibition

To all the Art Collectors out there, this weekend is not the time to rest up!



....the 41st St Kevins College Art Exhibition has a long and prestigious history....



....and I'm in it!



....it is one of the largest art shows in Victoria, 'showcasing traditional and contemporary  paintings
by leading Australian artists.'



Opening night Cocktail Party....Friday 20th May 7pm-9pm

                                               Saturday 21st May 10am-8pm

                                               Sunday 22nd May 10 am-6pm

                                               Monday 23rd May 10am -4pm

Meet the Artists Night... Monday 23rd May 7pm-9pm


K.C.Smith Hall,  St Kevins College, Moonga Rd, Toorak  ( Melways Ref 59B3)

....this is one of my long-time favourite exhibitions to be part of....


put together by a  hard -working, art loving team....


and it's always a highlight of my Exhibition Calendar.






                                      ....maybe I'll see you there?

Jo x



Art Melbourne 2011....pt 3

Opening Night!!



Art Melbourne 2011....


                 ....music....

                                         ....art....

                                                                ....champagne....




                ....what more could a girl want!

....everyone was excited.... happy chatter....the sushi and champers were out....

...the murals and domes floated above the spotlights and white gallery walls.....

...the jazz quartets...(plural... there were a few of them..! ) played  .....


and not a whiff of wet paint!


or wet varnish!

....it was the ' Melbourne-dressed-in-black 'crowd  doing its darndest and having fun.

....and  me in orange!


                                                          .....ditto!!



                                                                                 Jo x



Art Melbourne 2011....pt 2

Art Melbourne web site
Photo Mark Gambino

Art Melbourne?     Where's that?



Art Melbourne is always held in the stunningly.... gorgeously.... beautiful Royal Exhibition Buildings

in the Carlton Gardens, Melbourne.

Original lithograph, 1880
Wikipedia

....UNESCO World Heritage listed, and completed in 1880....nine years prior to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.... 

these buildings add a reverence and astonishing sense of history to any exhibition held here.


....just being within these walls and beneath these murals is both uplifting and humbling....


go along and see for yourself.


you'll find yourself gazing up at the soaring girders and domes as much as forward into the colourful walls of the gallery exhibits!





Royal Exhibition Buildings
original photo Toby Ord
Wikipedia








for more on this fabulous grand-dame of Melbourne's architecture, follow here.....

.....see you at the Opening tonight?

Jo x

Art Melbourne 2011 .....part 1



Art Melbourne
19-22 May 2011
Royal Exhibition Buildings, Carlton, Victoria



It's done!....



....just delivered the final painting to Suburban 312 Gallery for the Opening of  Art Melbourne 2011,
tomorrow night....







from Art Melbourne web site
picture by DUO




....this exhibition is massive.....



.....and fabulous!



....the final layer of varnish was still drying as I carefully loaded my painting into the car!




....then, job done, I took myself here for a coffee in the autumn sunshine....







Elwood Beach, Victoria





just to regroup.... to sit....



to breathe...



to be!






....because I have two huge exhibitions this weekend.... aaargh!......it's no wonder I'm feeling spent.....I'm going to be a busy girl!



....just breathe....!

               Jo x



Wash Day .......Encore

at my house everyday is 'wash day'!

I had no idea but I have been painting laundry since 2005!



....true!.....



and thankfully there are a lot of Art Collectors out there who must share my subconscious delight with the sight of a line of clean washing, flapping in the breeze, absorbing the smell of the sun.....( how is that possible?.... washing does have that 'breathe-in-deep-and-fresh-smell-of-the-sunshine'...doesn't it??)



I'll show you just a few more paintings from my series "Travels with my Paintbrush'....









'The Balcony Gardens'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush'Series
H122x122cm
H48x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2006
sold










'The Blue Check Cloth'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush'Series
H76x76cm
H30x30ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2009
sold








'Wash Day'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H96x122cm
H36x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2010
sold



'Wash Day'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

....and that, as they say, is just the 'tip of the laundry pile!'



                          ....now that's an awful lot of laundry!




                                           Jo x

Sox and Stockings



Wash Day in the Cinque Terra

It seems I have a fixation with washing!



but come with me here.....if it was you.... hanging washing from the windows  of a home like this....




 

'Sox and Stockings'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

 


a warm breeze....


a hint of spring coming.....


with this view....

'Sox and Stockings'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x138cm
H48x54ins
Acrylic on Canvas
xxxx

.



the smell of a good pasta sauce on the stove.....mmmmm....



what's not to love about laundry!!













 ....you can tell the apron never gets washed!!

Jo x

No Swimming

my backyard

 Whoa! ......was it cold today!

             a ' cold snap' with brief hailstorm has left our street  looking

                     like it's been snowing!

I am working on a new 'Series'....it's  'beach' themed....

think summer....

surf....

salt-spray in the air....

swimming....



yesterday
New Haven Marina
Phillip Island
Victoria



hmmm....


but  it's a little tricky to keep my headspace in the sunshine ....


with warm yellows and cerulean blues ....


when outside it is all grey and silver!

No Swimming!

....Jo  x

Market Day Rhythms



'Market Day Rhythms'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt






I love discovering the different pace to life in different parts of the globe.

but a market has a similar pace and tempo wherever it's situated....

...the set-up in the early hours....

...the business-like, brisk beat of the first shoppers homing in on the best produce....

...the hub-bub and noisiness of the mid-morning crowd....

more casual....

 more chatty....

with socialising and purchasing taking equal priority....

and then the pack-up, down-shutters....

trolleys and vans departing....

...all quiet now....

...until next time....

when the rhythm of the market is played again.










'Market Day Rhythms'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H107x122cm
H42x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
sold





....this is making me hungry!




                                                                                    Jo x



Ancient Villages



'Village Ancien'
detail'
Jo-Ann Hunt







Hilltop villages delight me.


I love the way they improbably cling to the most impossible of cliff faces,
and the higgledy-piggledy, almost playful nature of their construction.




since 2005 I've painted these medieval towns....with one foot based in reality, and one foot in my imagination.



I love to imagine the lives of the people that live in these homes.... a birdcage on a balcony....put outside to sing in the sunshine....soccer socks and shorts  on the line to dry....



it's a fascination that continues to intrigue me, and this 'Series'.... 'Travels with my Paintbrush' ....
is one that I return to every year.



for me , there's always one more village, one more balcony.....



always more 'Travelling with my Paintbrush' to do !


Jo x






'Village Ancien'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Seies
H132x132cm
H52x52ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2007
sold