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ADFAS Gold Coast Inc.
NEWSLETTER Spring 2017 Member of the Association of Australian Decorative & Fine Arts Societies Group
Associate Member of NADFAS
Reading: by this edition’s Vignette Artist, Michael Leunig
From the Chair
Dear Fellow Members,
What better way to mark the end of another magical lecture series than by having a birthday party to
celebrate 15 years of ADFAS Gold Coast achievement! Founding members who were present at the October
Morning Tea must have felt very proud of what they inaugurated and what has become the vibrant, proactive
organisation for promoting and supporting cultural achievement in our local community that we know today.
Congratulations ADFAS Gold Coast! It was a fitting occasion to pay tribute to those who have made our
amazing growth possible and the many smiling faces reflected the pleasure of those present. The Anniversary
cake in specially decorated containers was enjoyed by all.
It’s hard to believe we’re at the end of another year with the AGM and
Christmas Cocktail Party fast approaching! How time has flown and how
much has transpired since our Winter Newsletter. I attended the usual
AADFAS Council Meeting in Sydney in September accompanied by
Committee Member Margaret Hamilton as our Archivist and official
observer (pictured left). It was a busy and productive two days and is
always a wonderful opportunity to
network and gain inspiration from
what our other groups are organising
for the enjoyment of their members. It
always brings home what a vast and all-encompassing organisation
AADFAS is and what an important role it is playing in promoting cultural
appreciation across Australia.
Closer to home, I’ve had the honour to represent ADFAS Gold Coast
on a number of sponsorship-related occasions. These included the
uplifting, polished Gold Coast Youth Orchestra Concert (pictured right)
last week and ‘meet and greet’ functions in September
with the James Morrison Academy team. They were here
to conduct workshops with selected young local musicians
culminating in a performance in the James Morrison in
Concert with his Academy Jazz Orchestra event (pictured
left) at The Gold Coast Arts Centre later in the month. In
the latest issue of our national magazine, ArtLife, you may
have noticed another of our talented sponsorship awardees,
Chris Miller, being showcased for attaining recent
international recognition. Only this week I was delighted
to present the Queensland College of Art ADFAS Honours Award for 2018 at Griffith University to another
worthy recipient, Christopher Bambury, who is pursuing ground-breaking research in typographic public
artworks. You can be proud that your financial support is making it
possible for us to assist such talented young people and that your donations
are being put to such good use!
One thing I mentioned at our 15th Anniversary Celebration was the
constancy of our membership numbers over the last few years. This is
largely the result of your efforts as members to introduce new members.
Recently, as well, Committee Members Carole Sulzer and Peggy McKeon
manned an ADFAS Gold Coast display in the foyer of the Broadbeach
Library (pictured right) which publicised our activities in general and
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programs planned for the coming year. Hopefully, this has fostered potential new
membership interest in that area.
Very shortly, you will receive Renewal and Application for Membership forms and
our Program for 2018. You will notice that membership dues have increased this year by
$5 per head and the subscription to the NADFAS Review by $1. These increases are
unavoidable and reflect increases in capitation fees and other expenses at national level
which we have been able to absorb in our local budget over the last three years but have
had to pass on to members in next year’s budget. We are offering the usual free Guest
Passes again in 2018 for prompt renewals and it should be noted that our dues continue to
be extremely competitive when compared with the other ADFAS Societies.
As well, you’ll be receiving quite a lot of information relating to our AGM and Christmas Cocktail Party
being held on 30th November, so please make sure you empty your email mailboxes regularly and check your
‘Junk Mail’ files so you don’t miss out on receiving these vital communications.
In conclusion, I’d like to pay tribute to the hardworking ADFAS Gold Coast Committee members who have
worked tirelessly during the year to make the aims and ideals of ADFAS attainable for the Gold Coast Branch.
Thank you, one and all.
Additionally, there are other volunteers to be recognised and thanked - Julie Romanin, Alan Midwood,
Lynda Dowse and Robert Dean, who are not on Committee but who help out on a regular basis to make sure our
Saturday lectures are even more enjoyable. As well, we’ve been assisted in Home Hosting 2017 lecturers by
Dianne and Mike Cecil and Sandi and Karl Fueloep. I thank them all on behalf of ADFAS for their generosity.
Finally, I look forward to seeing you at our AGM and Christmas Cocktail Party to celebrate another
successful ADFAS year with a festive toast. You’ll find the details of these functions on the last page of this
Newsletter.
