Well...

Well, that all escalated quickly… as a result of the virus I’ve decided to cancel my exhibition, planned for June.

The exhibitions scheduled before me had been postponed and, as the uncertainty of me being able to complete the work as I had intended grows, I’ve decided to pull it all.

The gallery, Alternating Current Art Space, has been more than understanding and are keeping the lines open incase we can call this a postponement as well, but we will wait and see. Who know when this will end?

Anyway, love you all, wash your hands, keep yourselves and loved ones safe, I’ll shout you all a drink when it’s over ;)

Exhibitioning

As mentioned in my latest email, I’ve been accepted to exhibit in Alternative Current Art Space in 2020. Scheduled for June, it will be a show of my large format pencil drawings, and preparations are underway! VERY EXCITED!

I've been doing some studies for a very long drawing, just to get my hand in and get all the creative neurons firing in all the right places.

Study 3, pencil on paper 2019

Above is one of the recent drawings, small at only 57cm wide and 19cm tall, done so they remind my muscles that this is the way that we get it done.

It is amazing though, every time I look at a finished piece I get a little thrill of ‘I did that’. I’m looking forward to having some significant work on the wall in June. I hope you can be there, more details to follow!

Cheers,

There's an exhibition on!

It's been a while, but you still love me? right?

I've been working hard over the past eighteen months volunteering for Illustrators Australia (IA). We've been moving the organisation to a new administration software system and planning for the future. It certainly been a challenge and I've learnt so much, met some amazingly smart people and hopefully it will stand IA in good stead for the next decade. Fingers crossed.

Along with all that, IA are putting on an exhibition, SHOUT! opening 6pm this Friday, at Collingwood Gallery, 292 Smith Street, Collingwood and runs for two weeks. I have a piece in this! You can check out the details on the IA website here and if you can't make it but what to see (and possibly buy a piece), there is an online auction! (fancy, I know!)

Opening night: 6pm Friday 13 July 2018
Exhibition runs 13 - 26 July 2018
Collingwood Gallery, 292 Smith Street Collingwood

There is amazing work on display, digitally printed on wood, collaged, drawn, painted, carved - the illustrators have pushed this theme to the max, worth seeing for sure!

Cheers,

To market to market…

Last night I went to the Craft Victoria seminar on market readiness, and I learned so much I though my brain was going to burst!

There were two speakers Penny Min Ferguson of MinPin and Leah Jackson of Leah Jackson Ceramics, a well as the person organising the event from Craft Victoria, Kim Goodwin. They all spoke well, clear, concise and open about their experiences and the tips they’ve learned from going to markets and building their businesses. Lots of guidance on having a successful market experiences - even if you don’t make money out of it… 

To be honest, I knew a lot of this stuff - BUT I hadn’t been able to put it together in a coherent package enough for my tiny brain to see how it worked. But this seminar showed me, which was awesome! And they liked my tea towels - they have excellent taste.

I just need to decide what I really want my business to be. But I really need to thank the wonderful Aniquah Stevenson for her advice in doing this seminar, she is awesome and her work is great - check out her new website http://www.aniquahstevenson.com

Time for a tune, Hilary Cresp, 2016

In the last couple of weeks I’ve sent off a few illustration agency submissions and to a literacy agency.  But I won’t hear from them anytime soon, they get hundreds of applications and it takes long time to view them, and they only get back to those they want to see more from. So we wait.

AND...mark the weekend of the 11-13 November in your calendars! ArtSpace8, where my studio is, is having and open studios with a group exhibition and market stalls (so I can put what I've learnt into practice), with new work on display and some product for sale. More details to come!

Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of birdies lately…and one in particular got a bit of a run. I listen to a podcast called Stupidly Big - they do a segment called 'Shiver me Tingies' : what makes you feel good in a happy friendly way like, slipping into clean sheets or hearing the sound of a champagne cork pop. I was part way through making it when, they mentioned on the podcast that someone had already make them something. So I was in two minds as to sending it to them, but in the end I did - they loved it and (with my permission) made it their avatar for Twitter. YAY!

Shiver me tingies, Hilary Cresp, 2016

Don't forget that you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram using the @_essayer handle or sign up for my mailing list.

Cheers and chin-chin!

Endless - will it ever end!?!

My exhibition Endless is currently on display at Frankston Art Centre. 

Open from 9am-5pm  Monday to Friday and on Saturday from 9am until 2pm, it is being shown in the Atrium Gallery now until the 16th July, so if you missed its last showing and wanted to catchup with it or if you just wanted to see it again, you can!

Cheers,

Studio Exhibition: Icarus Flying Between the Sun and Sea

Some of you may know this already, I have studio space in Mornington at a place called ArtSpace8. It's a great place to work, with lots of like minded people around and has exhibition space.

There's an opening on Friday night (22nd May) if you're interested. It's been hung and looks fantastic... a new look at icons in Australia.

Melbourne Art Book Fair

Recently the Melbourne Art Book Fair was held and I went to the opening night at the NGV. It was a crowded affair with many beautiful books on display and for sale. It was a fantastic opportunity to see books from boutique and micro publishers as many of these type of publications a not held in bookstores. They're even hard to come across in independent bookstores.

I'm still processing some of the things I saw on the night, and I might discuss the later in other posts. Needless to say though the hall looked gorgeous, we are so lucky to have this available to us... (And I bought a tote bag! I love a tote bag.)