News

….. 22 years and 181 solo/group exhibitions later…

                                              It’s Time!

Yes, the time has come for me to retire!

                           Falkner Gallery is on the market.

– see link

Belle Property

I have been most fortunate these past 22 years, meeting and liaising with some fantastically talented artists and some astute and appreciative clients. Many have become close friends. I am most appreciative of everyone’s support since leaving teaching in Berwick and my home in Olinda in 2001.

It is time now for someone with enthusiasm, energy and a willingness to take Falkner Gallery ‘onwards and upwards’.

The business: including stock at value, some furniture and fittings, a 900+ mail-list, Consignment artists’ and Suppliers’ lists and Goodwill.

The property: 1.5 hours from Melbourne in Castlemaine’s CBD, consisting of an 1860’s two-storey heritage building with 6 display rooms and approx. 395sm land.

There are numerous possibilities for the next owner:

  • an ongoing art gallery and gift shop or other retail outlet
  • an artist’s or framer’s workshop with retail exposure
  • a CBD office close to the Railway Station, Post Office, cafes and shops
  • a restaurant/cafe as it has been three times in its history
  • renovated to become a town residence or accomodation venue with a 1000+sm, north-facing garden
  • other………?

Meanwhile, I invite you to view the continuing Spring Group show and the Retirement Sale of gallery stock.

Hours: Thursday – Saturday 11-5

Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Textiles, Ceramics
Spring Group Show:
Marian Blank, Adam Cox, Julie Coyle, Margaret Cromb, Trudi Harley, Margaret Lees, Samantha Leggett, George Lianos, Paula Martin, Mark Mason, Liz McLennan, Jan McNeill, Jane Rusden, Lee Shelden, Cliff Simcox, Asahi So, Greg Somerville

 

Painting, photography, textiles, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics and crafts are all represented throughout the gallery by over 20 artists who have a display section each.

The front gallery space houses a stunning collection of textiles and paintings. Massive, intricately embroidered quilts and relief wall sculptures by Greg Somerville and Paula Martin are complimented by a series of brightly coloured, still life oil paintings by Marian Blank. 

The downstairs inner room displays birds, birds, birds…..a superb collection of works in different media and styles by artists Margaret Cromb, Jane Rusden, Liz McLennan, Ingrid Brooker and Jess Szigethy-Gyula. 

Cromb’s woodcuts are of well-loved native birds expressed with superb underlays of inks while Rusden’s birds flit through a watercolored representation of their natural habitat. McLennan’s birds are described as costumed theatrical personages in detailed pen, ink and watercolour. Szigethy-Gyula’s realistic bronze magpies contrast with Brooker’s fragile wire sculptures, all giving expression to Spring.

Downstairs, in the back gallery space, Samantha Leggett’s acrylic abstracts vibrate with their wild, joyful colours while Julie Coyle’s acrylic paintings in indigo tones express the moods and atmosphere of distant skies. 

Upstairs, Margaret Lees displays a series of vibrantly coloured oil pastel drawings of the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of Western Australia while Jan McNeill’s oil paintings explore the moods and ruggedness of Scottish and New Zealand highlands. 

Lee Shelden’s quiet, sensitive pencil drawings of threads complement the intricate oil paintings by Trudi Harley, all giving contemplative memories of a yesteryear.

Recent ceramics and sculpture by Mark Mason, Adam Cox, Minna Graham, George Lianos  and Asahi So are displayed throughout the gallery.

Falkner Gallery hours: Thursday – Saturday 11-5

 

Previous Exhibition, Early 2023: ‘Connections’

Many people have searched for connections during the last years of uncertainty whether by linking with their friends and family, exploring their environment, remembering aspects of their past, or planning for the future.

Twenty-one local and regional artists have explored these notions through painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, ceramics and textiles to create the group show ‘Connections’ at Falkner Gallery. They have expressed their connection to the world around them literally, metaphorically and symbolically.

For some, such as Greg Somerville and Lee Shelden, inter-woven threads and colours as embroidered textiles and coloured pencil drawings express this notion of connection. Helen Fraser’s pen and ink drawings symbolise emotional states of being while the paintings by Robert Williams and Trudi Harley explore with meticulous detail their nostalgic yearning for the past.  Bronwyn Silver’s detailed photographs of flooded local swamplands, Margaret Cromb’s expansive watercolours and Diana Wiseman’s abstracted acrylic paintings all express their connections with the landscape around them.

Liz McLennan’s drawings explore links between the natural environment and theatre while Liz Caffin’s drawings associate the rich cultural depth of Italy with her own love of the Central Australian bush.

All 21 artists express their interpretations and feelings about the concept ‘Connections’ using a diverse range of artforms, mediums, techniques and styles.

A  synopsis and representative images of previous exhibitions can be seen under Exhibitions: ‘Past Exhibitions’.