s t u d i o L A P R I M I T I V E arts zine issue 11 july 2015
EDITOR
Robyn Stanton Werkhoven
CONTRIBUTORS
Lachie Hinton Carlin McLellan
Robyn Werkhoven Brad Evans
Lorraine Fildes Eric Werkhoven
Nigel Nerd Anne Kempton
Andrew Finnie Max Howe
studio la primitive slp
Above: Detail - The Dear Leader, Omnipresence and the Innocent,
Lachie Hinton © 2015
Front Cover : Lhasa - Lachie Hinton © 2015
Please do not copy articles in this magazine without written permission
of the Editor. Copyright © 2014 Studio La Primitive, All rights reserved.
INDEX
Index…………………………………………………… 3
Editorial………………………..Robyn Werkhoven 4 - 5
Studio La Primitive Antics……E&R Werkhoven 6 - 7
Poem ………………………….Carlin McLellan 8 - 13
Featured Artist ……………… Lachie Hinton 14 - 29
Poem……………………….. Eric Werkhoven 30 - 31
Barbara Hepworth……………Lorraine Fildes 32 - 45
Poem…………………………. Brad Evans 46 - 49
Not News…………………….. Nigel Nerd 50 - 51
Seven Painters……………….Andrew Finnie 52 - 63
Featured Artist……………… Robyn Werkhoven 64 - 75
Poem…………………………..Max Howe 76 - 80
Timelesstextiles……………….Anne Kempton 81 - 87
Art News………………………………………………. 88 - 101
Back Cover……………………………………………102
Margaret Sivyer OAM. 50 x 40cm oil/acrylic on canvas
National Trust Portrait Project Maitland 2008.
- Robyn Stanton Werkhoven © 2015
Issue 11 - July 2015 3
EDITORIAL Greetings to all our ARTS ZINE readers, and SLP would
like to thank all contributors .
Unfortunately yesterday the heavy “right wing” hand
of CENSORSHIP led us to remove Internationally ac-
claimed photographer Ric Woods feature. Due to no
nudity allowed, hence these artistic, beautiful and
surrealistic photographs are not in this July issue.
If you would like to view and read this feature please
email at :[email protected]
The July / August issue 11 of ARTS ZINE features inter-
views with nationally and internationally recognised
painter Lachie Hinton travels to North Korea and Robyn
Stanton Werkhoven - portraiture.
Andrew Finnie introduces us to Newcastle’s Seven Painters
group.
Issue 11 - July 2015 4
Childrens’ Pool, Newcastle - Andrew Finnie © 2015
Lorraine Fildes travel writer and photographer visits Barbara
Hepworth’s Museum, at The Tate St Ives Gallery, England.
Nigel Nerd , International Artistic Correspondent who joined
our team last issue with an interview with the Russian artist
Vlad Putin, this time closer to home Nigel caught up with
artist Tony Monk in Canberra.
Don’t miss reading our new essays, poetry, art news and
information on forthcoming exhibitions.
The ARTS ZINE features professional Hunter Valley, national
and international visual artists poets and writers, glimpses
into their world of art and their creative processes.
Submissions welcomed, we would love to have your words
and art works in future editions in 2015 and 2016.
Deadline for articles - August15th for September
issue 12.
Email: [email protected]
Regards - your editor Robyn Werkhoven
Lanscape Newcastle Beach - Jennifer Finnie © 2015
Issue 11 - July 2015 5
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STUDIO LA PRIMITIVE (C)2015 - ANTICS by E&R Werkhoven collaborative drawings www.studiolaprimitive.net
Issue 11 - July 2015 6
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STUDIO LA PRIMITIVE (C)2015 - ANTICS by E&R Werkhoven collaborative drawings www.studiolaprimitive.net
Issue 11 - July 2015 7
Let Yr Light Shine Thru - Carlin McLellan
Let yr inner light shine thru
After a day at the library staring into space
you just have to remember that
Being distracted ALL THE TIME is a total blessing
it's the way we are meant to be
each time you glance at your phone
you are fulfilling the frenetic dreams of your cross-disciplinary ancestors
Dear grandma
have you seen my resume lately?
It's brimming with infographics which convey highly effective truths
about my dreams and deep desires
Let yr highly effective light shine thru
When you go out into the good night
Be sure to drink just a little bit less than way too much
Issue 11 - July 2015 8
so that you can really luxuriate in each and every hangover
contentedly waiting for that redemptive headache;
The sick spurt of adrenaline which spurs you into being a slightly
better person
Oh father, I am saved
from being as boring as batshit
Oh Lord, I am saved
Let yr intoxicated, intoxicating light shine thru
Carry around with you always a book of poems
by Frederico Garcia Lorca
Because you feel that he was onto something
Even if you're not completely sure of what that something is.
You want to be on it
You want to be in on it.
You want to know the exact distance from the biggest
blackest black hole to the earth,
or
more specifically
the distance from Alpha Centauri to Tempelhofer Feld
Issue 11 - July 2015 9
Let ye blinding inner light shine thru
And it is not true that
You are not a truly a part of the gang
Until you've
Sucked Allen Ginsberg's cock & endless balls
Suck whatever you want to suck
Let your angel-headed Queer light burst thru
Be you
Be you
No matter what
The dumb stares are probably confused adoration mingled with longing
Let your gender-fluid incandescent light shine thru
Be grateful
Be grateful for the spasmodic strobe light which is yr heart
Be grateful
Even though you are always forgetting
the things you need to remember
And remembering the things you need to forget
Issue 11 - July 2015 10
When you leave yr guitar at the supermarket by accident
and you've caught the bus most of the way home
before realising you forgot the fucking thing
And when you're then catching the bus back to the supermarket
praying to God that the guitar is still there
crossing your fingers and your toes
Tell yourself that You are enough
Because
You are enough
& you ask the checkout assistant
“Sprechen Sie Englisch?”
