Susan Buret

Back in the Studio. New Year. New Work.

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:26:00 +0000

Susan Buret, Untitled(as yet), 2012 from the Inequality Proposition Series, Acrylic on Linen, 70 cm x 100 cm.

Circumstances largely beyond my control have kept from the studio, and this blog, for most of the latter part of 2011.

When I returned to the studio I resolved to start blogging again and this raised heaps of questions.

Should this blog only focus on my work and if so should I include new work which may form part of my next exhibition? If I show most of the work on the blog the exhibition will hold no surprises.

Should I talk about personal matters on a blog which is a professional platform? In my last post I mentioned the fact that personal matters do often, without any conscious decisions, inform the work I make.

The questions still remain unanswered so I am beginning this years blogging with a new work. I have decided to return to the geometric works begun in 2006/7 as part of the in her high heels series. I enjoy making these works as of resolving the image is very different to the repetitive process of making the collage works.

Cycles

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:42:00 +0000

Currently my life is governed by cycles. However it was not until I had written the artist statement for my latest body of work that I realised that it may have been influenced by this.
So once again I think about how powerful making art is for the artist and how it is an integral part of my life.

Susan Buret, Penelope Series #7, 2011

The works will be exhibited at Cloud Farm, Tourist Road Mt. Murray for the next weekend as part of the Southern Highlands Arts Trail. To read more about the works and see the series so far please visit my website .

Susan Buret, Penelope Series #5, 2011

After thinking about how I make art and it's importance to me I read a very interesting article on the relevance of art in Inside Story by Andrew Ford.

There are so many reasons to make art from the pure delight of creating an object to voicing opinion, creating universal narratives, giving voice to issues and ideas of our time.

I am not doing justice to this topic with a rushed blog post so I hope to return to it in future posts.

Dream Cabinets Now In Melbourne

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Thu, 12 May 2011 06:14:00 +0000

Installation view Precursor, Anita Traverso Gallery

A selection of my works from the Dream Cabinets Series are currently on show as part of the exhibition Precursor: A foretaste of solo artists scheduled from now until December 2012 at Anita Traverso Gallery, 7 Albert Street, Richmond. VIC 3121. The exhibition continues until 11 June.

Image Update

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 07:13:00 +0000

I have spent a few hours today updating my website with professional images from my latest exhibition and decided that this blog was due for a facelift too. I'm not sure that I am happy with the results as it looks a bit stern. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Home Town Advantage. Some thoughts about exhibiting.

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:07:00 +0000

Last Saturday my exhibition flight dreams opened at loft gallery in Bowral 20 kms from where I live.
The opening was a great success and I had fun. Fun is not something I usually associate with openings. I think most artists would agree that they are often hard work.
I have described openings in the area here before and always comment on the warm atmosphere of a 'country' art opening and, this opening was no exception.
When I woke up feeling happy instead of a bit flat on Sunday morning I thought about where we chose to exhibit and why.
I am fortunate to show with a Anita Traverso Gallery in Melbourne where their professional approach builds a market and following for my work and several years ago I exhibited in North Carolina and was invited to talk about my work. This was also an enjoyable experience and made me hungry to show overseas and interstate in Australia. These are definitely a good career moves but, for me, nothing compares with the fulfillment that I get from showing my work to friends and peers. I hope I always have a good gallery near by to show my work.

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:38:00 +0000

Steve Gray recently interviewed me about my art practice and upcoming exhibition on his blog Art-Resource.

The blog is a place where students, artists, art workers and enthusiasts could find information on how to do things, who does things, and how it all comes together. "Ideas, thoughts, theories, exploration, views, process, people, galleries, etc." The site includes interviews from artists working in a wide range of medium and style and provides insights to the inspiration and studio practices of artists which adds immensely to my appreciation of the artworks.

Thank you Steve for your interest in my work and for publishing the interview.

