Eamonn was born in County Kilkenny Ireland and through the eyes of his childhood, he discovered the beauty of nature and art which captured his imagination. His desire to channel his creative energy led to him securing a highly sought-after apprenticeship in glass making at the world-famous Waterford Glass, Ireland. He qualified as a master Cutter and Designer in 1967 and immigrated to Australia in 1987. His work captures the colours of Australian landscapes from the Outback, Rainforest, Flinders Ranges, Deserts and the Reef.
Eamonn takes great pride in opening up people’s eyes to the colours and wonders of nature through creating unique sand beautiful pieces; each one a new expression of colour, light, warmth, beauty and fragility.
I started making jewellery when I left school, and I still remember the first piece of jewellery that I made, and the positive comments that it received. People asked where I had bought it, and when I told them that I had made it, some orders resulted. Little did I know that the simple necklace strung on dental floss (because I didn’t know any better then) would result in a lifetime of making jewellery!
In 2005 I started making my own glass beads (wow, has it been that long)? I wanted to make my jewellery more unique, and after doing a glass beadmaking workshop on Kangaroo Island, my world lit up with new ideas!
In 2009 I started making the glass beads from recycled glass sources like broken wine/beer bottles and other glass objects. This has been a very interesting journey, experimenting with recycled glass, pushing the boundaries. I especially like it when people ask me to make beads and jewellery for them from old glass that they have kept.
For this SALA exhibition at All Souls church, I am inspired by the magnificent stained-glass windows and in particular the angels with red wings. 10 years ago, I was working towards a SALA exhibition with the theme of “10,000 red glass beads”! It was a huge effort to make so many beads, and then all the jewellery was made from these beads. They were all the same colour red! It was a really hard, and incredibly rewarding exhibition. Fast forward 10 years and I am still fascinated with the colour red. For this exhibition I have chosen to make 1,000 glass beads, and all of them must have some red. Less strict, but still lots of red! I am excited to see the final pieces put together.
Awards:
2013 – Toowoomba Contemporary Wearables Award Exhibition Finalist
2009 – Jam Factory Contemporary Craft and Design – 2nd Place
Claire Aberle loves to doodle
Mainly self-taught since early childhood, Claire has dabbled in many styles over the years including bright abstract oil painting and photography. In 2012 she was commissioned to illustrate a set of 12 folk songs and their accompanying stories for a UK songwriter and this renewed and refreshed her love of drawing.
A habitual doodler, Claire soon discovered the joy of using biro as her preferred medium, enjoying the fluidity and sensitivity of the pen, particularly on textured surfaces. Occasional, minimal touches of colour relieve the monochrome, where appropriate. As a lover of English Paganism, natural forms and wildlife, her images usually depict living things with a touch of magic.
Claire is regularly commissioned for animal portraits but finds that living and working in the real world is a horrible distraction from drawing. Fortunately, the best way to finish a drawing is always to have something more important to avoid doing.
Nicola Fereday creates objects of beauty
Nicola is a photographer, painter and teacher who has exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in private and regional galleries in new South Wales over two decades. Her acrylic paintings celebrate colour and objects of beauty. Throughout the duration of her business – Nicola’s Vignettes – she has accepted commissions to paint murals and furniture, photographed memorabilia and still-lifes, taught art classes from her studio and sold paintings, furniture and photographs in exhibitions.
Hannah Denny-Dimitriou meditates as she creates
Currently a second year Psychology student at Flinders University, Hannah completes pointillism pieces in her spare time.
She has been creating artwork in this style for two years, using only dots to create her illustrations. As there are no lines used, one piece takes many hours to complete; the smallest taking around 30 hours, and the largest taking about 100 hours.
Hannah finds the technique meditative, taking layer upon layer to produce the desired effect. She finds time for her art in between her studies and a part-time job. She hopes to explore and develop her art as she continues to create.
Pointillism has been defined as: … a technique of neo-impressionist painting using tiny dots of various pure colours, which become blended in the viewer’s eye. It was developed by Georges Seurat with the aim of producing a greater degree of luminosity and brilliance of colour.
Rebecca Bangs, www.rebeccaebangs.com
Helen Davis also makes papier-mâché animals
Helen explains: “Art has always been an important part of my life. I completed a Bachelor of Education in 1984 and majored in fine art. I studied drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics. I am currently working with acrylics, pastel, water-colour and mixed media. I have exhibited in Queensland and Adelaide. Several of my works are in private collections. ”
Fiona Hemstock (usually) paints portraits
Fiona is a much loved and valued member of All Souls’ community. She has joined the artist collective to exhibit a landscape that she was inspired to paint after the Parish decided to host a SALA exhibition.
Fiona explains her art journey:
At my village school we had a most flamboyant Art teacher with a rather questionable name – Miss Vice! She was extraordinary too in the way she dressed – she presented herself in black, neck to knee, (unheard of in our neighbourhood) with an embellishment of bright yellow or vivid purple in the form of a long scarf flung about her neck. Miss Vice supplemented her teachers’ income with commissions to create portraits in conté. So I ‘sat’ for hours while Miss Vice coloured and smudged her way around the page. The result was ‘a nice little girl’. But was it ‘me’?
Little did I suspect as I squirmed in my seat, trying to keep awake – and ‘keep still’ – that this was a lesson in portraiture. How to capture someone’s essence!
I studied Art and Design at UniSA and now I paint portraits – yes, I took up the challenge. I immerse myself with oil paint and canvas and spend hours, weeks and months trying to catch that special something that makes someone who they are.
When you see my painting, I hope you will see in it something heroic – and yet enigmatic… I was aiming at ‘spiritual’, and my choice of materials is symbolic, so let me know what you think.
Eamonn Vereker loves Australia’s colours