And she says “Ja, a little bit”
And you say “Ummmmmmmmmmm. I think I left my guitar here”
and she smiles and pulls it from behind the counter
and you are very, very glad
And you say to the checkout girl, “Danke Schöne”
But really what you wanted to say was
“Right now, I love you with all my heart and I'd marry you in an instant. But it's
kinda complicated, you see,
I'm in a long term committed relationship with myself
and I don't want you screwing up the works.”
Issue 11 - July 2015 11
Let yr forgetting inner light shine thru
And hey, it's certainly possible that
when you were catching the bus back and the cold rain was hitting you in the face
and you told yourself
I am enough
Maybe that was true
Maybe you are more than enough
Let your highly effective, intoxicating, blinding, angel-headed, queer, incandescent,
gender-fluid, forgetting, immense, true light shine through.
- Carlin McLellan © 2015
Issue 11 - July 2015 12
LACHIE HINTON
The Dear Leader, Omnipresence and the Innocent, 2015 oil on canvas 334 x 170 cm (triptych)
Issue 11 - July 2015 14
LACHIE HINTON - INTERVIEW
BACKGROUND:
“ Having moved to Lilli Pilli in Sydney’s south at the age of four from Denistone in the north west, I’ve spent
most of my life surrounded by national park and coastlines. I used to commute a few hours a day to my
high school in Summer Hill in the inner west, which introduced me to metropolitan life. Summer Hill was
abundant with multicultural restaurants and my school was largely multicultural, so it was a real eye opener
that broadened my perspective. I undertook visual art at school but it wasn’t until first year of university
studying media that my art interest grew when I began creating my own illustrations and artworks.”
“For as long as I can remember I’ve been drawing. It was my favourite past time as a kid, and I’ve always
had a particular expression of figuration that has stuck throughout the years. I nearly completely abandoned
drawing for most of high school, only to return to it with a newfound passion during university. I can recall
the moment when I created a large figurative illustration inspired by a Ralph Steadman sketch one night
and it sparked what has become a great desire to create.”
Issue 11 - July 2015 15
“My work is primarily realistic figurative drawing and painting that deals with contemporary society, culture
and issues. I represent the world around me in an attempt to convey thoughts and ideas about the human
experience, and I intend to offer insights into varying conditions of life and the fundamentals of human
nature. Often working with a mixed media of oil, charcoal, ink and graphite on canvas and paper, my work
seeks to highlight attitudes, movements or issues regarding sexuality, identity, politics and social justice.”
“My art is largely concerned with the emotional experience of people and places. The stylistic element of
figuration and form in my drawing is a highly emotive expression of the physical. It was an expression that
came naturally to me as a kid, and I’ve maintained drawing as a consistently core part of my art. Developing
compositions from sketches and photographs of various subjects or concepts, my images seek to analyse
aspects of humanity.”
“ I’m inspired to communicate ideas and stories through my subjects. Storytelling is integral to my art, and
I’m drawn to issues and aspects of society that have real life impacts on people. Whether they encompass
goodwill or inhumanity, I’m motivated to document the forces and processes that shape particular
conditions of life, cultures and peoples. This is at the essence of my imagery, and it encourages me to keep
an open perspective through my art.”
Issue 11 - July 2015 17
“Having an interest in experiencing and capturing diverse civilizations and issues, I’m often inspired to travel
to encounter the confronting, provocative or unusual. These motivations lead me abroad to observe and
document contrasting societies and cultural values. This often involves getting out of my comfort zone, but
in doing so I’m able to learn a lot more about my subjects and myself.”
“My greatest artistic achievement has been my project ‘Welcome to Pyongyang’, which I exhibited at Gaffa
Gallery in Sydney in April this year. The project involved travelling to North Korea in August of 2014 to
gather information and document conditions of life in and around the capital Pyongyang. On return to
Sydney I developed the material into a series of large-scale oil paintings and drawings. I created the work
over about four months, from frame building to canvas stretching and painting, and it was a very testing
period as I was spending about fifty hours a week at the studio whilst working part-time. It was an ambitious
idea from the start that took a lot of negotiating and sensitive handling, so to have a great turn out at the
opening and positive feedback from the show was incredibly satisfying.”
Issue 11 - July 2015 19
“I’m currently in the early stages of developing a new body of work based on the suburb of Kings Cross in
Sydney. Drawing inspiration from contemporary issues in Kings Cross, I’m looking to illustrate the current
collapse of strip club business, prostitution, reckless party culture and decadent appeal that have
contributed to the notorious image of the suburb since the seventies. Illustrating the impact of current
gentrification and politics on the suburb, the body of work will explore how neon-lit bars, clubs, alcohol and
adult-oriented stores are deteriorating while a shift in demographics, social attitudes and trends occurs.
Exploring social interaction and cultural history of the suburb, the paintings and drawing will deal with
themes of identity and sexuality within Sydney’s crumbling red light district.”
Your future aspirations with your art?
“ I intend to keep on creating art for as long as I’m passionate about doing it. There’s a lot of the world that I
still want to travel to, and for as long as I’m actively looking to document and tell stories about humanity I’ll
be creating art. I have a growing interest for international affairs of conflict, oppression and social issues,
and feel my motivations to create art are moving in this direction.”
Issue 11 - July 2015 20
Forthcoming exhibitions?
“ I am planning to exhibit my body of work on
Kings Cross as my second solo show next
year at Gaffa gallery, although a date is yet to
be set! “
Other interests?
