Mike Greenwood - an Aussie export to Kiwiland

"I left school at 15 to play footy for Western Suburbs leagues club , started work at 32 and worked for myself as a fencing contractor , later making outdoor furniture , till I retired
was interested in painting so when I retired I just started painting, as like in all my other pursuits in life , did it with no training or teaching whatsoever

work in oils , and am now going to concentrate on pet and people portraits , I'm actually selling all I can do, and am getting lots of inquiries

I'm happy about that , and I suppose its not bad for an uneducated old bloke"

Mike G

See his works and read his fascinating story here:

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w185/Ocker1/paintings/?action=view&current=DSC00150.jpg

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w185/Ocker1/paintings/?action=view&current=DSC00151.jpg

Brandon Ross - Lord Masque

Apostles of Black sunshine

Lord Masque (Brandon Ross) is a Philadelphia area musician and outsider artist. He is a founding member/bass guitarist of the avant/progressive rock band the RedMasque and has composed two rune tone songs for the website of Inventor Karl Welz. He as been creating numerous artworks on and off since 2000 and recently had anoriginal oil pastel drawing “Quizaxx” featured in a juried exhibition at theManayunk art center.
“Always having an interest in art, metaphysics, and creating intuitively, I began doing several drawings, and then paintings, and oil pastels, and noticed a repeating theme-mostly strange figures surrounded by or connecting to geometric shapes, stryations, and patterns that seem to part of each other. These pictures invoke something deep in the psyche, and are eerily familiar in many ways. I believe what is depicted is a truer more pure reality and that we may be in the “canvas” of these beings.
I think the ultimate goal for a person should be to achieve personal and spiritual freedom and live life on your own terms and if somehow“drawing” things out can go towards achieving these ends then intuitive art especially what exists on the “outside” is a highly valuable resource.
Red bubble page:http://www.redbubble.com/people/lordmasque
band website:www.theredmasque.com
blog:http://lordmasque.blogspot.com/

Nicolle Cheung - a heart left behind

Growing up, I’ve always leaned towards the art side of school. Art has always been that little thingamabob, living in the back of my head. I’ve never been taught or trained to produce the drawings that I do and I’ve never actually thought that my drawings could be worth anything to anyone, or even be considered art. Drawing used to be just a hobby of mine, something for me to do when I had nothing else to do but I started taking my art more seriously after I finished high school; which is where I found myself being hit with the cruel reality of life. The drawings I’ve created since then, are mostly personal pieces, that are basically, just my emotions in 2D form. I find myself putting too much time and effort into one piece, that often, by the end of it all, I resent it, but then someone will come along and point something out that I’ve not noticed and it’ll make me feel otherwise. I tend to only use pencils and fine liners for my drawings but if you come across one of my coloured drawings, you’ll know they’ve been worked on especially more than the others because I personally dislike having to use colour on my drawings, I would avoid colour if I could, but sometimes it just makes that tiny bit of difference.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/heartleftbehind

Mel Kelly - Recyclopath

"My practice involves creating wearable and sculptural textile creations using primarily recycled and discarded materials. Clothing made from recycling appeals to me as an anarchistic antidote to Western consumption. I often use these creations in performance.

As an Outsider, a person who suffers from mental illness I have always felt more eccentric than society allows. I find it most difficult to relate to what our society dictates as to how women should behave. My practice is subversive in that I play with pre existing gender codes. Expressing myself publicly in a transformist way is a liberating impulse.

Modifications through clothing, embellishment and self adornment has always been essential to my existence. My practice of textile and wearable art is also a respectful homage to the generations of craftswomen before me, who created out of necessity. I create because it is the only thing that seems to keep my mind
more...balanced. My works tell personal stories of my sexuality, my strange life, my complex psyche. It is my journey of being unique in a world full of social institutions that try to control us all.

Performance has recently developed as part of my practice and it is a visceral response to the times we live in as well as the fact that my art/life cannot be separated. During spoken-word performances I feel as though I can add complexity and depth to my art creations."

Mel Kelly

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring" - Marilyn Monroe
"Everything is such a sort of stoned state... I walk around with a bunch of violets in my hand and a sledgehammer and a grain of sand in my head. I am happy." - Brett Whiteley

http://www.myspace.com/decorerpunkgirl