New Work 12 Oct 12

Weathered at Tweed River Gallery

I am very excited to be exhibiting at the exquisite Tweed River Art Gallery with my great friend, colleague and collaborator Nicola Moss . The exhibition runs concurrently with the travelling exhibition of works from the Ann Lewin collection making it well worth the trip.

I can't wait to see the work Nicola and I created last year while we were in residence at Montsalvat finally hung in the space for which it was created.

I'm also delighted that  artist and photographer Carl Warner , who used to document my work when I lived in Queensland and whose work I greatly admire will be opening our exhibition.

Opening flight dreams

You are warmly invited to my exhibition flight dreams in Bowral to be opened by Andrew Ford, writer, composer and presenter of The Music Show on ABC Radio National, at 3:30 pm on 2 April 2011. Apologies to those on facebook who may already have received an invitation. Now that most of the hard work is done I am really looking forward to seeing my work installed at loft gallery. I have made a series of small to medium sized works which I think will look really good in the space. Images of all the works have now been posted to my website.

Four weeks to go!

Susan Buret, Painted and collaged hinged boxes. © 2011. 20 cmx 15 cm x12 cm.

Susan Buret. Do You Wanna Dance. © 2011. Mixed media on Linen. 80 cm x 80 cm.

It's four weeks until my exhibition Flight Dreams opens at Loft Gallery in Bowral. I always have a last minute rush of ideas at exhibition time draws close. I think it's because ideas gel when a significant body of work comes together. I suddenly want to be in the studio 24 hours a day when I should be devoting more time to PR, mailing lists etc.

Above are some images of works for the exhibition.

It's also the time when unnamed works have to be titled. The green work above has a pattern made from dragonflies cut from a map of the Ukraine. I think the pattern is 'dancelike' and I was listening to Dvorak's Slovakian dances as I completed it so I have titled it Do You Wanna Dance.

The painted and collaged boxes are still largely untitled and I am unsure how to describe them. They remind me of those leather bound photo frames/folios and perhaps little containers to hold memories of home when one takes flight.

Flight Dreams opens at 3:30pm Saturday 2 April 2011 at Loft Gallery, 8 Banyette Street (upstairs), Bowral. Ph 4861 3214.

nice day!

Nice day a group exhibition resulting from a collaborative weather projects with 5 other artists is on at Logan Art Gallery in South East Queensland from 12 January to 19 February 2011. The exhibition opening is on Wednesday 19 January at 6pm at Logan Art Gallery Corner Jacaranda Avenue and Wembley Road Logan Central Qld 4114 Ph. 07 3412 5519.

Gallery Sitting

Installation view more stolen geometry from the gardens of love, Depot 11 Gallery, Sydney.

It's the second week of my exhibition in Sydney and I am sitting the Gallery alone after Anita Traverso returned to Melbourne.

It's not the easiest task for an artist but the reaction to my work has been favourable and I am using the time to make cut outs for my next exhibition in Bowral.

The exhibition closes on Saturday 18 December so, if you are in Sydney, please come and say hello.

Sydney Exhibition

If you are in Sydney I will be at Depot 11 with Anita and would love to see you and show you my new work

Exhibition at Cloud Farm

Works from my shredded document series will be on show at Celeste Coucke and Stephen Fearnley's beautiful Cloud Farm Studios , Tourist Rd, Mt Murray, NSW in July. The exhibition opening coincides with Cloud Farm Open Studio on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th July 10 am - 4 pm and can be seen by appointment at other times. Contact sburet(at)gmail.com.

that's my clothes line tan

that's my clothes line tan, a video work made in collaboration with Queensland artist, Nicola Moss opens at the Gold Coast Art Centre, 135 Bundall Street, Surfers Paradise, tomorrow at 4pm. I'm going up for the opening and looking forward to catching up with my friends. The exhibition continues until 1 August 2010.

Artist Talk Anita Traverso Gallery

Stefan Gevers whose exhibition Forgotten Places runs concurrently with mine at Anita Traverso Gallery in Melbourne is giving an artist floor talk at 2:15pm on Saturday 22 May.

Thank Goodness for Photographers

Beyond there Lies Nothing. 2010. Acrylic on Canvas. 150 cm x 210cm.

I've mentioned before that I was extremely lucky to have Carl Warner document my work while I was in Brisbane and I have been struggling to document my work since my move.

Today I received a disc with images of my work for my Melbourne Exhibition taken by Melbourne photographer John Bodin and they are fantastic!!!! Thank you John.

I have just uploaded images of most of my work to my website so please have a look at the new improved images.

Good news this week when Anita Traverso emailed to tell me that Beyond There Lies Nothing, pictured above and beautifully photographed, has sold pre exhibition.

Paper Works Opening

Installation View Paper Works at Brenda May Gallery, Sydney.

Paper Talk 2001, Helen Mueller (foreground)

Stolen Geometry 2 & 3, 2009, Susan Buret (rear).

Paper Works opened on Saturday 26 March and I am delighted to have my work included in such a beautifully curated exhibition. Among the artists exhibiting I especially enjoyed the work of Lezlie Tilley, Caren Florence, Debbie Hill, Nicola Moss and James Blackwell.

