Somewhere in Newtown, in Kingston
It's often the streets behind a bustling urban focal point that are the most interesting. To wit, Newtown beyond King Street, in Sydney's inner west. Photographer Belinda Pratten is a Newtown girl and through and through, and for her latest show, she has focused her lens on the quieter side of the suburb: "We are taken on night walks through the back streets and are given an intimate tour of this rapidly changing area. Pratten observes the rich colours and contrast of the night, and is particularly interested in man-made lighting that gives her images a certain warm, yet uncanny feeling. Beautifully printed and stylishly framed in stained, hardwood timber, these photographs are little gems of quiet colour." Somewhere in Newtown, by Belinda Pratten, is showing at The Photography Room, Old Bus Depot, 21 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston, on weekends or by appointment, until December 11. Visit thephotographyroom.com.au for more information.
Support in gold and silver
Here's a raffle of art works in which the money goes straight back to the art: The ANU Gold and Silversmithing Student Society is raffling select items by some of the the Gold and Silversmithing Workshop's famous alumni, to "support student endeavours in the field of contemporary metalwork". The student-run organisation has this collaborated with artists Phoebe Porter, Blanche Tilden, Oliver Smith and Harriet Lee Robinson to present a range of prizes that show off the beauty and craftsmanship of contemporary metalwork and jewellery design. Funds raised by the raffle will be used to mount an exhibition of work by current Gold and Silversmithing Students in 2017. The raffle will be drawn on the evening of November 30th. Tickets are priced at $10 each, 3 for $20, 4 for $30, or 10 tickets for $40, and can be purchased online at www.rafflelink.com.au/anugsss/.
Show & Tell Design Market
If you haven't got your Christmas shopping on track yet – or any kind of shopping really – then head on over to the fresh young Show & Tell design market at Belconnen Arts Centre, which brings together "the best of independent designers, illustrators and makers from Canberra and surrounds. The market provides an opportunity for local designers and creatives to showcase their artwork and products at an event that centres on the theme of contemporary design". This time around, the event is on a Saturday evening, and will feature more than 30 stalls, food, drink and live music. Show & Tell Design Market is on Saturday, November 26, 4-9pm at Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen.
ColourForms at ANCA
Canvas, wood, cardboard and shiny plastics, and all overlaid with colour – Sanne Koelemij has a beautiful new show of abstract paintings opening at ANCA this week, in which explores the relationships between colour, shape and material: "She constructs 'canvases' by ripping, gluing and weaving these materials together before painting optical colour fields over the complex material surfaces," says the gallery. "For ColourForms, Koelemij presents new works which explore paintings as both objects and painterly illusions, featuring an exciting array of colours and mind-bendingly complex compositions." ColourForms, by Sanne Koelemij, opens November 30 at ANCA Gallery, 1 Rosevear Place, Dickson, and runs until December 11.
Moments in the Day and Illumination
One of Australia's best known ceramicists, Greg Daly, has a new show at Nancy Sever Gallery in Kingston, having just returned from a European stint, where he gave master classes in Hungary. But his heart, as an artist, is close to home: "The Australian landscape is a constant in his art. He captures the effects of the light on the landscape around Cowra in the central west of New South Wales in rich and fluid surfaces that mark the changing patterns of light during the passage of the day." And in Illumination, printmaker Annie Franklin has an exhibition of images that "are drawn from the forest and waterways of the bush property where she lives, as well as from the important and endangered habitats of grassy woodlands and wetlands of the south coast, the Monaro and the Canberra region. The paintings in this exhibition illuminate the unnoticed world underfoot: its intricacies, its significance and its connectivity with the more visible world above". Moments in the Day, by Greg Daly, and Illumination, by Annie Franklin, open November 26 at Nancy Sever Gallery, 4/6 Kennedy Street, Kingston, and runs until December 18.
Encaustic painting
Local artist Marijke Gilchrist has a new exhibition of encaustic paintings opening this weekend at Yarralumla Gallery, a medium she's been fixated on for the past four years. "From the Ancient Greek "enkaustikos" (meaning "to burn in"), encaustic painting involves fusing layers of beeswax mixed with resin and pigments to create works with a deep finish, and luminous, ethereal qualities," she says. "One of the appeals of the encaustic medium is the way it engages the senses with the smell of the beeswax, feeling the intensity of the heat used to fuse the layers, and watching works unfold from a liquid to solid state." Her dedicated studio space in Braddon is known as The Hive, as a tribute to the bees upon whose wax she relies. From the Hive, by Marijke Gilchrist, opens Sunday, November 27 at Yarralumla Gallery and Oaks Brasserie in Weston Park, and runs until January 27.
Singing to the choir
Do you ever feel the need – especially at this time of year – to just burst into song, but can't find the confidence, wherewithal, or even just a damn location? Jessie Vintila has been running choirs and workshops all over the country, as well as singing tours in Spain, and on Sunday will be holding her first ever workshop in Canberra. "On her travels, Jessie has been collecting Spanish and Galician songs from some of the wonderful Spanish folk musicians involved with Sing the Camino. These songs have become part of her diverse workshop repertoire, along with her own arrangements of some folk/bluegrass classics like Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Wild Mountain Thyme and Midnight Special, and some African American acapella gospel." Jessie Vintila's Spanish, Folk and Gospel workshop is on Sunday, November 27 from 2-5pm at Corroboree Park Hall in Ainslie. Tickets are $40. Book at singthecamino.com, or email info@singthecamino.com for more information.
