Art Wall

During so many months of renovations, (nearly two years!!) there was always something new to look at whenever our regular guests returned. They would check in and then  do a ‘site inspection ‘ on the renovations progress to date.

A comment from one of our most regular guests, Graeme, inspired me to create ‘the Art Wall’. He said ‘Now that all the renovations have finished, I don’t have anything new to inspect!”.

 …. So the Art Wall’ is simply the space in our hall-well which serves the purpose of  having something different and lovely for guests to view on their visits. The work will change regularly and each artist will display for about six months.

The artists all agree to treat us like a gallery in that where a 40% commission would normally be paid to the gallery. (BUT WE WILL PASS THIS ON TO OUR GUESTS IN THE FORM OF A SAVING).

So I see this a triple win!

1) The artists gets a place to display his or her art at no charge

2) We get to have lovely and different art in our home

3) Our guests get to enjoy different art and also the opportunity to purchase at a significant discount than if they were to buy from a gallery.

‘Madonna & Child’ series – Kaye Pyke (click on the images below to see a larger preview)

I am very pleased to say that Kaye Pyke, our first Artist chosen, is also a real local. She lives only 20 minutes from Williamstown.

Kaye is a lovely lady and has had a very interesting career, predominantly in the world of Interior Design. Kaye is the sort of person who could create a space with junk from an op shop and make it look fabulous. I’ve seen what she has done with her own home and also with a friend’s boathouse.

She has written three books, including a best-seller on the art of  intricate embroidery. According to one of my sisters, Sonia and my sisters-in-law Karen and Deb (who all have lovely homes) as well as many women who have come through to see our house, Kaye had two ‘amazing’ shops in Port Melbourne for many years. When i mention Kaye’s name, everyone who knows Kaye or her work is immediately enthusiastic about  how talented she is and how incredible her shops were. ‘Absolutely ahead of her time’ is an expression often used to describe the work she was doing then. 

Kay no longer embroiders and in the way of most artists has ‘moved on’ to other things. Her creative talent has segue-wayed into her rather intriguing signature style of  collage, copying, hand-painting and photography onto canvas. In the works that we have displayed here, even Kaye herself says that when she did this series in 2009, that she was probably ahead of her time then too. “People kept asking me if I am religious. I’m not particularly but there is nothing more beautiful than the love that a mother has for her child and in this body of work I wanted to express that in a beautiful way”. 

Kaye’s artworks vary from $800 – $1600 retail  (so the wholesale price is $480 – $960) for our guests) and the sizes vary but they are all good sized pieces. (The smallest is the red Mother and Child 600cm x 1000cm  adn the largest is the Grecian Mother and Child 1000 x 1500cm).

Regards,

Melissa