Two more drypoints in the Job series

"Witness to Calamity #3" (Image 20cmH x15cmW)
A third servant of Job's reports another calamity.

"Reminiscence" (Image 20cmH x 15cmW)
I think of this as Job's wife recalling earlier
times with her three daughters. Her loss has
been transferred to the children's faces.

Upcoming exhibitions

My mixed media work, "Who can free the man God imprisons?" has been selected for the Blake Prize Director's Cut which will be shown online from January 2013.
My mixed media work "Blue Soliloquy" and my mezzotint "Portent" have been selected for the Fisher's Ghost Art Award  (27th Oct - 24th Nov).
Some of my drypoints in the Job series will be exhibited at the Brunswick Street Gallery in Fitzroy, Melbourne, in their selected printmakers' exhibition commencing on the 16th November.

Recollection

"Recollection"
(drypoint- 30cmH x20cmW -image only)

Job's wife was angry and disillusioned with the fate that had befallen her family.  This drypoint depicts Job's wife and their three young daughters in earlier times; for me the image is a retrospective one on the part of Job's wife,  expressed by their pensive faces.

Back to Hahnemuhle paper

"I crumble like rotten wood" (77cmH x 57cmW -image)

I finished this one yesterday, working on Stonehenge paper - it just doesn't have the workability of Hahnemuhle so I won't be using it again for work involving washes and tearing. I feel that this is Job revealed. So far my images of him have been faceless, rendering them perhaps more universal in their attitude and sentiment (something I do wish to convey).  However, here is the face of Job, crying out, "I crumble like rotten wood."

Fourth drypoint in the Book of Job series

This latest image refers to one of Job's surviving servants who reported the disasters which befell Job.

"Witness to Calamity #2" (25cmH x20cmW -image)

Soliloquy #2

This work was selected as a finalist in the Hunter's Hill Exhibition this year. The soliloquy in drama gives the audience a chance to understand the thoughts and feelings of the solitary character; thoughts he is not sharing with those around him.

"Soliloquy #2" (86cmHx70cmW-framed)

SOLD

Using acrylic paint, ink, pastel and charcoal, I try to make every line expressive of the internalising of thought.

"Blue Soliloquy" (130cmHx96cmW-framed)

Above is my first drawing in the Soliloquy series.

Another in the Book of Job Series

"Who Can Free the Man God Imprisons?"  (96cmHx130cmW -framed))

Job feels imprisoned and tortured by his fate and does not understand why he has lost everything when he has been such a good man. The Hahnemuhle paper allows for reworking and tears beautifully!!

Recent Exhibitions

Recently I was a finalist in the Hunter's Hill Art Prize, the Waverley Woollahra Art Prize and the Warringah Art Prize.

"Workforce- Ghosts of Cockatoo Island" (82cmHx77cmW -framed)

SOLD

I will be exhibiting at the King's School Art Prize in August, including a mixed media drawing (image attached)

Drypoints in the Book of Job series

"Witness to Calamity" (20cmHx15cmW - image)

"Weighing Grief" (20cmHx15cmW - image)

I have worked on these DRYPOINTS  in conjunction with my drawings based on the Book of Job.

Mezzotints

THEATRE OF OBJECT -

"The Question"  (20cmHx15cmW-image)

"Portent" (30cmHx20cmW - image)

"Manoeuvre" (20cmHx12.5cmW - image)

"The Question II" (20cmHx15cmW - image)

"Manoeuvre II" (20cmHx12.5cmW - image)

For the past two years I have been working on a suite of hand-rocked mezzotints, which like my drawings, portray dialogue and inner debate.  The allegorical use of found objects in a theatrical setting provides limitless subject matter and a means of exploring the undercurrents that exist between the subjects.

Contact me

E: helenbran@hotmail.com

Some drawings in the Book of Job series

My current drawings explore the dialogues from the Book of Job in the Old Testament.   Job's responses to his trials, the counsel of his friends and the vital language of the Book provide a source of rich imagery for figurative work.
Acrylic wash over wax line -work, ink, charcoal and pastel are dynamic and flexible mediums of expression on thick, workable paper, the paper itself being an integral part of the image. Various methods of application, including brushes, sticks and fingers, add to the voice of the work.

"Weighing Grief" (130cmHx96cmW framed)

"No Soap Can Wash Away My Sin" (44cmHx30cmW - image)

"Dialogue #2"  (94cmHx75cmW-framed)

"Witness to Calamity #2"  (77cmHx57cmW- image)