NEWS IN THE GALLERY

TERM WORKSHOPS

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Click here for 2022 Term 3 Workshops

Winter Member's Exhibition
Peoples Choice Award 

The Winter Member's Exhibition, 3 - 9 August, saw another successful exhibition showcasing the talents of BDAS tutors and members. We had 88 finalists hung. These talented artists contributed to a diverse and vibrant collection of artworks which reflects the variety of classes offered here at the BDAS.

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Congratulations to everyone!

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A special congratulations goes to the artists who won the

Peoples Choice Awards. 

First place goes to Jane Wray "Where the Land Meets the Sea" with 16 votes

Equal second place goes to Fiona Fudge with "Bells of St. Clements"

& Sonja Bowden with "Carlton Clydesdales".

Both second places received 10 votes each.

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Well done everyone!

Jane Wray "Where the Land Meets the Sea"

Winner People's Choice Award 

Sonja Bowden "Carlton Clydales"

Equal second People's Choice Award

Fiona Fudge "Bells of St. Clements" Left

Equal second People's Choice Award

BDAS Gala Fundraising Event...
Anniversary Celebrity Portrait Reveal 2022
21 September 6pm
The Stables, Bendooley Estate
$120 per person
 

The BDAS is very excited to announce our Gala Fundraising event for 2022, The Anniversary Celebrity Portrait Reveal is on again.

We are  lucky to have Charlie Albone as our sitter. You will probably recognise him from TV's Better Homes and Gardens and Selling Houses Australia.

Our respected portrait painters this year are Tony Ameneiro, Vanessa Stockard,

Evert Ploeg and James King. Our artists will spend a day with Charlie working on preliminary sketches, drawing paintings and taking photos.

The finished works will be presented at the Celebrity Portrait Reveal and a winner chosen.

Graeme Day has kindly agreed to be our MC for the evening. There will also be an auction of 6 works donated by Tutors/members of the BDAS on the night.

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It is sure to be a fabulous night out at The Stables, Bendooley Estate.

There are limited tickets available so get in quick to avoid disappointment. 

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Following the Gala Event, the paintings will be displayed at the Bookshop Bowral

tickets can be purchased from Try booking

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Kindly Sponsored by

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www.trybooking.com/BYRWS

BDAS
Celebrity Portraits
off to a good start

Article written by Peach Robb

Southern Highlands Express

 Artists have gathered with celebrity landscape garden designer Charlie Albone to start creating their portraits for Bowral District Art Society’s (BDAS) major annual fundraiser, the Celebrity Portrait Reveal. 

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Various artists are participating in this unique event, where they all create their own interpretation of the same subject. Past celebrities have included personalities such as musician Leo Sayer, John Waters, acclaimed artist Ben Quilty and Reg Livermore. The event was created in 2010 as part of the 60th-anniversary celebrations and proved so popular it has continued ever since. 

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Once the portraits have been completed, they are presented at the BDAS fundraising gala. The 2022 gala will be held at the Stables, Bendooley Estate, Old Hume Highway on Wednesday, 21 September. 2ST’s Graeme Day will be the MC for the evening and Charlie Albone will chat about the works before selecting his favourite to keep. There will also be a silent auction and raffle with some fantastic prizes on the night. Following the fundraiser, the portraits will be on display at the Bookshop Bowral 

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The artists invited to participate in 2022 are Tony Ameneiro, Vanessa Stockyard, Evert Ploeg and James King. The Southern Highlands Express chatted with the artists to find out what it’s been like to work together in this unique way. 

Tony Ameneiro is one of the artists creating a portrait of Charlie and this is the first time he has participated in a project. “We all work differently, it was apparent even on the day as we all looked at each other's works,” he told the Express. “Hopefully something of each artist’s own unique style will come through.” 

Mr Ameneiro studied art at Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education Sydney between 1978-1981 and has been exhibiting professionally ever since. His primary focus is as an artist-printmaker and he incorporates his drawing practice across etching, lithography and monotype. 

He won the 2007 National Fremantle Print Award and has been awarded several other awards and positions, working with other prominent artists such as Ben Quilty and Tracey Moffatt. His work has been exhibited by some of the world’s most prestigious galleries including the British Museum London, the State Library of Victoria and the National Gallery of Australia. He is also well-known in the Highlands having exhibited at both Sturt Gallery in Mittagong and the Bowral Art Gallery. 

Mr Ameneiro told the Express that the initial painting day was a success. 

“Charlie Albone was great, very friendly, very down to earth and importantly he managed to sit very still for the pose for over 6 hours (on and off ) ... not an easy task” 

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James King has been a professional painter for more than 20 years, and moved to the Highlands 18 years ago “to live an affordable creative life in the country”. 

Mr King shifted his focus from landscape to portraiture about 15 years ago and many of his works are inspired by photos from the mid-twentieth century. 

“I want to take the image further and subvert the historical function of pre-modern portraiture; the subjects I choose to paint are ordinary people and their images were for a time private mementos never intended to be seen by an audience other than family and friends,” he told the Express. 

Mr King participated in the BDAS celebrity portrait reveal a number of years ago and “learned a great deal from the experience”, and has enjoyed getting back into the swing of things. 