“ I work as a freelance videographer and I
have a particular interest in film and video.
I’m also passionate about playing, composing
and experiencing music and travelling. Other
interests include writing, motorsport, snow
sport and rugby.”
- Lachie Hinton © 2015
Lachie Hinton Photo by Christine Pike.
Issue 11 - July 2015 22
Soldier, Korean Demilita-
rized Zone (DMZ),
oil on canvas 89 x 119 cm
Lachie Hinton © 2015
Issue 11 - July 2015 24
In the Shower
sanguine oil lead on paper
28 x 35 cm
Lachie Hinton © 2015
www.lachiehinton.com
Issue 11 - July 2015 29
Untitled poem - Eric Werkhoven © 2015
Ever closer and yet we wait for love and happiness to mature
and ripen in our hearts.
The psychology from within takes on the battle,
at an often remarkable pace.
But don’t be in too much of a hurry.
Guess there is a lot to contend with and allow ourselves
to express some outrage.
As we are barking against the same tree where many of our
doubts hang in transparent bladders on these dark looming trees.
Issue 11 - July 2015 30
Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Museum and Garden
and the Tate St. Ives Gallery England.
Lorraine Fildes.
I walked around the pedestrian friendly streets of St. Ives and then uphill to the Barbara Hepworth Museum
and Sculpture Garden.
Dame Barbara Hepworth (born 1903, Wakefield, England - died 1975, St. Ives, Cornwall) was one of the
greatest sculptors of the twentieth century. Barbara Hepworth’s earliest works were naturalistic with
simplified features but as she matured she concentrated on the problem of the relationships between mass
and space. Her sculptures became totally abstract.
In 1945 Hepworth purchased The Trewyn Studio and garden at St. Ives, and during the 1950s she started
using metal and bronze. This led her to create works on a more monumental scale, for which she used the
garden as a viewing area. The bronzes are in the garden environment for which they were created - usually
in the positions which the artist herself placed them.
Opposite page 54: Stringed Figure (Curlew) Version II - Barbara Hepworth.
Issue 11 - July 2015 33
The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden at Trewyn Studio in St Ives is unique. As a ‘studio
museum’ it has changed very little since Hepworth lived there. In her will she asked her executors to
consider ‘the practicality of establishing a permanent exhibition of some of my works in Trewyn studio and
its garden’. She envisaged her studio being shown, as in her lifetime, with small works in the house and a
few large works in the garden. After Hepworth’s death, the Museum and Sculpture Garden were opened to
the public. Hepworth's daughters and the executors of her estate, following Hepworth’s own wishes, gave
the Museum and its contents to the nation in October 1980.
Sculptures are on display in the Museum and Garden, along with paintings, drawings and archive material.
'Finding Trewyn Studio was a sort of magic', wrote Barbara Hepworth; 'here was a studio, a yard and
garden where I could work in open air and space'.
The photos that I took in 2014 as I walked through the museum and garden will give you some idea of the
feel of Barbara’s “garden studio”.
When I left Barbara Hepworth’s sculpture garden I found a place to dine overlooking Porthmeor Beach and
St Nicholas Chapel. The original Chapel was built in the 15th Century. Falling into disuse the chapel was
used for several years for storage by the War Office, who, not realising its historic significance, partially
demolished it in 1904. A public outcry led to the restoration of St Nicholas Chapel in 1911.
Issue 11 - July 2015 34
The downstairs room which you
enter directly from the street
houses what is an autobiographical
history of Barbara Hepworth’s art,
her achievements and recognition
of her as one of the great sculptors
of the 20th Century. This photo
shows some of her unfinished
wood carvings and the tools that
she used.
From the downstairs autobiograph-
ical room you then go upstairs to
what was first used as a workroom
and then eventually became a
sitting room. This room has a
magnificent collection of Barbara’s
more delicate marble and wood
sculptures and drawings.
Entry room to Hepworth Museum.
Issue 11 - July 2015 35
After lunch I visited Tate St. Ives Gallery which overlooks Porthmeor Beach and St. Nicholas Chapel. Tate
St. Ives opened in 1993 to celebrate the town’s international artists’ colony. The gallery has a programme of
changing exhibitions that show the best of international modern and contemporary art. Tate St Ives also
manages the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden.
The Tate St. Ives building is a modern piece of architecture set amongst buildings which do not harmonize
with its unique appearance. But when you step inside, only one word can be used to describe it - magical.
The number of different angles that you can view the sea from are amazing. Head up to the terrace café
and the view over the town of St. Ives - Porthmeor Beach on one side and the Harbour on the other side
and the wonderful rooftops of the St. Ives houses are absolutely stunning.
I was fortunate on the day I visited the Tate as they had an excellent exhibition “International Exchanges:
Modern Art and St. Ives 1915 – 1965”. This exhibition traced some key connections between the art of
St. Ives and the rest of the world. I saw works by Wassily Kandinsky, Jean Arp, Ben Nicholson, Amedeo
Modigliani, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Barbara Hepworth just to mention a few of the artists represented in
the exhibition. However, photography was not allowed as many of the exhibits were from private owners.
This exhibition was a superb way to finish a visit to a village that has become an artist’s haven.
- Lorraine Fildes © 2015
Opposite page 58: Oval with Two Forms 1971 - Barbara Hepworth
Issue 11 - July 2015 37
Figure for Landscape 1959 - 60
Barbara Hepworth.
After looking at the pieces in the
museum I moved out into the sculpture
garden. What an absolute delight – the
sculptures harmonised beautifully with
the flowering plants and trees.
Issue 11 - July 2015 40
Four Square Walk Through 1966, River Form 1965, Two Forms (Divided Circle) 1969, Core - Barbara Hepworth.
