My first autumn at the Convent

These  are some of the many beautiful scenes I encounter daily  at the Abbotsford Convent in my first Autumn here . There is a slight melancholy about Autumn for me, exaggerated this year because many of my friends are where I was last year Europe and I am not as employed as I would like to be, but also an implied fertility as nature sets the preconditions for new growth

 - the season of mellow fruitfulness  

 

I have used  some of these textures and

colours  in my drawings and photo montages  for example

Eureka Joins the Convent

Today I took possession of my studio at the Abbotsford Convent one of Australia's largest and most diverse cultural spaces on the banks of the Yarra River Melbourne

I had to apply for the opportunity to lease the space and used this image made of components of the convent fabric and garden and of my studio view of the cloister as part of my application demonstrating how I will use the Convent textures in my ongoing exploration of the male figure.

 My studio was a nun's bedroom then a classroom and still has  a blackboard and chalk!  


My friends David Chris and Richard all practising artists came to visit, stay tuned for the studio party . ..

 

Video projects

I am fascinated by the contrast between the static object and  movement that I explore through video.

here is a link to my  video on mannequins in a shop-fitting store as seen from a car driving by at night
https://vimeo.com/84172448

Thank you to my son Conor O'Hanlon for editing the work

I am currently working on footage I took in Berlin with the help of the digital anthropologist Igor Karim tracing the progress of the bicycle symbol on the window of the S-Bahn

There is other footage  I have taken in Paris and in Melbourne all looking for that sublime unexpected  moment in the midst of the city. As my technical skills improve I hope to include video making as an integral part of the way I record and understand the places I visit