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​ TWO DIMENSIONAL WORKS, SCULPTURE, PRINTS AND POETRY

Recent works by:
Jenny Moles
Ian Cunnungham
Ron Hunt
​David Jellie
Liz Montgomery
​Mick Adamson
Ron Muller
John Maynard
Gordon Carter
​Peter Sanders
Derek Skues
Dee Clements
Peter Jones
​Rodney Wulff

Elgin Artists is a diverse group of people who love creating drawings, paintings and sculpture.  We encourage and foster all types of visual art – and all styles of expression including traditional realism, impressionism, surrealism, abstraction and printmaking. We have distinctive styles and paint using a range of media such as watercolour, oils and acrylics.
 
We encourage our members to express their feelings and imaginations through their art. We now share a studio space in Elgin Place, Hawthorn, around the corner from our original studio in Elgin Street. The studio provides a venue for painting, socialising, sharing resources, and further developing our artistic knowledge and skills.

Evan Walker established the studio after his retirement from public life in 2005. Following a distinguished career in architecture and politics, Evan wanted to pursue his passion for the visual arts by sharing ideas about drawing and painting with other artists.

Currently, we have seventeen members.  We paint together in the studio on a few days each week but members have access to the studio all round the clock enabling them to work in solitude if they wish. Most importantly, we enjoy each other’s company. Most of the fun is in the company we keep and the discussion and banter over morning coffee. We enjoy travelling together to art exhibitions in Melbourne and provincial galleries, as well as en plein air expeditions in Australia and abroad.

We normally have an annual open studio exhibition and many of us participate in other individual exhibitions or with other groups. However, this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions we welcome you to our first virtual open studio exhibition.
 
Should you wish to view and/or buy an artwork please contact the artist directly via their  email address or telephone number which are displayed next to their name. Note that postage or delivery fees have NOT been included in the price.

All images are owned by the artists and are not to be reproduced without their permission. 
               
Due to a wonderful response the Exhibition has now been extended to December 8

The opening address is by David Jellie and you can view it here.
                        

DEREK SKUES      0418 893 676    [email protected]
I have been painting for 10 years, initially with the Beaumaris Art Group and now with the Elgin Artists for almost 7 years, where I have been developing my initial limited skills into what others describe as a unique style, influenced by those around me and by the pressure of having to participate in our annual exhibitions. My current medium of choice is watercolour. 

This year, I have generally doubled the image size of my works to A2. In this period of COVID -19 restrictions I have been particularly productive despite not having access to our Studio for some time. 

Eight of the 15 works I exhibit are based on local subjects in or near my Melbourne suburb of Black Rock, four on the Elgin Artists’ visit to the Bogong High Plains last November, one on the devastating bushfires last summer and another on regular trips to the South Melbourne Market. The final work attempts to capture the ambience of Lord Somers Camp, with which I have been involved for well over 50 years.

DEE CLEMENTS   0418 328 605   [email protected]
I joined Elgin Artists some years ago and enjoy the camaraderie that exists in a group of people who enjoy both painting and travelling. Together we have travelled to Europe and Asia, and attended galleries in Melbourne and Regionally. I have always enjoyed painting but never as much as during the Covid Lockdown. Being at home in Barwon Heads, I have painted daily and participated in weekly “Painting Challenges” that have provided inspiration and motivation. Painting in the house has restricted me to Acrylics among my usually more varied media: oils, watercolour and pastels. 
PETER J JONES​   0432 247 937   [email protected]
The exhibition this year is very different in that it is being held electronically and under the lightening but still dark clouds of the Coronavirus pandemic . As I write this, Melbourne is still in lock-down and I am using the time to get “back to basics” drawing , sketching and practising watercolour techniques and relying on meeting apps to provide the means of communication and showing  of our recent work. For this exhibition  I have chosen to look back at times spent painting an plein air in Tuscany and Venice where I had planned to join others from the Elgin Artists Group  in Colle di Val d’Elsa .  Alas, this year’s travel has had to be postponed.  I have also chosen  a couple of botanical illustrations to complete the picture. 
 
