Press Release – Muse Gallery Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition 2012

The Muse Gallery of Milawa is pleased to announce its forthcoming ‘Muse Gallery Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition 2012′. Representing fourteen sculptors, the exhibition will be situated on the lawns of the Milawa Cheese Factory. Muse Gallery director, artist George Piercy, is excited that this exhibition, which he describes as ‘the first of its kind for the Gallery,’ showcases artists of national and international standing.

Exhibiting artists include Benjamin Gilbert whose sculpture ‘Humpback Gunship’ was recently acquired by Princess Mary of Denmark, and now sits permanently outside Denmark’s AROS Contemporary Art Gallery. Based in Yackandandah, Gilbert has produced major civic sculptures such as the ‘Peace Arch’ at White Box Rise, Wodonga. Favouring sculpture that can be tangibly experienced by all ages, Gilbert explains that the artwork in the Muse Gallery exhibition ‘will be climbable and meet Australian Standards for playgrounds.’

Also featured will be work by Paul Blizzard, known for his ‘fossil sculptures’ seen in Melbourne’s CBD, including seventeen works which front the Department of Justice. In these works, Blizzard has sculpted skeletons of native Australian animals such as goannas and platypus, combining them with environmental rubbish like plastic six pack rings, to create bronze ‘fossils’ set in stone. Given humanity’s destruction of the planet, ‘the animals we have now might only be fossils in the future,’ says Blizzard.

Visitors can also expect to see works by Melbourne-based artist Rudi Jass, known for his outdoor ‘kinetic’ sculptures driven by the wind. Rendered in copper and steel with flowing lines and elegant natural motifs such as the leaf of the ginko tree, Jass’ outdoor and garden sculpture is sought after by landscape designers and architects.

Local artists in this exhibition include master blacksmith Richard Walker of the High Country Forge. Having spent years travelling the world refining his craft, Walker combines contemporary and traditional techniques to express his love of free-flowing organic forms inspired by the natural surrounds of the upper Ovens Valley.

The Muse Gallery will be also welcoming back Bright-based sculptor Benita Murray, who uses recycled materials patinated with rust to create works of characteristic emotional warmth; and Malcolm Laurence, whose found metal sculptures are already much loved by Gallery patrons for their whimsical, light-hearted sensibilities. 

The exhibition will also feature yet more art works by Christoph Morgeau, Kevin Free, Sam Anderson, Darren Gilbert, Cinnamon Stephens, Barry Allen, Frank Duyker, and Yvonne George, whose garden art is a great source of decorative outdoor sculpture.

Coinciding with the exhibition is a ‘Creative Kids Sculpture Competition’, proudly supported by the Rural City of Wangaratta. Artist Jo Briscomb will deliver 2 sessions for up to 25 kids aged 7-13 years who will learn how to sculpt using the materials provided (soft forming wire, stone & timber, and some found objects). This free special event will be run on Sunday 2 December in two sessions: 11.30am and 2.00pm, with prizes sponsored by Muse Gallery and Shades of Art announced at the end of each session. Bookings via the Muse Gallery of Milawa are essential.

The workshops will be held amongst the outdoor sculptures and will be a great opportunity for children and families to be engaged in this creative medium in an outdoor setting.

The ‘Muse Gallery Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition 2012′ is being officially opened by guest speaker Belinda Wilson, artist and Program Manager at the School of Art, RMIT University, on Saturday 1 December at 2pm. This opening event is generously sponsored by Wood Park Wines and the Milawa Cheese Factory. The exhibition will run from 1-10 December 2012. 

For further details please contact:
George Piercy, Director 
Muse Gallery of Milawa
At The Milawa Cheese Factory, Factory Rd, Milawa VIC 3678
Phone: 03 57273599  
Mobile: 0421 244385

Press Release – ‘Hill Form’ by Jeff Gardner & George Piercy

‘Hill Form’ the exhibition coincides with the inaugural Muse Gallery Outdoor Sculpture exhibition 2012 – opening simultaneously at 2pm on Saturday 1 December.

The two artists have collaborated to produce Hill Form ceramic sculptures, designed and created by Piercy and illustrated by Gardner. The natural an easy balance between the two friends and their respective art forms, assures a harmonious artistic outcome.