Issue 11 - July 2015 42
Sea Form - Barbara Hepworth. This is the plaster from which an edition of seven bronzes was cast. It may have been
painted this bronze-like colour when shown in St Ives Guildhall in 1968. This exhibit is in the garden conservatory.
Issue 11 - July 2015 44
NATURAL LAW - Brad Evans
Somebody taught Hudson how to throw a punch
And so, every lunch time,
We'd hear about some new kid in the playground
Who'd just got the shit beaten out of him.
There was no doubt about Hudson's ability to throw one,
that was quite evident with the growing casualty list,
it's just that he wasn't that quick at winning over hearts & minds
with this new-found talent:
It always seemed to be a weaker kid
or somebody much shorter than he.
In fact, one might say there was something
chicken shit with his approach.
Issue 11 - July 2015 46
The tipping point came when he punched out 'Little Red'.
'Little Red' may have been shorter & weaker than Hudson
but he was a real character - a popular kid
that was when some of the other guys decided to sort out Hudson.
The campaign started & the taunting began,
a group of guys began following Hudson around during lunch-times,
waiting for him to choose his next target,
but Hudson was quite shrewd and backed off awhile,
biding his time.
they then began to starve him out
they emptied his school bag, tore into his books
they found his lunch box and squashed his sandwiches underneath piles of bricks
(some of them could still be seen under those bricks many years later looking all green, flat and grubby)
Issue 11 - July 2015 47
It was a few weeks later, thinking he was in the clear, when Hudson made his next move --
me!
Spotting me in the playground,
He started pushing me around, trying to provoke,
While this was happening, I saw a brief flicker of movement behind him - aiming straight for him.
I tried not to be distracted by the movement,
I didn't want him to know what was coming his way
And just as he was making his move on me
I heard the impact - the rush of air as Ryan knocked Hudson arse-over-tit!
He got up quickly and shouted:
FUCK OFF, HILLSTOP!
And Ryan screamed back:
DON'T YOU EVER PUSH MY FRIEND AROUND AGAIN!! Issue 11 - July 2015 48
Not waiting for a response, Ryan turned around and walked away,
knowing that Hudson wouldn't take it any further.
Hudson did something intelligent that day --
he walked away.
now suddenly on my own
I was left standing there trying hard to think of a time
when Ryan & I had done things together,
something that would hint of a friendship, an alliance of some sort
or even something owing to me.
But I couldn't.
- Brad Evans © 2015
Issue 11 - July 2015 49
NOT NEWS By Nigel Nerd Coming home after interviewing Vlad in Russia, Nigel heard of a new art star in Canberra. Nigel arranged an exclusive interview with Tony Monk, who is making a dramatic impression among artists both in the A.C.T. and right across Australia. Nigel asked Tony about his most recent artistic creation. “I believe art, like the media, should be the message – or is it massage”, he pondered. “Anyway, my latest creation, a series of four black squares, gives everyone messages (or massages) on several different emotional and intellectual levels”. “Black means so many things – hence the four black squares. Firstly, being in the black means having a surplus – which I want so much, like all other Australians who hate red. The second black square represents my absolute despair at not being in the black – I am displaying my deepest emotions here. The third black square is also emotional - it represents the future of Australia unless the climate change believers are wiped out. The fourth black square represents my unbounded joy with mining – coal, coal seam gas, oil and uranium – all these fantastic Australian minerals, many of which are black. Hence my series of all black paint creations.
But note, Tony said firmly, my all black masterpieces are not for sale to New Zealanders”.
Nigel asked how sales were going. “Wonderfully, Tony replied, Liberal party members are queuing up to get them and I have had big orders from mining companies and banks. Four black squares in every mining company office and bank branch will, I am sure, make my messages crystal clear as well as increasing my personal financial surplus. I just love to be in the black both in the figurative and practical sense”. Nigel asked Tony if he enjoyed music. “Yes, said Tony, I get my artistic inspiration from the Rolling Stones. I just love SATISFACTION, but my favourite is PAINT IT BLACK. Nigel came away from Canberra marvelling at Tony’s artistic genius, deeply held emotions, sales acumen and musical appreciation. He is an artist in the broadest possible way, as we should all be. - Nigel Nerd© 2015
Issue 11 - July 2015 51
SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH THE SEVEN PAINTERS
How did The Seven Painters start?
In the late eighties several of us met at Newcastle TAFE where we were doing a Fine Arts Certificate at
night time. There we were blessed with having such fine teachers as Paul Pulati, Jill Orr, Ted Prior, Ruth
Chapman. At the end of our studies we even managed to stay on for an extra year - until The State
Government decided that training artists was a waste of time and cancelled our course. Then, in the late
nineties, we all went back to TAFE and basically did the same course. There we were taught by the
wonderful Bob Birch and the talented Dallas Braye.
At the end of our final year we decided to stick together and formed a group of eleven painters. For several
years we hired the Newcastle Community Arts Centre's casual access area on Tuesday nights. It was a
mission lugging our gear up and down the stairs but we all stuck together. A few teachers from the TAFE
were kind enough to give us master-classes. We had our first show later on in the year.
Eventually we managed to move into a full time studio at NCAC. We have been meeting in NCAC every
Tuesday night for fifteen years now.
Issue 11 - July 2015 52
So eleven painters initially, but how did
the name The Seven Painters come
about?
The initial eleven dwindled to five, then jumped
back up to eight, then down to seven, so we de-
cided that we'd call ourselves The Seven Paint-
ers regardless of how many were showing. It
does cause a little confusion occasionally. But
that's fine, because people might not recognise
our individual names, but they recognise the
group. Consequently we've been fortunate
enough to build up a very good following of
people who collect our work.
