[slideshow]THE SPICE OF LIFE

ARTIST’S STATEMENT.
There is an old saying “variety is the spice of life”, hence the title of my exhibition.
Miniatures to murals, careful pencil illustration to lyrical expressionist abstraction; I enjoy exploring the possibilities and sharing the discoveries with others.  For me it is this constant exploration and experimentation which keeps my passion for art thriving.  This exhibition shows some of those explorations.
The panoramic handmade book, Tasmania in Miniature is perhaps most indicative of the variety of art/craft activities I enjoy. The contained images of Tasmania are reproductions, true to size, of my paintings in miniature. To accompany each I have written a Haiku; a Japanese verse of 3 lines / 17 syllables. All are contained in a handmade book with pages constructed from paper which was handmade in my studio.
 I do not see art and craft as separate entities. They are part of a continuum of creative experience and edges blur. Similarly I do not like overly categorising and boxing off of different pursuits….. exciting things can happen when one links across the perceived boundaries.
Teaching art privately for around 15 years has reinforced in me that as human beings it is natural to want to create, and discovering which medium/media, style, subject suits is exciting. I continue to share this with others in workshops such as my January/ early February ones listed on my blog (to be run at my studio) and through the year at various locations such as the Sheffield Art Space.
The journals here show artwork (really “artplay”) “warts and all”. These journals are not albums to showcase successes, they are a partial record of what I have tried for all sorts of reasons and have been compiled largely as a result of working on contracts through the Don College, Academy and Polytechnic as a student reference and personal record. They include some “failures”, from which we often learn most, some references to other artists’ works and some images of my finished works.
Evelyn Antonysen
On display until January 30th.  2011 NOW CONTINUING UNTIL END FEBRUARY 2011
For more images of individual works go to my Facebook page.
I will be talking about the work on Saturday 15th January at 12noon after which there will be a byo bar-b-que for Tas Regional Arts Kentish.