We are in the last 4 days now of my exhibition. Saturday is the final day and I’ll be in the gallery from about 1, so please come by and say hello and have a look. Today’s images are portraits, above is “Chris 2″. Poor Chris suffered for my art, he was dusted in charcoal for this image which took 3 days to remove.
Below is “Matteo 2″. Talcum powder is much easier to remove apparently!
Yesterday I was in the gallery for a couple of hours and have now sold three framed images and two unframed. I’m really pleased with how it’s going. The images I’m posting today are “Miguel 1″ (above) and “Matteo 3″ (below). This shot of Matteo is the image that the lucky draw prize winner chose on opening night.
As I said last night, I’m going to be posting the images from the exhibition. Last night I posted my favourite and tonight I bring you the two that sold. “Andy 1″ is my straight stripper friend that I have shot a few times now wrapped in a stretch black netting fabric. I sold one framed and one unframed copy of that one. I also sold a framed copy of “Matteo 1″. Some friends bought it because they thought it looked like a tasty treat dusted in icing sugar, so they are going to hang it next to their kitchen.
Last night’s opening of “Shrouded” couldn’t have gone better. The room was full of people I cared about there to support me, some people I didn’t know, and a whole bunch of really good positive vibes. The photos have had an overwhelmingly positive response and I even sold 3 images on opening night!
One aspect of hosting an event like this is that all your friends come to support you, but you barely get to say hello, let alone chat properly. I was nervous at the start, and when I had to speak but the night went really smoothly. The weather down here in Australia is pretty wild at the moment. North Queensland is about to be hit by one of the worst cyclones on record, but Sydney is sweltering in soaring temperatures, so the gallery was really warm, but everyone was having a great time.
Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting images from the exhibition, like the one above. They are all available for sale. There is one framed copy and four unframed available, so if you can afford it and feel so inclined when you see one you like, let me know. The one above is “Jason” and it’s my favourite. I am really happy with all of them, but through the process of shooting the exhibition, I worked through some of the themes I was trying to express, and this one is the most optimistic within the theme.
Eleven months ago I committed to having an exhibition that I’ve been talking about for years. That day has arrived. I’ve just finished hanging the images on the walls. There are a few little bits and pieces to be done for the opening night and then I will have a firm grip on a glass of champagne to calm the nerves.
Thank you to everyone for the huge amount of support that you have all shown me. It’s all very much appreciated and humbling. Whatever comes of having an exhibition, I’m exceptionally glad I’ve done it and plan on doing more.
The alcohol is all ordered, the aussieBum clad barmen are organised and there’s not a lot left to do. This time next Tuesday I will be a nervous wreck but very excited at the same time.
A couple of readers have commented that they are hoping to come along on opening night. Unfortunately due to the size restrictions of the gallery I have to keep the opening night by invitation. It’s just not a big gallery space. I really appreciate the support of you all and would love you to come along to see the exhibition.
I will be at the gallery on both of the Saturday’s that the exhibition is running. It is open from 11am – 4pm on Saturdays and I will be there from around 1.30 if you’d like to come along and chat.
Yesterday I was in melt-down mode when my expected delivery of the prints for my exhibition didn’t arrive. After many frantic calls and hours of waiting to hear from the courier company I was informed that they were stuck in Brisbane which was about to go underwater. While trying not to over react and imagine blank walls at the exhibition, I tried to come up with contingency plans.
Thankfully this morning the courier company called with the news that they’d got my packages on a flight out of Brisbane last night and sure enough, at 11am the packages arrived on my doorstep. I did have to chase the courier around the building after the poor guy couldn’t get the lift to stop at my floor for some reason, but the prints are here. All I have to do is put my signature on them and take them to the framers.
20 days to go!
2010 hasn’t been the year I was hoping for in a lot of ways but has far exceeded expectations in other ways. Friends have had a great year, other friends have had and awful year. What ever you are all up to over the next few days for Christmas or what ever holiday you might celebrate, do it with an open heart and a big smile.
I’m heading down to my parents place for a few nights in a couple of hours. There will be family time, family friends, and then some old and very dear friends. I’m looking forward to it. I have 3 weeks off work and plan on being naked on the beach, naked camping and just lazing around a lot.
All the very best from me to you with a huge thank you for all the support, feedback and generous spirit you’ve all shown me! I hope Santa is kind to you all. See you in a few days!
lots of love
Brenton x
In just over 6 weeks time, my first exhibition will open and the combination of nerves and excitement is a pretty interesting one. I’m sure any artist or performer knows the feeling when they are about to put their work out there publicly for the first time. Will it be successful? Will people like it or hate it? The images are all at the printers now.
I’ve still got a lot of organising to do. I’d love to find a booze sponsor to cover the wine/champagne for the opening night. I need to find people to serve drinks and a lot of other things. AussieBum have come on board as a sponsor and covered my costs for printing and framing. Without them I’m not sure I could have made it happen. A huge thank you to Sean and his amazing team.