PAPER opens 14 November at KickArts Contemporary Arts

PAPER an exhibition featuring six contemporary artists creating works with paper is on show at KickArts Contemporary Arts in Cairns, North Queensland between 14 November 2009 and 12 February 2010.
Four of my works are included in the exhibition so, if you are in Cairns, I would like to extend a warm invitation to visit the exhibition.

How Do I Define Myself

Susan Buret. Portmanteau. 2009 ©. Detail.

Most of the work I make has dealt with ideas of definition, categorization and identity and it is only recently that I have explored ideas of displacement from a more subjective viewpoint. As someone new to the community I have to introduce myself and find that I am often asked to describe myself or my work. What is expected as a reply is a short answer which will give the person to whom I am talking a 'snapshot' of Susan Buret, artist, and will be the deciding factor as to whether the conversation or friendship will continue. I find this very difficult even though I have been taught that I should always have my elevator blurb at the ready.
In a recent post Joanne Mattera discussed the negative effects of categorization that arise when an adjective is used before the term artist. I had not really thought about this issue before but over-description does result in being consigned to a 'ghetto'. Have you experienced this when you have been asked to describe your work in a social or professional encounter.
I am going to work on a new elevator blurb which hopefully I will post soon.  

Nicola Moss Artist

This is the second in a series of posts about my peers. I must add that these posts are appearing in no particular order and irregular intervals.
Nicola Moss is a South East Queensland artist whose genres include painting, mixed media, print making, public art projects, photography and video. her work focus on the observation, documentation and interpretation of landscapes.
I met Nicola a couple of years ago through a mutual friend and we continued to see one another at arts networking events. As we came to know one another better we realised that while our work was very different we shared a lot of interests and ideas. This has resulted in collaboration on several projects.
Nicola is currently Artist in Residence at the Brisbane Botanical Gardens. You can see more about the residency on Nicola's blog Layers of Life.
I love Nicola's work with is rich and layered surfaces and subtle observations of her surroundings and was delighted to write the catalogue essay for her recent solo exhibition Greenbelt at Doggett Street Studios. In addition to being an avid fan of Nicola's work I am also in awe of her professionalism.
Nicola has been invited to be part of the exhibition The Flower Show at Brenda May Gallery from 22nd September to 18 October 2009.

Nicola Moss. Pollen Drift. 2009. Acrylic and Pigmented Ink on Canvas. 600mm x 600mm.

Great News for Australian Artists and Australian Business

'The Australian Tax Office has confirmed that small businesses are eligible to receive an investment allowance of up to 50% on the purchase of art (over $1000, which includes multiple works regarded as a series, by artists with an ABN) for the 2009 income tax year. The ATO accepted that an art enhanced work environment can generate productivity and that there is a causal relationship between businesses displaying artwork and the income of their clients. Works must be purchased before the end of this year.'

I have known about this for several months but due to the time lag with publishing I am only beginning to see this in print. The above statement is an extract from Art Monthly Magazine Artnotes. More information can be obtained from the Australian Tax Office or your accountant.

We should be shouting this from the rooftops. So if you have a business and like my art work I have an ABN and you can view my works on my website or visit Anita Traverso Gallery in Melbourne

Stars My Father Showed Me

Susan Buret. Stars My father Showed Me. 2009. Acrylic and pigmented ink on paper. 78cm x 56.5cm.

I recently received the CD of images from my current exhibition from Carl Warner to whom I am eternally indebted for documenting my often unphotographable works.

This work with it's really sentimental title recalls my childhood memories of lying on the front lawn with my father on a summer's night using star maps to find planets and constellations.

The work is one of my favourites as I love to paint in 'greys' made from mixing Ultramarine Blue with Burnt Sienna. Working with water based media diluted to wash consistency also results in yummy sedimentation. I hope you'll click on the image to see a bigger version that really shows the sedimentation.

The Gamble of Exhibiting.

100 Bluebells is That Enough, 2009, Acrylic and Pigmented Ink on Watercolour Paper. 76cm x 56.5cm.

Going back to Brisbane to show my work last week, so soon after leaving, turned out to be a really positive experience.

I would really encourage any other artists to get together and share the expenses of a group show at an Artist Run Gallery.

Sales have not been fabulous and I haven’t covered my expenses but there were so many positive outcomes from the experience.

The group show in a familiar space was non-threatening and encouraged me to experiment with the way I showed my new work.

I really enjoy showing again with Lyndal Hargrave and Jacinta Howard because they are both fantastic artists and we have heaps of fun together.

Lots of other artists and friends came to the show and it was great to get their feedback about the new work.

The exhibition gave me the opportunity to consolidate the experience of my residency at Ragdale.

Images of my work are finally on my website and the exhibition at Doggett Street Studios, 85 Doggett Street, Newstead, Brisbane 4006, continues until 5 September.

I have rewritten this post which previously appeared on 18 August as an exercise for the Blogging Workshop I am currently doing. After I reread the original post I thought that my voice was too distant as I had written for old friends, the members of BAD Co-op, the artists group I was a member of when I lived in Brisbane.