Opening flight dreams

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 04:03:00 +0000

You are warmly invited to my exhibition flight dreams in Bowral to be opened by Andrew Ford, writer, composer and presenter of The Music Show on ABC Radio National, at 3:30 pm on 2 April 2011. Apologies to those on facebook who may already have received an invitation. Now that most of the hard work is done I am really looking forward to seeing my work installed at loft gallery. I have made a series of small to medium sized works which I think will look really good in the space. Images of all the works have now been posted to my website.

Five Coats of Matt Acrylic Varnish.

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 03:50:00 +0000

Yes, five coats of Atelier archival matt acrylic varnish! Now that all the work is ready for my exhibition I have to get down to the hard slog of making sure the works have an archival finish, naming any that haven't named themselves, labeling and attaching D hooks. This is when I wish I was successful enough to have an assistant. And, while I'm dreaming a secretary to look after mailing lists would be lovely too.

Four weeks to go!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 04:24:00 +0000

Susan Buret. Do You Wanna Dance. © 2011. Mixed media on Linen. 80 cm x 80 cm.

It's four weeks until my exhibition Flight Dreams opens at Loft Gallery in Bowral. I always have a last minute rush of ideas at exhibition time draws close. I think it's because ideas gel when a significant body of work comes together. I suddenly want to be in the studio 24 hours a day when I should be devoting more time to PR, mailing lists etc.

Above are some images of works for the exhibition.

It's also the time when unnamed works have to be titled. The green work above has a pattern made from dragonflies cut from a map of the Ukraine. I think the pattern is 'dancelike' and I was listening to Dvorak's Slovakian dances as I completed it so I have titled it Do You Wanna Dance.

The painted and collaged boxes are still largely untitled and I am unsure how to describe them. They remind me of those leather bound photo frames/folios and perhaps little containers to hold memories of home when one takes flight.

Flight Dreams opens at 3:30pm Saturday 2 April 2011 at Loft Gallery, 8 Banyette Street (upstairs), Bowral. Ph 4861 3214.

The work of Louise Boscacci at Rex Irwin Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 03:00:00 +0000

When I last showed my work in Sydney one piece was purchased by another artist (a sculptor). After first seeing my work she returned several days later and said that she kept thinking about my work and then bought a piece.

I was immensely flattered as I have always named respect from my peers as my major professional goal.

Yesterday I went to Sydney and visited Rex Irwin Gallery in Woollahra. The gallery occupies some beautifully proportioned rooms on the first floor of a building in Queen Street. When I entered the gallery I was immediately greeted and offered a room sheet and catalogue for the exhibition. I often talk to other artists about how important it is to feel welcome in a gallery. Despite being rather 'plainly' dressed for a visit to Woolahra I was treated with respect and made to feel comfortable to look at the work on exhibition. To often one is surveyed and dismissed, as I was earlier in the day, on arrival at a gallery which considers itself to be important.

The exhibition of ceramics and photography by Louise Boscacci was really beautiful and I am still thinking about it. Beautifully crafted ceramic bowls and vessels had soft silken glazes. Some works were printed with photographs and others were covered with illegible poetic texts. The photographs were of Far North Queensland's cane growing areas in the 60s and I was powerfully transported to childhood holidays in my fathers home town of Ingham. The works also reminded me of old chinese ceramics which somehow held precious memories. Several works were multiple pieces displayed with the quiet stillness of the works of Morandi.

These really strong evocative works are still very much on my mind.

No images here as you should visit the gallery or the websites.

Open Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 03:48:00 +0000

The last few days have been perfect late summer weather so I have been leaving the doors to the studio open. As a result birds have been visiting. I am working on my next exhibition Flight Dreams, which opens on 2 April at Loft Gallery in Bowral, so maybe I am on the right track.

nice day! now showing at Logan Art Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 05:04:00 +0000

Left: Works on Paper by Jen Conde

Left to right: 3 works by Uta Heidelauf, 2 works by Susan Buret, 1 work by Uta Heidelauf.

