Ballarat Heritage Festival 2025

Selected highlights from the final two days of the Ballarat Heritage Festival on Saturday, May 24 and Sunday, May 25.  

Predominantly featured are local legends, the Ballarat People Who Promenade, of which, by virtue of a Royal Decree from HRH Queen Victoria (Megan Finlayson, pictured below, right) Shane Jones (pictured above) and I (pictured top) are loyal members. 

Incidentally, my fine designer hat, which dates from the 1940s, was inherited from my late aunt, Ballarat-born Eileen Klein. The fob watch pinned to my coat (not clearly shown in most photos) belonged to my aunt too. Shane’s antique walking stick was also passed down from the Klein family. Very possibly it was originally purchased in Ballarat.

Traditionally the Promenaders meet at the statue of Queen Victoria in Sturt Street. There we toast Her Royal Highness on the occasion of her birthday, which falls on May 24. This year she turned 206. Happy Birthday, Queen Victoria!

From here we promenaded to the Old Colonists Club for afternoon tea, followed by a leisurely stroll to Ballarat Railway Station, a short walk away.

Thank you, HRH Megan and Stationmaster Bryan Putt for inviting us to join your merry band. We had a ball and can’t wait to do it again next year. 

EVERYTHING’S COMING UP ROSES: a linocut in progress

Pictured above and below are selected progress views of my current linocut. It’s intended for a group exhibition and print exchange comprising relief prints by 55 artists that’s scheduled for early next year. However, because its curator, Rona Green, will need ample time to organise numerous aspects of the project, including framing and collating all the works for the portfolios, our print editions are due to be completed and delivered by early August 2025. 

The title of the exhibition/print exchange is Irrepressible. My work is entitled Everything’s Coming Up Roses. 

ONE HUNDRED FACES Opening Event

1

Further to my last two posts, here are some snaps of yesterday’s opening of the sixth annual ONE HUNDRED FACES exhibition at Playing in the Attic.  It was terrific to see so many of the participating artists and their works. In the words of fellow participant Shane Jones (photo #4), it gets better every year - and I’m sure we’re all inclined to agree! 

2

3

4

5

6

7

Unfortunately it was impossible to get a shot of the installation without reflections. Apologies to the artists whose works are in the affected areas. 

8

Huge thanks, as always, to Playing in the Attic’s proprietor Trudy McLauchlan (photos #3 and #5) for all the hard work that goes into making ONE HUNDRED FACES happen. 

The exhibition continues to 25 May.

Opening tomorrow: ONE HUNDRED FACES

 

Cultivated Poppy, 2025, pictured top, is the sister work of Lady of the Camellias, 2025 (directly below, right, my previous post and HERE). 

Both works examine the symbolic link between certain flowers and the femme fatale in film noir, and both were made especially for the annual exhibition ONE HUNDRED FACES, opening tomorrow at Playing in the Attic. 

Perhaps more than any other flower, the Poppy, with its sedative qualities that deaden the senses of her hapless victims, is the perfect match for this Belle Dame sans Merci. 

ONE HUNDRED FACES 2025 opens on Saturday, 26 April, at 2 pm. The opening event is always enormous fun. I hope you can join us.

Playing in the Attic 

13 Ballaarat Street

Talbot VIC 3371

Opening times: Friday - Monday, 10 am - 4 pm

The exhibition runs to 25 May. 

One Hundred Faces 2025 #2: Lady of the Camellias

One of many things I relish about ONE HUNDRED FACES at Playing in the Attic is that it can present an opportunity to take new ideas for a test run. The two works I’ve made for this year’s exhibition will form the basis for a future suite of works incorporating flowers associated with the femme fatale in film noir. 

Pictured top: Lady of the Camellias, 2025, acrylic on canvas board, 10.16 x 10.16 cm, followed by selected views charting the development of the painting. 

As an early rough sketch reveals, the face decoration was originally intended to represent an orchid, another flower symbolically linked with the femme fatale. 

The work was initially under-painted in Payne’s Grey. Aside from the flower tattoo, I had envisaged the rest of the image in monochrome - a nod to the classic black and white films from which it draws its primary inspiration.

To preview Cultivated Poppy, the companion work I created for the exhibition, go HERE.

The sixth iteration of ONE HUNDRED FACES will be launched at 2 pm this coming Saturday, 26 April. The exhibition continues until 25 May.

Playing in the Attic 

13 Ballaarat Street

Talbot VIC 3371

Hours: Friday - Monday, 10 am - 4 pm.  

A fond farewell to Easter

Directly below: Shane Jones and BFF Alice B. Cat in the garden of our home in Ballarat on Easter Sunday.

The City of Ballarat certainly did Easter proud. Here are a few pics of this year’s spectacular display in Sturt Street Gardens, both by day -

and by night.