Peter Ryan and Gillian Gorrie are both artists at Art on Piper. Their joint exhibition came about when Peter, a photographer, was musing with Gillian, a watercolour artist, about how he would like someone to paint his images. Not copy them, but paint their interpretation of them.
Gillian jumped at the chance and said “Let’s do it as a collaboration, combining our skills to create beautiful art pieces”.
Peter is a well-travelled landscape photographer. He taught photography and image processing for 12 years at Macedon Ranges Further Education Centre in Gisborne.
Gillian taught ceramics at secondary schools around Victoria. After travelling and working in potteries in Wales, Scotland and South Africa, Gillian returned to set up her own pottery business. Interest in brushwork and line as a form of decoration for her pots developed into a love of watercolour. Gillian also now teaches watercolour painting in the Macedon Ranges.
Peter and Gillian selected the images together and identified a medium Peter could print on that Gillian could also paint on.
In Pacific Heron, Peter captured an image of a bird in a gum tree at Eyre Creek in the Simpson Desert and printed it on watercolour paper. Gillian then completed her interpretation of the background using sketch technique.
Other pieces in the exhibition show further variations in technique.
The Outside the Box exhibition runs until November 5 at Art On Piper, 44 Piper Street, Kyneton. An official opening will be held on September 13 from 2pm – 5pm.
