Years ago R and I lived in a fabulous art deco apartment in the heart of Tamarama. It was a fantastic, breezy apartment in the most amazing location, just moments from the spectacular cliff path that meanders along the eastern suburbs beaches. In the eat-in-kitchen, the owner had painted an entire wall with blackboard paint. On this wall we would scribble notes to each other, write out the shopping list and so on. One day a flight attendant friend popped over to visit us with her then boyfriend who was an up and coming artist. On our blackboard wall he drew the most amazing chalk drawing of our apartment building and the airport, planes flying in and out and so on! We were flight attendants after all! His wonderful mural then remained up on the wall until the day we moved out. A sad day, but the Australia's Next Top Model contestants, who lived in the apartment underneath ours drove us away with their incessant partying!
Fast forward to today, my friend married her up and coming artist boyfriend and he is no longer up and coming, in fact he has been a finalist for both the Archibald and the Wynne Prize a number of times, two very prestigious art awards, and he is well and truly a success.
My regret? I never even took a photo of his amazing chalk drawing! But, I can say that for about 6 months I had an original
Alexander McKenzie on the wall in my dining room.
My other regret? That we didn't actually buy one of his paintings way back when we could actually afford to! His paintings are breathtakingly evocative. Landscapes that are vast and timeless and hauntingly beautiful. Just imagine for a moment that you had one hanging on your wall and the feelings that it would inspire in you on a daily basis!
If you are in Sydney, Alex has an exhibition coming up in May at
Martin Browne Fine Art in Paddington.
Hi Em, thanks so much for introducing me to Alexander's work, he would be a perfect candidate for my shelved [for the moment] 'Two For Tuesday' series.
ReplyDeleteI loved "Looking for morning light", "Up & Up" and....ooh brain blip, I think it was "Night Letters".
His work is soft, dark and brooding and I can imagine it being right at home in a Melbourne, NY or London home.
Perhaps you could create a new blackboard wall in your beautiful new living space and invite Mr & Mrs McK over for a meal....you never know what might eventuate!
xx
What beautiful landscapes. And I love his portraits - there's such humor in them.
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel about regrets - mental pictures aren't nearly as good as real ones!
What a shame you never took a photo of your blackboard artwork! Those paintings above have such a dreamy feel to them, I especially love the first one.
ReplyDeletetesting, testing. 123. does this work?
ReplyDeleteyes!!! great! i've had issues commenting on your blog in the past month, and i've crafted all these wonderful things to say to your posts and then i wasn't able to publish them.
ReplyDeleteso here it goes...
hi. keep posting. the interwebs have missed you.
oh and yes, your friend is utterly, remarkably talented.
Those paintings are stunning.... I agree with the new black board wall plan!!
ReplyDeleteBugger. I would be upset too. How nice to have the memory though. His painting looks gorgeous, like photographs! :)
ReplyDeleteWow, what an amazing gift this artist had, i love these paintings, i love Max Linegar, his art is hauntimg like these. Do you miss Tamarama? I would. I am so happy to have found your blog. I am passionate about designing childrens clothes, i am renovating my house in the inner west, and working on my fibro beach house makeover. Please pop on over to my blog and say hi. Im following you.
ReplyDeleteOh Em. No wonder you feel like that. They are just mesmerising. Thanks so much for sharing them! J x
ReplyDeleteWow it would be nice sometimes to have a crystal ball to tell us what to do wouldn't it. Those paintings are beautiful and really make you want to jump in and be a part of it. x
ReplyDeleteP.S. You should give those herb markers a go, you could definitely make them they aren't that hard at all really and pounding them out with a mallet is good for an arm work out too;) x