October has been a busy month for painting, which is probably why it’s taken till the end of October to finally create a post about it! (That, and my propensity for procrastination…)

Late last month I was involved in the wonderful group exhibition ‘Expressions’ at the Old Bakery, Maylands. This month I was involved in a group exhibition with Interactive Arts headed by the wonderful Fleur Allen, called Seasons at the wonderfully charming Moores Contemporary Art Building.

A little less than a year ago, Fleur canvassed her Interactive Arts members for a theme for an exhibition at the said building. And yours truely, actually thought of the idea as I was thinking about the ‘seasons’ of our lives, and of nature. Fleur loved the idea and the rest is history!

Most of the paintings were completed in the October holidays just two weeks before the holidays. But even with such little time I was really happy with the results and I hope you are too. Here’s the paintings. AND I’m pleased to say two sold just a day or two before opening night. Yay!

I must also say, the paintings were hugely influenced by a painting workshop held by the amazing Malini Parker. Her grace, wisdom and knowledge of how to bring out our inner artists would be hard to beat. She supported me in my conscious effort to experiment with more abstract techniques and to consider the amount of ‘emotional intensity’ I could place on the canvas.

Overall my concept for the Seasons artworks was not to just create pretty pictures of flowers for Spring and Snowy landscape for winter but to deeper explore the connotations and feelings we experience in these seasons. I wanted to communicate the seasons we have for our minds,  and the seasons for our lives. So yes the paintings are a shift away from my ‘usual’ style but I hope they still evoke the feelings that my paintings usually evoke.

'Incalescence', 2011. Mixed Media on canvas. 91.5 x 91.5cm. $1100 - Summer

‘Provenance’, 2011. Mixed Media on canvas. 91.5 x 91.5cm. $1100 – Autumn SOLD

‘Solace', 2011. Mixed Media on canvas. 91.5 x 91.5cm. $1100 - Spring SOLD

Here’s a series of new artworks destined for an exhibition tomorrow for the Bassendean Art Council entitled ‘Expressions’ at the Old Bakery in Maylands.

I had a vision when I was trying to figure out what I would want to ‘express’ for this exhibition of couples holding each other bathed in light in front of  a tranquil cloud-filled sky. I wanted to express tenderness, passion and sensuality and of course, Love.

These paintings are quite different for me because they’re a slight move away from abstraction/ cubism (though it’s still present) as I attempted to wrestle with new concerns such as figure modelling and more realistic light and tone. I wanted the figures to be quite independantly lit from the background and for the outside couples to have a mysterious Magritte type feel as one half of the couple dissolves into clouds.

Hopefully the exhibition goes well and exposes more of the artistic talent around Bassendean.

More Info

 ”Couple No.1″, 2011. Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 75cm. $900

 ”Couple No.2″, 2011. Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 75cm. $900

 ”Couple No.3″, 2011. Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 75cm. $900

This update is more for me than anyone else but I’m a bit busy this month with some preliminary work on some some art projects currently underway.  This month currently holds the following deadlines for me:

Please feel free to download the flyer and share with others

Bassendean Arts Council Exhbition Flyer

Bassendean Arts Council ‘Expressions’ group Exhibition @ Bakery, Maylands, Western Australia

• Exhibition Opening: Friday 16th September 2011
• Artwork Delivery: Tuesday 13th September

I’m working on 3 paintings possibly four painting for that group exhibition. It will be my first new paintings in almost a year!

Bassendean Arts Prize Exhibition @ Cyril Jackson

• Exhibition Opening 6pm Wednesday 28th September
• Deliver artwork Monday 26th September

In 2009 I started working fulltime as an Art Teacher at Cyril Jackson Senior Campus in Bassendean. I started entering into some group shows and made more of an effort to continue my work.

In 2008 I returned to the city of my childhood, Perth, WA. I started some relief teaching in schools and continued making some artworks.

In 2007 I moved to the picturesque town of Mt Gambia with my two young daughters, and given the opportunity not to have to work I rekindled my love of Arts and connected with the arts community there.

In preparation for my next solo exhibition ‘The Flight of Icarus’ in June, I had to revamp my short artist statement.

An artist’s bio begins with the past and works it’s way up to the present. An artist statement starts with the present in mind and looks towards the future. And a ‘short’ artist bio is probably no more than 1 paragraph in length, it’s what marketers would class as their ‘elevator pitch’. Have a good look at yourself if you can’t sum up what you do in less than 100 words – how about 30 words??

Some things to jog an artist statement out:

• Who are you and what makes you you, and your art yours? Do you include humour, do you specialise in animal portraiture? Do you do underwater yarn spinning? Whatever.
• What are you working on right now? How do you go about it?
• What do you value in Art? In your work?
• What do you want to point out to your viewers that might not be blindingly obvious, and then add the obvious.
• Do you have a juicy story?

I had a look at my short artist statement and I cringed, it was obvious that I had moved on stylistically and thematically. But that’s ok, that’s what a short artist statement is for, it’s for constantly updating, it’s a work in progress, just like you are.

Here is my new short artist statement:

Born in 1979, during Cambodia’s civil war Samith arrived with his family, aged 6, as refugees on the shores of WA, grateful to be alive. Unable to initially speak the language Samith fostered the love of communicating through drawings and images. Fast forward 25 years and Samith has developed a uniquely figurative style and a thematic repertoire  in which his paintings inhabit a world of silent hopes, trials, love and tribulations. He utilises the shared experience of the body as a canvas to explore and investigate the landscape of the human condition; love, trust, freedom, hope, and failure. Samith has exhibited for a number of years, won various awards, and recently celebrated his first solo exhibition ‘The Mango Tree’. Samith lives in Perth, with his beautiful fiancee, two daughters and two guinea pigs named Charlie and Mr Foster.

I could go on and on, but I won’t and I can’t. This is an example of a short artist statement.

Feedback is always appreciated.