Testimonial: Julie Brockbank, Diploma of Fine Arts, 2008

 Julie Brockbank, NADC Fine Arts graduate

What did you like most about studying Fine Arts at NADC?
As a mature age student returning to study with a view to facilitating a career change, NADC provided a stimulating environment where I was able to develop skills and interact with like minded people.

What are you doing now and how did TAFE help you get there?
Currently I’m in my final year of a Bachelor of Fine Arts at COFA, UNSW.  I received advanced standing in a number of subjects as acknowledgment of my study at TAFE which fast tracked my degree.  With lots of encouragement from my TAFE teachers I developed the confidence and study ethic necessary to progress to University.

What are your plans and goals for the future?
Next year I hope to complete an Honours program at COFA and after that ... who knows !!!!

Anything else?
I’m a strong advocate of the TAFE system.  The practical and theoretical skills I gained at NADC provided a strong foundation for my studies at University.

Jennifer Gabbay finalist in Portia Geach Memorial Award, 2011

 

Jennifer Gabbay,  'Fragments of Myself', oil on board, 100cm x 80cm, 2011

Blue Mountains artist, and Diploma of Fine Art Year 2 student Jennifer Gabbay has been selected as one of 50 finalists in the prestigious Portia Geach Memorial Award for 2011.
 

The winner was announced at an official opening on Thursday 22nd September 2011 at the S.H.Ervin Gallery, Watson Road, Observatory Hill, The Rocks in Sydney and is open to the public from Friday 23 September  until Saturday 6 November 2011. After the initial showing, the exhibition will tour to the Tweed River Art Gallery at Murwillumbah, Northern NSW from 3 February to 18 March 2012.

 
The Portia Geach Memorial Award was established 50 years ago and has become Australia’s leading prize for portraiture by female artists.  Worth $18,000, its winners have included Jenny Sages, Wendy Sharpe, Jenny Watson and Nancy Borlase. Each year the award is held at the National Trust’s S.H. Ervin Gallery in Sydney.

Portia Geach (1873-1959) studied at the Melbourne National Gallery School and was a committed artist who had a talent for portraiture, which later became her specialty.  In 1896 she was the first Australian to be awarded a tuition scholarship to London’s influential Royal Academy.  Aside from her art, she was also zealous about feminism and spent much of her life fighting for the rights of women.  

Congratulations to Jennifer on being included in this prestigious show.

Separations

2nd yr Diploma of Fine Arts student Janet Reinhardt will be exhibiting in Balmain at The Watchhouse over the break. The show will only be up for the weekend of the 8th/9th (opening on the 7th) so mark your calendars! Details below...

Separations

The Watchhouse, 179 Darling Street, Balmain

An exhibition of Prints and New Media

Featuring the work of video artists John Bennett and John Laidler,

and the prints and digital work of Janet Reinhardt and Bronwyn Rodden

8^th – 9^th October 2011, 10am to 5pm daily

Opening 6pm Friday, October 7th – All welcome

In this exhibition four artists explore the issue of separations in terms of both our alienation from our own nature and origins as well as our increasing alienation from the natural world. The video installations are really found poems, which address three main areas; the uneasy Brownian motion of airports, the natural environment and our cultural past. The prints and digital work examine both the beauty of the natural environment and man’s ephemeral and sometimes uncomfortable existence within this natural context.

Di Holdsworth at NG Gallery

 

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Fine Arts teacher Di Holdsworth is exhibiting in a group show at NG Art Gallery, opening on Tuesday September 26 from 6pm-8pm. The exhibition will be officially opened by Wayne Tunnicliffe, Head Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of NSW.

There are plenty of good reasons to visit NG Art Gallery. As well as the chance to see this show, you could visit Mission, which is located downstairs, and serves great food and coffee. Or just round the corner is White Rabbit, the impressive private museum featuring contemporary Chinese art. 