Left to Right: 3 works by Candice Herne, 2 works by Nicola Moss, 1 work by Uta Heidelauf

Installation by Sandra Landolt.

Left to Right: 3 works by Susan Buret, 1 work by Candice Herne

nice day! an exhibition of work by artists Susan Buret, Jen Conde, Uta Heidelauf, Candice Herne, Sandra Landolt & Nicola Moss about Queenslands hottest topic is now showing atLogan Art Gallery just south of Brisbane.

The exhibition comes at a time when many Queenslanders have lost family friends and possessions in the worst floods in decades. I intend give all proceeds of sales of my work from the exhibition after gallery commission to the flood relief fund.

Dream Cabinets and life after the Sydney exhibition.

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:31:00 +0000

Top : Anita Traverso at Depot 11 Gallery.

Middle : Dream Cabinet #1. Interior. © Susan Buret

Bottom: Dream Cabinet #1. Exterior. © Susan Buret

A lot of artists agree that the time just after an exhibition is often a period of angst and instability but when my last exhibition closed in Sydney I really didn't have the luxury of thinking time.It was one week until Christmas and no matter how I try to avoid it I always end up being swept up in the last minute rush of cooking and shopping. Since then we have celebrated New Year and spent a few days at the beach.

And, there's still not much time to think as I am part of a group show , nice day!, which opens at Logan Gallery in two weeks and I am working on some new pieces for my exhibition at Loft Gallery, Bowral, in late March this year.

For the first week of the Sydney exhibition Anita Traverso (see top image) was at the gallery and I had the opportunity to watch her talk about my work to gallery visitors and in the second week I was alone in the gallery and was able to watch the reactions to my work at close quarters. I have to admit that I found it quite difficult but, it was during this time I came up with the idea for the dream cabinets. I am still not entirely sure what they are. (Maybe I should not be admitting this in print!) but I think they somehow portray a mix of my childhood dreams and what I imagine might be the less idyllic dreams of others. Ideas of exhilaration, liberation and escape .... all sorts of flight dreams.

nice day!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 04:41:00 +0000

Nice day a group exhibition resulting from a collaborative weather projects with 5 other artists is on at Logan Art Gallery in South East Queensland from 12 January to 19 February 2011. The exhibition opening is on Wednesday 19 January at 6pm at Logan Art Gallery Corner Jacaranda Avenue and Wembley Road Logan Central Qld 4114 Ph. 07 3412 5519.

Gallery Sitting

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:15:00 +0000

Installation view more stolen geometry from the gardens of love, Depot 11 Gallery, Sydney.

It's the second week of my exhibition in Sydney and I am sitting the Gallery alone after Anita Traverso returned to Melbourne.

It's not the easiest task for an artist but the reaction to my work has been favourable and I am using the time to make cut outs for my next exhibition in Bowral.

The exhibition closes on Saturday 18 December so, if you are in Sydney, please come and say hello.

Sydney Exhibition

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:47:00 +0000

If you are in Sydney I will be at Depot 11 with Anita and would love to see you and show you my new work

Small Delights

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 08:19:00 +0000

The Australian bush could never be described as pretty but if you walk slowly and look down there are some beautiful flowers.

I am posting this to show that even though I have reptile phobia on a grand scale I did go for a walk in the wilds of the Shoalhaven.

This evening I saw these beautiful small flowers. The blue flower I think is a bush orchid and I hope the yellow one isn't a weed. Denis Wilson, if you are out there in the blogosphere maybe you can name them.

Bundanon Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:40:00 +0000

Susan Buret, Grey Sky with Choppers, © 2010, paper & acrylic on gessobord, 62 cm x 31 cm.

The top image, is the walk from the Bundanon homestead to Arthur Boyd's studio. The soft garden with it's herbaceous borders is in stark contrast to the majestic bush and the open grazing lands of the rest of the property at Bundanon.

