Ash Artist Richard Friar

Self taught artist, Richard Friar is doing something different. His life has taken him on many quests, from olympic trainer to farmer to property developer, an environmental champion of the '90's,entrepreneur, film maker and now artist. He started painting in 2008, after he and his creative partner and author, Wendy, completed their film 'Think About It!' about the future of peace building in Iraq. A difficult relationship with his son that drove Richard to a catalytic moment where he was painting a picture as a way to reach out to his son. The paint began to haemorrhage across the canvas and, in desperation, Richard grabbed the fire ashes he'd cleaned from the wood fire and threw them on the canvas. This random act saved the moment on the canvas and, from this point, with growing intensity, he continued to paint using wood fire ashes. Three years later, when his son tragically died, he came to see that particular painting as a sign from within his unconscious mind.

Bishop Bridgman Primary School, Bolton

Cool Canvas is a enterprise local to Bolton, U.K. run by a bright young chap called Ollie Wotherspoon. He has had award winning success with his concept to form visually creative environments, with a team of skilled professionals. The company develops play areas, internal and external,for positive and lasting impact in schools and community sites. Ollie, a visual artist, works with the children in a given situation to inject colour and make their excitement and vision a reality. An interesting recent project has been the “Quiet room” in Bishop Bridgman Primary School, Bolton.

Magic of Mediums: Clear Painting Medium

The magic of mediums is that there is a painting medium for just about every type of application, especially with acrylics. Want to paint very texturally? Impasto Gel or Modelling Compound. Want matte paint? Matte Medium & Varnish. Need more working time? Slow or Thick Slow Medium. But sometimes you’ll find that there is one medium that you use, time and time again. For me, the workhorse in my studio is the Clear Painting Medium.

A Painter’s Space

Painting and colour mixing can be a ”can of worms”. We are going to start at the very beginning and I will suggest how to set up a couple of physical structures to make the process a lot easier. Hopefully we will diminish some of the fear and mystique around mixing paint and give your creativity space.

Arty Brella Mural

Tricia Stedman is well known for her Arty Brella’s art workshop which was established in 2006. She developed the concept of painting on paper umbrelllas as a workshop activity and unique decorative art, using Jo Sonja's acrylics. Kevin Jacksons and Subiaco Council have asked her to paint a mural that will be showcased on the rear western wall of the building that faces the car park servicing the cosmopolitan shopping and dining precinct of central Subiaco. Mr. Jackson has owned the building for decades and only redeveloped it last year.

Turnfest st Sea World, Gold Coast

Turnfest is the biggest annual wood turning conference in Australia and 2010 saw it relocated to Sea World on the Gold Coast. Last year’s was the largest in Australia with over 340 people attending. Each year, the organizer, David Drescher invites an interesting and varied group of demonstrators. The 50th anniversary Turn Fest in 2012 is mooted to be the biggest ever over 4 days.

Courageous Color

It’s easy to get into a rut when choosing colors for a painting. After all, there is something to be said for using the same colors, so you know exactly what to mix in order to achieve the combination you need. But if you are finding your paintings are getting a bit stale, or you want to stretch yourself, simply changing the colors you use can be a great exercise.

Chroma Demonstrations

Have you ever found yourself searching around for the right medium or paint to give a specific effect to your work? Here at Chroma, we go out into the art community to share our manufacturer’s materials knowledge that assist artists in all stages of their creative process. At art schools, art societies and shops we give many demonstrations to help in the materials learning which may otherwise take years of experience to acquire .

The Sydney Vegan Expo

The Sydney Vegan Expo is being held at the Ultimo Community Centre, Ultimo on Sunday 1st of May from 10am – 4pm. It is a Not For Profit Organisation family event that is aimed at making the community more aware and more informed on the benefits of veganism.

There will be all types of entertainment such as music performers, yoga-classes, kid activities, food & wine Markets and much more.

There will also be a raffle prize on the day. The lucky winner will take home Atelier Interactive painting on Canvas (24"x24") called ‘Happy As’ painted by L.P. Baker.

Annual Melbourne International Garden Show

True Blue Folk Art Guild members, Rachel Baker, Lee Clements, Robyn Shearer and Anna Martin, together with QLD artist Tracey Sims have been asked to present their artwork to crowds from all over the world at the annual Melbourne International Garden Show.