With very best wishes,
Carole Crowther, Chairman
HAPPY 15th
ANNIVERSARY, ADFAS Gold Coast! The Lakeside Terrace was resplendent in ADFAS Gold Coast colours of yellow, blue, white and gold as
members arrived for Morning Tea in October. Clusters of balloons, banners, table napkins, special seating and
table arrangements set the
festive scene for our very
special celebration of the
completion of fifteen happy
and successful years of
quality lecture presentations
to our members.
Chairman Carole
Crowther began
proceedings by welcoming
members and visitors and
presented a little
background history for the occasion, observing that ADFAS Gold Coast
was inducted as a member society of the Association on the 22nd
March, 2002 and that by the beginning of
2003, membership was 147 and a strong relationship of mutual support with The Arts Centre Gold Coast was
well established. She then added that fifteen years on, membership is 267, and remains close to the highest
recorded number of 275 in 2011. ADFAS Gold Coast is a flourishing, pro-active society with a strong
committee, supported by many members outside the committee, and has bourgeoning Youth and Community
Programs made possible by member donations and astute financial management. It still maintains a very close
relationship with The Arts Centre Gold Coast. Carole
then went on to pay tribute to past committee members
and other helpers who are still members today and are
still assisting in many ways. Nearly thirty were
present, individually acknowledged and thanked for
their ongoing contribution to ADFAS over so many
years. 2017 Committee Members were also
acknowledged and thanked. Four of the seven past and
current Chairmen were present – Barbara Midwood,
Dianne Cecil, Ann Dean and Carole Crowther.
Inaugural Chairman Robin Rawson and past chairmen
Wilhelmina Walshaw and Sandi Fueloep were unfortunately unable to attend.
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Carole then handed over to Committee Member Judy
Gadaloff, Master of Ceremonies, to conduct the remainder of the
proceedings. Judy, with her usual flair and humour, and
accompanied by slides for each, introduced and commented on
highlights and achievements from each chairman’s
administration. We were pleased to hear that Robin Rawson was
at that moment holidaying in Tahiti and is planning a ‘catch up’
visit to the Gold Coast in 2018. Following this, a ceremonial
joint cutting of the cake took place by the four Chairmen in
attendance (Ann Dean, Dianne Cecil, Barbara Midwood and
Carol Crowther pictured left) who also managed to
successfully blow out the candles – all decorated in shades of
blue, of course!
While the cake was being cut, we were serenaded by
four immaculately attired and talented young men, Sam
Brisbane, Ryan Chislett, Sean Rowe and Alex Warr
(pictured right), also known as The PostBusters, a very
talented A Capella group who sang Happy Birthday [with
a twist] and other numbers, much to everyone’s delight.
Not only did they come to entertain us on this very special
occasion, but also to say ‘Thank You’ for the valued
sponsorship ADFAS Gold Coast gives to Voices in Paradise, organised by Jonathan Albertini. To conclude
proceedings, Committee Members
distributed pieces of birthday cake in
specially decorated containers for members
and guests to take home.
Special thanks are due to those who
made it such a happy occasion – Maree
Alexanderson, Robert Dean, Judy Gadaloff,
Margaret Hamilton and Naomi Wright [and
husband Gordon] in particular. All agreed
this was a fitting finale to our fifteenth
lecture year and summed up what ADFAS Gold Coast so successfully promotes – fun and fellowship!
Carole Crowther Photos by Robert Dean
ADFAS EXCURSION to HAZELHURST REGIONAL GALLERY
At our September 2017 ADFAS National Council Meeting, Chairman Carole Crowther and I joined sixty
other ADFAS representatives from around Australia at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery for a private guided
viewing of the European Old Masters 16th
to 19th
Century Exhibition on loan from the Art Gallery of New
South Wales. The exhibition includes works by British, Dutch, French and Italian artists including Canaletto,
Thomas Gainsborough, William Hogarth, Bernardo Strozzi and Matthias Stomer and will be on display until 3
December 2017. Left: Jacopo
Amigoni Bacchus and
Ariadne (detail)
c 1740-42.
Art Gallery of
NSW, gift of James
Fairfax, acquired
1993.