 Misty (detail), 150x65x40cm, Di Holdsworth, mixed media assemblage with music box, 2011

To see a video of Di's work follow this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBlonQbkLAU

Information and enrolment session for our FREE Term 4 fine arts course: this Thursday September 22 at 10.30am

Here's that information again: it's such a good offer for anyone wanting a short course in printmaking, ceramics, painting and drawing, that we thought we'd tell you about it all over again. For those who missed the last post, read on. And don't forget to share it with anyone you know who might be interested.......

from left to right: detail of works by Carl Miranda, Louisa Antico, students at work, Jane Ross, Marcela Vilaplana, and group installation. All artwork from students enrolled in a range of Fine Art courses at NADC over the past few years.

The Fine Arts section at NADC is offering a FREE introduction to fine arts course that runs full-time for 7 weeks.

The course will give learners an opportunity to have hands-on studio classes in drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics. This course has proven very popular in the past, with many students using it as a stepping stone to further fine arts study.

An information and enrolment session is being held on Thursday September 22, 2011 at 10.30am in the Trapezium Gallery, Building P Nepean College. Interested prospective students should attend this session. For information on how to find us, click here .

The course commences on Monday October 10 and runs for 7 weeks, concluding Thursday November 24.
Classes are from 9.30am to 2.30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during this time.

For more information on this course, download a course information leaflet here or call the section on ph 9208 9513 or customer service on 131 870.

Who will our miniworks finalists be? Find out on Wednesday September 21

 

Andy Petith, 'Remembering Vincent', mixed media, 2011. 3D miniworks entrant, 2011

This Wednesday is a  big day for small sculpture when the Director of the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Kathleen von Witt announces the 10 finalists and grand prize winner of the 2011 3D miniworks competition. Make sure you head down to C Block at 12 noon on Wednesday for the opening and announcements. For those who can't make the event, you can still catch the show until October 14.

Aeden Harris and Toni Warburton at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre

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'In clay' is the title of an exhibition at the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, which features work by teachers, artists and designers from the Ceramic Design studio at Sydney Institute. WSI fine arts teachers Aeden Harris and Toni Warburton are in the show, which runs until the 9th of October, 2011. For further details, click the invitation above.

Why not make it a gallery weekend?

Lisa Reid, Early Years...Special Olympics, acrylic on canvas 165 x 75.5, 2011

Let's face it, this weekend, resistance is futile. There is so much to see and do at our local galleries at the moment, you may as well make this weekend a gallery weekend.  This Saturday September 17, we have our Advanced Diploma students exhibiting at the Penrith Regional Gallery with the opening starting at 5pm.
And on Sunday, NADC teacher David Newman-White is exhibiting with the late Arnold Freen at Lane Cove Art and Cultural Centre (see previous posts for full details of both shows).

That leaves you just enough time to squeeze in a visit to ' High & Lofty: The Ecclesiastical Banner Project, an exciting project in a range of exhibiton spaces in Parramatta. A walking tour of the exhibition will be held this Saturday from 2pm-4pm.  After which you can pop on over to Lewers :)

For more details of the exhibition, walking tour, and an upcoming banner making workshop, click on the invitation below

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'Trajectories' opens in style

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Congratulations to all the artists exhibiting in 'Trajectories' now showing in the Trapezium Gallery. It was a great opening with outstanding catering and an exhibition to be proud of. You can catch the show until next Thursday September 22.

David Newman-White exhibits with the late Arnold Freen

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Fine Arts painting and drawing teacher David Newman-White is exhibiting in a two-person exhibition at the Lane Cove Music and Cultural Centre. The exhibition, entitled "Golden Moments', features work by David, and also by the late Arnold Freen who is remembered fondly by many of us here at Nepean Arts and Design Centre.

A number of Arnold's fellow students and friends have come together to ensure his work was framed and installed as he would have wished.

You are warmly invited to join in a celebration of both artists works on Sunday September 18, from 4pm-6pm at the Lane Cove Music and Cultural Centre. Click the invitation above for further details.

FREE Fine Arts intro course starts October 10

From left to right: details of work by Erika Glynn, Diploma of Fine Art 2009, Jane Ross, Certificate IV in Visual Arts and Contemporary Craft 2010, Danielle Higham, Diploma of Fine Art 2010, exhibition by Diploma of Fne Art Year 1 students, 2010, detail of work by Sean Sweeney, Diploma of Fine Art 2010, Matthew Mead, Diploma of Fine Art 2010.

