Daniel Nistico in Concert at Charles Nodrum Gallery

 I've been studying composition for classical guitar with Daniel Nistico, Daniel Nistico for about 2 years. In one of our lessons, Daniel mentioned that it would be good to play some of my compositions in an environment where some of my paintings were hanging. I mentioned that I have an exhibition on at Charles Nodrum Gallery in Richmond, so he enthusiastically suggested he play there. At the last hour of my show, Daniel gave an intimate performance of all 9 of my compositions. What a way to end an exhibition and what a privilege to have such a fantastic guitarist play any composers music.

Below are some pics by Deborah Klein of the recital.

The compositions were as follows - 

The Little Waltz

Waltz #2

Maillardet's Automaton Comes to Life

Autumn Fades

Farewell

Remembering the Celts

The Four Seasons

Deborah's Pictures

Explaining what Maillardet's Automaton is with a painting I did of it.

It was a small audience which was perfect for the space and the occasion.

Introducing the music

Rick Amor Self Portrait Prize

The Rick Amor Self Portrait Prize is held every two years at Montsalvat Arts Centre in Eltham.  

For this year's entry I initially had the idea of painting a self portrait out-of-doors but there is often too much glare in the open air, so I thought the next best thing was to paint myself in the studio with my landscape paintings behind me.

The human face is a difficult thing to paint and it's especially difficult to stop and decide that that's the finish of the portrait. I often get to the stage where the portrait can be improved but it's a case of I can't improve it.

Self Portrait with Pictures, 2022, oil on linen, 

Airs & Modes, my exhibition at Charles Nodrum Gallery

Relocating permanently to Ballarat from Melbourne has given me the opportunity to paint the landscape as distance is no longer an impediment. This is a new direction in my work because although I’ve touched on the landscape from time to time, it has never developed into a substantial interest until recently. 

But the word landscape can be deceptive because it’s not always about the land. The title of this exhibition is AIRS and MODES, which deliberately suggests nature is something nearer to light, air and mood rather than a geographical location.

 

Many of the paintings were done en plein air while others were invented in the studio. The pictures painted outdoors took around 10 sittings each with minimum touches in the studio, and although they often do not resemble the places where I stood, the initial idea for a painting remains vivid whenever I return to the same spot. Every aspect of nature like fire, rain, lightning, wind, or clouds do not stand still for the artist to paint them, so there needs to be a lot more invention than there seems to be.

 

Spacescape seems a more appropriate word to apply to landscape painting as the presence of hills, trees, clouds and skies is more dependent on light and air which acts like a stage for the elements to play their part.