Sheffer Gallery - Impromptu

A casual stroll to Darlington from Redfern Station to view a show for my very first review for the famous Sixtoeight.net and what a stroke of luck running into it’s founder recently as I have almost read the entire Blog. Have enjoyed it immensely since stumbling across it early one morning.

This show is a collection of magical moments, a whirlpool of emotions that follow contentment within each separate practice but enveloping each other to create an incredible sense of being. Standing in front of the turneresque cloudscapes, I felt a whispering in the wind, immediately imaging Grafton Artist Bernadette Trela standing on a hill with wind swept hair and a cold brisk air gently patting her face and a deep rumbling of the darkest clouds on the distant horizon. These paintings all in a row are mesmerizing, a snapshot of each cloud in our sky communicating their heavenly existence with us mere mortals.

From ethereal to stark abstraction, the bold and glorious meshing of monochrome and vivid, these paintings by Orange Artist Larissa Blake are intent to subdue the viewer with their pools of colour and dripping paint. Reflecting upon the architectural landscape can I be so daring and say that this artist my be our next Elisabeth Cummings with a hint of Dale Frank.

The wonderful colour studies and reflective repetition which plays a big part in the works of Sydney Artist Julieanne Mills, stencils of magic retro landscapes, the colour wheel has been reinvented. The flatness of the paint has that mid-century quality of Robert Motherwell and the brilliance of colour coordination from today’s Artist Louise Tuckwell.

Petite, polite, unassuming and sublime, Sydney Artist Craig Rowlands ceramic ornamental jars are a wonderful sense of definite sensibility. From the organic to the downright playful, they suggest we look closely at the varying dimensions, the mix of techniques and temptation to touch. More playful but also very delicate brush strokes of Kandos Artist Fleur MacDonald’s doily paintings, a constantly wandering mind of recycling and re purposing the humble wooden monkey pod, reminding us of the lost art of embroidered doily’s which our dear Mother and Grandmother hand stitched and showed off around the house. Ones that were popular in the 70’s which came in different sizes and shapes like leaves and pineapples marvelously renewed into objects of desire.

Best show so far this year!!!

Florian Bernardo
Guest Reviewer

20th June - 30th June 2018
www.sheffergallery.com