On and on it goes…
Posted: 8 August 2020 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: art, books, films, galleries, inspiration, podcasts, television 6 Comments
If you are housebound (hello Melburnians!) or still choosing to spend time a lot of time indoors, here’s a few recommendations for entertaining yourself, if you’re looking for tips.
Rona Green, Foxy and Wanda, 2020, hand coloured linocut, 28 x 50 cm
Art Galleries – online
Australian Galleries have exhibitions online for you to view at your leisure.
Check out the McClelland National Small Sculpture Awards catalogue via the McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery website.
Hauser & Wirth have launched an online exhibition program that includes virtual tours.
If you like digging deep, you can explore public gallery collections online such as Geelong Gallery and Gippsland Art Gallery in Australia, as well as the international collections of the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands and Museo del Prado in Spain.
And for the wee ones check out Tate Kids.
Podcasts
Only Artists BBC Radio 4 conversation series.
Grounded with Louis Theroux.
Recording Artists Season 1 Radical Women.
Homo Sapiens by Alan Cumming and Christopher Sweeney.
The Jealous Curator interviews.
Books – Kindle editions
The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone By Olivia Laing.
Marcel Duchamp: The Afternoon Interviews by Calvin Tomkins.
Just Kids by Patti Smith.
The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmund de Waal.
Hockney: The Biography Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Christopher Simon Sykes.
Stuff to watch
Celebrity Painting Challenge from the BBC.
Life Drawing Live via SBS on demand (Australian and UK versions).
What do artists do all day? series.
A Picture of the Painter Howard Hodgkin documentary.
And if you have a library card get yourself a free Kanopy Films account to access loads of documentaries and movies.
That’s all for now. Wishing you well!
Time to unwind
Posted: 25 March 2020 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: art, books, inspiration, podcasts, television, websites 10 Comments
Seems like it’s a good time to be indoors so here’s some arty stuff online you might enjoy…
Easy listening
Pine Copper Lime – The internet’s number one printmaking podcast. You can listen to me chat about my work as well as choose from many other episodes with wonderful printmakers. The website also has articles about the artists featured for you to read.
NAVA: In Conversation – Artists, curators and organisations discussing critical issues and ideas relating to the arts.
Talk Art – A podcast dedicated to the world of art hosted by Actor Russell Tovey and Gallerist Robert Diament.
National Gallery of Art Conversations with Artists Series – This series began in 1985 to highlight contemporary artists whose work is featured in exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art, USA.
Reading to do
Frank Auerbach: Speaking and Painting by Catherine Lampert – A chronicle of the artist’s life and career.
I’ll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones – In the book, Grace takes us on a journey from her upbringing in Jamaica to her heyday in Paris and New York in the 70s and 80s, all the way to present-day London.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude: A Biography by Burt Chernow – An intimate portrait of this artistic team (worth looking on ebay to get this book for a reasonable price).
Songwriters on Songwriting and More Songwriters on Songwriting by Paul Zollo – Two volumes where songwriters of our time offer their thoughts, feelings, and opinions on their art.
Things to watch
Crown Point Press Magical Secrets – A series of short videos documenting artists working at the printmaking studio.
Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry – A feature length documentary exploring the roots of American tattooing through the life Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins.
Who’s Afraid of Conceptual Art? – A BBC documentary where Dr James Fox embarks on an open-minded guide to historical and contemporary conceptual art.
The Great Pottery Throwdown – A TV series where potters from around the United Kingdom travel to Stoke-on-Trent, the home of pottery, for a competition to become top potter. Check out Season 1, Season 2 and Season 3 – you’ll never leave the couch!
Rona Green, Ddraig, 2019, hand coloured linocut, 39 x 37 cm
All the best to you and yours – stay safe and sound.
Happy new year
Posted: 1 January 2020 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: art, books, documentaries, inspiration, podcasts, television, websites 10 Comments
A happy new year to you!
Rona Green, Wylie and Kev, 2019, hand coloured linocut, 27 x 53 cm
If you are looking for reading or listening or watching tips to start off the new year here’s a few for you:
Books
Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle by Clare Hunter is an intriguing overview about peoples from all over who have used sewing and embroidery as a form of communication.
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris is a collection of ridiculously funny autobiographical essays by this most humorous fellow.
Birdland is a book of exquisite photographs by Australian photographer Leila Jeffreys.
![[1210] portraits of photog leila jeffreys and her art.](https://ronagreen.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/leila-jeffreys-1.jpg?w=590)
Leila Jeffreys
Podcasts
The Modern Art Notes Podcast is hosted by Tyler Green who has thoughtful and intelligent chats with artists, curators, historians and authors.
Invisibilia on NPR is a showcase of strange science-y stories.
Dolly Parton’s America is a 9 part series that takes the listener on a journey into the ‘Dollyverse’.
Dolly Parton and Popeye
Audiovisual
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is a 2019 web TV series about the world of Thra, that’s a prequel to the film The Dark Crystal made in 1982, and both are wonderful to watch.