Between 1951
and 1976 the Art
Gallery of NSW
acquired an
outstanding group of
19th century English
portraits by Hogarth, Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, as well as landscapes and pictures representative of
British Neoclassicism and Romanticism by Richard Wilson, John Glover, Richard Westall, William Hamilton
and Francis Danby. Enriching the collection are acquisitions by Baroque painters Strozzi, Stomer and Jan van
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Bijiert, and a 1990s donation by James Fairfax of European Old Masters such as Nicholas de Largillierre and
Canaletto. Later purchases include Renaissance and Baroque works, and an altar piece by Guillo Cesare
Procaccini. The paintings were housed in one very large exhibition area painted an attractive dark red which
seemed to bring out the glorious colours.
After an introductory talk by Gallery Director, Bellina Hanrahan, we were asked, ‘Which painting would
you like to take home?’
High on my list was a beautiful watercolour by John Glover of
Ullswater in the Lake District. Glover migrated to Tasmania and many of
his later paintings were of his extensive property in northern Tasmania.
Carole preferred the Jean-Marc Nattier portrait of Madame de la Porte,
(pictured right) a young noblewoman with the most delicately radiant
complexion and wearing a blue-toned gown with sheer, intricate sleeves.
The Fairfax acquisition, Bacchus and Ariadne was another stand out
painting, as were Reynold’s portrait of a nobleman in military dress and a
Madonna and Child, lit by a single candle which threw soft light onto the
faces of the Virgin and the young Christ child. These paintings remind us
of what is constant in human experience and emotion while offering an
insight into cultures and times so different from our own.
After being plied with platters of cheese, sandwiches and savouries by
the Friends of Hazelhurst, we were shown through the 1950s caretaker’s
cottage with its extensive reference library featuring many of the artists
included in the exhibition.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening of artistic delights, warm welcomes and fellowship.
Margaret Hamilton
VIGNETTE: Michael Leunig
Michael Leunig (photo left,
May 2012): born 1945 in East
Melbourne, son of a slaughterman
and the second eldest of five
children; educated at Footscray
North Primary School and
Maribyrnong High School, as well
as at various factory gates, street
corners, kitchen tables, paddocks, rubbish tips, quarries, loopholes,
puddles and abattoirs in Melbourne’s industrial Western suburbs.
Enid Blyton, Arthur Mee, Phantom comics, The Book of Common
Prayer, J.D. Salinger, Spike Milligan, Bruce Petty, Martin Sharp, Private Eye magazine and The Beatles were
his early creative influences. He worked as a factory labourer and a meatworker before beginning work as a
political cartoonist for a daily newspaper in Melbourne in 1969. The Penguin Leunig, his first book of
collected cartoons, was published in 1974 and since then he has produced twenty-three more collections
including books of newspaper columns, poetry and prayer. His collaboration with indigenous painters from
remote communities in northern and central Australia has greatly influenced his art, humour and philosophy.
Leunig’s prints, paintings and drawings have been exhibited broadly and are held in
various public and private collections. His public appearances and on-stage conversations
have been wide ranging and varied both in Australia and overseas. London’s Trestle
Theatre Company created
an elaborate stage production,
State of Bewilderment, based
upon his work. It toured
England, Ireland, Europe and
Australia in the early 1990s.
In 1999, Leunig was declared a National
Living Treasure by the National Trust and
awarded honorary degrees from major
Australian universities for his unique
contribution to Australian culture.
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Some of his whimsical cartoon characters are Mr. Curly and Vasco Pyjama, and of course, ducks.
Following 9/11 his cartoon commentary bitterly opposed the war and the invasions of Afghanistan and
Iraq, a position that put him at odds with many people, but the occasional duck still appeared in his drawings as
did the moon faithfully hanging in the skies.
Leunig’s work still appears regularly in the
Melbourne Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He is
a devout nature lover and spends his time between the
solitude of the bush in Northern Victoria and his home in
Melbourne. He is married and has four children. Melbourne cartoonist, Michael Leunig: Top R –
Apricot Harvest; Above L – Reading; Above R – Mr Curly’s
Annual Spring Concert for Ducks; Bottom L - the Miracle
of Spring: a man watches a football match on his device
shows Leunig’s off-beat irony and incisive social comment
Photo of Michael Leunig by Bahudhara - Own work Original file
name = DSC12222.JPG, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19914858
Val Shooter, Editor
THE FUTURE is HERE - KAECEE FITZGERALD and 3D PRINTING
Ever since 2013, when
Chris Miller won the inaugural
ADFAS Gold Coast/ QCA (Qld
College of Art) Honours
Award, we have been aware of
3D printing technology, but
after our September lecture we
were able to observe 3D
printing in action courtesy of
talented and highly qualified expert
Kaecee Fitzgerald (pictured L with
June Davies).
