Tout tout pour ma Cherie

2011, oil on canvas, 110 x 60 cm

When Leah Grace, the Arts Development Officer for Alexandrina Council heard about an artist painting in an abandoned nightclub (upstairs at the Crown Hotel in Victor Harbor, South Australia) she came for a studio visit and I was invited to exhibit works in a solo exhibition at the South Coast Regional Arts Centre (Goolwa, South Australia). I was busy exploring my own experinces and ideas, painting friends and people I met in the bar below - not really thinking of a complete exhibition of works. The exhibition was titled "Out of the Shadows" (inspired by Carl Jung). I had to paint in the old nightclub as I had a young son and needed a separate place from home to keep my toddler away from the toxicity of the oil paint. The manager of the Crown Hotel was generous to let me use the space and I soon became as ubiquitous at George, the ghost who also inhabited the old upstairs rooms. The show went on to exhibit at the Murray Bridge Regional Gallery where I undertook several artist talks and life drawing classes.