Last weekend I visited eva Jellinek to show her the painting I did of her hands.
Eva was Gardener of the Year for 2009 and is a remarkable woman. She's turning 90 next year and developed her love of gardening during the war.
Eva was born in Czechoslovakia and as a child she dreamed of studying horticulture, but her reality changed dramatically when, in 1942, sixty members of her family were forced into Terezin Ghetto in Poland. Eva says, "It was a walled-in city and we grew vegetables for the Germans." When Eva's sister was to be moved from Terezin, Eva "volunteered stupidly" to go with her. They ended up in Auschwitz where her sister was "put straight away in the gas."

I went to Papua New Guinea over the weekend and met Stephanie Copus-Campbell. Harold Mitchell flew me over to paint her hands. He told me she was the most remarkable woman and he was absolutely right.

She works for AusAID and does the most amazing work.

She showed me the Disabled Orphanage. There were no facilities and it's completely run by volunteers. These poor kids are abandoned as the families can't cope and they have nowhere to stay.

We also went to the HIV ward at the hospital. The conditions were terrible and it was awful seeing the grief of the families of these people. Stephanie gave each of the patients an orange and made sure to speak to them all individually. She is such a compassionate person.

The maternity ward also had awful conditions, but at least the women there were there for a good reason and came out of it with something beautiful.

The people were very friendly and full of life and colour. It seemed hard to associate the violence that is prevalent there with the local people I met.
I wasn't able to leave the hotel and there were coils of barbed wire over all the fences.

It was a fantastic experience and I really hope I do the painting justice. I feel it's important to somehow show in the painting the work that Stephanie does.

Tomorrow I should be meeting with Coxy to get reference for his hands. He's going to bring along his drum sticks.
And on Nov 5th I'm going to Papua New Guinea to paint the hands of a lady there. I've been commissioned by Harold Mitchell and it's going to be a fascinating experience. I don't know too much about her yet, but I'll keep you posted.
I'll start putting posts up to back date some of the amazing people I've met already for the Hand exhibition.
It really has been wonderful to meet these amazing people.

On Saturday I went to the Pink Lady art exhibition at the Brighton Town Hall and painted a bear. This was auctioned off to a lovely lady, Gabby.
The bear found a nice place to live along with her
other bears, Toby, Baby bear and Pinky, all from her childhood which goes to show you never grow out of bears.
They raised over $50 000 at the exhibition which is fantastic.
Lisa Sewards who started it all does a wonderful job. I interviewed her on 3MBS on the Score the week before and she spoke with great passion about the event. She was diagnosed with breast cancer a number of years ago which started the whole idea of the exhibition. Since then it's grown enormously and is gradually building support from many of the arts areas. You can see more about it on
http://pinkladyart.com.au/

Five of my illustrations for Molly's Memory Jar have been picked by the ASA to go Bologna. Australia has been named as the focus country at Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2012.

Very few Australian illustrators have been exhibited at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy – the world’s most prestigious international illustrators’ exhibition. Last year only two Australians entered their work and one was selected.

In the lead up to 2012, the Australian Society of Authors is supporting a strong Australian presence at The Bologna Illustrators Exhibition, 2011 with up to 20 illustrators’ entries to be freighted to Italy.

i'm very excited. Any possible excuse to go to Italy!

I met James money last Thursday to paint his hands. He's been a finalist in the Archibald and the Doug Moran and it was fascinating talking to him about his art and his technique. He has a really interesting scratching technique that I'm going to use when I do his hands.
I've included in this post an example of his style.

I had a wonderful article in the Herald Sun today showing the painting of Mick Malhouse. I added the Premiership Cup to the painting as a surprise. Mick was really great making time to see the reporter - he's so busy at the moment.

Thanks to Danny Finley who organised the article for me. He's a wonderful support.

I just received a copy of Tony Gould's new CD and the painting I did of his hands is on the cover.
It really is a beautiful CD and I would recommend it to everyone. It's wonderfully expressive and I feel very honoured to have my art on the cover.
You can order it at http://www.move.com.au/disc.cfm/3344

I had a lovely day today painting the hands of Luke Whitfield.

Luke is the son of Peter and Sophia who own New Frontier Books and I've done quite a few picture books with them.

Luke has the most gorgeous smile, so it's almost a shame that I'm not painting his face. He has cerebral palsy and wasn't able to speak to his parents until the age of nine when they finally got a computer that he could communicate with by moving his head slightly.

You can imagine what an amazing moment that would have been for Luke and his family.

This is part of A Show of Hands next year and more of Luke's story will be at the exhibition with the painting of his hands.

I'm going to post a little bit about the subjects I've already painted over the next few weeks.

