Last night we enjoyed the first Artists’ Conversation evening organised by 100k North Arts, who curate the artwork at Marmalades. The loose plan for the evening was that Adele Anderson would lead the three panellists through some guided questioning, Adam Dennis would play a couple of tunes, and people would purchase drinks and platters of finger-food. We had no real idea of how many people might attend, which always makes catering a challenge! In retrospect we’re a little glad that it was a select group for our first Conversations evening – we really needed to see how the first one worked with a smaller audience before we get more ambitious with the numbers.
If you weren’t there, you missed out on a truly interesting evening.
It started as planned, with our three panellists – Gary Male, Margo Oliver and Andrew Maclean – sitting behind the big table. Adele sat off to one side with her list of questions (some of which, she noted, came from Google; apparently there’s lists of questions to ask artists) and gently guided the conversation. It wasn’t just a Q&A session; Adele framed a theme with her questions, our panellists thought about the implications and discussed them. As we had hoped, the ‘audience’ was very involved in the conversation. After 75 minutes they had to call time on the open discussion; there were other elements to the evening and we wanted people to get home before midnight! As the conversation came to a close there was a real sense of excitement in the room, with people bringing their own experiences and questions into the mix. Overall the discussion focused on artistic development – what led to our panellists becoming practising artists, what had hindered or encouraged them on that journey, how they responded to criticism, whether they thought of themselves as artists. It was all tremendously interesting and often unexpected.
Advertising for the evening had said that drinks and nibbles would be available for sale – the café was closed, after all! When people arrived at 7:30 most hadn’t eaten dinner, so we went into emergency cooking mode and delivered plate after plate of garlic prawns to tables as the discussion progressed. Next time we’ll factor meals into the evening from the start.
After a short hiatus for coffee ordering and the hiss of milk being heated, Adam Dennis took to the hotseat and talked about being an artist in the songwriting and performing context. He played two songs, one of which he wrote only ten days ago. He spoke of trying to bring some of the spark of creation to each performance of his songs so that the audience sees something new rather than just a rendition.
Finally, the panellists talk the audience through some of their works, with all three panellists providing a fascinating insight into their process. Gary noted that his satisfaction comes from meeting the challenge of creating each piece of furniture, of working with curves and grain and finishes. Margo showed how her favourite paintings capture the feel of light through trees on a flat horizon, as her face lit up with enthusiasm for the subject matter. Finally, Andrew showed his photographs and talked about the tension between capturing truth and allowing the viewer to bring their own interpretations to the finished work. It was also interesting to hear Andrew speak of his process; the deliberate blurring of focus in the camera, followed by enhancement on the computer and even the contribution of the printer to the final product.
It was a thoroughly entertaining and stimulating night, immensely enjoyed by all. We’re already planning for the next session on 26 June … and we’re expecting a larger crowd next time, as the word spreads of the success of our first Artists’ Conversation evening.
It’s a cold winter in Yea this year. Not so much rain, but plenty of chill! Fortunately our fires are warming the main room, keeping diners comfortable enough as they enjoy a coffee and a meal.
