Tags: Artists. Artwork. Art Bribie Island. Brisbane. Queensland
CHERYL MORTIMER
Prior to attending Artist of the Month Cheryl Mortimer’s Artist’s Talk, my knowledge regarding the art of printmaking was limited to not much more than knowing how to spell the word and I have to make the comment that, after watching Cheryl demonstrate the basics of how it’s done, I now understand why she regards the results as UN.B.LEAFABLE. Yes, that is the title that Cheryl gave to her informative and sometimes humorous talk at the Bribie Island Community Arts Centre recently.
Featured Image(above): An image preserved
Cheryl Mortimer has exhibited her works in various exhibitions for thirty-five years and some of those works are held in private collections throughout Australia and overseas. She admits that she has been fascinated with the arts from when she was just a young child and has been fortunate that her working career as a visual art teacher allowed her to become heavily involved in art practices. ‘In my own art practice, I like to explore the chemistry of resist, the happenstance of shape and colour and, amongst other things, the interplay of mediums,’ said Cheryl.
Cheryl demonstrating how it’s done
‘I like to explore new approaches as well as experiment and break the rules and I am not a particularly realistic artist. I believe that if you want the work to look like a photograph, you should use a photograph,’ she explained. With regard to her demonstration of printmaking, Cheryl pointed out that she has a real fascination with the art, especially the more spontaneous technique of mono-printing.
Artist of the Month coordinator Debra Mieth introduced Cheryl to the audience
‘I mostly reflect on aspects of the landscape and lately, I have been exploring the printing that is left behind when leaves are boiled in proximity to paper and cloth,’ Cheryl said. ‘This is an intoxicating and very addictive process,’ she added. During her talk and demonstration, Cheryl told her audience that learning the art of printmaking is a long process and as with most things that we attempt, there can be failures but there can also be some spectacular successes.
I have no doubt that everyone who attended Cheryl’s talk came away with new ideas and perhaps even the desire to become more involved with the art themselves and I would also suggest that many will make a point of attending “Print.ed,” the fourth annual exhibition of the Bribie Printmakers which will be on display in the Mathew Flinders Gallery from September 25th and officially opened on September 29th.
The results can be spectacular
A spokesperson for the group has said that whilst sometimes people form an incorrect idea of what printmaking is all about and think it is only an image which is copied on a photocopier but in fact, the process actually began as a way to tell stories, mainly religious in nature, to people who couldn’t read.
NEXT MONTH
Each month, the Bribie Island Community Arts Centre Artist of the Month gives a talk/demonstration regarding their work and this is held on the second Friday of the month at 10.30 am. For October, the Artist of the Month is “The Working Together Group” and, as is required as a part of the program, their work will be on display at the centre from the beginning of the month. For more information about what the Arts Centre has to offer, either give the helpful volunteer staff a call on 3408 9288 or pay a visit to the centre on Sunderland Drive in Banksia Beach.