Anna of Byzantium
This young woman (girl) was groomed to reign the Byzantine Empire. Anna Comnena started her training when she was only nine years and by the time she was 17 she went into exile to be a nun (Eastern Orthodox). Her story is recollected fictionally in "Anna of Byzantium" by Tracy Barrett.

This collage canvas is large: 1 metre x 1 metre. It is representative of a mosaic archway covered with grapes. The canvas was originally worked with a decorative art technique of lapis lazuli effects. Then was added the scraps of thermographic raised scraps of paper, mixed with mulberry paper and cut out Byzantine images. The final image was Anna which was decollaged (the reverse of collaged). Added to Anna were gold trim, diamantes in her hair. Small blue tiles were added randomly on the canvas. This art piece is not for sale, but is for personal/educational purposes.

Framed Indian Ink splatter print

Ink and acrylic paint medium.

This technique was done by washing cartridge paper with water and then adding ink via splotches and letting it run. From here a picture was created of a face, and any other images that could be combined ... hence the two fish, well three.

I also made the frame from mounting board and coloured it by mixing Dazzling Decor Shimmer gold paint with Atelier blue acrylic paint.

Nursery Rhymes

A collage canvas with assemblage (nursery rhyme altered art book).
This book reflects on the meanings of nursery rhymes, and how the politics of the day kept people from speaking out against the monarchy or whoever, this is most pronounced in "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" (a nursery rhyme about Queen Mary of Scots).

The Picnic (2)

A mixed media piece depicting a picnic, with a tranquil setting.

The Picnic

Another mixed media piece of the same scene, but with a storm brewing on the horizon. A butterfly flees from the scene.

Jester

This is a collage assemblage piece. The Jester was paper engineered and covered with Basic Grey papers.
It was added to a Provo Craft shadow box inlaid with bead trim, rubons and a spattering of walnut ink. Other 'fluffy' embellishments were added, including clipiola (Italian paper clip) onto his feet.


Here's my completed Jester. The technique used is a mixture of origami and paper engineering.

Mixed Media Gallipoli Art Work

"The Morbidity of Freedom"
60cm x 60cm
Freedom ... and for today lest we forget.
This mixed media collage art piece is about the spirit of Gallipoli. That is ... the deaths of our soldiers, the blood that was shed, the sheer ugliness of war ... bombs, fire, trenches, mud, dirt clods, the soldiers, their fatigue, thirst, gritty eyes, sweat, the smell of metal, the smell of death, you can almost feel you are there.

The morbidity for the freedom of Constantine revisited ... but not reconquested.

The poppies resemble the memorial of the Anzacs who died, defeated. We won the war, but lost the battle of Gallipoli.

I became a finalist in the Gallipoli Art Awards.
Here is the artwork I submitted.
It is one of my gory pieces, I find it quite ugly, but that is the reality of the battle for those ANZACs involved.

Further information www.gallipoli.com.au/Artprize_2007.html