Gardner is also exhibiting new recent etchings and large scale oil paintings.

New poems have been written with squid black ink and glaze fired onto the Hill Forms and rendered forever permanent – seriously Concrete Poetry! Gardner’s verse and illustrations wrap around the Hill forms, an ever present reminder of the pleasure of our head in the clouds. These works are good for ones heart and soul……they assist in clearing ones thoughts to make way for the dreaming to begin. The Hill Forms act like a resist, they block the unwanted noise in your head from the days more mundane activities, the forms resonate higher, lofty thoughts. They are about harmony, the pastoral poetic; the dreamer in an escapist landscape – a tree, a man, a hill and we imagine the rest, the clouds, our loves, our aspiration, the stars in our heads.

Gardner’s large scale copperplate etchings are his largest prints to date. The artist’s treasure trove draws of collectibles are intricately drawn in The Studio Apartment, odes to remembrances of things past. One constantly discovers a recognisable object like a ‘click-clack toy’ of an owl which might have come from a 5 year old birthday party, a disappearing magic peg bat – the magic trick, Indian ink bottles and always paint brushes. These mementos hover in the space around the family of the three ensconced sleepy heads at the centre of this undisturbed, nostalgic quiet place nestled into a subterranean hill form. The Birds and the Bees etching celebrates nature. Butterflies, the flowers and the bees go about their business gathering nectar and pollinating in these romantic and peaceful Jeff Gardner artworks.

Unique and truly beautiful work, already widely collected both in Australia and internationally.

Hill Form and the Muse Gallery Outdoor Sculpture Show 2012 officially opens at 2pm Saturday December 1 by guest speaker Belinda Wilson, artist and Program Manager at the School of Art, RMIT University. This opening event is generously sponsored by Wood Park Wines and The Milawa Cheese Factory. The exhibition will run from 1-17 December 2012.

For further details please contact:

George Piercy, Director
The Muse Gallery of Milawa
At The Milawa Cheese Factory
Factory Rd, Milawa VIC 3678
Phone: 03 57273599
Mobile: 0421244385
Email: contact@musegallery.com.au

Town and Country

An exhibition of new paintings, etchings and linocuts by King Valley artist Anita Laurence

October 27 – November 12, 2012 at The Muse Gallery

Anita has been represented by The Muse Gallery since 2003. According to George Piercy, curator of The Muse Gallery “this will be Anita’s 7th solo exhibition at The Muse. I feel very privileged to represent Anita and host her exhibitions which are always very successful. Her work is consistently of extremely high standard, but this year she has produced some really special works using the new techniques she’s been developing”.

Anita has been working on series of new art works that revisit some of her favorite subject matter, the rural landscape of North East Victoria, winter trees and the cityscape of Cork in Ireland in three different mediums.

Working in ink and acrylic paint on ‘Blue Lake’ cotton paper made in Mt Gambier, the paintings depict textures and colours of the local environment along with  iconic features captured in her signature layered landscape style.

Anita has also spent the year investigating a technique of fumeless etching with her husband, printmaker Bill Young. The process uses a sodium/sulphate solution to etch into aluminum plates, this solution also produces tone without the traditional aquatint technique of using rosin dust, in other words is ‘self aquatinting’.  Exploring line, tone and handcolouring, the result is a suite of etchings depicting the local landscape and the cityscape of Cork.

The third body of work is a suite of linocut prints depicting winter trees, playing with light and shadow lending themselves beautifully to the black and white medium of linocut.

The exhibition ‘Town and Country’ by Anita Laurence opens on Saturday 27th October at 2pm at The Muse Gallery at the Milawa Cheese Factory complex. George Piercy and Anita Laurence cordially invite members of the public to attend this opening event which is generously sponsored by Wood Park Wines and The Milawa Cheese Company. ‘Town and Country’ closes Monday 12th November 2012.

Exhibition opens at 2pm Saturday October 6th, 2012 and closes October 22nd, 2012.

PRESS RELEASE: ‘The Same But Different’.

It is less than twelve months since Lisa Firth and Ian Firth have exhibited at the Muse Gallery in Milawa.

Their work in the studio has not ceased in that time and as a consequence they have accumulated a new collection to share.

The title for the exhibition The Same But Different  – is a reference to the technique and style of work these artists produce.