There have been a few very restless nights’ sleep but in general I’m confident and excited.
Here we are at Monday once again. I’ve had a long day at work after waking up dreaming and stressing about the exhibition then problems on a job at work but somehow, I’m still smiling. It’s actually been a good day. I had a laugh with the ladies in the cafe near work, I resolved a couple of things with the exhibition, it was beautiful weather and lots of little bits and pieces went right. So life is good.
Without sounding all preachy and “the Secret” on your arses, I do believe there is something to be said for positive thinking. It might not turn your life around, but it helps how you feel about things that happen.
Today I dropped 12 images off to be printed for the exhibition. I’ve got two more shoots this weekend and want to get 3 more images printed so that I have 15 to show. This shot above is a mate of mine, Jason who was kind enough to tolerate being painted black from the chest up. No, this shot isn’t in the exhibition but another one from this shoot is going in and I’m really happy with it. In 8 weeks today I will be at the opening night of the exhibition!
Back at the start of the year I promised I was going to look for the silver lining in things and Mine the Clouds for silver. Well I am the first to admit that I haven’t done very well at that but I’m turning it around. I’ve been keeping it in my thoughts as much as possible and it’s working. So Mondays are, along with other posts, going to be where I post the stuff that is currently making me happy.
Work isn’t getting to me as much and I try and find something to make me smile, even the little things, most days. There is a Jacaranda tree right near work that has carpeted the outdoor area it’s in, with purple flowers that remind me of when I was a kid.
This afternoon I may have been stuck in the office but it was warm and sunny outside which always cheers me up. A very very dear friend of mine has had a couple of rough years and on top of other dramas recently lost her mother, but this week she was down in Melbourne seeing U2 perform live. She’s a huge fan and they even played her all time favourite song which is something they don’t do live very often.
I’m getting stressed about the looming exhibition opening date and whether everything will be in place in time, but then I’m reminding myself how much I’m also enjoying the shooting and creative process. It’s all good!
Don’t you love it when a weekend just unfolds nicely? Friday night I had a mate come over that I hadn’t seen in ages which was lovely. Saturday morning I got up and in the morning I photographed two guys at once for my exhibition which was a bit daunting. I’ve never shot two at once but it was relatively successful and a good warm up for shooting 7 guys at once next weekend. That was followed by picking up some stuff for another photo shoot and paying the rest of the fee for the gallery.
Last night was a friend’s birthday drinks which was lots of fun and involved me developing a big crush on the birthday girl’s brother. Seriously hot. Sunday morning this morning and I woke up a tiny bit dusty from the beers last night but got organised and headed to the beach for several hours of nude bliss with friends in the sun. Love it.
What could make the weekend better? Not one but TWO new Kylie videos. One for her duet with Taio Cruz and her new solo single, Better Than Today. Enjoy.
We’ve heard of people googling themselves but do you think Urban Dictionarying yourself will take off? A friend had done it and posted the results, or part of them on facebook so I thought I’d go do it too. Given that it’s totally random and like Wikipedia, anyone can post stuff it’s a bit hit and miss but there are aspects that are spot on.
Definition 1: n. A great guy that’s funny. Knows karate and has a black belt. But can’t do a back flip. Known to play Xbox a lot. Good at playing COD4.
Definition 2: A cute, gassy man. attracts many girls. known for his sense of humor and charm. Intelligent but sometimes doesn’t use it. Normally very horny but will wait patiently if he loves you. Can eat you out of house and home if you let him.
Definition 3: Brentons are usually very very gay. They will age as old as 16 without reaching puberty, love ghostbusters, are generally despised by many and will for ever be picked on by everyone in his group. Also, has a rather undersized penis. Likes to drink on the odd occasion. Farting is a very common thing to occur in the presence of a Brenton.
Clearly I’m not going to agree with all of them, but they did make me laugh.
Well this week Aussielicious passed a fairly decent milestone. Aussielicious has turned 5. I knew it was coming up and had thought about doing something special to mark the occasion even though I had no idea what, but then life kinda kept me busy and I didn’t get to it.
I’ve posted nearly 3,500 posts over the two incarnations of the blogs and some would say (and have said) that I have nothing interesting to say. In that time I have had just shy of 7 million hits which is just astounding. I never thought anyone would stumble across my little blog. Then I posted photos of myself nude on the steps of the opera house and someone sent the link to Fleshbot and that day I had 17,000 hits in one day.
Through this blog I’ve met some amazing people, had some amazing opportunities, lots of fun and great times. There has been bits of hating from time to time but overall the response to my corner of the blog world has been tremendous. Thanks everyone.
In general I think blogging is becoming less popular, and people reading blogs has dropped as our attention spans are reduced to 140 characters at a time through twitter and now just pictures through tumbler. Having said that, I’m going to keep blogging for as long as the motivation is there and it’s still there. Thank you everyone for dropping by.
