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R.I.P. Mum

Well the last few weeks have been a bit sad with the loss of my mother through cancer. She was an art teacher, artist and all round crafty type…not to mention a good person in every way. It is probably safe to say that she is one of the main reasons why I began creating art in the first place due to the constant supply of art materials that surrounded me in the household, combined with her ongoing support and encouragement for my art practice.

One of the things that she always wanted and that she has been reminding me about over the last ten or so years was that she really wanted me to draw on her coffin when it was her time to move on from this life. So last week the inevitable moment arrived…

I had warned her that this was probably the last thing I would feel like doing at such a sad time…however, I always new that it would be the least I could do for an awesome upbringing and to…if only in the smallest of ways say thank you for everything. So due to the personal nature of the image I won’t go right into detail with some of the symbolism, but in short the image is a representation of her workspace/clutter that adjoined our lounge room…affectionately named the bus stop. This space allowed her to do all things arty/crafty while being in close contact with her family. It often grew and teetered on the the edge of getting out of control!

Well the new year is well and truly upon us. It has now been about six weeks since i fractured the arm, and although not quite right(rotation hurts and there is no strength as yet)…It is feeling heaps better. The ‘Altered State’ book that i am putting together is starting to take shape with about two thirds of the artists getting their work in. But it has been a challenge at times to nail down artists and get their contributions. But i’m sure the end product will outweigh these small issues. On the low down…It looks like i might be doing my first solo gallery show since 2004. It has been a while between drinks…but i will give further details as they get set in concrete.

I think that is about all the news to make public at the moment, so I hope everyone had a good new years and stay tuned as i start to slowly get back into it.

Below are a few recent works. Until next time…Enjoy! NF

Pressure – Mixed Media on Canvas, 2010

Don’t feed the Humans – Mixed Media on Canvas, 2011

Free Hugs – Mixed Media on Canvas, 2011

The Bible of Print

Just a little bit of exciting news. I have had two images selected for a book being designed by cutting edge Queensland design firm Brandhaus. The book is going to be a one-of-a-kind coffee table book of design and artwork framed by exploring many of the various options of commercial printing techniques, all in one glorious edition. Being printed by Fast Proof Press…suggested print methods include metallic inks, foil printing, fluoro inks, embossing, different paper stock and more. I can’t wait to see the finished result. So stay tuned and i will put up some images when the project is completed and i get a copy in my hands!

If your wondering why I have been a bit quiet of late apart from the usual work stuff and an illness in the family I have also currently got a fractured arm from coming off the pushie. It is going to keep me out of action for the next 3-6 weeks. Not fun!

Anyway, In the mean time I have devised a way around the problem…

Thanks to Paul for the donated frame and mc escher for the image to collage on…hehe

Until I am back in action happy new year and keep safe.

enjoy!

NF

Below are a few new pieces that i have been working on over this week. They are mashup images that seem to be heading more and more towards abstraction due to the sensory overload altering your ability to read their meanings. Basically experiments hand colouring and spraypainting on digital prints and breaking them up into fragments to dislocate them even further.

Fragments 1 (Arresting Thoughts)

Fragments 2 (Missed Call)

Both are little sets of four with hand coloured (25x25cm each frame)

(Ink, Watercolour, Spraypaint and Shelac) archival pigment prints.

And just a little bit of other news for the weekend, I spent a bit of time on sunday doing a few paste ups over at Armageddon Cakes in Geelong. Just a mixed bag of images getting pasted up with a few other local artists.

If you haven’t heard about about Armageddon Cakes it is basically a place where you can go at night time for a coffee and a cake. Basically an alternative to traditional bars and restaurants, open from 8pm till 11pm Thursday, Friday & Saturday Nights(Cool hours!). Friendly service, good coffee, retro decor, paste ups and very nice cakes…plus if you ask nicely i’m sure they will let you add to the paste up wall!

So drop in if your looking for something a little different…they are in McLarty Place in the Geelong CBD.