Our core group is Michael Bateman, Jennifer
Finnie, Patricia Williamsz, Andrew Finnie,
Malcolm Sands, Neville Cottee, and our newest
member, Sarah Knights.
Issue 11 - July 2015 54
Single Fin Surfer Nobby’s - Andrew Finnie © 2015
What are the advantages of being in a group?
Not just motivation to work and support each other, but we also learn from each other's approaches and
each other's influences. Often one of our group will expose the others to a brilliant artist that they might not
have heard of.
At the end of a session we critique each other's work. Quite often a painter might not be able to see the
beauty or the 'ugliness' in their own work that others do. So working with other painters means that you
have access to an objective viewpoint of your work. I think that that shows in the way our paintings have
matured over the years.
Remarkably, even after so long, each of us has their own style, and it's quite obvious whose work is whose,
because we each have different subject matter and temperaments that are reflected in our work.
Issue 11 - July 2015 56
How has your work changed over the years?
Technically our work has matured in leaps and bounds as we find our palettes and our individual way of
applying paint. The subject matter, for most us, has been a natural progression, all of our works are
figurative or have some figurative jumping off point.
That said, as we as we mature I think that we are learning to seek the essence of our subject matter. To
quote Degas, 'Art is not about what we see, but what we make others see." So, as we mature, I think that
our work is becoming more suggestive of detail. We are trying to create an impression or an emotional
response in the viewer's eye that is individual to the viewer - to involve the viewer more and more in the
creative process.
Issue 11 - July 2015 58
How important has Newcastle Community Arts Centre been to How important has
Newcastle Community Arts Centre been to the group?
Having a home base had been a remarkable boon to our group and has been of essence in keeping us
together. Being in the Centre means we can use our studios at any time of day. We are also exposed to
many successful artists, like John Morris, Peter Lankas, The Strutts, Rachel Milne, Pablo Tapia . We've
become friends with many of these people and see how they work and learn from their sense of
professionalism and their amazing talents.
In the future NCAC will be seen as an historically important hub of major art making for Newcastle.
Unfortunately the building that houses the centre has been sold and we are yet to find another place. It's
very sad because Newcastle doesn't know what an incredible institution they have in their own backyard. It
will be a black day for Newcastle if we ever lose NCAC.
Issue 11 - July 2015 60
What advice would you give to aspiring artists?
People make art in all sorts of ways. People make gardens, make children, decorate their houses. The
creative urge exists in all of us, and to suppress it makes our life less emotionally significant.
But 'artists' themselves are different. As artists, when we make art, there is something existential going on.
It's important to our spiritual self. Not only are we making something that says 'Look, I existed!', but we are
also making something that exists on its own.
So my advice to aspiring artists is to listen to your inner self, to not let criticism wear you down, to have self
belief because you are channelling something from the universe that once it is made, is no longer yours.
Imagine your work where it will be in the future, how much joy it will give to others, and that it will live on as
its own entity.
When is your next Exhibition?
Our next show is called The First Fifteen and is at Newcastle Art Space. Opening night is Friday 10th July
at 6.00 pm. It runs until 26th July. NAS is at 246 Parry Street, Hamilton East. Gallery Hours are Thursday
to Sunday, 12-5pm. - Andrew Finnie © 2015
Issue 11 - July 2015 62
ROBYN STANTON WERKHOVEN
BACKGROUND:
Born in 1952 at Penrith, NSW, and coming from an old farming dynasty, Robyn has always loved the rural
country and the serenity of the bush.
“ From very young I wanted to be a ballerina, by eleven years old, I knew this was not going to happen. One
day my sister came home with a wonderful surprise, she gave me a set of oil paints, brushes and canvas,
and said - “why don’t you become a painter!” ever since I have passionately been involved in the world of
the Arts.”
Robyn commenced her professional career as a Graphic Designer and artist in Sydney in the seventies.
Specialising in silk screen designs for clothing and textiles, designing for various Sydney clothing business-
es and later opened her own business “Armin Design” in Wollongong.
Robyn has been involved with Fine Arts for many years – from Performance Event art, painting, sculpture,
jewellery design and management of galleries.
The past twenty six years Robyn and her husband, sculptor Eric Werkhoven have lived and worked as
professional artists in the Hunter Valley, with many galleries exhibiting their work in Newcastle and Sydney.
Robyn is also represented in Europe.
Opposite page 86: Self Portrait in Studio - Finalist Portia Geach Award for Portraiture 1998
Issue 11 - July 2015 65
Susana Enriquez
In Her Studio
H76 x W76 cm
Oil/acrylic on canvas
Finalist Portia Geach
Award 2013
Issue 11 - July 2015 66
Portraiture is a keen interest, with celebrities and dignitaries included in her portfolio.
Her portrait of Jenny Kee, iconic fashion designer was a Finalist in the Portia Geach Award for Portraiture
2011.
Six times portraits have been Finalists in the Portia Geach Memorial Award for Portraiture, Sydney.
Robyn was one of nine artists, who painted portraits of local Hunter identities for the National Heritage Trust
Project, Maitland, 2006 - 2008.
Since November 2009 Robyn is an exhibiting member with Portrait Artists Australia. Exhibiting in Federal
Parliament House, ACT and Sydney Parliament House and the Australian Embassy, Washington DC, USA.
“Since early childhood I have been fascinated with drawing or painting the human figure, especially the
face. This led me to exploring and expressing the dynamic and delicate nuances of the human form and
psyche.
My paintings maybe called ‘contemporary figurative’, deploying vivid colour and strong line.
In recent years I have started painting the Hunter Valley landscape, but always I need to return to my figura-
tive works, obsessively fascinated with portraying the expressions, antics and absurdities of the human
race.
