Upcoming Exhibition

I haven't posted for a while but I think I have good excuse. I have been working towards this:

I can't wait to show this new work in the beautiful Residents Gallery at Montsalvat. There will be 17 new paintings on show and for sale. For more information head over to the Montsalvat website.

I will also be doing an Artist Floor Talk on Wednesday 25 November 2015, 11am-12pm and a casual, drop-in 'Meet the Artist' session on Sunday 29 November 2015, 1pm-4pm.

Would love to see you there!

Recent good things

It has been a wonderful and surprising couple of weeks.

Last Thursday I was awarded Highly Commended in the Nillumbik Prize 2015 at Montsalvat by judge, Melinda Martin. It was such an honour to receive this acknowledgement. When my name was called, my three-year-old took off after me through the crowd, so I grasped her hand and brought her up onto the stage with me to receive the prize. I'm not sure who was more stunned to find herself up there, me or her.

Then last weekend we travelled to Port Fairy to attend the opening of the Biblio-Art award. It is a beautiful, unique exhibition of book-based art and it was nice to hear my painting mentioned by one of the judges, Katherine Hattam, whose work I greatly admire, when she delivered her commentary about the decision-making process.

Following on from these two happy events, this week I had the amazing and surprising experience of being featured on The Jealous Curator. This was overwhelming and I'm so very grateful for all the new interest in my work.

And now, back to the studio. My upcoming exhibition is not going to paint itself!

Linden Postcard Show 2014

I have three paintings in this year's Linden Postcard Show from a little series I've been working on.

On my Bookshelf series (watercolour on paper) - Jodi Wiley

My painting How Language Works sold on opening night last Friday, which made a great night even better.

It's a fantastic exhibition, showing a huge array of artwork in different media and styles. Well worth a visit. Make sure you also look out for the work of my friends and fellow artists: Maria Colaidis, David Apostol, Evelyn Howard (Yee) and Alissa Duke.

Chatting to photographer David Apostol about his work (photo by Maria Colaidis)

The show runs until 6th December, 2014. More details on the Linden Gallery website.

Darebin Art Show

Up Close, Late Afternoon by Jodi Wiley. Photo (c) Maria Colaidis

My painting Up Close, Late Afternoon is currently on show in the Darebin Art Show at Bundoora Homestead Arts Centre until February 16, 2014.

Me at the DAS opening in December. Photo (c) Maria Colaidis

It's a fantastic exhibition of local artists and well worth the visit.

New Painting: Awakening

My last painting for the year, finished just in time for Christmas.

Jodi Wiley - Awakening, 30cm x 20cm, acrylic on canvas

Wishing everyone all the best for the holiday season and a creative, joy-filled 2014!

Featured paintings and an interview

I was lucky enough to have my paintings featured in a few wonderful places this week.

My painting Tree appeared in the Side by Side pages of the latest issue of Big Kids Magazine 'Seed to Sky'. This is a fantastic publication featuring both children and artists, and includes some really unique art prompts and activities.

Koosje Koene, an illustrator and teacher who runs excellent online drawing classes, featured my paintings on her regular Inspiration Station.

And last but not least, I was interviewed by the brilliant new CRISP Magazine (and asked some great questions). You can read the interview here.

New Painting: Silver Princess

I was commissioned to paint a Silver Princess gum for a special birthday surprise so I tried not to show many work-in-progress shots online.

I did take a lot of photos along the way though, so I thought I'd make a collage of the process. It took many hours of patient layering.

 The bark of the Silver Princess is extraordinary and I enjoyed the intense detail of this work.

Jodi Wiley - Silver Princess on Forster Street, 30cm x 30cm, acrylic on canvas

Art around town

My free Boab postcard has been sighted in quite a few places and it's always exciting to see where it turns up next. This photo was taken at Cafe Tre Sette in Carlton by Louise from Melbourne. Last week she enjoyed a delicious lunch, accompanied by a vintage spy novel and my card!

'Tree' exhibition extended

My exhibition 'Tree' has been extended another week. The feedback has been amazing and I'm so thrilled people are responding to the work.

