We have many things happening here at the moment, which has caused us to put off our planned summer trip back to Italy.

​WEEKEND STUDIO / GALLERY OPENING 

On the weekend of 11th & 12 June Maleny is again hosting "Gardens On The Edge", when 6 beautiful private gardens are open to the public. This event usually draws many people to Maleny.  One of the gardens belongs to our good friends and neighbours, two doors down Thynne Court, so we are also opening our STUDIO / GALLERY for both Saturday and Sunday from 9 am to 4 pm.

For details on the gardens:  http://maleny.qld.au/event/gardening-on-the-edge/ &  ​www.malenygardenclub.org

ART ON CAIRNCROSS MIXED EXHIBITION OPENING

​Also I am finishing off paintings for a mixed exhibition "Mutual Respect", opening on 25th June at Art On Cairncross, here in Maleny. Tom McAulay, Rex Backhaus-Smith, Mike Nicholas and myself all began our careers at the same time about 47 years ago. We have been friends from the beginning, but have each gone our own artistic ways. We have all managed in that time to live totally from our art, but have never held an exhibition together. We are now all represented at Art On Cairncross, so it should be fun.

​For details:  http://www.artoncairncross.com.au/ 

​This is one of the paintings included: "Restaurant Rome" 50 x 40 cm, a subject from our recent Christmas trip to Italy

COMMISSIONS

I have never really sought much in the way of commissions, but lately I have received a few great ones.

Recently I was made a wonderful offer to go to the Pilbara and Port Hedland to do a series of commissioned paintings. It will be new subject matter for me, and I am not sure where it will lead, but I have been looking for new directions.  We are heading off in July on what might be a whole new direction.

Also a client here at Montville has commissioned a painting of their beautiful view overlooking Lake Boreen.

I have also recently completed a large commission for a client of his magnificent Glass House Mountains view. He has also commissioned another small painting which is near completion. This late afternoon vista is 137cm x 72cm.

At last we are ready to go. Tomorrow, Saturday 30th April, will see the opening of our private Studio / Gallery here at 26 Thynne Court, Maleny.  We open with an exhibition which will run until Sunday 8th May, open daily from 10am to 5pm.  After 8th May, our hours will be flexible. We are quite happy for anyone to visit, but we ask you to call first to make sure we are here.

The gallery is quite small, and my intention is to have a continuing changing exhibition of my paintings and sculptures. We are hoping that when you plan a trip to Maleny or Montville, you might consider dropping in here to see what currently I have on exhibition. 

Everyone is most welcome.
​

I have just finished this commission for a long standing client in Hong Kong. "Surf Boy" 92 x 92 cm. I am very happy with the result, and fortunately he is too.

I will only take on commissions if I really want to paint the subject. These paintings are always a bit more difficult than my usual work, probably because at the outset I know there is someone with a pre-conceived idea of the outcome. I have never had a commission rejected, and when the client is happy the whole process is very satisfying. At the moment I also have another two nearing completion.
​

Our gallery in Maleny is almost ready. I have been using the old stable building on the original Thynne property as a studio for the last year. At the end of the path in the picture. It will still be my studio, but part is almost ready as a small private gallery. We plan to open on Saturday 30 April, with an official function on Sunday 1st May. ​We will be sending out invitations shortly.

I am currently finishing off new Italian paintings for this show. Our trip back to Italy at Christmas, and another organised for later this May, has convinced me that my Italian subjects need to be continued.

We are still asking anyone on our old mailing list who has not re-subscribed to the new list on the website to please consider doing it. MAILING LIST  That way we can more easily inform you of current happenings.

This month we have a lovely article in the Profile Magazine. Thank you Profile.http://profilemag.com.au/articles/culture/

​

Thank you to all who have contributed to a very busy year for us.  My painting sales have not stopped following my recent Brisbane exhibition, with several selling on line from this new web site, which is very encouraging.

I have always thought it might be more difficult to sell paintings on line, as the subtleties of surface texture and nuances of paint can be easily lost in a photograph.  It is gratifying to see that clients who know the quality of my work have the confidence to purchase them sight unseen.  Of course, if anyone buys on line, and is subsequently disappointed with the actual painting, there is no obligation to continue with the purchase.