I enjoy working with challenging and provocative themes such as an exhibition of drawings and paintings at
Maitland Regional Art Gallery, exploring the world of human caprice.
An exciting high light of my artistic career is the unique collaborative work with artist / sculptor
Eric Werkhoven.”
Issue 11 - July 2015 67
Jenny Kee
with Waratahs
H76 x W76cm
Oil on canvas
Finalist Portia Geach
Award 2011
Issue 11 - July 2015 68
Forthcoming exhibitions for 2016 are planned
for Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Art Systems
Wickham Gallery, Nanshe Gallery and Gallery
139,Newcastle, exploring the world of Cabaret
and Family.
A parade of colourful, exotic characters and the
absurdities and antics of every day life.
www.studiolaprimitive.net
Right: John O’Brien - award winning film and TV script
writer. H120 x W 60cm oil/acrylic on canvas
Issue 11 - July 2015 69
Letitia & Harry Tseng
H90 x W60cm
Oil/acrylic on canvas
Portrait Artists Australia exhibition
Sydney Parliament House 2013
At present Eric & Robyn’s studio and home
are in East Gresford a rural village in the
Hunter Valley NSW, Australia.
Since October 2013 Robyn established and is
the Editor of the Online Arts and Literary
magazine STUDIO LA PRIMITIVE ARTS
ZINE (at www.issuu.com).
She also contributes artists’ interviews to the
Hunter Professional Arts Magazine and
Gresford Monthly News.
- Robyn Stanton Werkhoven © 2015
Issue 11 - July 2015 70
Rhianna Griffith -
Actress & artist
H120 x W 90 cm
Acrylic / oil on board
Finalist Portia Geach
2004
- Robyn Stanton
Werkhoven © 2015
Issue 11 - July 2015 71
THE HOSPITAL
In 2014, after an accident, Robyn spent seven
months in hospital and rehabilitation, during
this time she produced 500 drawings in a daily
visual diary. In 2016 Maitland Regional Art
Gallery will present an exhibition of selected
drawings portraying hospital life, the dramas
and humorous situations Robyn experienced
every day during her long and arduous
recovery.
“Only due to my love for art, reading, writing
and technology ,did my sanity survive.
I found refuge in my imagination and began to
obsessively draw each day – producing over
500 drawings of many different themes, but
the hospital experience kept recurring as a
prominent subject in my visual diary, 60 or
more drawings.” - Robyn Werkhoven © 2015
Issue 11 - July 2015 72
Michael Winchester - actor and film
producer
H76 x W 56
Oil/acrylic on canvas 2011
Issue 11 - July 2015 74
Artist John Turier
H76 x W56
Oil/acrylic on canvas 2008
Robyn Stanton Werkhoven - artwork can
be viewed at:
www.studiolaprimitive.net
Issue 11 - July 2015 75
Some thoughts - Max Howe
As for my own arrogance, I can assure you I no longer
have a fixed view on anything, much less in anything I
would expect others to take seriously. I do know that I
don’t know much and as such prefer to take on board
other people’s ideas and evaluate them for any glimpse
of wisdom that may hidden in there but the pursuit is
mostly futile.
I must suggest to you that care needs to be exercised in
repeating some sayings.
For example the next 3 are first year uni student sayings.
Van Gough is my soul brother.
The whole adds up to more than the sum of the parts.
Those who can do it and those who teach it.
Then of course there is “for the right reasons”
which leaves so many interpretations open.
John Farnam left the stage crying on the first
night he performed. When I hear “Burn For You’’
I can see the world would be a lesser place
without that song and so he deserves all credit
due for having fought the battle.
Some words have real impact like -
“Nurse a mug and they will die in your arms” (Australian)
“Never give a sucker an even break” (American)
“Once you drop you’re easy shooting” ( Think of a flock of birds)
“Easy come easy go”
“Don’t lead with your chin”
“Loose lips sink ships”
Issue 11 - July 2015 76
I wrote the following out in one burst one night. Some of them are
uselessly weird but some I think could have a use.
Everything works to some advantage.
Difference, appropriated, enriches.
Reality explained, blurs distinctions.
Good ideas excite nostalgia.
Flames of conscience become embers of justification.
Youth reverberates in a joyful exuberance of life.
Youthful purity is mitigated by social alienation.
Bureaucracy is a powerful survival tactic.
Capitalism is sustained by those who don’t take it seriously.
Music speaks most clearly of reality, and is then gone.
Self restraint reduces ecstasy.
Caring for each other can be like peeling an orange before eating it.
Trends are flimsy as a drunk’s argument.
Right and wrong is eternally debatable.
Issue 11 - July 2015 77
The past composts the future.
Successful plans accommodate reality.
Ideas, like flames, disintegrate if unfuelled.
Friends wash away like waves in a storm leaving only ripples.
Intent should be a criminal offence.
Action necessitates preparation.
The world is really only tangible as an instant.
Love is endless pure joy experienced in a split second.
Children divert horror.
Birth energizes and exuberates life.
Ego destroys equality.
Personality attempts to exonerate responsibility.
Love is irrational.
Generosity is self-justification.
Hatred is unconsummated revenge.
Unclean is a social perception.
Reality is tested by consequence.
Regardless of kudos humans que.
Is madness taking stock of reality.
Wrong and right reside in the same place.
Issue 11 - July 2015 78
Piety is self delusion.
God is within and without. (think I have heard that before)
Love bridges loneliness.
Insecurity makes you lonely.
The last flicker of life should be as graceful as birth.
Life is an awkward journey of ultimate embarrassment.
Money is a lubricant for the poor and a curse for the unhealthy.