The small timber hut is also very different from the new studios built for residents (middle image). These beautiful light open buildings have been built on the footprints of earlier farm buildings to impact minimally on the land.

The walk to the studio each day is a walk to another world where time constraints become immaterial and one has the luxury of total freedom to create and make work (or not) or just to daydream. Bundanon generously provides this opportunity.

Bundanon is not far from the Jervis Bay Military Base which is home to the Fleet Air Arm. Helicopters practice manoeuvres (spell check doesn't like that but I don't like its American alternative so I hope you know what I mean) over pulpit rock which was a favourite subject for Arthur Boyd. The silence usually only punctuated by birdsong is shattered by thump of the whirring rotor blades. I love watching helicopters, or almost anything that flies and I made Grey Sky with Choppers using patterns from Moorish tiles and Amish quilts to suggest the rotating blades.

Bundanon

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 03:03:00 +0000

I am in one of the studios at the Bundanon trust property after receiving a last minute invitation for a residency and to help with a schools workshop.

I was last here in 2008 and, as Bundanon and the surrounding Shoalhaven area have a special place in my heart, I jumped at the chance to return. I piled as much of my studio as would fit into the back of my car and drove down the escarpment and along the slippery muddy track to arrive on Monday morning. After spending two days working with the students from Bombaderry High School, I am now working in my studio.

There is something extraordinary about this place which allows one to focus without any disruptions. I feel privileged to be the beneficiary of the Boyd family's generosity where the beautiful setting, no mobile, no television and crackling radio reception leave only the internet as a diversion.

The top two images are the views from my studio window; one towards the pastures and the other towards the native bush that covers most of the Bundanon property.

Since being here I have been working on Northward Aspiration. Using a section of an old map of the world which includes Africa, the Middle East, India and Europe, I have cut airplanes and pasted them over a damask inspired pattern.

The old map shows a colonial Africa divided between Britain, France Germany and Italy and I was thinking about how the inhabitants of the poorer nations of the south often moved north in the hope of a better life. The immigrants were screened and often refused entry to these countries where, paradoxically, the affluent were happy to adorn their homes with patterns borrowed from the very southern cultures they wished to exclude.

Southern Highlands Art Studio Trail - there's more to it than cockatoos!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 02:50:00 +0000

I will be opening my studio in Burrawang as part of the Southern Highlands Art Studio Trail on 20 & 21 November from 10 am to 4pm.

If you live nearby or are thinking about a visit to the Highlands it is a wonderful time to visit the region at it's fullsome fecund best. The trail provides the opportunity to visit the studios and workshops of local artists and crafts people ranging from hobby artists to experienced professional artists.

To download the brochure including a map of the trail click on the link above.

If you are looking for somewhere to lunch while on the trail I can highly recommend flour water salt in Bowral and Three Creeks Cafe in Robertson.

While you are in Bowral you should also visit Loft Gallery above Bowral Art Supplies in Banyette Street where Bella Hazelton and Adrian Davies show seriously good contemporary art and, for more information about the best of the region pick up a copy of SOHI magazine at any of the outlets mentioned above.

Statement Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 00:40:00 +0000

I am still not progressing much with the new artist statement despite good intentions. Deadlines for other written pieces and the flipping pages on my desk calendar only serve to increase my anxiety. I have always used a quote to introduce my statements but ,after reading Tracey Clement's latest post on The Post Post , I wonder if I am self aggrandizing when I begin a statement this way. After all, as much as I admire Foucault and Pythagorus do I have any right to place my work in their company?

When I woke up this morning I had a brief epiphany. (Why do they always come when I am nowhere near a pen and paper? I'm not good at recording or journaling having always preferred the back of envelopes for important thoughts.) Pined to my studio wall is an old subscription notice for The Economist Magazine which says 'Never lose your place in the world'. It has been on my walls for about 5 years. I put it there because I like the idea but also because I like the white font on red paper! The medium is the message.

