Trees exhibition – South West Printmakers group

F project, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia

Here is my print in the above exhibition. It is a great exhibition with eleven South West Printmakers involved. The exhibition has a range of work, covering different printmaking techniques, and varied responses on what trees mean to the artist.

These Moreton Bay Fig trees my children played in when they were small. They had endless hours of fun in them and found some great treasures like Cicada shells. The Warrnambool Botanical Gardens, where they are situated, is a lovely, peaceful place.

Feather printing

I have been experimenting with printing on to feathers I find on the ground when I go for walks. It is a beautiful medium to print on. I will frame them between two pieces of glass with no backing so they look like the are floating.

Ralph Illidge Sanctuary Art Exhibition

My work has been exhibited from the 23rd to the 30th of January 2021 in a group wildlife show at the Ralph Illidge Sanctuary, Victoria, Australia. It is an exhibition to raise funds to keep the great work going that is happening at the sanctuary. Here is one of my prints in the show. It is a Powerful Owl. I also exhibited New Holland Honeyeaters, Rainbow Lorikeet, and a Wattlebird coloured linocut prints.

Powerful owl

Here is a 360 view of the exhibition.

This is a video of local artist Jenny Arms talking about the artwork.

Glen Watson Photography made all the videos. In this one Adam Merrick, Trust for Nature Wildlife Officer is talking about the Sanctuary.

Ralph Illidge, a photographer from Warrnambool, acquired the 40ha property, now named after him in 1958. In 1975, to make sure that the property remained in its natural state, he donated the property (Bimbimbi, which is Aboriginal for “place of many birds”) to the former Victorian Conservation Trust (now Trust for Nature).

Ralph Illidge passed away on 11 April 1975. It is the hope of the Trust that, through this Sanctuary, visitors will come to understand the foresight of the man who made it possible. Ralph Illidge Sanctuary contains, in addition to the native flora of the area, such rare wildlife species as the Long-nosed Potoroo, the Powerful Owl, the Rufous Bristlebird, and the White Goshawk. The Trust acquired a further 51 hectares (north of the Warrnambool-Cobden Road) in June 1987 which was added to the Sanctuary. The funds were raised by the Warrnambool Nature Reserves Society with contributions from foundations and the State Government.

The Illidge home was destroyed Ash Wednesday 1983. The Sanctuary was severely burnt during the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983. The fire demolished the original house and outbuildings and severely damaged the native bush and vegetation. As we see now, the forest regenerated and again became a sanctuary for wildlife.

Group printmaking exhibition in Warrnambool – Water

Currently, I am exhibiting with a group of South West Victorian printmakers at the F Project Gallery in Warrnambool. The theme is Water. Here is the online version of the exhibition.

18 September to 18 October 2020

Water : Prints by Ben Fennessy, Andrea Radley, Maree Stewart, Jodie Honan, Liza McCosh, Des Bunyan, Marion Manifold, Britt Gow, Jean Gleeson, Sue Ferrari, Delia Crabbe, Helen Fitzhardinge

The race to survive, linocut on arches paper 57cmsx 72 cms

Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook project

I am excited to be part of the Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project. I have been working on a book for the past 3 months. It is a series of coloured linocuts.

My artwork is about the environment, in particular the creatures that we share this planet with and how much they enjoy the environment as much as us. I want to keep this concept front of mind for the viewer. I travel around capturing little narratives that demonstrate their love of life.

The COVID_19 lockdown reduced my world to my house, studio and the backyard. I was uplifted by the noisy, happy sounds of the New Holland Honeyeaters flittering about in my apple tree. I then discovered there were many other birds enjoying our apples and our backyard. I decided to capture their visits and the gift the lockdown gave me of a whole community I may not have noticed otherwise.

Go to my portfolio page to see a selection of the prints from the book. There are 12 prints in the book and editions of these are all for sale.

Wattle Bird
The front cover of my sketchbook featuring a Wattle bird
A view of one of the pages on the inside featuring a warbling Magpie.
A view of one of the pages on the inside featuring a warbling Magpie.
A Rainbow Lorikeet eating the apples in my apple tree.
A Rainbow Lorikeet eating the apples in my apple tree.

Videos of my printmaking process

A few years ago I had several videoograhpers create videos about myself, my art and printmaking processes.