The Fine Arts section at NADC is offering a FREE introduction to fine arts course that runs full-time for 7 weeks.

The course will give learners an opportunity to have hands-on studio classes in drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics. This course has proven very popular in the past, with many students using it as a stepping stone to further fine arts study.

An information and enrolment session is being held on Thursday September 22 at 10.30am in the Trapezium Gallery, Building P Nepean College. Interested prospective students should attend this session. For information on how to find us, click here .

The course commences on Monday October 10 and runs for 7 weeks, concluding Thursday November 24.
Classes are from 9.30am to 2.30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during this time.

For more information on this course, download a course information leaflet here or call the section on ph 9208 9513 or customer service on 131 870.

'Trajectories' opens in the Trapezium Gallery, Wednesday September 14 at 12 noon

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You are warmly invited to the opening of 'Trajectories', Wednesday the 14th of September at 12 noon in the Trapezium Gallery. This vibrant exhibition features the work of students in the Certificate IV in Visual Arts and Contemporary Craft, and is a wonderful showcase of the skills and confidence they have acquired through their course.

The exhibition features drawings, paintings, ceramic works and printmaking, many of which are available for sale at affordable prices. An original artwork makes a unique gift, so why not start your Christmas shopping early this year?

All are welcome to the opening of the exhibition on Wednesday the 14th of September at 12 noon. Gallery hours and dates are  listed on the above invitation.

A course information leaflet for the 2012 Certificate IV in Visual Arts and Contemporary  Craft can be found on our course information page. You can register your interest in our 2012 intake for this course here.

Miniworks finalists to be announced on Wednesday September 21

 Nathaniel Mikhaiel,  15cmx 15cm maximum, chess piece, porcelain, 2011

The Annual 3 D miniworks exhibition has been extended, and the 10 finalists, including the overall winner, will be announced by the Director of the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Kathleen von Witt, on Wednesday September 21.

This fantastic exhibition features over 80 inventive, elegant and affordable three-dimensional artworks, each of which is no larger than 15cm in any direction.


The exhibition has been extended until Friday October 14. If you haven't already, get down to C Block to check out some of the great works on show. A preview of some of the work by our talented students can be found here.

We hope you can join us for refreshments to celebrate the announcement of the finalists, on Wednesday September 21 at 12 noon in Block C.

Our Advanced Diploma Students at the Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest

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Eight students from the Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts have been given a fantastic opportunity to work on a project at The Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest. The students have been working on site-specific work at the Gallery, in the form of window-based installation, followed by photo-works that interpret and creatively extend their installations.

The end result of their efforts will be exhibited in an exhibition called 'Framed', which has an opening celebration on Saturday September 17, from 5pm-7pm, at the Gallery.

The working process is giving our students an opportunity to experience the formal demands of working as an artist, including fulfilling briefs and submitting proposals.  After  on-site briefings by Gallery staff,  the students developed site-specific proposals which presented a contemporary response to key issues of Australian Modernism and Abstraction.

The proposals were presented to Gallery curatorial staff and the student's course lecturers. Once approval had been given each artist then returned to the studio to produce an artwork designed to be framed, physically and metaphorically, within the window of Lewers House. The installed works were then documented, and further re-figured into a photo based artwork for exhibition.

As previewed in the invitation above, the process has resulted in a lovely body of work that engages with the site and history of one of Western Sydney's important Regional Galleries.

The official opening of 'Framed takes place on September 17. Also being celebrated at the same time is 'C Block', an exhibition of drawings by NADC Fine Arts teacher Catherine O'Donnell, and 'Snapshot' a vibrant exhibition of photography by teenagers.

We hope you can join us on Saturday September 17, between 5pm and 7pm at the Penrith Regional gallery and the Lewers Bequest to celebrate these exhibitions. The full address of the  and hours of the Gallery can be found on the above invitation.