From 2022 + I have been involved with a self driven project- the drawing and studying of sea wrack and sea weed in Cowaramup Bay, South West WA.
Artist Statement for Paper Works, a group show.
'You can always find a piece of paper and something to draw with wherever you are. I like papers transportability, it’s bare minimal requirements- eyes/hands/implement and I’ve used oil crayons for over 25 years. They are easy to buy, quick, colourful, you can execute a line or block of colour . I first came to using them whilst I was living in a small fishing village in the Philippines and I was in the local shops looking for art supplies.
The drawings in ‘Paper Works’ have been completed after morning swims from memory when I’m back in the studio. They are abstractions of the act of swimming. The portrayal of water is a formal problem that I am always tackling in someway. I definitely see swimming and drawing as being one and the same.'
Exhibition runs from all of April 2026.
Gallery THS is a new artist run initiative in Margaret River. Here's me on duty in the gallery space reading.... Find the space @gallery_ths on insta.
A sample of my Vector drawings from 2024.
Tools – Leica Dlux7/Adobe Fresco/Apple Pencil/ Illustrator and initial seawrack studies in pencil on paper.
In 2024 I spent 8 months in the Stables studio space at The Farm in Margaret River. My sole aim was to begin painting again after a hiatus of almost a decade. I chose quick tactile accessible materials and worked from my collection of sea wrack studies and photographs that I have been collating since 2022.
The language of the weather and daily observations are recorded on the works, details such as swell size, swell direction and/or lessons.
Duende
LessonVIII_detail_oilonpaper_jpbarr2024.
quick iPhone photos
The Farm, Margaret River
Wadandi Boodja
In 2024 I will be working as a Studio Artist on The Farm. My focus during this time is to continue and expand on my seaweed and sea wrack drawing studies that I began in late 2021. Much gratitude to The Farm for having me.
Jenny Potts-Barr 