Straight out of high school,
Kaecee started a QUT University degree in Industrial Design in 2008, but
moved to Griffith University because the course there offered more creative
freedom. She then spent 4 years completing a double degree in Visual
Communication and Product Design, and followed that by completing a
Master of Arts in Visual Arts (MAVA). Her Masters was focused on 3D printing in medicine, where she
worked alongside cardiac
surgeons and specialists,
investigating what effect the
ability to print human
organs would have on
society.
She ended up re-
designing the human heart
and printing it in resin to
demonstrate how it would
work if it were organic.
This interest in 3D printing
led to an internship at the
Prince Charles Hospital, where she helped design a practice heart rig to stimulate
left ventricular biopsy procedures for medical students. The process she says was
gruelling but ultimately very rewarding.
Pictures top R courtesy of Kaecee Fitzgerald – Kaecee’s 3D heart in plastic and her heart redesign diagrams
Above –close up of the 3D printer and computer, and samples of 3D printed jewellery
Right – Kaecee with her 3D printing machine
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During this time, Kaecee was offered an internship with Materialise (one of the biggest 3D printing
companies in the world). Eventually she was given a job in their Malaysian office as a product specialist, and
started working on projects ranging from extendable femoral implants for children with
bone cancer, to augmented reality applications for art exhibitions,
and the opportunity to assist in the creation of a 3D Printed Gems
of the Ocean fashion project using coral as its inspiration.
Gems of the Ocean used an international team of designers:
scanning a model’s body in Italy; Samuel Canning’s designing
and digital fabrication of a full length dress on the computer in
Australia; collaborating with Malaysia’s award winning and
avant garde fashion designer Melinda Looi; and printing all the pieces at Materialise’s
HQ in Belgium.
Kaecee was in charge of modelling and designing the accessories to compliment
the dress, assisting in the process of preparing the dress for print and for coordination
of the collection to various exhibitions around the world.
The dress itself took over 24 hours to print and was encrusted with thousands of Swarovski crystals from
bodice to hem. The crystals were embedded by hand, and then
the fabric was subtly dyed to give it a hazy appearance. The
gown was very delicate and required a great deal of finesse when
handling it.
Kaecee ferried the whole collection to New York for the
2015 MADE exhibition, an exhibition which also showcased a
number of other 3D printed fashion pieces.
After living in Malaysia for two years, she eventually moved
back to Brisbane to further her research in Bioprinting.
Currently Kaecee is working as a freelance designer
and as a seasonal tutor at Griffith University. She is about
to undertake a PhD, and hopes that by focusing on the
medical 3D printing she undertook in her Masters, that she
can then move into 3D printing of human bone, and
investigate the future implications for humanity.
We would like to thank Kaecee for kindly bringing
her machine along to our morning tea and showing us how
it works and wish such a talented and creative young lady
the very best for her future. It’s a brave new world out
there and we have every confidence that the future of
medical science is in very capable hands.
Images courtesy of Kaecee Fitzgerald: Above L - the 3D gown and above R - Kaecee’s 3D accessories designed
to compliment the dress
Right: the 3D printer at work
Kaecee Fitzgerald and Val Shooter
ADFAS DISPLAY at BROADBEACH LIBRARY
Broadbeach Library Management recently offered ADFAS Gold
Coast the opportunity to showcase our organisation through a
promotional display in their foyer. On Tuesday 24th October, Peggy
McKeon, Carole Crowther and I manned the ADFAS table, speaking
to interested members of the public and distributing our material. A
particular item of interest for one international couple was the Church
Recording Book with which they were very impressed.
Carole Sulzer
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Barbara’s ARTi FACTS My trip to Israel had some amazing art surprises. The very large, modern Tel Aviv Art Gallery had a Yayoi
Kusama pumpkin sculpture (below left) and a huge Roy Lichtenstein in the foyer. Lots of fabulous new high
rise buildings contrasted strikingly with the 20s & 30s German Bauhaus architecture
of Rothschild Boulevard. In
Jerusalem, we spent a whole
day visiting the Israel Museum.
Outdoor sculpture
surrounded the stunning Shrine
of the Book which houses the
Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest
biblical manuscripts in the
world, as well as rare early medieval biblical
manuscripts. The building (pictured above
right) consists of a white dome over a
building located two-thirds below the ground.
The dome is reflected in a pool of water that surrounds it. Inside the
museum were many small, complete, old synagogues collected from
around the world, elaborate torah casements, ceremonial clothing and an
Art Gallery which happened to have a huge Ai Weiwei exhibition.