Big Arty Weekend

Apart from the fact that i started my big weekend on thursday with the Gordon Institute’s Grad Show, Friday night was the launch of ‘Pinned’ over at Boom Gallery. A crazy night where i somehow managed to sell 12 works…Yep, you read that correctly! Not what i was expecting…but more than happy to accept. 😉

Shots of the show @ Boom Gallery below…

A big thanks to Boom and those who continue to support my art by acquiring pieces!

So after having a big night in celebration, I had to be awake and up at Boxhill Hospital to give back to the community and do a makeover of their Adolecent Health Unit with a bunch of other melb artists bright and early. Organised by Doil over at the Melbourne Street Tours some of the other artists included the man himself Doil, Adi, Tad Evil, Rusty, Makatron and some of the boys from the Napier Crew. If there was any fear i was going to fall asleep during the day from the big night, that quickly went away due to the complete…and i mean complete soaking that i got on the way to the hospital.

Anyway, below are some pix from the day once the rain disappeared…

Above: A piece in progress I did with TAD using my Think Tank image.

Below: A couple of overview shots.

And below a couple of my fav pieces from the day, the first one by the boys from Napier Crew and the second by Makatron.

And finally below a few of my NoFrills cans have finally started to hit the streets…

On Sunday the madness continued with the scramble to get ready to go set up a table over at the Charles Street Artist’s Market over in Brunswick. A beautiful day in the sun, lots of great live music and good people. So keep your ear to the ground for the next market which I think is running monthly.

Phew…feel tired just retelling this. Think i will sleep well tonight.

Peace Out…NF!

Opening @ Boom Gallery

There is a new show opening titled ‘Pinned’ at Boom Gallery this friday that i will have a bunch of work in. The theme is simply small unframed works pinned to the wall to try to keep prices down…keeping the GFC(Global Financial Crisis not the Geelong Football Club!) and christmas shopping in mind.

I will have a mainly archival prints, many of which haven’t been shown before up on the wall. So if your in the hood pop by have a wine, chat to the artists and enjoy the art!

Opening night: Friday 25 Nov 5:30 – 8pm (11 Rutland St, Newtown Geelong)

The other artists in the show are: Jeff Raglus, Robert Ashton, Gary Parker, Richard Verhagen, Peter Steven, Anita Iacovella, Jeremy Vander Noord, Kerry Buckland, Jiri Tibor Novak, Ren Inei and riley McDonald.

Finally below I have pictures of some of my pieces from the Paste Modernism exhibition, a part of the Outpost Project at Cockatoo Island in Sydney. Enjoy!

Think Tank – Stencil/Paste Up

Mickey Maus (Left Bottom)

Crucifixion (centre)

And below is an overview photo of one section of the wall collage…maybe about 10% of the entire installation! (You can see my tank starting to disappear. They say the whole walls got about four layers of images)

Somehow on Sunday I managed to get involved in a live drawing session at ACMI for the closing party for the Hola Mexico Film Festival. Arranged by Michael Fikaris, there were a bunch of cool artists and we basically decorated skulls for the film goers to help celebrate the Day of the dead. There was good people…free Mexican beer, food and live music…so how could you not have a good time!

Below is one of my Skulls!

And speaking of the dead…i managed to find myself in the middle of the Melbourne Zombie Shuffle during the daytime which is always a fun time!

Paste Modernism 3

If your in Sydney between 4 Nov – 11 Dec, get on over to Paste Modernism 3 an amazing installation of paste ups by urban artists over at Cockatoo Island in the harbour. There is going to be a massive collage combining the work of over two hundred and sixty street artist’s from both Australia and overseas coordinated by Ben Frost. By the way there is also a bunch of other urban art exhibitions going on within the whole island as part of the Outpost project. One not to be missed!

