Galleries & Antiques
with Michael Berry
Why is it that as a child born in 1951, having grown bigger into
soft shadows, clear blue skies
JENNY PIHAN FINE ART
an adult and even bigger towards old age, the world seems to
and the celebration of glory of
continues to surprise and delight
have shrunk along with a myriad of other things about me and
summer and the animation that
with its excellent showings of
simultaneously become much much quicker...and more like living in
the holiday season brings at the
timeless art in Frankston and
a pinball machine in a fish bowl?
year's end.
its boutique space in Sorrento,
specifically dealing in top quality
It is not as if time has changed or sped up like the road runner
Don't miss Peter Smales at Jenny
contemporary art by the leading
escaping Wylie Coyote by incessantly tearing through the arid
Pihan Fine Art Sorrento not
edge of emerging and established
sands of time - space seems to have shrunk too. There are now
only do Peter's paintings speak
realist, figurative and abstract
houses where farms stood and flourished. Even cold has shrunk
a thousand words but they also
artists.
- as the weather wasn't as hot as this way back then!
trigger a thousand cherished
memories of a wonderful respite
Returning to Frankston for his
Remembering my childhood, when traveling anywhere further than
over summer, any piece making a
only solo Australian exhibition
the local milk bar we always took a packed lunch, particularly when
perfect pictorial memento of days
from December 7 to 16 is
breaching the outskirts of Melbourne...it was so interminably far
past but definitely not forgotten.
that dazzling international
and took so interminably long to motor. The beach road winding
award winner and exponent of
and wending around the Mount Martha cliff tops was the main way
The exciting and much
watercolour risk-taking Alvaro
to access the Mornington Peninsula by land it was the `freeway'
anticipated 2008 Frankston
Castagnet.
then, and no one seemed to mind that it had one lane each way, as
exhibition calendar commences
time in those good old days had a strange eternal quality.
with internationally respected
Over summer the Frankston
flower painter Patricia Moran
space will be hung with choice
A visit to Sorrento took my parents a week to plan and hours for my
from Saturday February 23 to
selections of the finest examples
mother to balance the nutrition in the packed lunch...not forgetting
Sunday March 2 renowned for
of stock by the range of the
the necessary cutlery, salt & pepper, cordial, tumblers, mugs, a
her "manor born" paintings of
gallery's artists...plus it houses an
thermos of hot tea, milk, plates, cups, treats for afters, a picnic
abundance which compositionally
extensive store room for perusal
rug, table cloth, often meat for the BBQ by the water, sandwiches,
resonate in the eye like a
by appointment or on speculation.
salad, insect repellent, toilet paper (yep we took that too) etc etc.
symphony orchestra.
Following the very successful
Love seemed to express a different expanse then a caring
Tonal minimalist Clive Sinclair, and
exhibition of his high-key
simplicity and a self reliance, spreading of course to sharing with
contemporary landscapist and
impressionist distillations of
others freely. I can still see my father regaling my mother for her
social chronicler John Hunt pair
the natural landscape and its
culinary love with: "Next you'll be taking the kitchen sink!"
up fro a dual showing from March
social culture, Peter Smales will
No one owned a beach house in our social group. My father
28 to April 6 at Frankston.
feature over the festive holiday
worked at the University of Melbourne and that establishment
season with a new collection of
owned various properties around the state available for staff to
SORRENTO'S HOUSE OF
paintings at the Jenny Pihan Fine
KRAFTWERKZ is one of those
rent on annual breaks and weekend holidays. So we did get
Art Sorrento during the month of
temples of meticulous craft where
around. Once we stayed in a friend's caravan parked on a vacant
January 2008.
one experiences an overwhelming
lot in Rosebud and roughed it...oh what fun, no TV...WOW! The
and invigorating aesthetic
This showcase entitled "Colours
foreshore wasn't the caravan city it is today over summer.
atmosphere the second one
of summer Both sides of
All that sentimental stuff aside, one aspect of the lean and beautiful
enters.
the Peninsula" focuses on the
ocean-ed and bay-ed Peninsula landscape which hasn't been lost
buoyant mood, localized frivolity
However, what one initially sees
is the clever and controlled spacious balance between wilderness,
and summer fun enjoyed on
is only part of the overall artistic
recreation infrastructure, built environment and the demands of
and around the beaches and
tableau...it is those innovative
daily living-ness.
their support towns on both
ideas which freely pop into in
Indeed upon reflecting, time and space down here haven't really
the Mornington and Bellarine
the incorrigibly inventive mind of
changed all that much comparatively...which I guess is why so
Peninsulas.
master jeweller Neil Bradshaw,
many escape here on weekends and over the holiday season...to
the proprietor, which form the
Ever the master at capturing
refresh, chill out, reboot energies, daydream and embrace those
grist for the gem of his perennial
the sensorial - the scintillating
rare simplicities of life which are often obscured by routine timelines
masterpieces.
light of the moment in all its
and outcomes. Aren't we lucky the Peninsula is still a viable "chill
romance, lyricism, spirit of place
An integral part of the magic Neil
out and reconnect with what really matters" option!
and the kaleidoscopic magic of
spins is his masterful ability to
the sun spontaneously reflecting,
turn one's jewelled dreams into
energized by the gestural traces
Michael Berry
precious fact - then he might just
of his artist's brush, Peter never
be the very "magician" to weave
sways from faithfulness to his
the spell of dream into reality
New Works
subject.
he is quite the wizard with his
mouth blowing torch. It is his
So accurate in geographical detail
unflagging energy and attention to
and atmosphere are his pictures
fine detail which inevitably brings
that people instantly identify the
into solidity an object d'art that
destination painted...and often
is at once desirable, refined and
even the time of day and the
treasured...and uniquely yours.
season.
Neil Bradshaw is a master
With a special affection for
jeweler par excellence dedicated
painting the Mornington and
to creating a unique range
Bellarine Peninsulas, these recent
of heirloom jewellery and
works pay homage to all the
keepsakes...drop in and find
south eastern coastline represents
out firsthand - you'll be very
in summer...shimmering seas,
pleasantly surprised and elated!
boats, sun lovers on the sand,
56
Peninsula Visitor . . . Summer 2007-08