“I loved working alongside the other artists and Charlie really was the perfect model,” he said. 

“Primarily I’m trying to create an interesting painting, the likeness is almost secondary.” 

As an artist living and working in regional NSW, Mr King believes that regional community spaces such as BDAS and Robertson’s Southern Highlands Artisans Collective are “essential institutions”. 

“Art is for everyone and we need places that showcase all levels and all forms of creativity.” 

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Evert Ploeg is a renowned portrait artist, winning several prestigious awards including the Archibald Prize People’s Choice Award on two occasions and receiving Signature Status in the Portrait Society of America in 2018. In 1997, his portrait of ABC’s Bananas in Pyjamas was the talk of the town when the Art Gallery of NSW Trustees rejected it from the Archibald Prize. 

Mr Ploeg has participated in several projects such as this and particularly enjoys “the challenge of not knowing exactly what will unfold and working on the fly”. 

In relation to the current portrait, Mr Ploeg told the Express, “The style and approach to this portrait of Charlie Albone is Alla Prima, which in Italian means ‘at first attempt’, I’m trying to achieve a spontaneous lively likeness from life in the given time I have on the day”. 

He enjoyed the initial painting day explaining how valuable it can be to create work from real life as opposed to photography. 

“It’s in these moments you can see things like a sense of size or the way they stand, small intuitive things that make character. 

“I hope the audience will see the loose and energetic brushwork on my piece, and get a sense of who Charlie is, even if that is how he is portrayed in his professional capacity,” he told the Express. 

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Vanessa Stockyard has an equally unique style and has been a professional artist for more than 20 years. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts in Sydney and has been a finalist in the Archibald Prize three times. 

“The technique I use is a combination of brush strokes with the drawn line and is a daily juxtaposition of control and letting go,” she has said of her work. 

“I found the experience to be fabulous,” Vanessa told the Express. 

“It’s a rare gift to have someone sit for hours so we can get a good understanding of their nature and little details you would never get from looking at a photo. 

“I really enjoyed the other artists too and how differently each person approached their portrait.” 

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Just what these talented artists will produce in the end remains to be seen. To book tickets to the 2022 Celebrity Portrait Reveal gala visit trybooking.com/BYRWS 

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By Peach Robb 

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James King

Vanessa Stockard

Tony Ameneiro

Charlie Albone, Tony Ameneiro and Evert Ploeg

BDAS artists collaborate with BDCF

BOWRAL LONG LUNCH - CHRISTMAS IN JULY

BDAS in partnership with BDCF (Bowral District Childrens Foundation) have joined forces to help raise funds to support children's health and well-being at a Yuletide themed Long Lunch at The Stables, Bendooley Estate, Berrima, on the 24th July.

Artists from the BDAS community braved their nerves, to create artworks in front of a curious audience of 240 guests. These artworks were then auctioned and raised a handsome sum of $10,300.

Congratulations to Sue Meredith who won best artwork awarded by Desmond Freeman.

Well done to our artists and to all the committee at the BDCF for their efforts in raising funds for such an important cause.

It was a terrific day out and a wonderful success.

Deb Stokes

Tony Diegan 

Vivienne Krassoi

Rosa Fedele

Graham Sinclair

Sue Meredith

Del Cooley

Martial Cosyn

Greg Thompson

Sue Meredith

Greg Thompson

Martial Cosyn

Del Cooley

Vivienne Krassoi

Graham Sinclair

Rosa Fedele

A word or two of thanks from our President  John Brain

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our committee members both new and retiring. Our organisation is a thriving and dynamic society that just seems to get better and better. The BDAS is built on the creativity, passion, vision, dedication and the good will of all our wonderful volunteers and committee members.

Thank you Leanne Haddadi for your role on the executive committee and as Publicity Officer. Your contribution to keeping the profile of BDAS across mainstream media and social media has been outstanding. I also thank you, together with Rosa Fedele, in initiating the ‘Discover’ campaign which will be the basis of our advertising and publicity for some time yet to come. 

Thank you Tracey Miller, your contribution has been so valuable, particularly as being one of our most experienced tutors.

Many thanks to Patti Jones for all your hard work, in-particular for your input into the Policies and Procedures document. 

Thank you Patricia Miller, especially for continuing on with the committee for another year, to help me settle into my role. It helped me tremendously having a committee with long-term experience.

I would also like to thank Carol and Peter. I’ll miss you from the committee but I know you and Peter will be around, and always there for us.

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So please all join me in saying ‘THANKYOU’ for the dedicated work and passion that Leanne, Rosa, Tracey, Patti, Patricia and Carol have all contributed to making this the wonderful art society it is today.

And while on my list of ‘THANKYOUs’, I would like to thank my current committee, Helen, Margie, Kim, Marika and Tony as well as Fiona, Vivienne, Ross and Sue Miller, for all their contribution to keeping BDAS a happy and well run Art Society. 

Now to the new members, Eril Becher, Kirsty Graham, Sandra Hiscock, Lou Watts, Gilda Wilson and Barbara Young. 

Thank you all for accepting the invitation to join this dynamic committee. If it was a case of coercion, please don’t worry. We are a great team and have a lot of fun.  I look forward to working with all of you very soon.

John Brain