New exhibition at the SWICH - REVERSE EDUCATION: Andrew Spark 2001-2010

"My paintings and mixed media work emerge from the temporal world of emotion rather than contained by any perceived realism. For me, this work provides a creative outlet that contrasts sharply with the accuracy of my commercial work demands" Andrew Spark

Andrew Spark is an established contemporary artist, graphic designer and advertising consultant based in Ipswich. He works with a range of mixed media including paint and digital photography.

This is the first overview of Andrew Spark's work spanning a decade 2001-2010, and is exclusive to the SWICH Contemporary Art Space.

Reverse Education is on exhibition from 5 October - 30 October 2010. Gallery hours Tuesday-Friday 9am-4pm Saturday 9am-2pm. Contact the gallery for more information on 07 3281 9192 or email: theswich.info@bigpond.com

TWO IPSWICH ARTISTS SELECTED FOR THE QLD REGIONAL ART AWARDS TOURING EXHIBITION

Laura Phillips and LeAnne Vincent, two artists from the Ipswich Contemporary Arts Network, have had their artworks selected for the 2010 Queensland Regional Art Awards Touring Exhibition, 'Our Place', organised by Flying Arts Inc.

Only twenty-four artists were selected by the curator of contemporary Australian art for the Queensland Art Gallery, Francis Parker. The works selected are 'Standing in the grass', oil painting by Laura Phillips and 'Top of Town', photographic artwork by LeAnne Vincent.

The exhibition will be launched in February 2011 at the Queensland State Library and the works will then tour on to four regional galleries throughout Qld. This is a significant accomplishment and will assist in promoting Ipswich and our artists to the wider Qld communities.

Both artists are currently exhibiting other works at the SWICH Contemporary Art Space, 191 Brisbane Street, Ipswich.

Local contemporary Indigenous artist now on display

We are pleased to welcome local Ipswich artist, Charmaine Davis, to our gallery. Charmaine works with acrylics on canvas and has exhibited in numerous group shows and solo exhibitions and has been selected as a finalist to have her work featured on tilt train.

Charmaine's works are bold and speak of her connection with the land. We have three of her stunning new artworks on display and for sale until Saturday 2 October 2010.

The SWICH Contemporary Art Space is now taking registrations for the Artisan Wonderland Workshop Series

Come to the SWICH Contemporary Art Space to register and pay for any of the Artisan Wonderland art workshops during our business hours - Tuesday to Friday 9am-4pm and Saturdays 9am-2pm.

The workshops continue throughout August, September and October 2010 and all run on a Saturday or Sunday. They are conducted in Ipswich and are a great way to learn a new skill, meet some new people and share in some fun. No prior art knowledge is required and all materials are included in the workshop fee.

There are still some places left in the August Workshops as follows:

Saturday 28 August 2010

Precious Metal Clay (fabulous jewellery making workshop) - $28


Sunday 29 August 2010

Enamelling (another fabulous jewellery making workshop) - $20

Intro to Calligraphy- $24

Art of Illuminated Lettering - $8 (must do Intro to Calligraphy)

Clay Workshop - All ages -$10

ALL WORKSHOPS ARE 3 HOURS IN DURATION


Workshops still available for September and October include:

Life Drawing
Family History Research
Books with Flair (learn various book making techniques - great for artist books)
Writing the Generation Gap
Drawing Animals
Crazy Mosaic
Belly Dancing
Resin Jewellery Making
Drawing

There are limited places in each course so please register early to avoid disappointment.

Article in the Ipswich News

Thank you to the staff at the Ipswich News for again supporting our business with this great article.

Oh what a night...........

The inaugural opening event of our permanent art space was held last night and was extremely well attended by local artists, academics, business people, politicians and councillors. We had people attending from Ipswich, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Holland. Literally standing room only!!

We would like to thank everyone who attended for their support in making our opening night an amazing experience of art, glorious food and wine, and a real social networking event.

The evening was a huge success and we thank all the Ipswich artists and designers involved in this exhibition: Donna Davis, Kate Roberts, Andrew Spark, Laura Phillips, Eva Fritz, Sally Picker, Rebecca Lewis (Little Brown Dog), and Kyla Story (Little Bird), and from Brisbane, designers Kellie Christie and Chrissy Foreman, as well as our guest Brisbane artist, Ros Paton and our international guest artist from Mexico, Dea Arjona.

We would also like to thank the countless people who have supported us throughout our planning and renovating stages: Donna Davis for her untiring support of our projects, advice, organisation skills and of course her amazing installation art, Kate Roberts for her spectacular jewellery artworks, advice and many kind offers of support (and chauffeur service),David Beckett for his carpentry and painting skills and innovative art concepts, Michael Davis for his beautifully designed and constructed steel plinths and Deann Devin for her home cooking delights that kept us going throughout our renovations and for the decadent chocolate cheesecakes she supplied for our opening night event and of course all of our facebook friends who have continued to support and promote us.

We look forward to seeing you all again at our new art space at 191 Brisbane Street, Ipswich and will keep you posted on our upcoming events.

Opening Hours: Saturday 9am-2pm, Tuesday to Friday 9am-4pm.

PREPARATIONS BEGIN ON NEW GALLERY SPACE

Today we have officially started our preparations for our new permanent contemporary art gallery at 191 Brisbane Street, Ipswich. We plan to continue preparing the space over the next couple of weeks and will advise shortly as to when we will be open to the public and our business hours.

Our gallery will display and sell original contemporary art by emerging and established local Ipswich artists including paintings, photography, sculpture, installations, jewellery and textiles. We also plan to feature guest artists from around Australia and internationally.

These premises will also become a base for our photography services, on location photoshoots, event photography and photo restoration, and will allow our clients greater access to these services.

During our preparations we can still be contacted via phone or email and will continue to deliver our photography services as usual.

Quest Business Achievers Award - Finalists!

The SWICH Contemporary Art Space is a Finalist in the Quest Business Achievers Award for New Business of the Year! A huge thank you to everyone who voted for us as well as the artists , local businesses and all our photographic services clients who have supported us throughout our first year.

ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES IN NEW GALLERY SPACE

The SWICH Contemporary Art Space is opening a new permanent gallery space in the Top of Town Precinct at Ipswich dedicated to offering opportunities to emerging and established local, national and international artists.

We are seeking exciting and innovative contemporary artists working in all mediums. In particular, ceramic artists, painters, art photographers, jewellery artists and sculptors working with various materials - found objects, stone, clay, wire etc for our new art gallery opening in Ipswich.

Please send us an email to theswich.info@bigpond.com asap if you are interested in exhibiting works in our space or you know of an artist who might be interested.

NEW ART GALLERY OPENING SOON - TOP OF TOWN, IPSWICH

The SWICH Contemporary Art Space will be opening a new, permanent gallery space in the Top of Town, Ipswich.

We will be offering opportunities to exhibit art works for emerging and established contemporary artists working in all mediums including: paint, photography, sculpture, installation, video, digital, mixed media.

Stay tuned for further updates over the next couple of weeks.

Cheers
LeAnne