Given that I am now using maps in my work it suddenly seems so relevant. I am very aware of my place, having spent the last year recording my observations and reactions either purposely or subconsciously as I enjoy the beauty of my new surroundings. Yet I'm constantly reminded of those who don't have the luxury of safe and pleasant surroundings. Maps tell us where we are, how to get somewhere , who rules or governs us, where we may or may not be welcome and where we might go for refuge.

I cut the maps and place them over patterns used to decorate or to imprison or restrict, comfortable security or the unwanted security associated with punishment or imprisonment, my process based repetitive images result in layered images which come together to my satisfaction to form a work. If only layers of ideas and illogic would do the same I might come up with a reasonable statement.

Networking, exposure etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 04:48:00 +0000

My work And the River Looked at Siddhartha with 1000 Eyes, 2005, (far right) is currently in an exhibition at Anita Traverso Gallery, Melbourne.

On a negative day I wonder if I am babbling into a vast void but there are several good reasons for blogging. It provides an opportunity to communicate one's thoughts and ideas, it can be a diary or, as in the case of Queensland artist Nicola Moss it can serve as space to record information and observations which are later published as a book. Recently I wrote about the ideas that formed the basis of some new work and was amazed and delighted by the response. I have also been fortunate in the past few days to have my work featured on two blogs which I admire - The Design Files is Lucy Feagin's blog which features design, architecture and beautiful things and oh what a world, oh what a world , artist Lorraine Glessner's blog where she generously show cases the work of other artists. I really appreciate the mentions and the opportunity to widen my network. Thank you Lucy, Lorraine and Anita who has two of my works on show in Melbourne!

Life in Cuba 2

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 07:01:00 +0000

Heavy rain for the past few days meant that the outdoor concert we were planning to attend was cancelled and I managed to finish the work above today. It is fun to make small works and complete them quickly even though I think I work more successfully on a larger scale. The process is so different as I don't get the sense of exploring every inch of the surface as I work. The image materializes straight up as a whole almost before I have an opportunity to bond with it.

I don't know if the more 'roccoco' style will work on a larger scale ... I'll see what happens when my stash of panelpops runs out.

Life in Cuba Series

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 00:50:00 +0000

In the second part of her article Art, Labour, Love in the September issue of Art Monthly Australia, Pat Hoffie begins 'For artists it is true that they cannot know what they think until they see what they make'.

As I mentioned in a recent post about Artists' Statements , it is often difficult to nail the conceptual bases of one's work concisely and clearly. I have recently been making some smaller works to show at my open studio as part of the Southern Highlands Arts Trail in November (more about that later).

These works including Life in Cuba 1, above, arose form my interest in maps and boundaries and treatment of those who breach boundaries which led to the reintroduction of collage in some larger works. Recent news about events in detention centres in Australia led me to think about Cuba and Guantanamo Bay. Now (stay with me if you can!), when I tried to find a map of that area in Cuba I found that the relevent bits had been blanked out! I then went on to think about the ridiculous blockade of Cuba by the US which has resulted in Cuba existing in a state of rather beautiful decay .....I had these lovely Panelpop surfaces which I had got in Melbourne and when I applied a wash to them I suddenly had the feeling of weathered plaster walls and the works Life in Cuba came into being.

Dragonflies and Butterflies fly freely across border but we don't. I would love to go to Cuba but I can't believe that I must fly via Canada and the route to the greyed out region of Guantanamo Bay doesn't bear thinking about.

Where Corals Lie

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Buret) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 04:20:00 +0000

My work Where Corals Lie has been shortlisted for the 2010 Redland Art Awards. The awards exhibition will open at the Redland Art Gallery, Cnr Middle and Bloomfield Streets Cleveland Qld 4163 on 7 November and continues until 5 December 2010.