I've had the opportunity through this project to meet some amazing people.

I met Ann James today to get reference to paint her hands. Ann is one of Australia's top illustrators and is quite a remarkable woman. Her mother knew Albert Tucker, Sydney Nolan, Joy Hester and was around when one Australia's major art movements was happening. Ann has also been around great change and has been witness to the birth and growth of the picture book industry in Australia. You can check out her work at www.booksilustrated.com

harold mitchell

I just had a wonderful article in the Age written by Lawrence Money. I met Harold Mitchell to paint his hands. It was a very fun experience - the first thing he did was ask me to dance - not what I expected. This was organised by a lovely friend, Danny Finley - thank you.

I'm working on an exhibition at the moment called A Show of Hands.
It's going to be mid next year at Chapel off Chapel.
It's a fantastic project and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

I began painting the hand of my daughter, simply because I found the image really powerful.

As I was painting the idea of an exhibition of hand portraits grew and evolved.
The concept behind this exhibition is a series of works depicting hands from all walks of life. They are hands from everyday people and well known people.

And with each hand portrait there is a story – sometimes inspirational, sometimes sad, and sometimes heart warming.

Some of the people and their stories included in the exhibition are: Tony Gould, Catherine Crock, Coxy, Simon Madden, Andrew Rule, Damian Oliver, Mike Brady, Harold Mitchell, Eva Jellinek, Asphyxia, Danny Finley, Monika and Mr connard, Tara scott, Luke Whitfield.

There's more to come!

I've just finished a painting of Jo Linsdell, a sculptor, and I'm currently working on one of Christi Malthouse.

They're all amazing people.

Simply drawing is going really well.I've had a couple of letters from America about it and Adam who I cohost Classically Kids with (Sat mornings 8 to 9 on 3MBS fm) said he saw in the post office and bought it.

I've now launched a new website with Pro Eye Productions called Break a Lead.

You can see it at http://www.breakalead.net/

It's going to have a new podcast on how to draw each month and weekly tips and industry news....all sorts of things.

Simon who edited it has done a fantastic job.

Tony Gould is going to be using a painting I did of his hands on the front of his new CD. It should be coming out soon which is really exciting.

Hidden Faces of the Archibald Opening Night

On Tuesday 1st of June the Hidden Faces of the Archibald opened. It was a great night and Mick Malthouse and his lovely wife Nanette came along. Some of the portraits there are fantastic and you can vote for the People's Choice at the exhibition (if you did vote for mine that would be great).

You can see pictures from the exhibition at http://www.upfrontpictures.com/Events/Refuse2010/Refuse10-1.html

The exhibition runs from 2 June to 11 July and is at the Hilton, South Warf, 2 Convention Centre Place in Docklands, Melbourne. It's worth a visit and is the only representation of Archibald entrants that we'll have in Victoria.

Some fabulous portraits

My portrait of Mick Malthouse is in the Hidden faces exhibition. Come along and visit - there are some great portraits.



The Hidden Faces of the Archibald 2010
The 2010 Hidden Faces of the Archibald Exhibition opens at the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf, on Wednesday, June 2 until Sunday, July 11. The Hidden Faces, known in art circles as the Victorian Salon des Refusés, is the only Victorian exposure for 2010 Archibald entrants and provides a unique opportunity for Victorians to rival the selections of the often controversial 'official' Prize selection. In its ninth year, Hidden Faces showcases 45 exciting and diverse paintings including entertainers: Jesse Spencer (House), Li CunXin (Mao’s Last Dancer), Alan Fletcher, Judith Durham, Alex Papps, Rachel Rawlins (Principal Artist, Australian Ballet), Ross Wilson, CEO Australian Football League Andrew Demetriou, Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse and St. Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt, along with The Hon. Nicola Roxon MP, Chef Tony Bilson & ABC TV’s Barry Cassidy. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to enter the People's Choice Award and vote for their personal favourite with prizes provided by the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf. Hilton Melbourne South Wharf, June 2 – July 11, 2010 Free of charge – open all day every day

How to Draw Film Clips

Last Thursday Chris and Paul from Pro-eye Productions came and over we filmed the first two installments of some 'how to draw' clips. These will lead to a series that we will post on ITunes and all sorts of other places.
It's a really exciting project and I can't wait to explore all the different possibilities it can lead to.
It's a flow on from a book and DVD we filmed about a year ago now for Hinkler books that should be out now.
I'll keep you posted as to when the clips are up.
Above is the book and DVD 'Simply Drawing' and you can order it online at http://www.getprice.com.au/Simply-Drawing-Book-DVD-Gift-Box-Gpnc_302--44679024.htm