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This is my annual solo exhibition.
I try to make sure I do at least one show a year.
The show consists of 6 pieces in total.
I have 3, I suppose you'd call, standard nudes.
Which are the 3 behind me here.
And I also have 3 other images which loosely tie in with the theme of the nude.
But incorporate either a different medium
or a different approach to the subject.
I have chosen to show here at the Paramount
also coinciding the time with the International Film Festival.
Because it has the maximum number of people coming through.
I think that's very important if you want to get your art into the public eye.
In fact, I spoke with my boss this time last year and booked out the time.
Then a week or so later she told me the space on either side of it
had been booked out for about 2 months.
I've definitely found it's been an advantage knowing a year ago
that I'd be in here at this time.
I was able to very much timetable my works
So I had everything finished on time
and I didn't have to worry about things still being a little damp
or any of that sort of stuff.
The idea of the show came to me while I was at The Learning Connexion.
The opportunity to take part in life drawing classes was something
I was very pleased to be able to do.
And it definitely sparked ideas for me right back then.
We are talking about 3 years, almost 3 and a 1/2 years ago now.
So it's definitely been a long time coming.
What really inspired me to paint nudes was the images from the Renaissance
and through the 16th, 17th, 18th Century
The bourgeois, the reclining nude.
Just something about that feeling of luxuriousness
Seeing these old paintings in galleries overseas and things like that
and also seeing them in our own galleries here.
They always tended to have rather ornate frames
So I've always just associated those sort of images with that sort of frame.
I think it's great to be able to produce your own art.
As a holistic experience, as something to enrich your own soul.
But I don't think you can truly call yourself an artist
if you're not putting that work out into the public forum.
Whether people buy your art or not
that's really not something that you have any control over.
But at least if you're putting yourself out there to the public
then you're giving people the opportunity to see your work,
to appreciate your work, and if you're lucky, to buy your work as well.