Burnt Offerings Exhibition by Catherine Money

Yesterday I travelled up to the Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens to view my friend Catherine Money's solo exhibition 'Burnt Offerings'.

Her exhibition presents a fabulous array of printmaking, drawing, stitching, pyrography, metalwork and embossing, all linked by her theme of the disappearing wallum.

In her words "In 2013 a 'love lock' on the Pont des Arts in Paris became the inspiration for a new series of works exploring her love of the coastal heathlands and their need for protection.  Burnt Offerings celebrates the importance of fire in the wallum environment  for its regeneration.  The beauty of the native banksia and hakea are interpreted through a variety of print techniques..."

Many of her artworks are formed around the shape of a lock, with imagery of banksia and other heathland vegetation, overlaid with her recurring motifs of patchwork houses and hands.

I found that the variety of techniques and mediums gave me a 360degree viewpoint of her inspiration and helped me to connect to her passion for the wallum environment.

Her exhibition is on until Sunday 13 July, open Tuesday to Sunday 10-2.  Arts and Ecology Centre, Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens, Palm Creek Road, Tanawha. You can contact Catherine on 0402 117 074 if you have any queries regarding the exhibition.

Congratulations, Cathy.  Your hardwork and talent is inspirational, and your beautiful imagery allows the viewer to escape into another world.  

Highly recommended!



Catherine Money, 'Burnt Offerings' exhibition

a view of some of the works on paper,
 beautifully and simply hung

'Protect' - drypoint print, chine cole, gouache



'Protect' - 2 colour lino print

Old locks and keys, etched with imagery

'Forever' - pyrography, gouache, aluminium on wood

Nothing is ever wasted

Being a prolific monoprinter, I create lots of prints many of which don't quite 'hit the mark'.  And being a frugal artist, I never throw anything away.

The best monoprints get framed.  The not-so-best prints are trimmed for cards, bookmarks and book covers.  Those that I consider 'good backgrounds' get layered with other prints, such as my handmade stamps or etchings.  And the rest of the pile become pages in books to add a bit of colour and interest rather than just plain paper.

This afternoon, I sorted through my pile and found a few nice backgrounds created with my gelli plate. I printed over these using my handmade stamps.   These prints will become book covers, though some of them didn't quite work due to the stamp image not being strong enough on a busy background.  These less successful prints will become book pages or cards.

My mantra is "Don't throw it, stow it".   Of course, then you just need the space to store it, then some kind of system of organisation to find it again when you want it...... sigh...one day I'll perfect that.....

Inking up my dragonfly stamp

I use block ink and a rubber roller to print my stamps.
It has a good consistency for rolling evenly.

My favourite bee stamp makes quite an impression.

One of my new stamps, a honeyeater on banksia.
Stamp on the left, print on the right.
The background is a gelli plate print.

Another of my new stamps, a Scarlet Robin in flight.
I repeated the stamp to emphasise the action of flight.
The print on the right is of grass on a gelli plate.