Above is a picture of the paste ups starting to be set up for the exhibition, including one of my ‘Think Tank’ stencil produced paste ups (On the brown paper). I pinched one of the photos (I hope Ben doesn’t mind…all in the spirit of plugging the event!), from the Stupidkrap flickr or you can find out further info on the Paste Modernism site. Also i think after the event they will probably be selling cut down sections from the pasted collage to raise money for charity, last year it helped raise money for those impacted on by the floods in Queensland. So be sure to keep an eye on the Stupidkrap website if you like the work of any of the artists listed below…and what is not to like, there are some amazing names below!

ARTISTS IN PASTEMODERNISM 3


Over 260 artists including:
Ben Eine, Pure Evil, Copyright, Dan Baldwin, Jeremyville, Nathan James, Ben Frost, Anthony Lister, Psalm, Mega, Heesco, Drab, Vexta, Esjay, Bei Badgirl, STABS, Jumbo, Zap, Kid Zoom, Chris Cunningham, Mats?!, James Dodd, Shannon Crees, Smc[3], HA HA, Benois, Urban Cake Lady, Ken Taylor, Bridge Stehli, Rone, Numskull, Yok, Miss KK, Cloud Commission, 1337, Makatron, Wolves & Owls, Birdhat, Max Berry, Golden Silver, Asio, Skallywag, Rosie Apps, Ape Seven, 7U?, Dr.X, Vars One, Megalo,  AM, Dstruct, Flutter Lyon, The Mong, Hazzy Bee, Akisiew, Baby Geurilla, Jess Higgins, Mr. Sweet, Ghstie, Olive 47, Trystan Bates,  Boots, Donovan Christie, Tad, No Frills Art, Abyss .607,  Th@anks, Mister Edwards, Fukt, JHamilton, Donnie Danger, PigeonBoy, Crisis, Mr Skel, Braddock, Skel, Teem, Jason Mamarella, Emya, Bennett, Damion Silver, Mr. Sweet, Wounded Children, John Forno, Bjorn Vanderborght, Mod77, Barek, Benjamin Reeve, Lostrack, Brett Chan, Asha Rowe, Emily hasselhoof, Clag Bandits, YMT, Kirbee Lawler, Thomas Thorby-Lister, th-INK, Resan, The Dirt, KonsumTerra, Vinzenz Reinecke, Lukasz Karluk, Swerfk, Andros, Houl, Rebecca Murphy, Tez, Scott Franks, IniqueInique, Qwux, S-701a,  Felix, Fintan Magee, Doni Paul, OKO,  Tomahawk, West, Lady Bna-Nas,  Kirst Ohh, Ms. Brown, Bunkwaa, Sam Evans, Bathcat, Lauren Vassallo, SeaweiD, Graham Wilson, Stylo, Tim Andrew, Aisha, Fletch, Blomtrog, Ox, Kaff-eine, Mis Adda, Nathalia Azuero, Joel Lambeth, Donovan Christie, Flx, Ankles, Xcopy, Ruffo, Keeey Pace, Sancho, Mike Francis, Mica Still, Simon Lovelace, Chris Petro, Phi, Toggles,  Ali3n,  Sebastion Toast, Dboe, Jessica Lahoud, Shida, Bijoux, Lazarus 0.1, Saffaa, Hamishi, Phoenix, Zen, Baako, Neil Collyer, Terrible Horrible, RJ, Nick Simpson, Klara, Murfy James, Mimi, I & The Others, E.G.H.A.D, David Whirlpool, Rod Bunter, Bhats, Claire Kurzmann, Michele Guidarini, Dean Sunshine, Codel, Mk Chilby, Alison Alder, Crux Godsend,  Ishi, Jyiro, Seth Tarrant, Keiron McMaster, Oliver Heath, Jodee Knowles, Mama Gunns, Naomi Lou Lou, Brad Robson, Mr French, Fezwitch, Ben Foster, Jeremy Austin, Eamonn Doran, Tdub, Zoe Weber, Nina Gibbes, Ghostess, Ruskidd, Tom Lukacs, Urban Monk, Jason Ditch, Dilute, CDH, Kara Nikkel, Newcastle Productions, Umpel, Phaux, Cooper Lawler, Facter, The Havoc Plan, Awol Monk, Jacquie Manning, areaRED, edgarR, Diamondxdaggers, Sevens, Anto Christ, Badger, Timbo400, Nick Boerma, Isabella Smith, Kieran Mangan, Godot, Timlikestodraw, Kon, Scott Blume, Kimberley, Adriana Abi-Rizk, Creon, Ian Phenna, Bats!, Recluse, Obscene, Bec Todd, Twitch, Meny Miny Mo, JB Rock, Nicole Tattersall, Pterodactylman, Tom Buchanan, Carley Ternes, Charlie Brookes, Andrew Ward , Rost, Dzia, Maaden, Boo, Anatta, Taxi66, Joe Vegas, Art Star, Albert Wolski, Marygribouille, Her0, Ham, Black Hole, Todd Manion