I hope you enjoy our virtual  exhibition 
https://www.elginartist.com/peter-jones.html

RODNEY WULFF   0419 532 935   [email protected]
As a professional landscape architect, I have been sketching the natural and built form for over forty five years. Traditionally, I have used ink pen and pencil.  Some of these works have been compiled into my 2015 book, Sketches. More recently I am experimenting with conventional and abstract subjects using watercolours. 

INTENT AND INSPIRATION
The COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions – from March to September in Melbourne – drove my curiosity to explore if it might have an influence on my paintings. I decided to paint one painting each morning for however long the pandemic was raging. In fact at the time of putting work together for the exhibition, the pandemic is still ongoing!

Initially, each painting was done in a 240x300 heavy weight paper bound book. Once the book was filled (30 No paintings), the paintings were carried out on a 260 x 360 cold pressed medium 300 GSM paper. At the time of finishing my paintings for the exhibition (September 15), I had completed over 180 paintings in total. The exhibition requirements stated that an artist can display up to a maximum of 15 pieces. Initially, given this criterion, I intended to select one to three paintings from each month, thus showing a chronological evolution. Upon reviewing my final selection, however, only two paintings came from the first four months and 13 from the last three months (July, August, September).

This change in selecting paintings (all but two are Australian scenes) was based on those that best celebrated lighting effect, perception of depth, overall composition and those that I felt provided character and emotion (rather than a monthly representation). While many of the paintings are of natural or waterscape scenes, they were not intended to be photographic reproduction but rather interpretive responses.  
 
In my work I particularly tried to address three specific matters:
  • Use minimal lines to define forms (my use of lines stems from my many years of sketching) – i.e. use tones rather than lines. 
  • Use more low light settings, i.e. early morning or late evening times – the ‘magic’ hours rather than the ‘high’ light of mid-day. 
  • Create depth and expression by emphasising the tonal differences for the foreground, middle ground, and background. 
Finally, reflecting on this time of COVID 19 lockdown , I realize that this extended period of time at home has provided me with an opportunity to experiment and focus on the paintings. 

MEDIUM
All paintings have been painted on watercolour paper.

*The prices quoted are for a Giclee print on cotton rag with a foam core mounting board * 

The cost of postage is not included. All images are owned by the author and are not to be reproduced without the permission of the author.  

RON MULLER ​ 0428 748 113  [email protected]
After retiring from my ‘real job’, I revived my boyhood interest in art. I soon found my natural medium in water colour as it seemed to best suit my inclination to express the light, atmosphere and beauty of the natural environment, especially the Australian landscape. Not surprisingly, I was influenced by the work of Hans Heysen and the Romantic tradition, especially JW Turner and Romantic poets. The light of early morning and late afternoon are for me, ‘the magic hours’ and I seek to often interpret subjects with the aim of creating ’visual poetry’. 
 
Art can be a rather solitary pursuit and I have enjoyed the balance of teaching and taking workshops, especially overseas in Tuscany and France. After doing a demonstration for the Elgin Artists in 2014, I joined the group not only to paint at the studio but to enjoy the stimulation of socialising with like minded people who find continuing satisfaction in the creative process.
 
For more information about my background, images of my work, awards etc, please refer to my website www.ronmuller.com.au
 
DAVID JELLIE   0418 105 276   [email protected]
I have been painting since 2012 when I joined Elgin Artists studio. During my first few years I experimented with media and colours but I have settled into acrylic paint on paper and canvas. My emphasis is on strong colours in the landscape and I strive for an exaggerated abstraction of the bush.

Some of my work is painted from excursions to the bush – especially at Saltwater Creek in Ben Boyd National Park on the southern coast of NSW – but some I paint from my imagination. In the last 12 months I have only painted a few paintings not because of the lockdown, but because I have written two books in this period and that has absorbed most of my time. So my contribution to this virtual contribution mainly consists of earlier works some of which I have previously exhibited. Am I conceited enough to call this a retrospective exhibition of my work?
 
I love painting and mucking around with paint. It gives me an opportunity to express myself and I find painting with other people stimulating. However, most of my work is painted in solitude when I can try a bit of this and a bit of that so that something catches my feeling. 
 
