Rachel Flynn & Judi McCann
Blooming
29 Nov - 10 Dec 2023
G4
Opening Night
Friday 1 Dec | 6 - 8pm
◼︎
Judi McCann
Judi sees beauty in nature. She’s inspired to capture that beauty in her art. She says that for her, it is a delight to create a work of floral art and to see it completed, framed, and hung. It evokes memories of the special times she’s spent in nature with people important to her.
To create a work of floral art, Judi uses her artist’s eye to choose a plant with striking features. She uses the Brushes Redux* iPad app to paint a picture that includes the plant and other related elements. She is not intent on realism, and stylises the plant and other elements to create an aesthetically pleasing work of art. When completed, the image is printed on high-quality paper.
Judi aims to share the beauty of the natural world with people who view it. She hopes the work will have a positive impact on their psyche. It may evoke in them pleasant memories of people and places. It may help them to relieve anxiety and stress and may produce a sense of wellbeing. It may also stimulate in them contemplation and wonder about the natural world.
*The Brushes Redux app as used by the renowned English artist David Hockney. \
Artist Bio
Judi McCann is a visual artist based in Melbourne and Wangaratta. She works extensively and intensively in the digital medium, capturing the beauty of flora in the natural world.
Judi has a background in science and an enduring interest in horticulture. Her artwork depicts flowering plants and trees in stunning close-up, or in context in suburban gardens. Her artwork is a canvas of glorious colour and bold design.
To develop her art practice, Judi has completed a variety of short courses, worked alongside and received tuition from artist friends, and most importantly, directed her own learning by any means available.
Judi has exhibited successfully in regional galleries and was recently offered a residency in the Ovens Gallery in Wangaratta. She is an active member of GANEAA* in NE Victoria.
*Goulbourn and North-East Arts Alliance
Rachel Flynn
During Victoria’s long COVID lockdown in 2021, Rachel started drawing digital flowers on her phone. From August 17 to October 21 she drew one flower every morning and sent it to a growing number of friends and family members. In return, some sent her photos of flowers from around their neighbourhoods during the permitted one-hour of exercise. One friend described her walks as an excursion to photograph flowers just for this purpose.
During that time Rachel drew sixty-nine flowers.
‘I think our collective anxiety was reduced by this simple exchange of digital flowers,’ she said. ‘Perhaps, in this haphazard way, I stumbled upon the therapeutic nature of art, both for the artist and the viewer.’
In their book, Art as Therapy, Alain de Botton and John Armstrong propose that ‘art is a therapeutic medium’ which can help with our minds and emotions. Hope, or perhaps lack of hope, can be lessened with ‘cheerful, pleasant and pretty’ art.
Pretty art, however, is often dismissed as sentimental or simplistic or even idealistic. These judgements diminish still lifes, reducing their importance in the genre hierarchy. In her book Still Life, Amber Cresswell Bell describes still life as ‘familiar, relatable and accessible’ as it focuses on food, flowers and common domestic objects.
Rachel’s work relates to the transient nature of places and times, objects, events and people. Perhaps an empty room containing a chair, table, cloth and vase of flowers speaks of the people who are absent. Add a plate of half-eaten chocolate cake and we ask: Who has been there? Why have they suddenly left?
Some of the flowers Rachel drew in 2021 are present in these works as framed pictures on the walls.
Artist Bio
Artist
Rachel has had a long interest in art but only began a consistent practice during the long COVID lockdown of 2021. She currently uses Procreate on the iPad, incorporating photography and drawing, to develop and produce her work. The final step is to print the work on paper.
Writer
Rachel is best known for her picture books and novels for children, some of which have been translated into French, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese and Korean. She also writes short fiction and poetry.
Contact
Phone : (03) 9482 3550
mail@redgallery.com.au
Address
157 St Georges Rd
Fitzroy North, Victoria, 3068
Map
How to get here
Tram: route 11
Stop 21 just north of Edinburgh Gardens
Melway ref: 30B12
Parking in nearby streets
Bus: 504 (Reid Street)
