Clarice painting at Mount Macedon. Image supplied by Artists of the Valley.
[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] T [/dropcap]he hamlet of Casterton is again celebrating its links to one of Australia’s most inspiring early women artists, Clarice Beckett, with an art prize named in her honour.
The Clarice Beckett Art Award is organised by the small but vibrant arts group, Artists of the Valley, which “stumbled across” the connection between Casterton, west of Hamilton, and Clarice several years ago.
The event is held to coincide with the annual Casterton Kelpie Muster, that draws hundreds of people to the town from across the district and beyond on the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend (5-7 June).
A main prize of $500 is on offer, with a $50 prize for all other sections including oils, acrylics, watercolours, mixed media, works on paper, 3D and a youth award (under 18). Artists can enter as many categories as they like, with a fee of $5 per entry.
The Yarra, Sunset, painting, oil on board, 30.5 x 35.5 cm, by Clarice Beckett. Image: Menzies Art Brands.
[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] C [/dropcap]larice Beckett was born in Casterton on 21 March, 1887, to a bank manager, Joseph Beckett, and his wife, Elizabeth, both of whom Clarice would spend most of her adult life caring for after they retired to Melbourne.
It appears Clarice spent only her earliest years in Casterton, having been sent to boarding school in Ballarat and, later, moving to Melbourne where she took drawing lessons at the Melbourne Gallery School under the guidance of Frederick McCubbin and Max Meldrum.
While Clarice held exhibitions with her fellow students at the Melbourne Gallery School, very few of her works sold during her lifetime and it was only many years after her death, at the age of 48, that her work was “rediscovered” and celebrated for its excellence.
Unfortunately, however, by the time her work came to be appreciated, hundreds of her paintings were beyond repair – having been stored in an open-sided barn in rural Victoria for more than 40 years. A further 31 were destroyed in a house fire.
It is this tragedy, and the belief that all budding artists deserve the opportunity of a “fair go”, that inspired the Artists of the Valley to establish a prize in her name in 2012.
[box]Entries for the Clarice Beckett Art Award close on Friday May 22. The exhibition of works opens at the Casterton Bowls Club on Friday June 5. For full details and entry forms, visit the Artists of the Valley website here.[/box]
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Collin Tenney has spread his artistic wings since making his home near Casterton, where he opened a gallery in the former Sandford fire brigade shed. Image courtesy Collin Tenney.
By Carol Altmann
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] G [/dropcap]rowing up as a dyslexic kid in Rendelsham, South Australia, Casterton artist Collin Tenney spent most of his school years in sheer terror – unless it was art class.
“I would sit there stressed out of my brain that the teacher was going to ask me to read aloud and of course nobody wanted to know the dyslexic kid, but when it came to art class, everyone wanted to sit next to me,” Collin laughs.
In one of those often inexplicable counter-balances, Collin’s limitations with words – which continues to this day – was more than made up for by an artistic streak that emerged when he was just a toddler and began drawing on the walls of his childhood home, “much to the frustration of my poor mother.”
As a young man, art became his solace, his spiritual centre and a crucial way of communicating with the world.
“I ended up working in Queensland and that’s where I started taking lots of painting classes because if I was going to learn about making art, it had to be through tutoring rather than through reading books,” Collin says.
“That was when I was around 23 or 24, but unfortunately after that, life started to get in the way with mortgages and all of those other commitments that move you away from your art.”
Collin’s portrait, Sam, was awarded Best in Show and Best Acrylic in the 2014 Coleraine Art and Photography Show. Image: Collin Tenney.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] T [/dropcap]he pendulum swung back toward the paintbrush when Collin moved to Casterton in 2007, a town that he knew only vaguely but felt a deep connection to after driving through on his return to South Australia after looking at a property in Winchelsea.
It was shortly after the death of his younger sister from breast cancer and Collin was determined to start living the life that he always wanted.
“I felt this incredible connection to Casterton, like I had been there before,” he explains.
As Collin was passing through the historic town (popln 1765), a song played at his sister’s funeral came on the radio and although he burst into tears, he felt it was another gentle push toward making the leap.
It proved to be the right choice.
In the seven years since, Collin has not only returned to painting with a renewed vigour, but has been among several artists driving the small but growing local art scene around Casterton.
Now, for example, there is anArtists of the Valley group that includes Collin and other award-winning artists like painter Julie Kent, printmaker Jenn White and warm glass artist Darryl Tresize (winner of the Drysdale Festival of Glass prize in 2014 and 2015).
Casterton will also see the opening of a new community art gallery – the Gorman Gallery – on April 25 after the building was donated by local real estate agent Peter Gorman.
“There were all of these people out there doing their own thing with art and now we are all supporting and helping each other, while also building an arts community in Casterton,” Collin says.
Collin with his image of the late artist Margaret Olley which won the 2013 Clarice Beckett Art Prize. Image: Artists of the Valley.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] I [/dropcap]n 2012, Collin bought the former CFA shed at nearby Sandford and opened his own studio, the Sandford Red Door Gallery, named for the fire-engine red door that came with the building.