Drawn from a tradition of relief sculpture, oil painting, drawing and found material construction, their wooden paintings speak of the provenance of their material, the inspiration of home and history, and the desire to construct objects of beauty from what is regarded by most as junk.

Found timbers, rusted panels, bent wire, old nails, house paint – all are reused and refashioned to create the image.

The works presented are in the same style  – but different to the last show.

The recognisable materials are the same as they existed in a previous life – but in a new and different context.

The way these artists construct their work is ostensibly the same – but each has a different perspective and view for their work.

The exhibition – The Same But Different – by Ian Firth and Lisa Firth opens on Saturday October 6 at 2pm and closes Monday October 22. The exhibition opening is generously sponsored by Fowles Wine and The Milawa Cheese Company.

In this show Alan has returned to his roots as a painter. He has returned to where it all began — the Northern Territory. There he saw in the early 70s in the Aboriginal camps, the artwork generated by the old men, and it was there that he saw how to paint the land. He sat in the sand and watched as the old masters painted dreams, images, stories and the deepest truths of their lives and their country.

The poet Rilke in Letters to a young poet advised a young writer to come close to Nature…try to say what you see and feel and love and lose. Describe your sorrows and desires, the thoughts that pass through your mind and your belief in some kind of beauty… (Use) the things around you, the images from your dreams, and the objects that you remember.

And in ‘Gentle afternoons’ Alan does come close to Nature and the dreams and images that have stayed with him for many years.

The paintings may be viewed as aerial shots, with braided creeks and the strange sinks and sharp shadows, the odd swift colour change you might see somewhere over central Australia. They could be seen as microscopic views of the exposed crust of a drying salt lake or the teeming life on the surface of a mudflat. The tiny may mimic the vast in beautiful fractal patterns.

Alan paints what he sees and feels and loves in the landscape with humble respect. His choice of colour may seem at times to be surprising, but it is authentic: it both shocks and soothes. He leads us, in ‘Gentle afternoons’ through a well-loved and well-remembered landscape.

 The Muse Gallery invites all members of the public to attend  Alan’s Exhibition; ‘Gentle afternoons’. The Exhibition will open 2pm Saturday the 15th of September and ends 1st Oct. The opening is proudly sponsored by the Milawa Cheese Company and Wood park Wines.

Making art can be a dirty business. Especially when it involves recycled timbers, oil paint, turps, a drill, jigsaw and angle grinder!

George and Alice Piercy of Muse Gallery are proud to announce the latest exhibition of new work by North East Artist Ian Firth. The newest collections of Firth’s work will be accompanied by new paintings by his wife Lisa Firth.

Ian Firth has been exhibiting at The Muse Gallery in Milawa consistently over the past 7 years. In that time his wife Lisa has assisted him in finishing the preparation of his timber paintings for exhibition. Seven months ago Lisa decided to “get dirty” herself.

Ian & Lisa get down and dirty in the grinding room.

“We’re so pleased to be holding this exhibition” says George Piercy, owner of The Muse Gallery. “Ian’s exhibitions have always been incredibly successful due to the high quality of his work, and we’re very excited to have Lisa on board for this show. It’s great to represent these talented artists and their unique works at The Muse”.

The technique the two artists use involves painting, drawing and sculpting using recycled materials to create still life and portrait images. The works are constructed, painted, cut and ground to bend and meld the materials to form three dimensional paintings on recycled ply wood, and other found timbers.

Ian Firth was formally trained at the National Art School in Sydney NSW, graduating with a diploma in Fine Art in 1991.  He has since exhibited extensively in NSW, South Australia and Victoria, and has works
held in private collections in Australia, Italy, France and theU.K.

Lisa Firth is a self taught artist finding inspiration from Vincent van Gogh, Brett Whitely, her beautiful home garden and her husband!

‘The New Works’ will open at the Muse Gallery, located in the iconic Milawa Cheese Factory complex at 2pm on Saturday November 5^th 2011. The opening event is generously sponsored by Plunkett Fowles Wines and The Milawa Cheese Company. The exhibition will continue until 21^st November, 2011.

In this photo, Fleur is proudly holding her ‘Retro Rollerskate Trophy’ – a gift from The Muse Gallery. You can view more photos of the day on our about page.