I adore comedian Gilbert Gottfried, and the documentary Gilbert: a Gilbert Gottfried story is an interesting insight into his life. He also hosts the delightfully vulgar yet highly informative and entertaining Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast alongside Frank Santopadre.
Lucian Freud: Painted Life is a BBC documentary on the life and work of the artist with contributions from friends, fellow artists and family members, and includes footage of Freud painting in his studio.
Lucian Freud
Web
Peruse the Print Council of Australia blog to read interviews about all things works on paper.
Explore the interactive site for the 2014 MoMA exhibition Kiki Smith: Prints, Books & Things.
Check out the website of amazing artist Lubaina Himid.
Lubaina Himid
Hope you enjoy 2020.
That’s entertainment
Posted: 30 January 2019 Filed under: Artists, Inspiration | Tags: art, books, documentaries, exhibitions, inspiration, podcasts 6 Comments
Hope you’re good and that you are enjoying 2019!
Prints and drawings by Rona Green included in Summer Selection at Australian Galleries 2018-19
Here are a few recommendations for your consideration if you’re looking for some art related entertainment to kick off your year:
Exhibitions
Summer Selection at Australian Galleries
28 and 35 Derby Street, Collingwood VIC 3066 Australia
Until 19 February 2019
A group exhibition of works by Australian Galleries artists
Mirka Mora: Pas De Deux – Drawings and Dolls at Heide Museum of Modern Art
7 Templestowe Road, Bulleen VIC 3105 Australia
Until 24 March 2019
An exhibition commemorating the life and work of Australian artist Mirka Mora which is nothing short of amazing.
Anna Boghiguian at Tate St Ives
St Ives, Cornwall TR26 1TG UK
8 February – 6 May 2019
This retrospective exhibition is on the dream list (if only I could transport myself to the UK à la Star Trek!).
Anna Boghiguian at Museum der Moderne Salzburg
Books − creativity / businessy stuff
Creative Habit: Learn it and use it for life by Twyla Tharp
The dancing queen of routine gives you the low down on being productive.
Art Money Success by Maria Brophy
A text book on how to get your arse into gear and make a living as an artist.
On Being An Artist by Michael Craig-Martin
A mix of memoir and instruction this is a candid, enjoyable, useful read.
Books − contemporary art and art history
Old in Art School by Nell Painter
Only recently finished this book and I savoured every word. It is a beautifully written sharing of the ups and downs encountered when choosing to take a new direction in life.
Modernists and Mavericks: Bacon, Freud, Hockney and the London Painters by Martin Gayford
Every book I’ve read written by Martin Gayford I have thoroughly relished, and this one is about some of my favourite artists making it all the more riveting.
Abstract Expressionism has always been of interest to me (especially the work of Helen Frankenthaler), and this book is extremely enlightening.
Books − artists work
Kiki Smith: Prints, Books and Things by Wendy Weitman
Published to accompany an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York in 2003-04 − be sure to check out the accompanying website for the show.
Kerry James Marshall by Charles Gaines, Laurence Rassel and Greg Tate
A marvellous book. You can also learn more about the work of Kerry James Marshall on The Modern Art Notes Podcast (he is fantastic and delightful to listen to) – here and here.
A Printmaker’s Cookbook – Images in Relief by Dianne Fogwell
As Sasha Grishin describes it, this is a “how Fogwell did it book”. Absolutely fabulous.
Dianne Fogwell at Geelong Gallery
Documentaries
Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World directed by Barry Avrich
A tantalising / tormenting exposé depending on your vantage point!
Hairy Who and The Chicago Imagists directed by Leslie Buchbinder
Love!!! As well here is a link to a clip of artist Jim Nutt talking and painting.
You can purchase this series on good ol’ DVD via Amazon, etc., plus the Art21 website has tons of resources to pleasurably trawl through.
You can also watch a short doco about my work if you’ve got 22 minutes to spare.
Gladys Nilsson and Jim Nutt
Podcasts
Talking with Painters hosted by Maria Stoljar
Maria Stoljar asks Australian painters all you ever wanted to know in a relaxed conversational way, and the show notes for this podcast are excellent.
Artists Helping Artists hosted by Leslie Saeta
Almost a decade of AHA episodes to scour for ideas about art marketing as well as plenty of interviews with artists (with a particular focus on plein air painters). Leslie Saeta is always accompanied by a co-host making this an informal yet informative style podcast.
Bench Talk hosted by Tom Gerrard
As Tom Gerrard is an artist himself he is great at squeezing out as much info possible from his diverse range of creative guests.
Tom Gerrard
Here’s just a handful of the engaging artists I follow:
And you can follow me on Insta too – @ronagreenart
Prints by Rona Green featured in the Maroondah City Council San Carlos Art Boxes 2018-19
Cheerio!
Happy new year readers!
Posted: 2 January 2015 Filed under: Inspiration | Tags: art, books, inspiration Leave a comment
“It wasn’t until I started reading and found books they wouldn’t let us read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy and have a good life without being like everybody else.”
John Waters by Susan Segal
If you happen to be a bit of a bookworm, like myself, you are always on the look out for the next good read.
