This is a joint exhibition featuring a partnership of works between Prue Acton OBE and her late partner Merv Moriarty OAM.
Please join us for the opening night of Prue Acton and Merv Moriarty's joint exhibition. Drinks and nibbles will be provided. Opening speeches will commence at approximately 6pm.
Yellow Works encompasses seasonal works based on Prue's love of nature and the relationships we have with it. Through the use soft pastels on prepared paper Prue explores still life, in various lighting.
Works on exhibit showcase seasonal works, capturing paper daisies in the summer, displays of autum fruits and wattles from June to September. Prue's variation of using back lit, soft light and full sun unveils the depth of colour in her pieces.
Colour II is a touring exhibition by artist Merv Moriarty, an art educator and founder of the Flying Arts Alliance. This exhibition has been shown throughout regional Queensland and received a number of rave reviews from the local communities.
Colour II follows the success of Moriarty's retrospective 2016 exhibition Colour, held in Brisbane to commemorate the Flying Arts Alliance's 45th Anniversary. The exhibition aims to continue his legacy and honour the original exhibition, by showcasing the impact and influence of Moriarty's teaching and entrepreneurial spirit through the works on exhibit.
Basil Sellers Exhibition Centre
Corner of Vulcan Street and Campbell Street,
Moruya NSW 2537
T +61 2 4474 1333
I love soft pastels and using a coloured 'sand' paper that grabs the pastel and allows me to use layers of colour and to move the colour around using my hands - it's so tactile. The downside is glazing - it's expensive and unless it's top quality, it reflects and can change colours.
I love painting my old favourite vases to reflect my colour palette. I choose the grounds carefully so the colour can come through adding vibrancy and light to the final effect. With yellow I love umbers - an impure yellow. Then adding a similar tone-value whether another yellow or my chosen complementary colour - and by complementary I mean the opposite colour on our Moriarty Colour Wheel - such as a blue-violet, or purple-violet. That way I can play with producing coloured light.
Lighting is critical! Sometimes I use back lit soft north light to set up my still life such as Wattle #1 and Wattle #6; sometimes a spot light and natural south light such Wattle #2, #3, #4 and #5.
My process is first to spend ages setting up my subject, framing up, then sketching the design and selecting my colour palette from hundreds and hundreds of soft pastels. That takes around 4 hours. Sometimes the blossoms have changed colour or the fruit is going rotten - so the sketch helps. I never work from a photograph. When I am almost finished I use a mirror or I take a photo to make sure I am happy the work is finished - objectivity is critical. I also find exhibitiong gives me distance and future directions.
Pear #1 is inspired by the colour and pattern of waxed paper wrapped around a Christmas present from my daughter Atlanta.
Pear #2 is a simple yet complex shape. In this instance a pear set against a coloured ground, gives me opportunities to create light - here a red-gold glow.
Pear #6. By the time I was able to work on this subject of winter rose' pears, the pears were changing colour. I like the geometric shapes that I saw in the folds of the thick cloth. Going back to life drawing after lockdown honed my sense of structure, shape and light beyond my love of colour.
Wattle #3. This exhibition's theme song of winter pears and spring's wattles allowed me to play with colour, with creating light in our eyes using not only my experience but the knowledge gained using modern colour theory applied using our Moriarty Colour Wheel and COLOUR - a definitive guide.
Wattle #6. I would love to keep working on wattle as the season keeps on - my favourite colour is yellow set off with violets and purples. My next exhibition will need to be later than October!
I am loving being back in studio mode and excited to be working towards my coming exhibition YELLOW WORKS. So it's autumn yellows now and my first ever sunflower and paper daisy paintings. These, plus last spring's wattles should satisfy my love of yellow, for now.
The artworks showcased below are all still life, pastels on paper or board and are framed in natural 'Tas Oak', a sample of which is shown at the top of our SHOP page.
Check back soon for more of Prue's artworks that she is currently working on and will be on display and available for purchase at BRIGHTSPACE in May, June and July, 2021.
Fine Art Prints are all printed on 310gsm 100% cotton ragmat, archival quality.
Print areas vary - all sizes stated below are approximate only. Mounted samples supplied for Pear #1, Wattle #1, Wattle #2 and Wattle #5. Please note that the price includes presentation pack or delivery in a roll and postage.