A while back i was invited to take part in an exhibition and publication of artists books dealing with political and social commentary. Well it has finally rolled around. The exhibition is a combination of artist’s book from the Monash University Rare Books Collection and Monica Oppen’s archive based in Sydney, the Bibliotheca Librorum apud Artificern. It is on at Monash Uni’s Clayton Campus(Wellington Rd), lvl 1 ISB Wing – Sir Lewis Matherson Library from 28 Sept – 25 Nov 2011. There are some really cool books on show so get on down to check out the show!

Below: My zines on show in the cabinet, some blow ups of individual pages mounted on the wall and the catalogue/flyer.

And below is the book, ‘A Silent Scream – Political and Social comment in books by artists’. It is a very beautiful publication and the company i’m sharing it with are outstanding. I’m not sure about distrobution, but going to http://www.bibliotheca.org.au and enquiring you will be able to get your hands on a copy. ($39.95 RRP + postage).

So life is good right now, currently working on a large format commission, a fresh publication and exhibition…and i have just had two weeks holiday.

Peace out!

G

Global and Local

I have a selection of my Artist’s Books in the exhibition ‘Global and Local’ at the central Geelong Library. The exhibition has been drawn from the Field Study International’s Archive.

So if your in the area drop in and have a look at books by Marc Cuthbertson, David Dellafiora, Phil Edwards, Robyn M Fry Susan Hartigan, Mardi Janetzki, Karingallery, Glenn Fry, Noreen Grahame, Denis Mizzi, Jiri Tibor Novak, F’nL Osowski, Luke Sinclair, Glen Smith, Zoe Snyder, Ive Sorocuk, Pete Spence Spowart & Cooper, Stephen Spurrier, David Lawrence Stafford, Guy Sterling, Cornelis Vleeskens & Anthony Woodward.

Further Info here: http://daviddellafiora.blogspot.com/

And below is a close up of my books from the display. On show till 3rd Oct 2011.

Here are a couple of images of my paste up for ‘Peel Your Eyes’. The main image is about 2 x 4 metres and wraps around the stairwell inside the Old Dimeys building in Geelong. The show opening gathered together a big crowd and the exhibition will stay open for another two weeks. So drop by to see the work of over 50 artists, including a lot of cool installation based artworks.

Below: Close up detail

Peel your eyes

There is going to be a massive exhibition opening this friday in Geelong. So if your about get on down to the old Dimeys on Malop Street for installations, music, paste ups, graffiti, photography and traditional framed works by more than 50 Artists. See what happens when a bunch of artists get their hands on a very large two storey empty building! (see flyer for details)

Well last night was the launch of Boom Gallery in Newtown. The night was a huge success with over four hundred punters through the door. There was a bunch of cool art on offer, and lots of people I hadn’t seen in the longest time…which was really cool. And I managed to sell three paintings for the night. So a big success from my perspective, and a great new adition to the arts scene in Gtown.

If your in the area, drop in wed – fri or sat 10 – 4pm to have a look at the art, and enjoy a high end coffee from the gallery’s own coffee bar. (How cool is that!)  Boom Gallery – 11Rutland St, Newtown, Geelong.

Above: The picture above shows four of my paintings near their coffee bar.

Below: Two of my terrorist pictures framed up in gallery format.