So, I thought I’d share with you some interesting books that I discovered during the past year.
A rollicking read! John Waters – film director, screenwriter, actor, stand-up comedian, journalist, visual artist, and art collector – is also a fan. In Role Models, Waters profiles and ponders upon a host of his most beloved sub and pop culture idols, in his own particular way.
Man Enough to be a Woman by Jayne County
Take a wild and crazy ride through the life of performer Jayne (aka Wayne) County, through her own eyes. Jayne is definitely a character, entertainly revealing the difficulties of her early days to eventually rubbing shoulders with celebrities around the globe in a quest for fame, fortune, and fun times.
Francis Bacon – In Camera: Photography, Film, and the Practice of Painting by Martin Harrison
This is an exceptional publication. Insight into an artists practice is such a treat, and this book does especially well in conveying process pictorially and through written word. If you are an admirer of Bacon, as I am, it is a must add to your collection.
My Call to the Ring: A Memoir of a Girl Who Yearns to Box by Deirdre Gogarty with Darrelyn Saloom
Deirdre Gogarty tells of her childhood struggles, then how she had to overcome many obstacles as an adult, in order to become not only Ireland’s first female professional boxer but the Women’s Featherweight World Champion. I’m a fight fan and loved her story, though anyone will be able to relate to the effort required to reach a goal.
Bad Boy: My Life On and Off the Canvas by Eric Fischl
I’d not previously been super keen of Fischl’s paintings but had this autobiography recommended to me. Its content was a pleasant surprise, and I particularly appreciated the artists candid discussion of insecurities about his work and career. Not having prior knowledge about Fischl’s private life I found his book engrossing.
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Quiet is quite the compelling read. In a nutshell it examines how introversion is underrated by society at large, and contemplates the value of introversion in a range of contexts and situations.
Hockney: Printmaker by Richard Lloyd
David Hockney is one of my all time favourite artists. So, needless to say, as soon as this book focussing on his prints came to my attention it was a must have. The catalogue is a fascinating overview of Hockney’s intensely dedicated investigation of numerous printmaking techniques.
Rona Green, Mr Correct (Hank), 2014, hand coloured linocut, 56 x 48 cm, edition 23
Do you have a good read suggestion? Please share by leaving a comment.
Wishing you all the very best for a fun and rewarding 2015!
An interview with Alexi Keywan
Posted: 23 June 2013 Filed under: Artists | Tags: Alexi Keywan, art, Australian Galleries, drawings, inspiration, prints Leave a comment
Alexi Keywan, Until Tonight, etching
Alexi Keywan is a Sydney born artist who currently resides in Lismore, Australia.
Her work depicts familiar environments that she deftly instils with an intriguing eeriness.
Recently Alexi took the time to provide me with an insight into her practice and other interests.
Alexi Keywan, The Passenger No. 11, pen on paper
Rona: Your art practice includes printmaking, painting and drawing. What do you like about working with a variety of different materials and techniques?
Alexi: The ability to make marks and create images from each medium that are unique to themselves – they all have different ‘atmospheres’. Each medium affords me a different kind of headspace.
Alexi Keywan, Sometime, Someplace, etching
R: Who has influenced and inspired your art?
A: Initially my father, sculptor Orest Keywan.
Off the top of my head… Euan Mcleod, John Beard, Karla Dickens, Aida Tomescu, William Kentridge, John Virtue, Vija Celmins, Kiki Smith, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Ed Ruscha, Edward Hopper, Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, James McNeil Whistler and Francisco de Goya.
Also lecturers and staff from National Art School, Sydney, particularly from the Print department (where I became a part of the furniture after seven consecutive years).
R: When you are making art do you prefer to work in silence or be listening to something?
A: Ever since I can remember, making any kind of art has enabled me to retreat from the world and create my own. I can’t imagine not having a ‘soundtrack’ to this. I think in art school I garnered a reputation as being busy and unapproachable due to the music driven print frenzies I’d get in to. At the moment it’s Frank Sinatra on the way to the studio and then something like Dirty Three or Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Alexi Keywan, The Passenger No. 12, pen on paper
R: What are a few of your favourite things?
A: Solo road trips, travelling, boxing, tattooing and being tattooed, taking photos of concrete and steel.
R: Do you have a favourite gallery or museum?
A: I pretty much grew up in The Australian Museum (Orest worked there), and gallery wise it really depends on what is on.
R: What about your favourite art making material?
A: Etching copper because of the variables involved, but then on another day it could be drawing… or painting.
R: And your favourite food to eat after a big day in the studio?
A: Chocolate.
R: Snap!
Finally, congratulations Alexi on recently winning the 13th CPM National Print Award with your etching, You Are Here.
Alexi Keywan, You Are Here, etching
Alexi will be exhibiting prints and drawings at Australian Galleries, 35 Derby Street, Collingwood, VIC, 3066, from 27 August to 15 September 2013.
You can also view Alexi in conversation with Michel Lawrence from The Stock Rooms on YouTube:
Rona Green 