This is a video that Jack Wilkins created in his Warrnambool Art Interview Collection in September, 2016.

Adam Merritt made this video of me working in my studio. He did a fabulous job. I have just uploaded it to Youtube.

The video goes through a little of my history and it shows my creative process. What interests me creatively. It shows me going through the linocutting printmaking process from the initial idea to the final print.

Artist of the month at Warrnambool Art Gallery

By invitation, my work is displayed in the front foyer of the Warrnambool Art Gallery. The Warrnambool Art Gallery has asked me to be their Artist of the Month for June 2019. I am exhibiting a selection of bird prints; from black & white, hand coloured to full colour linocuts.

My work is intended to inspire a LOVE of NATURE, a closer relationship with the natural environment and to create instinctive behaviors that will sustain a healthy world.

My work reflects on environmental concerns and addresses our relationship to the natural world – as we perceive it and interact with it. We have become increasingly disconnected from nature. We have come to see our planet as a mine to extract the resources we need to maintain our extravagant lifestyles, and as a dumping station for our toxic waste products.

I believe that admiration for nature is inherent in all of us, but tends to get subdued for a majority of our planet’s population who live busy consumer-oriented lifestyles. I am trying to reach out and direct public attention in an inspirational non-intrusive way.

My display at the Warrnambool Art Gallery

Children’s book illustration project

This is exciting news for me. Over the past 3 months, I have been working on a children’s book illustration linocut project. This is a big tick from my bucket list!

There are 12 images in the book.  I am printing them as reduction linos. Each lino has at least 10 colours each. I have a short deadline so spending long hours/ nights in the studio. Here are some of the prints in my rack drying – 40 prints here. So I have 12 images to by a full-colour reduction printing method. I am printing editions of 10. Each image has about 10 colours. So that is roughly 1,200 times I have to rub with a spoon (I don’t have a press). Probably shouldn’t do the math as it makes me tired and worried as to whether I will get it done by the deadline. I will have great arms by the end and a very shiny spoon!

Prints drying on a rack near my door.
Prints drying on a rack near my door.

To add to the math for this project – it takes me an hour to print an edition of 10 (depending on how much ink is on the Lino – the more ink the longer it takes to get an even colour). It takes about an hour of cutting between each print on average (the Lino below took 4hours last night due to the detail). About 3 hours per Lino to draw the design on. So that is 120 hours of printing, a minimum of 120 hours of cutting, 36 hours to draw onto the Lino and 80 hours of initial drawing and planning. So that is 356 hours. Phew!

Go to my portfolio page to see some of the prints from the book. Editions of the prints are for sale.

Feeding out to cows after the fire.
Feeding out to cows after the fire.

Exhibition at Maddens Lawyers Warrnambool

I am currently displaying a large number of my black and white prints at Maddens Lawyers in Warrnambool. The work is on the walls in their reception area, waiting area and meeting rooms. I feel it is a great way to have my work seen by a diverse audience that may not have ever been in a gallery.

This exhibition has been up for 3 months and runs for another 3 months.

I am happy to say that I have sold several prints as well.

Outside Maddens Lawyers Warrnambool
Outside Maddens Lawyers Warrnambool

The waiting room at Maddens Lawyers with my print.
The waiting room

The meeting room at Maddens Lawyers with my prints.
The meeting room

Exhibiting in America again

I am excited to say I have work in an exhibition in New Hope, Pennsylvania at 9 in Hand Press. It is a group printmaking exhibition and i have a black and white linocut in it. You can see all the works on the 9 in Hand Press website. Below is a snapshot from the website.

My work is called ‘Sanctuary’. It depicts our local penguins enjoying their home on Middle Island, Warrnambool. My work is about how native animals enjoy their homes as much as we enjoy ours. I believe we could live in harmony together with a bit of thought and care. In fact, having native animals in our immediate environment would enrich our lives and improve the quality of our environment.

The penguins on Middle Island were nearly all killed by foxes. A local egg farmer, Swampy Marsh had an idea to have his Maremma Dog (called Oddball) guard the penguins. Like they guarded his chooks from the foxes. It worked. Now there are new Maremma Dogs guarding the penguins and the population of penguins has increased considerably. A movie was made from this great story called Oddball. I recommend you see it.

Snapshot of the 9 in Hand Press website
Snapshot of the 9 in Hand Press website