Wisdom disappears when stated as wisdom.
Real generosity is afterlife.
Laziness is luxurious.
Education is an inadequate trap.
Communication is an external and internal puzzle for the unwary.
Talk is wasted.
Creativity is spiritual efficacy.
Beauty is in the eye of the consumer.
Flatulence is fun.
Love is a blissful exaggeration of the essence of existence.
Hate is irrational fear of your own potential.
Sharing is a feeble attempt at being at peace with oneself.
Viewed at a distance, greed is hilarious.
Issue 11 - July 2015 79
The young are greedy for experience and disdainful of wisdom.
Wisdom is a distillation of experience and knowledge.
Warfare is men’s business.
Peace is forgetting yourself.
Romance kindles love.
To forgive is to rise above the other.
Equality is essentially inequitable.
Distrust is mischievous.
Fidelity is fear of reprisal.
Laughter is a gift.
Crying is a gift.
Laughter is at midnight, crying best done with a lover in the afternoon.
Lovers kiss best.
Shopping is like commercial t. v.
Heroin is the jewel in the crown of death.
The media is the voice of our future.
Thinking is a convoluted process of discrimination.
Being drunk is a sad joke.
The computer chip is greater than the machine.
- Max Howe © 2015
Issue 11 - July 2015 80
This next lot were written out on the same day.
We see. I don’t.
We know I know you better.
There are things only we know.
I don’t see what you want me to see because it is not there.
When we know nothing is worth knowing then we may begin to see how much we did not know.
When we both see the same thing at once, it is a precious and delicate moment of knowing love.
I know everything you knew would not be worth knowing.
Everything I know is known.
We both see, both know, and although it’s different we are sure we know what we both see.
If we all knew at once the world would change. (very 60’s. T.C.M.)
Seeing is an emotional experience. Knowing is an intellectual experience. Faith is for gamblers.
I am blinding.
I am more blind now.
Change is hardest for most.
Just some thoughts. Mostly I am overwhelmed. I have a friend who uses Heroin to contain and subdue all that happens in the universe of his mind. I paint. It’s not special. Max Howe © 2015
www.georgcello.com/loumax.htm Issue 11 - July 2015 81
The End - oil / 0n canvas H105 x W155 cm Max Howe © 2015 www.georgcello.comloumax.htm
Issue 11 - July 2015 83
TIMEtopography opens from 6-8 pm on July 16 and runs until16 August 2015.
Hong-Kong based artist Dr Tricia Flanagan makes the passing of time and its effects on our bodies visually
accessible in a new exhibition, TIMEtopography, opening at Newcastle’s Timeless Textiles Gallery in July.
The exhibition explores the geography of the body and its tempo-spatial relationship to systems that
surround it. Tricia has created textile-based systems in her works that archive life’s journey.
“I see my role as akin to that of a cartographer, creating tangible social objects that act as maps to help
interpret our culture in motion,” she said. “I wanted to evoke moments of sleep, long walks and biological
expressions of time through DNA.”
In the artwork BODYecology, for instance, the rhythms of sleep determine the depth of colour of a hand-
spun merino lambs-wool thread, which is drawn at a constant rate across a portable dyeing machine. When
the artist is sleeping soundly the thread dives deeply into the indigo dye bath, when lightly sleeping or
stirring it is drawn through the shallows or skims the surface. In the day the resulting variegated coloured
thread is woven into a blanket, a physical embodiment of the ontological experience of sleep.
TIMEtopography is built around four themes that inspire a search for ontological equilibrium, where time
sleeping becomes productive, the expressive quality of walking is visually harnessed and generational time
is reflected upon. Time is presented as an accumulation of stories captured in social objects and invested in
material culture and practices.
Issue 11 - July 2015 85
Dr Tricia Flanagan has been exhibiting internation-
ally since the mid 1990’s and is represented in
private and public collections in Australia, Ireland,
Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan and China. She is
a multiple award winner and her work has included
four CASP-funded Public Art commissions and a
UGCTD Grant to develop PIPA. She was a repre-
sentative for Oceania at the Tournai Contemporary
Textiles Biennial Belgium, a recipient of the
Australian Postgraduate Scholarship Award,
winner of the Max Fabre Foundation Award for
Environmental Awareness and CeMoRe Visiting
Fellow at Lancaster University in 2015.
Tricia has completed a PhD in Public Art at the
University of Newcastle and a Master’s of Visual
Art at Bauhaus University Weimar. She established
the Wearables Lab at the Academy of Visual Art at
Hong Kong Baptist University in 2009 where she
currently works as Assistant Professor.
Issue 11 - July 2015 86
String theory (and practice) workshop with Tricia Flanagan
String is a basic material structure that is capable of binding things together and is embedded into many
things that surround us in our everyday lives. It is hard to imagine a world without string. Flanagan visualises
string as the basic building block of our universe, one that represents an alternative to long-held beliefs in
particle-based theories.
Her workshop teaches hands-on understanding of techniques to make string – exploring materials,
properties and techniques in the first half of the workshop and introducing techniques to complete
constructed material in the second half.
Dates: 3 days over two weeks, 18-19 July and 25 July 2015 (9.30 am – 4.30 pm)
CONTACT TIMELESSTEXTILES
P 0408 483 913
Issue 11 - July 2015 87
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Detail: Tribute to Nature—Robyn Werkhoven Issue 11 - July 2015 88
Laman Street Art Prize established in memory of the figs
Hunter residents are invited to participate in the second bi-annual Laman Street Art Prize
established to remember the Laman Street figs.
Theme: ‘Celebrating Nature’
Prizes: Two Best-of-Show prizes ($2,500 each); Emerging Artist prize ($1,000); and People’s
Choice prize ($1,000).
