Art

Secret swimming hole celebrated in summer exhibition.

Hope: Group Exhibition at Studio Altenburg, Braidwood opens 17 December. The Bombay swimming hole on the Shoalhaven River is a favourite for Braidwood locals looking to cool off without having to slug it to the coast. With huge granite rocks and sandy alcoves, it’s the perfect place to swim in the sunshine. It’s a place loved by locals and largely forgotten by outsiders since it … Continue reading Secret swimming hole celebrated in summer exhibition.

Ray MondeLeave a comment
Art

Prawns push turkeys off the table this Christmas.

Red Fish, Blue Fish art exhibition at Purple Noon Gallery Prawns and oysters are pushing a lot of turkeys off the Christmas table this year as Australians continue to embrace our abundant seafood for the holidays. It’s the inspiration behind artist Ray Monde’s new exhibition, ´Red Fish, Blue Fish’, at Purple Noon Gallery. A celebration of fish: an essential part of the Australian summer. “My … Continue reading Prawns push turkeys off the table this Christmas.

Ray MondeLeave a comment
Art

What does it mean when a crown is upside down?

What is the symbolism of a crown that is upside down? It’s stitched into my trousers and jeans. It’s embroidered on my shirts. I wear it as a ring on my right hand. And of course, it’s signed on the corner of every piece of artwork. What is the story behind the upside down crown? On early artworks the crown signature was upright with a … Continue reading What does it mean when a crown is upside down?

Ray MondeLeave a comment
Art

Perfect trifecta: Paddington, Moran Portrait and Woollahra Prizes

It’s been a good month or so. A first for me, finalist in the Paddington Art Prize. For the first time, I was a finalist in the Paddington Art Prize, a coveted landscape prize in Australia. I was hung alongside brilliant artists like Sophie Cape, James Powditch, Blak Douglas, local Braidwood artist John R Walker, Dan Kyle and Charmaine Pike. It’s good to know people … Continue reading Perfect trifecta: Paddington, Moran Portrait and Woollahra Prizes

Ray MondeLeave a comment
Art

You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.

There’s a scene in Inception where, Eames (Tom Hardy) says to Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.” When we were kids, we just tried stuff. You tried to walk along the picket fence and you might have fallen off, but maybe you didn’t. Maybe you tried to catch a ball and missed. But you tried it again and … Continue reading You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.

Ray MondeLeave a comment
Art

Marking a waypoint between Virginia Woolf and Jeanette Winterson.

Crying uncontrollably, I step out of the cinema and into the throngs of people in Leicester Square, London. My best friend from university is unnerved by my weeping. Why has the film Mrs Dalloway left me so bereft? I was 26, navigating the new path of turning a longing for men into loving of them. But it wasn’t just about that. At the time I … Continue reading Marking a waypoint between Virginia Woolf and Jeanette Winterson.

Ray Monde1 Comment
Art

New artworks inspired by Orcas Island, San Juan Islands.

The ferry sings between rocky island outcrops that form the San Juan islands, their edges smoothed by long-melted glaciers. The tops of the islands burst in dense Coast Douglas fir. There’s a delicious slowness to it all, we’re all unhurried together. Kids run past us barking like dogs. Grey muzzled chihuahuas totter past like octogenarians. I make quick sketches as things pass by, simple outlines … Continue reading New artworks inspired by Orcas Island, San Juan Islands.

Ray MondeLeave a comment
Art

If we keep doing the same thing, we will never move forward.

Outside my studio window, it’s chaos. A woman chases another woman into the path of a car which brakes hard and leans on the horn. The pursuer keeps shouting over and over, “I’m a bitch, I’m a bitch, I never would hurt a woman!”. The woman who is being chased runs a few steps then stops and waits for the other woman to catch up. … Continue reading If we keep doing the same thing, we will never move forward.

Ray MondeLeave a comment
Art

How small observations generate a big audience

On Fridays in the studio, I take a break from my big projects and work on little things. I open my window on Cherry Street and watch the people from my third storey window. There’s a homeless man with a mental illness, stooping to scratch at a white mark on the tarmac. His pants have no elastic and drag around his feet without ever coming … Continue reading How small observations generate a big audience

Ray MondeLeave a comment