'Tree' exhibition at Apte Cafe, Alphington. {Photo by Maria Colaidis}

The show will now run until Tuesday 24 September, 2013. Apte Cafe, 538 Heidelberg Road, Alphington, Melbourne.

Boab Artist Cards

I was lucky enough to have my Boab painting selected to be printed on an Avant Card recently.

 

Lots of cards were printed. 27,850 to be exact. I find it almost impossible to picture that amount of cards, but what I do know is, it's very exciting.

They are distributed free throughout Australia and can be found for the next few weeks on select Avant Card stands in cafes, bars, universities, cinemas and other arts/culture places.

You can also send it as an e-card. If you would like to do that, click here.

I also dropped a stack off at Apte Cafe where my 'Tree' exhibition is currently running until 19 September 2013.

Behind the scenes - 'Tree'

Last Thursday we installed my show 'Tree' at Apte Cafe. I was lucky enough to have my good friend and photographer, Maria, come along to help. She also documented the whole experience. I love the shots she took.

I was a little nervous in the lead-up. I had been imagining for months (longer!) different combinations of paintings, trying to solve the problems of placement in my mind.

After running through the options, and sketching it out, I had some ideas about I how wanted it to look. However, without having yet moved the paintings around in the actual space, all I could do was hope that it would come together cohesively.

Hanging 'Shedding' - Jodi Wiley. {Photo: Maria Colaidis}

Kim and Jodi Wiley discussing placement. {Photo: Maria Colaidis}

Labelling 'Up Close, Late Afternoon' - Jodi Wiley. {Photo: Maria Colaidis}

Finally relaxed! - Jodi Wiley {Photo: Maria Colaidis} 

As we were hanging the paintings, I began to relax. I could see it all pulling together. As it stands, the show looks almost as I had pictured it in my mind's eye - with some tweaking. I had some great suggestions along the way from Kim, Maria, and Apte owner, Tony. It was invaluable to bounce ideas off the others.

Now it's up! The show is on. And I'm so happy with how it looks.

You can view more 'behind the scenes' installation shots over here.

The show runs until 19 September at Apte Cafe, 538 Heidelberg Road, Alphington (Melbourne).

'Tree' exhibition

My first solo exhibition starts this Friday. There will be over 20 paintings on show for 3 weeks.

If you're in Melbourne I would love you to come along!

Click on the flyer to enlarge.

Agendo Art Prize

This week I had the honour of seeing my painting 'Up Close, Late Afternoon' in the Agendo Art Prize Exhibition. It was fantastic to be selected as a finalist. The quality of the work was staggering, which made me doubly thrilled to be counted amongst them.

I was trying to explain to someone last night why I make art. It seems so much easier to explain how.

But these words from the Headmaster of Camberwell Grammar School (who put on the event) ring true for me:

'...art is the language of the soul. Art can help to explain the world when words break down, and represents an attempt to find a creative response when reason is not enough.'

This seems to me the essence of the art-making and the art-viewing experience.

It is so wonderful that awards like this exist to recognise, support and affirm the importance of the role of art in the world.

The Agendo Exhibition runs at St Heliers Street Gallery, Abbotsford Convent, until 14 August, 2013.

News: Painting 'Up Close' shortlisted

I was thrilled to find out this week that my painting Up Close, Late Afternoon has been shortlisted in the Agendo Prize for Young Emerging Artists.

I was also quite pleased to know that I still fit into this category...just! It was the last possible year I could enter so to make the final list is really exciting.

The opening night and exhibition is next month.

Up Close, Late Afternoon by Jodi Wiley (Acrylic on canvas, 40.5 x 30.5cm)

News: Roadside Gum Shortlisted

From the archive: Monday, June 10, 2013

My painting 'Roadside Gum' has been shortlisted in the Nillumbik Art Prize. I dropped it off at Montsalvat this morning in preparation for the exhibition opening this Thursday.

Roadside Gum - Jodi Wiley

I'm absolutely thrilled and honoured to be a finalist and I'm very much looking forward to seeing all the other shortlisted works in the show.