"Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one." Stella Adler image from: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/stella-adler/about-stella-adler/526/ Stella Adler was an amazing actor and teacher who grew up performing and she obviously witnessed, and was a part of, some wonderful displays of art and creativity. She married one of the co-founders of the Group Theatre which is said to have ‘believed in a theatre that would probe the dep

'Lifting the Vale' Tulle on Plaster mask On display at Chapel on Station Gallery Box Hill from Friday 5th Sep to 17th Sep as part of their 2014 Religious Art Prize with the theme 'Through a Glass Darkly' My artists Statement It always takes me a while to write up something that I'm even really remotely happy with. I think because I need time to reflect on the finished product, not just on the process. Anyway, this is where I am at, at the moment. Does the veil protect us from

"If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing." Marc Chagall Birthday by Marc Chagall Go to image: http://www.chagallpaintings.org/birthday.html I don’t have an example of anything that Chagall felt didn’t work for him (how would we know - I am assuming he put into the world the ones he liked???) but we have plenty that did and that Chagall worked from the heart seems very obvious. His work is free flowing and full of movement and

It was this work titled ‘Wathaurung Mob’ as part of the Not Really Aboriginal series that first introduced me to Bindi Cole’s work and it's an image I've never forgotten. She’s a very interesting artist in general but you really can't ignore this type of work. But it's not just because of the political and social implications of such a work but because the issues of identity touch us all. Who do we belong to? How do we identify as part of those groups we belong to? Often a lo

I fell in love with War Horse the stage show when I saw a documentary about the making of it - I practically cried when I saw the relationship between the horses and the people it was so beautiful. War Horse is theatre on a grand scale - big stage, excellent cast, amazing props, costumes, staging, lights etc..... - but it is also wonderful example how engaging and playful theatre can be. The puppets (it feels weird calling them puppets, there should be another word to describ