Mediums that can be used: drawing, printmaking, clay, wood, fibre, metal or a combination of
these. (There is no painting or photography.) The work must not measure more than 600 x 600
x 600 mm.
Exhibition dates: 22 January to 7 February 2016.
Exhibition gallery: Back to Back Galleries, Bull Street, Cooks Hill.
Deadline for receipt of entry forms: Monday, 30 November 2015
Entry forms contact Gallery: Back to Back Galleries 57 Bull Street Cooks Hill NSW 2300
T: 49 293 677 www.newcastlepotters.org.au
Issue 11 - July 2015 89
FAN DONGWANG Shifting Perspectives: paintings 1995 - 2015
A twenty year survey of unique paintings by Chinese
born artist Fan Dongwang.
This exhibition explores the shifting borders of Asian
and Australian cultures through a series of dynamic,
large format paintings that use colour and motif to
shift cultural perceptions in art. The works exhibit a
refined attention to detail while exploring the global
experience of shifting boundaries in this Asian
century.
Exhibition 12 August - 5 September
The University of Newcastle
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council
for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body, and by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an
initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments.
Issue 11 - July 2015 90
Dawn Patrol Dino Consalvo, John Earle and Peter Lankas
Exhibition: 5 - 22 AUGUST , 2015
OFFICIAL OPENING: Saturday 8 August, 2pm
“Since late 2014, Newcastle artists Dino Consalvo, John Earle
and Peter Lankas have been meeting mother nature before
she breaks. They have been ritually checking the paper and
arranging days in advance when and where they will meet
with their paint brushes, canvas' and sketchpads before dawn.
They set-up in the low light before the sun raises itself above
the far horizon ready to capture in paint the first rays of the day
on the edge of the ocean”.
GALLERY 139
139A Beaumont St Hamilton NSW 2303
m 0434 886 450
Newcastle sunrise - Peter Lankas
oil on canvas 30x30cm
Issue 11 - July 2015 91
Artists!
Following a successful exhibition in 2014 an invitation is extended to you to join this group exhibition at cstudios in 2015 from 5
th September to 26
th September
OFFICIAL OPENING Saturday 6th
September 2.30 to 4.30
CSTUDIOS ART GALLERY, Shop 1/738 Hunter St, Newcastle NSW 2302
Director Jo Chisholm-Ray, Gallery open 12-4pm Wednesday –Sunday
P: +612 4023 8927 m: 0407 107053
Or email Ann Sutherland : email: [email protected]
http://cstudiosartgallery.com.au/
https://wwwfacebook.com/cstudiosArtGallery
2015 ADORNMENT 3 - WILD
Issue 11 - July 2015 93
10 - 26 JULY
WINDOWS, DOORS and
DOGS of VENCE
Nicola Bolten & Linda Greedy
(works on paper)
Anne Gazzard (ceramics)
31 JULY - 16 AUGUST
THE TABLE
(ceramics)
Sue Stewart, Sandra Burgess, Ali Sobel-Read,
Karen Wood, Helen Stronach, Sue Jones
June Wheen, Nicola Purcell, Pam Sinnott
EXHIBITION CALENDAR
57 Bull Street, Cooks Hill, Newcastle NSW Ph: 49 293 677
Issue 11 - July 2015 94
21 AUG - 6 SEPT
AL FRESCO
NSP Members’ Exhibition
(ceramics)
11 - 27 SEPTEMBER
The Last Farewell, Von Bertouch
Gallery Revisited.
Newcastle PrintMakers
Workshop Miniprint Exhibition
(printing & clay)
2 - 18 OCT
LAND FORM MEMORIES
Robyn Outram (ceramics)
Lara Seresin (painting)
23 OCT - 8 NOV
FEAST
Denise Spalding, Barbara Greentree,
Anne Gazzard, Heather Campbell,
Joan Robinson, Grant Keene,
Nicola Purcell (ceramics)
13 - 29 NOVEMBER
CANVAS & CLAY
Gary Boote (ceramics)
Merran Kilgour (painting)
4 - 20 DECEMBER
Christmas Takeaway
NSP Members’ Exhibition
Work can be “taken away”
Once purchased.
Issue 11 - July 2015 95
Not As It Seems Dates: 19 June – 4 July
Back to Back Galleries presents an exhibition by The Athena group.
The group includes Jeanne Harrison, Helene Leane, Varelle and Amanda Hardy, Faye Collier,
Sue Stewart, Pat Davidson, Bronwyn Greive, Sandra Burgess and Julie-Anne Ure. These art-
ists work in a wide range of media, ceramic and textiles, printmaking, photography, painting and
sculpture. None of the group is afraid to step into another media if it suits their exploration of a
theme.
The Artists write: Some of the themes explored relate to media, others focus on a personal or
social issue and some develop both simultaneously. The works play with deception: of scale,
perspective, the juxtaposition of objects, media which appears to be, or becomes, something
else. Themes range from landscape, including the hidden beauty of ordinary insignificant plac-
es, to the distortions created by water in tiled swimming pools. The issues embraced are di-
verse. The real cost of cheap clothing, the protection of our land in the Coal Seam Gas fight,
even the transient and personal nature of perception.
Issue 11 - July 2015 96
Back to Back Galleries 57 Bull Street Cooks Hill NSW 2300
T: 49 293 677
www.newcastlepotters.org.au
Issue 11 - July 2015 97
STUDIO
LA PRIMITIVE Contemporary artists
ERIC WERKHOVEN
&
ROBYN WERKHOVEN
ARTS ZINE available at
www.studiolaprimitive.net
Issue 11 - July 2015 99