It became evident to me pretty early on that getting out and experiencing first hand as much different art as possible works wonders for your own inspiration and motivation – ideas form, opportunities open up, revelations are reached.
One such opportunity that I am lucky enough to be exposed to is the annual SALA (South Australian Living Artists) festival where thousands of local artists exhibit in hundreds of exhibition spaces throughout metropolitan and regional South Australia. This years SALA festival has just begun runs from the 1st to the 24th August.
Just over twelve months ago when I decided I wanted to focus more on my art, getting out and visiting a number of different exhibitions at last years SALA festival was instrumental in giving me that initial momentum.
I discovered galleries in my area I never knew existed, one of which opened an unexpected door to regular portrait drawing and on to life drawing opportunities (this has gone a long way to improving my drafting over a fairly short period of time). Exposing myself to these groups has also opened my eyes to the many methods different artists apply their materials and the techniques they employ – invaluable information that may have never been discovered if I had simply stayed home.
There were gallery spaces set up in private garages (mind you, they were very nice garages!) to exhibit work from artists from their particular area. Chatting to the owners, who obviously took great pride in providing the exhibition space to promote local artists and their art, was a great insight into how the larger art world works (even at this small scale – it was still the larger world in my eyes) and again, at the time was invaluable.
So far this year I have managed to see a couple of openings already, Another Look by John Lacey at The Green Tank Studio Gallery on his property in picturesque Mount Compass, and Afternoon Delight by Beth Mayfield at Food For Thought Cafe in the city.
I intend to see as much diverse work as I can over the next few weeks and who knows what ideas will form, opportunities will open up, or what revelations will be reached, but that is what makes it all the more enjoyable.