Pictured above: Barbara with Chinese star made of coat hangers; porcelain bicycle basket of flowers, both by
Ai Weiwei
We had to exchange our shoes for
booties as the floor, which looked like
large pavers, was in fact carpet squares
made by Ai. There was a great collection
of Impressionist paintings too. The 9/11
Memorial was made of iron from the
World Trade Centre and shaped into a
flame (pictured left).
The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum was
most impressive. Particularly poignant was the
train carriage Memorial to the Deportees (above
right).
Naturally we saw all the religious
sites, including those in Bethlehem.
Barely five metres from the wall
separating the Palestinian territories from
Israel is the recently-opened British
Graffiti Artist, Banksy’s, Walled-off
Hotel. Don’t you love Banksy’s zany
sense of humour? Walled-off (Waldorf) Hotel? Photos: Bansky’s 10 roomed Walled-off Hotel;
opposite the hotel - Banksy graffiti on the barrier
wall (with its grey watch tower); the hotel is filled
with quirky art If anyone wants to see
more photos or hear about this
trip, feel free to contact me.
Photos by Barbara Corrigan
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Australian exhibitions: Too many to mention all, so here are my favourites
Gold Coast: Energies high school art – 12/11
Coming into Fashion – a Century of Photography at Condé Nast 24/11- 18/2
Check on website for events – ticketed exhibition
Tweed River Art Gallery: Joshua Yeldham – 19/11
Brett Whiteley (pictured right) 29/9 – 3/12 from his Studio in Sydney
Brisbane: GoMA German artist Gerhard Richter 14/10- 4/2 Japanese artist Yayoi
Kusama (pictured below right) 14/10- 4/2 both have lots of events pertaining to these
exhibitions.
Sydney: AGNSW Rembrandt & the Dutch Golden Age Masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum 11/11- 18/2
Robert Mapplethorpe renowned photographer.
Sydney: Bondi Sculpture by the Sea…..Walk the cliff walk for great sculptures - 5/11
Sydney: MCA Today Tomorrow Yesterday MCA Collection -31/12
Sydney: White Rabbit Gallery in Chippendale contemporary Chinese art and Tea
house until 28/1 when closed for change over.
Canberra: National Gallery Cartier exhibition opens 30/3/18
Portrait Gallery always interesting
Melbourne: NGV House of Dior 70 years of Haute Couture -7/11,
NGV Triennial 15/12-15/4, Masterworks from MOMA New York 9/6-7/10 ‘18
Adelaide: AGSA Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art 3/3- 3/6/18
Perth: WA Art Gallery Heath Ledger a life in pictures – 20/1/18. Bill Henson photographs 11/12/17
Barbara Corrigan
ARTS TABLE LENDING LIBRARY for 2018
ADFAS Gold Coast has received a wonderful donation of interesting coffee-
table-style art books. Every month, commencing the first lecture in 2018, a different
selection of them will be displayed on the Arts Table and made available to members
who wish to borrow. If you would like to take home any of these to read, and return
approximately one month later on the following lecture day, please speak to Alan
Midwood or myself.
Carole Sulzer
PHOTO GALLERY - July & August Lectures
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September & October Lectures
Photographer: Val Shooter
AUSTRALIAN DECORATIVE & FINE ARTS SOCIETY GOLD COAST INC
CHAIRMAN, Carole Crowther and COMMITTEE
Invite
Members & Friends
To
Christmas Cocktails THURSDAY, 30th NOVEMBER, 2017 at 6pm
(Preceded by the AGM at 5pm)
Panorama Suite, The Arts Centre Welcome Drink, Canapés, Cash Bar Tickets: $20
RSVP: Tuesday 21st November, 2017 Pre-payment only. Tickets held at Door
Enquiries: Maree Ph: 5526 7440 [email protected]
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Please return this section with your bank receipt or cheque to:
ADFAS Gold Coast Inc.
PO Box 7737 Gold Coast MC, Qld 9727
Member’s Name 1)………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Member’s Name 2)……………………………………………..…..................................................................................
Phone/Email …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…
Guest’s Name 1)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Guest’s Name 2)……………………………………..…………………………………………………………………..
Total Cheque or on-line Bank Receipt: $......................................................
Payment Options: Cheque made payable to: ADFAS Gold Coast Inc. or
Direct Transfer to NAB: Account Name: ADFAS Gold Coast Inc. BSB: 084 307 Account No: 53112 7641