I hope you enjoy my contribution as much as I enjoy sharing it with you.
JOHN MAYNARD   0417 371 757  [email protected]
I had been a practicing pathologist until 2012 when I retired. The requirement in pathology to recognise patterns and colours proved to be a big assistance in my painting. I have been painting in oils for a number of years; first commencing painting in the 1970’s In Dandenong under the late John Balmain who was my teacher and a pupil of Max Meldrum’s tonal school I have had one exhibition in the 1970’s as well as exhibiting for the last three years with the Elgin Artists group. I have recently taken a greater interest in sketching with pencil, water miscible charcoal and recently with rapid watercolour impressions. I take a watercolour set and a sketch book with me when travelling, but Covid has stopped my travel this year but living at Blairgowrie on the Mornington peninsula allowed me to capture some images during Covid Quarantine.
 
GORDON CARTER   ​0437 241 581   [email protected]
I was delighted to be been invited to re-join Elgin Artists after a short period away studying Visual Arts at RMIT. My work output for 2020 has been limited for many reasons but these few paintings were produced during the 'Victorian Lockdown' period and are of predominantly single subjects.  

PETER SANDERS  0412 286 807  [email protected]
From a background as an architect I have embraced painting, drawing and sculpture.

The following paintings were done in the last 12 months - the works on paper, last year at Falls Creek in late Spring and the works on canvas at Emu Flat in central Victoria during the lock down period. It was a time to reflect on the moods, weather and soul of the countryside.

The sculpture Seated Figure was carved in Italy and finished here and the others made at Emu Flat. The inspiration was from local animals and The Prince is a reference to our infamous cardinal.
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JENNY MOLES   0400 186 108  [email protected]
​I joined Elgin Artists in 2015 and have exhibited with them since then. I have done life drawing for many years and some more recent painting.  

These exhibits are works from late 2019-early 2020. Completely Covid-free!

The life drawings are from a group session I did at Elysium Gallery in Hawthorn before lockdown in early 2020. The landscapes are from a stay in Lewes, East Sussex in October 2019.

IAN CUNNINGHAM   ​0419 591 627   [email protected]
I am a retired surgeon who is exhibiting with the Elgin Artists for the eighth time. In 2017 I produced paintings based on travels to southern Africa, Cyprus and Sicily. In 2018 I have undertaken two paintings based on our annual stay at Saltwater Creek, on the south coast of New South Wales, and one based on our visit to Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada. The works presented were developed in the Studio based on watercolour sketches.​

These paintings were done during isolation at Nullavale in Central Victoria.

RON HUNT   0418 251 006  [email protected] 
I have been a member of the Elgin Artists for seven years and paint regularly at the studio as well as plein air. All of the artists have been so warm and welcoming that it has turned what can be a solitary process into a very social and edifying experience. 
 
My paintings have previously been either surrealistic foregrounds on realistic landscapes or social commentary, predominantly in oil. This year I have been trying to see if there were some good paintings behind the foregrounds. To that end I am focussed on charcoal landscape paintings and oil over charcoal sealed with shellac.
 
In addition, with the support and encouragement of my fellow artists I have been compiling an anthology of my poetry, to be entitled “Poetry – Enter at Own Risk”. I hope that this will be completed in time for the Virtual Exhibition.


VIRTUAL EXHIBITION
​2021
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Here are three of the above poems read by Ron Hunt
LIZ MONTGOMERY  0425 706 474  [email protected]
Following a great interest in art over the years, I first began to paint with a group in Airey’s Inlet. From there I joined the Emerald Hill Art Group in South Melbourne, meeting weekly, and also since 2016 with the Elgin Artists.

This is a happy, diverse, talented group of people with whom to be involved, and I enjoy all activities the group provides.

I have largely switched over to watercolour painting in the last three years, which I continue to pursue because it is such a challenge, and very much easier to use when travelling. I enjoy learning the different processes to achieve a desired result - not always successful!

I have been inspired by the work of Amanda Hyatt, having been on four teaching/painting excursions with her, both overseas and within Australia. I look forward to my continued involvement with the Elgin Group, as we move into our new studio this year.
MICK ADAMSON  9827 6787   [email protected]
All the paintings are small watercolours painted on Fabriano postcard paper (15 x 10cm). Each painting is $40 and is 1 of 2, framed like the one I am holding. These are all of my recent travels both home & abroad. 
 
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