Nalda Searles - Drifting in My Own Land

Debby and Mark installing Nalda Searles' 'Loitering at the Dancehall' (2008)

'Nalda Searles - Drifting in My Own Land' - an ART ON THE MOVE touring exhibition - will open at Ararat Regional Art Gallery tomorrow and will continue until 3 April 2011. We have just finished installing the exhibition and have had a lot of fun discovering Nalda's different artworks hidden in the many crates that carried them across the Nullabor to Ararat, which is the first gallery beyond Western Australia to present the exhibition. Nalda's exhibition will appeal to people interested in both surface design in textiles and the sculptural use of fibre materials. This is an exhibition that will no doubt attract many visitors given Nalda's profile in the textile/fibre art world.

Nalda Searles is a living icon of Western Australian art. For nearly thirty years she has been an innovator in the use of native plant fibres and found objects from the environment for the production of fibre-textiles, sculpture and installation artworks. Her exhibition is an expression of identity in relation to physical and social landscape. She has drawn on her own life, memories of her parents and the experiences of numerous regional women she has known in the gradual development of the twenty one exhibition works on view.

Nalda will travel to Ararat for a closing reception on Friday 1 April at 6pm, which will feature closing remarks from exhibition project coordinator, Christina McGuinness. Prior to the official closing, Nalda will present a free artist's talk at 4.30pm.

Ararat Regional Art Gallery will also offer an intensive residential workshop with Nalda Searles from 1 to 3 April 2011. The workshop will be held at Allanvale Shearers’ Quarters, located on a magnificent working sheep property, in the vicinity of the Great Western wineries and within a half‐hour scenic drive to the Grampians. The fee is $330 (including GST) per person, which includes the two day workshop, including materials, basic twin‐share accommodation and meals, including a Saturday night catered dinner. There are only a few places remaining and payment in advance is required to secure a place. For information and application forms, phone
(03) 5352 2836 or email: gallery@ararat.vic.gov.au

For more information about Nalda you can visit her blogs: Fodder for Making and The Stringmakers, or read an Artlink review of 'Nalda Searles - Driting in My Own Land' by textile artist and writer, Holly Story.

The national tour of this exhibition is managed by ART ON THE MOVE. This exhibition is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance for the development and touring of Australian cultural material across Australia.

Raku Pottery Workshop

Above: Raku workshop photos by Lee Albert

On Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd November eight dedicated participants joined in an intensive two-day Raku pottery workshop hosted by Ararat Regional Art Gallery. The workshop was presented by accomplished local potter John Eagle and offered a hands-on introduction to the ancient Raku pottery process – an area of ceramics production actively pursued by John for almost 40 years.

Following a demonstration about how to construct a kiln, participants were quickly immersed in the fascinating process of waxing and glazing ceramics. Beginners had the opportunity to glaze a range of pots and tiles that John had prepared earlier. More experienced participants brought their own pots and sculptures with them ready for glazing and firing. The participants had an opportunity to experiment with a range of glazes made from John’s recipes containing different metal oxides.

The pieces created over the weekend were all incredibly varied and it was especially fascinating to observe how seemingly random occurrences in the firing process led to amazing effects and colour variations. The weekend concluded with workshop participants selecting their favourite pieces for inclusion in a group exhibition at the Gallery, which will continue until 20 December 2009.

John’s recent Raku exhibition and workshop, together with the current resulting workshop group exhibition, have been presented as part of the state-wide celebration of Ceramics Victoria’s 40th anniversary. Thank you to John for sharing his expertise and enthusiasm for pottery and also for generously donating proceeds from artwork sales from his recent Raku exhibition to support future Gallery acquisitions.

Focus on Pottery

Visitors enjoying the 'Excellence of Ware' exhibition











Raku ceramics by John Eagle

The Gallery is presently filled with pots, old and new. Our key exhibition is 'Excellence of Ware: Bendigo Pottery Majolica 1879–1911' from Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, which brings together historic majolica ware from public and private collections, including some extremely rare pieces. The exhibition features a range of objects including elaborate water filters and garden urns, through to common household wares and decorative objects that were found on 19th century dressing tables.

'Excellence of Ware' is the third major exhibition curated by ceramics expert Gregory Hill, focusing on Victorian potteries. It is the culmination of 30 years of research by Gregory into the history of Bendigo Pottery - Australia’s oldest working pottery. We were pleased to welcome Dr Jacqueline Healy, Director of the Bundoora Homestead Art Centre to officially open the exhibition on Friday 24 November 2009 at 6pm. Dr Healy’s opening remarks gave the appreciative audience a greater understanding of the featured objects and the circumstances in which they were created. The following day Dr Healy presented a more extensive floor talk as a part of our 'Get Into Art' program.

Fifteen children who had chosen a Gallery visit as their Golden Gateway Festival Children's Week activity also had an opportunity to experience the exhibition. Local artist Amelia Kingston encouraged the children to draw their favourite pieces in the exhibition and this was followed by an opportunity to try their hand at making their own ceramic pots and sculptures.

The Gallery will soon host another workshop - this time for adults - to be conducted by renowned Ararat-based potter John Eagle. John will present a special Raku workshop on the weekend of 21 and 22 November 2009. Places are limited, so now is the time to let us know if you would like to be involved. The workshop complements John's current exhibition of Raku ceramics presented in our front gallery until 22 November 2009.