Seven Artists In Pastel
15 - 30 June 2013

 

"Pastel is a medium that requires great skill and patience..."

Eminent Curator Max Taylor AM, founder & former Director of Delmar Gallery Trinity College and Taylor Galleries Sydney, has selected seven Australian artists who are noted for their different approaches to the pastel medium and subject matter.

Ann Cape | Ian Chapman | Greg Hansell | Greg Hyde | Anne Kearney | Victoria Peel | Brenda Thomas


Ann Cape - "A drawing through its innate immediacy is a direct response, an almost instantaneous record. For me, it is the most intimate expression of all.
Using mostly pastel and charcoal, my work is about the process of discovering the figure, its form, its character and its emotion... to capture that essence, whilst maintaining it’s life and freshness. I find drawing... the act of, the paper, the mark... very grounding, and very refreshing."

Collections: AMP, Sir Vincent Fairfax, Onesteel, Whyalla SA, Hunters Hill Council, Liverpool Council, Cessnock Regional Gallery, Bega Valley Regional Gallery, Lismore Regional Gallery, Smoky and Dot Dawson, Mosman Regional Gallery, Mosman Council, Mudanjiang Art Academy, China.


Ian Chapman
"..I love the medium of pastel because of the vigorous spontaneity of gesture combining line and form.."
Collections: Belgiorno-Zegna family; Commonwealth Bank; IBM; Janet Holmes a Court; Lendlease; Murwillumbah Shire; Transfield; Trinity Grammar School; Warringah Council, and Private collections, Australia, France, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Hong Kong, New York & Vienna


Greg Hansell works in the traditionalist or realist school of Australian painting. His medium is pastel and he uses a combination of handmade earth pastels and Schmincke pastels. His Earth Pastels are " hand made only from rocks and clays with no commercial pigment, binder or additive used in their manufacture. (Their) Permanence has been tested to the ultimate rating"
Collections: Historic Houses Trust Collection; Nepean River County Council; Hawkesbury City Council; Camden City Council; Jeffrey Smart collection; late Mervin Horton collection; Commonwealth Art Bank; Coles Myer collection; ANZ Bank collection; Prime Ministers’ collection; University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury campus and Parramatta campus; New England Regional Art Museum Armidale; Mosman Regional Art Gallery
Private Collections: Australia and Internationally.


Greg Hyde has developed a style combining his love of the European tradition with an insightful use of the natural features and the cultural phenomena of traditional and modern Australia to create a personal, and characteristically whimsical iconography, that says as much about the character of the artist himself, as about observations of current culture.
Private Collections: Australia and internationally.


Anne Kearney "My pastels have grown out of daily drawings – rapid mark-making around the harbour, gazing at the Hawkesbury sandstone, moving through the landscape of Slovenia and the Dalmatian coast. I have allowed the quick, blurred impressions, put down in a stream of consciousness... to develop their own voices and entice me into layers of unsuspected wonder..."
Private Collections: Australia.


Victoria Peel - "Most of these pastels are based on the idea of a safe harbour, - The image originating from the tug boat wharf in Balmain. They have been done in memory of my father, a Naval Captain of eleven ships. These drawings are an exploration of contrast, the most dominant contrast being between night and day, manmade and natural form..."
Collections: Art Bank; East Sydney Technical College; Hawkesbury City Council; The Royal Australian Navy; National Art School; Hornsby Council and Private Collections Australia.


Brenda Thomas "Pastels give me a great deal of freedom in that I can work directly on to paper 'plein air' without having to carry around a lot of materials. I like to prepare my paper surfaces in advance so that the immediacy of the drawing is not hampered by technical considerations when I am drawing ...all I want to do to capture what I am seeing... at that time.. in that particular place..."
Private Collections: Australia.