NADC staff and graduates in exhibition at Penrith Regional Gallery

I'll be your mirror 3, Jo Newton, inkjet pigment print 60cmx 60 cm , 2014

This image by NADC visual arts teacher Jo Newton are featured as part of Winter Light at the Penrith Regional Gallery & Lewers Bequest, opening tomorrow afternoon at 4pm. Jo also has some pinhole cameras placed around the garden that will be making exposures over days and weeks. Winter Light also features NADC graduates Paula Gerrard and Ivy Jean, so make sure you get along to one of our great regional galleries this Saturday!

It's never too late to study art!

 Ray Atkins stands with one of his artworks. Source: News Limited

 

 Diploma of Visual Arts student Ray Atkins has a lovely story in the Parramatta Advertiser this week, talking about the fulfillment studying art has given him. Follow the link, or read the text of the article below.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/parramatta/its-been-a-long-journey-for-ray-atkins-but-at-66-hes-finally-found-his-muse/story-fngr8huy-1226933182061

RAY Atkins has travelled a long road to become the art student he wanted to be when he left school.
But, at 66, Atkins is just happy to be finally studying fine arts at TAFE, after a lifetime that has seen him close to death, in a variety of jobs and with a marriage under his belt.
While he has never been far from the paint brush, it was only when he joined Parramatta Art Society in 2009 that he realised art was his first love. He paints abstracts and landscapes.
“Getting great encouragement from the society made me think again about studying art, so I enrolled in a fine arts diploma course at Kingswood TAFE, which I am enjoying and I may end up doing the advanced diploma course,” Atkins said.
He shrugs off the possibility he may have worked in art, perhaps as a teacher, if he had studied it from a young age.
Acting was another possibility but he knocked back an interview with NIDA for reasons that are not clear to him even today.
“My mother, who is still alive at 92, still keeps reminding me of that missed opportunity,” he said.
But his mother is just glad he survived a horrific car accident when he was 20, causing severe brain damage with the possibility he would have disabilities for life.
That accident set him back as he faced years of rehabilitation, facing the prospect of never walking again.
But, showing the same determination and sunny nature that sees him enjoying art classes with people of all ages, Atkins bounced back, working as a linesman assistant for a power company and as a an army storeman — all far removed from the creative life.
Along the way he married, and divorced.
But art still featured in his life and it was while entering in the Blacktown Art Show that he saw a notice about the TAFE art course.
“And I haven’t looked back,” he said.
“I want people to know that it is never too late to realise your dreams.”

- Parramatta Advertiser, May 27, 2014

Joint Venture: A Visual Arts Exhibition as part of Head On Photo festival

Han from Diploma of Visual Arts installs a piece for 'Joint Venture'

 

Students of Visual Arts photography at Nepean Arts and Design Centre have an exhibition as part of the Head On Photographic festival.

 

Joint Venture is opening in the Trapezium Gallery on Thursday May 22 at 12 noon. It is a fun, experimental exhibition that makes full and inventive use of the Trapezium Gallery and the walls beyond the gallery, and features a playful, composite approach to installation and photographic image making.

 

The title of Joint Venture  alludes to a way of working the students have been exploring whereby images are comprised of multiple frames and viewpoints, creating a collage-like result. It also refers to the collaboration between Diploma and advanced Diploma students of Visual Arts who were given the same brief to explore, and their various responses to this brief.

 

The exhibition runs until May 30. Don't miss this fun and experimental exhibition!

 

 

 





Me, Myself and I closing and book launch

It was great to see everyone at the Me, Myself, and I exhibition closing on Wednesday where we launched our 4th book. The book is available for purchase from Blurb.com, and can be accessed from the link below (or on the right). There has been a delay in the e-book availability due to formatting issues - we will let you know as soon as they are resolved. Congratulations to Caitlin Buckingham, whose work was chosen for the cover, and to Jacylyn Lindsay whose work was chosen to represent the 2014 exhibition on the cover of next years book. Emma White and Jacylyn Lindsay each won a copy of the current book in our 'lucky door prize' draw.

 

The exhibition has now come down - many  Thanks to all our participants for your many and varied contributions to the exhibition. Works will be returned over the next few weeks. If yours is NOT returned it means it has been chosen for pre-selection for next years book. At the closing we also announced that next year will be the 10th anniversary of our annual self-portrait show, and so we'll be mixing things up a bit and inviting anyone who has ever studied/worked at NADC to participate - we anticipate it will be massive, and very much look forward to the opportunity to catch up with past graduates.

 

 

Update - New Closing Date!

Due to unforseen circumstances the closing of Me, Myself and I has been moved to 12noon Wednesday May14th. We will be giving one of our books away as a lucky-door prize, and announcing which one of the works on show will be the cover of next year's book.

Me, Myself & I

Our annual show, Me, Myself & I is back again - the walls in the Trapezium gallery are currently lined with hundreds of self-portraits by students and staff of NADC. The show is open from 01/05 - 14/05 9am - 4pm weekdays, with a closing event on Thursday the 15th Wednesday May 14th at 12 noon.

At the closing we will launch our book of selected works from last years show, and for the first time it will also be available as an e-book! We will also be converting our previous publications to e-books. You can view (and order) books from previous years by clicking on the links in the sidebar (but the new book, and e-books, won't show up there until the launch on the 15th 14th). We hope to see you there!

See below for the invitation (click to enlarge)