No art work is ever finished; with each piece a stepping stone to the next. So say Frances Luke and Keedah Throssell.
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“It’s not about how people will react, or that you could improve on this or that. It’s more, I want to play with this or that idea a bit more,” Frances continued.
Good friends, the print-makers will hold a joint exhibition at the Gallery Bodalla next month. However, not all of their recent work will make it into the show.
Keedah said print-making involved more than a bit of alchemy
“You are working at it for a long time. Lots of intimate detail for a long time, then the moment of magic – “What’s it going to be like?” – when you peel it back,” she said. “About half the time I don’t like the result.”
It was a really heavy car, a Nissan Patrol. I set up my plate and drove over it, but no print; not enough pounds per square inch.
- Keedah Throssell
Frances agreed it was not an easy process.
“Only the brave take it on,” she said. “Pissaro was always trying to talk Cezanne into printmaking but couldn’t. It’s the hardest way you can draw a line.”
Even so, both agreed, peeling the paper off the press was “magic”. Of course, both artists have their own press; it’s hard to make do without.
“I first learnt print-making at a workshop,” said Keedah. “I kept going back to do more but it cost too much. So I tried to use my car!
“It was a really heavy car, a Nissan Patrol. I set up my plate and drove over it, but no print; not enough pounds per square inch. It was cheaper to buy my own press.”
Frances started printmaking in 1980 after visiting a Giacometti exhibition where they had print-making classes.
“It went of from there. I went to uni and different workshops for a while. My first press was a small one – just 20 inches,” she said.
Pissaro was always trying to talk Cezanne into printmaking but couldn’t. It’s the hardest way you can draw a line.
- Frances Luke
The pair agree their work is very different, but both share a love of nature.
“My work for the exhibition is based on my life in the bush,” said Keedah. “I try and give the gift of beauty and show how I see the world. I live by the (Deua) river and it inspires my work.”
Frances said she found nature mesmerising.
“I love the river. I’m at Mossy and I have the Tomoga on one side and the Candlagan on the other,” she said.
“A lot of my work comes from that; the puffer fish, the mangroves, the rock formations. You’ll see bits of that in the exhibition.”
Recent Works shows at Gallery Bodalla, from November 1 to December 2. Drinks with the artists, from 3pm, on Saturday, November 3 .