“I love this gallery, I just love the space. It is an incredibly spiritual place for me, where I am doing what I love,” he says, “it is also a place I share with other artists, through classes, galleries and all sorts of functions.”
One of Collin’s great inspirations is the late Margaret Olley, not only for her exceptional art, but her eccentric personality and he has produced several portraits of the artist, including one that took out the 2013 Clarice Beckett Art Award in Casterton (see separate story on the 2015 Clarice Beckett Art Award here). Collin plans to complete a collection of 12 “Olley’s”, as he calls them.
“When I first studied portraiture, I hated it, hated it, hated it and then I did a big work of Margaret Olley and I don’t know, something shifted,” he says.
The Clarice Beckett is one of several art prizes Collin has won in recent years, including the overall prize for the 2015 South-East Art Society’s Open Art Award, held at the Riddoch Gallery in Mt Gambier, for his landscape depicting a typical Casterton scene during the dog trials.
“My subjects keep changing and nobody is ever quite sure what I am going to do next, and sometimes neither am I,” Collin says, laughing.
One of Collin’s series of portraits of Margaret Olley who he regards as an inspiration, as much for her eccentricities as her talent. Image: Collin Tenney.
[box]The Sandford Red Door Gallery is at 6027 Portland-Casterton Rd, Casterton and is open Sundays, but please call (03) 5581 2559 to confirm. You can also find more examples of Collin’s work on the South West ArtAtlas here. Entries for the 2015 Clarice Beckett Art Award close on May 22. You can find full details in our story here.[/box]
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The Yarra, Sunset, painting, oil on board, 30.5 x 35.5 cm, by Clarice Beckett. Image: Menzies Art Brands.
[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] I [/dropcap]t is a little known, but fascinating fact about South-West Victoria that one of Australia’s most inspiring early women artists, Clarice Beckett, was born in the town of Casterton.
The picturesque sheep-and-wool town, west of Hamilton, includes a small, but robust art collective called Artists of the Valley who each year celebrate the town’s most famous artist with an art prize.
The Clarice Beckett Award, with a main prize of $500, will be announced during the Queen’s Birthday long weekend (June 7-8) when the entries for this year’s competition will go on display at the Casterton Bowling Club.
Artists of the Valley promotions officer Jenn White said the group “stumbled across” the connection between Clarice and Casterton several years ago and, in 2012, decided to honour her legacy through its annual art prize.
A young and very beautiful Clarice Beckett at the age of 18. Image supplied by Artists of the Valley.
[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] C [/dropcap]larice was born in the town on 21 March, 1887, to a bank manager, Joseph Beckett, and his wife, Elizabeth, both of whom Clarice would spend most of her adult life caring for after they retired to Melbourne.
It appears Clarice spent only her earliest years in Casterton, having been sent to boarding school in Ballarat and, later, moving to Melbourne where she took drawing lessons at the Melbourne Gallery School under the guidance of Frederick McCubbin and Max Meldrum.
Despite the indifference to women artists at the time, Clarice was determined and prolific and, according to biographers, used every opportunity she could to paint. She worked mostly outdoors, in all kinds of weather, and this is reflected in her misty, shadowy renderings of every day scenes such as a bend in a road, or a house in the distance.
While Clarice held exhibitions with her fellow students at the Melbourne Gallery School, very few of her works sold during her lifetime and it was only many years after her death, at the age of 48, that her work was “rediscovered” and celebrated for its excellence.
“I actually feel very sad when I think about Clarice,” Jenn said, “because most of her work ended up in a shed and she really didn’t get much of a go.”
Clarice painting at Mount Macedon. Image supplied by Artists of the Valley.
[dropcap style=”color: #a5cecd;”] J [/dropcap]enn, who is a printmaker and one of a growing number of artists based in the tiny town of Sandford, said the Clarice Beckett Award was an opportunity to celebrate South-West talent.
“Last year, the overall winner was one of our (Artists of the Valley) members – Collin Tenney – which was wonderful,” she said.
The competition is open to anyone, using any medium, with prizes for each of the categories that include works on paper, oils, watercolour and 3D.
The exhibition also co-oincides with the annual Casterton kelpie muster, so Artists of the Valley are hoping for great weather and a bumper crowd.
Postscript:This year’s major prize for the exhibition was awarded to Vida Pearson for her hand-coloured, lino cut titled “Large Fruited Mallee”. Vida, from Haddon, near Ballarat, also won first prize in the Works on Paper section, for a hand-coloured lino cut called “Waratah”. You can find out more about Vida on her website here.
Collin Tenney, winner of the 2013 Clarice Beckett Award, with his portrait of Australian artist Margaret Olley.
[box type=”bio”] The Clarice Beckett Art Award exhibition will be held on Saturday June 7 and Sunday June 8 at the Casterton Bowling Club, Murray St, Casterton. You can read more about Clarice on the Artists of the Valley websitehere. [/box]
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