Showing posts with label Alana McVeigh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alana McVeigh. Show all posts

Sunday, March 10, 2013

The local talent - Njalikwa Chongwe


I just thought it worth mentioning that here in Western Australia we have some very capable quiet achievers among us in the ceramic community such as Njalikwa Chongwe at Zinongo Pottery in South Fremantle.  

He makes and fires low fired Raku and high fired Stoneware ceramic pieces. He and his partner Jacqueline Rodrigues, set up the gallery 25 years ago.  He  makes beautiful colourful raku work with his own very distinctive palette and style and an online shop on his website.  He was a popular demonstrator at POTOBER 2013 put on by CAAWA and has a cool channel on YouTube.  
 Not everything happens in Fremantle but many of us are based near there.  Sandra Black and Njaliwke are in South Freo (yes we shorten the name of everything), Fleur Schell is in North Freo - (with some really exciting opportunities about to be announced soon), so is Alana McVeigh and I am just across the Swan River in East Freo.  Are there no ceramists in West Freo I hear you ponder?  Darl, if there are, they'll be pretty wet.  West Freo is THE INDIAN OCEAN and beautiful it is too (sharks aside).  See my new desktop image, by Peter Zuvela.   Image source Peter Zuvela , my fave photographer.  







Monday, October 22, 2012

ANNE WALMSLEY + ALANA McVEIGH

'In My Cupboard' - Anne Walmsley and 'Luminosity' - Alana McVeigh



I forgot to mention that I was out last week at the opening of this exhibition at Emerge in Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley.  An exhibition of Anne Walmsley's paintings and Alana McVeigh's Ceramics.  Very different media and styles and yet they sat well together in this lovely simple gallery.  I took a gal pal whom I know to be a bit of a collector with a really good eye - and yes, there were lots of sales that night.  Anne's works are a large series of vignettes of her kitchen cupboards which house the loveliest collection of china plates, bowls and cups you could wish for.  She told me that she usually works in installation art but it was pretty clear that her paintings were immensely popular - plenty of red dots for both artists on opening night.  I think that top image is the one I bought, if you read this blog often you'll know why.  I'm not very disciplined in galleries - and proud of it.



I was there to see Alana McVeigh's work, a consequence of her trip to Medalta in Canada and her immersion in that mountainous and snowy environment and the dazzling light therein, shows clear evidence of much time spent with soda firing potters there.  Soda fired porcelain, rich grey orange peel surfaces and hot orange flashes, fabulous stuff!!  I really enjoy such strong contrast  and this had it for me.  She was offered a place at Medalta International Artist's Residency in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada where she presented a public lecture on her PhD research and spent April and May working with senior artist in resident, Les Manning, director Aaron Nelson and 11 international artists.  Alana immersed in a Ph.D and this is likely to be her last exhibition of such work for a good while.  Definitely worth a look!  I've known Alana for years, we don't live far from each other, and often bump into her in the local supermarket - there's always time for a quick catch up and mutual encouragement, but it is really good to see the work in the flesh after all our chats.  I like this new direction.  I met Stewart Scambler top wood firer in the Post Office today while I was on the way to see Sandra Black porcelain goddess, funny small pottery driven world that I live in.

All photos in this post are from the website of Emerge Gallery, Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley Perth.  


PLEASE NOTE:
All text in this blog posting is copyright of Elaine Bradley, Ceramic Artist, Western Australia unless quoting from another source.  All photographs in this blog posting are copyright of Elaine Bradley unless otherwise stated.  No responsibility can be taken for external links.  Please report any errors in crediting photographs, sources or facts to the author in order to allow her to rectify the matter.  Your response or feedback is welcome.