​Here is my latest small painting to sell.  "Morning Swim" at Whale Beach pool in Sydney.

​Next year promises also to be very full. I have several interesting commissions to begin in January, and I have plans to enter some of the major art competitions.

We also are in the process of converting our small cottage into a private gallery here in Maleny.  We are hopeing to have it finished quite early in the year.  I will keep everyone posted on our progress.

In October I have promised an exhibition on "The Amalfi Coast" for Maunsell Wickes Gallery in Sydney. Sadly I will have to spend a couple of months next year around the Bay of Naples to collect material.  That area is a part of Italy I really love. I have not produced many pieces from there in the past, so I am really looking forward to some new challenges.

When we moved back from Italy I made the rash statement that my Italian series was coming to an end, but with a little more consideration I have decided that I really do love our connection with the Italian culture. I plan to keep returning there, as there are endless subjects to paint. However, I will also look for those subjects here in Australia that take my fancy.

We are completely renewing our mailing list.  We have asked those of you on our old mailing list to please re-subscribe if you would like to continue receiving information for future shows. If you are not on our new list and would like to join it, please go to our MAILING LIST and submit your details. Thank you to all who have already done so.

A reminder also, anyone planning a holiday in Italy, our lovely apartment in Tuscany is available for holiday rentals. All details are on our downloadable PDF

I leave you with some Villa Ceuli photographs to whet your appetite.

A Merry Christmas to All.

​Rick & Des

Thanks to everyone who attended our opening on Tuesday night. It was very busy and great fun. My Giclee Prints have been very well received, with people generally astounded by the quality of the reproduction.

A number of our clients have indicated they were unable to attend on that evening and really want to be able to see this exhibition.

So, we have decided to extend our hours on both Thursday and Friday this week until 8.00 pm. Anyone who would like to view the paintings and prints, discuss my work, or just talk about the joys of living in Italy – feel free to drop by the gallery.

Graydon Gallery, 29 Merthyr Rd., New Farm, Brisbane

Warmest regards,
Rick

I am just about ready for my Brisbane exhibition opening at Graydon Gallery on 10th November. Just the finishing touches to the last few paintings

I was a bit reluctant to hold another show just now, as my last was only in May. That exhibition had been re-scheduled from last November because Des and I had to return to Italy.  However, I do have some new paintings completed, and for a couple of years I have been considering making some limited edition prints of my work. These are now ready, so this November date seems like a good time to launch them.

I have produced very high quality Giclee reproductions of 4 of my favourite subjects, 2 from Italy, and 2 from Australia. They are quite large, printed on canvas, the same size as the originals. I am limiting the edition to only 20 of each. The quality is superb, and it is quite difficult to tell the prints from the originals. I have chosen canvas, because, with its protective coating, canvas prints do not need to be framed under glass, which would make them much larger, and very heavy and cumbersome. If desired, they can be easily hung solely as the stretched canvas on a stretcher frame, without further framing.

All the details are here on the site.

As you can see, we also have our new web site up and running, thanks to the great work from Jason at incrediweb.biz.  I can highly recommend him.

Life has been very busy lately, and we are changing the way we do several things.  We are completely renewing our mailing list.  We are phasing out our printed invitations, so we plan to send future invitations electronically. To that end we are asking everyone, even those on our existing mailing list, to please go to our MAILING LIST page on this site to register your details, and your preferences.

We are loving living in Maleny, in a lovely old property house.  My studio is in the old stables, which has been converted into a 2 bedroom cottage. We are in the process now of converting it again into a small private gallery. This should be ready in about mid January. It will be open by appointment only, but everyone is welcome. All we ask is, if you are planning a trip to Maleny, please telephone us first to make sure we are here, to avoid disappointment.

For those who may not have received an invitation to my exhibition, here is one.  Everyone is welcome. I hope to meet you at the exhibition.

My new website is in the process of being built, by Jason from incrediweb.