For the Nature Lovers

If you are a nature lover such as myself, you will be happy to know that the next month hosts two exhibitions that celebrate our magnificent earth. The first of the exhibitions,‘For The Love of Trees’ takes us on a journey from bush to the harbour and then onto Central Australia. This end of June exhibition is open for one day presenting work by myself, Kristine Ballard and Jan Cristaudo. The three of us will be in the gallery for the duration of the exhibition.

Next we welcome the wonderful collaboration of mother and daughter, Julie Debray and Penny Aiken with their exhibition (July 12 - 21) Beneath the Canopy’. Julie has always been very interested in art and her passion for printmaking started with a weekend workshop with Peter Hickey and followed up with classes at the Willoughby Art Centre. After completing her Advanced Diploma in Visual Arts, she has focused on printmaking with the natural environment, particularly trees, as her choice of subject matter.  Julie is also keen to keep experimenting and improve her skills in this very process driven medium. She belongs to the Open Bite Printmakers group, Kuring-Gai Art Society and Hornsby Art Society.

Penny Aiken has had a keen interest in photography since she was 12 years old, once proclaiming herself as “a photographer of people and places”. While she mostly works as a portrait photographer, she one day came across a brightly coloured red mushroom after a walk through the bush and a new passion was born. She became fascinated with the variety, delicacy and short life spans of mushrooms and fungi and has endeavoured to capture as many different species as she can, documenting the formations of individuals and familial groups. “I love how they seem to have their own personalities and relationships with each other”.

Hope to see you at these celebrations of our earth. The exhibition ‘Beneath the Canopy’ will open on the 12th, 6-8pm and continue 10 - 4 for the following two weekends. Bookings are only necessary on weekdays and can be arranged via email - info@gallery1111.net

Blog by M K Smirniotis