Well it's official. I'm going to Sydney. Courtesy of the Lismore Art in the Heart project I've been awarded a residency with the Sydney Harbour Foreshore's The Rocks Pop-Up Project. There are 5 artists going down and we have a gallery space for two weeks each in The Rocks. I'm taking this opportunity to put on an exhibition that will be a celebration of 21 years as a full- time artist. It astonishes me when I think about that - it seems like only one day last month perhaps, that I was wondering if it was such a good idea to take leave from teaching and go out on my own as an artist. I'm sure it was only last week when we were celebrating ten years with that retrospective exhibition in Goondiwindi and Lismore!

The show in Sydney is at 75 George St, The Rocks. I've got recent paintings as well as etchings for this show. I'm also using it to be the official launch of the first commercial reproductions of any of my paintings since about 1995. They're being printed as we speak, after months of preparation and fiddling with the millimetres. Ian at Graphic Expressions has printed them and he has done a marvellous job with it. I'll write more about the prints on another day.

My plan is to create a series of site-specific drypoints when i'm in Sydney. The teaching i've been doing lately has inspired me to work on this very immediate medium a little more, so this will be a great opportunity to play. I'm anticipating small work, in series, topographical and no doubt autobiographical, which will be about my time there. Watch this space for more about this project.

As you can see, the gallery is in a fantastic position, and there are great harbour views from the top floor, they say !

read more blogs about this subject:
"small milestones" exhibition 75 George St The Rocks October 2011

a thankyou note from the 21st party