MICHELLE CONNOLLY ART

My First Art Book ..

2012-01-16T19:42:00.000-08:00

One of my intentions for the new year is to reach a wider audience with my work so along with updating my website I decided to create and order a Blurb book of some of my recent paintings and assembled artworks .. check it out Michelle Connolly's Art

Website Work

2012-01-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

I've been working on redesigning my website http://www.michelleconnollyart.com

Its taking time to work out the layout and design using a WordPress theme and show plug-ins.

A productive 2011 ..

2011-12-13T17:31:00.000-08:00

This year has been full of creative ventures .. I had a solo show at 621N4th Gallery in February where I sold 35 works.

I displayed work in several group shows in Wilmington art spaces. I was in a small group show in Blue Hills Maine, The Leighton Gallery in July and sold several works.

After a trip back to Australia this summer I came back to my studio at ACME ART Studios and had an open studio for The Connolly Characters show.

I designed the Monster Characters which are on the new Onward Soldiers record cover (to be released in early 2012).

I was invited to Bald Head Island NO Boundaries 2011 art colony, 2 weeks of painting and art on the island (exhibition to be held 27th January 2012 at ACME Art Studios).

2012 is also looking to be a busy year .. time to update and renew my old website .. will keep you all posted on that front. March 2012 I will be hosting an art exhibition of my recent Assembled Mixed Media Characters along with artworks by Wilmington artists Elizabeth Darrow and Fritzi Huber. April - Wax On, Wax Off joint exhibition with Colleen Ringrose...

June - Spain, NOJA art colony for two weeks ,.. never a dull moment .. working hard and starting to see some promising results .. thanks to all my family and friends for your support and encouragement in my career as an artist.

Clay and Glass .. in the Countryside ..

2011-10-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was lucky to take time out and go to the countryside with my friend Vicky Smith. Vicky is a clay artist and has a cabin house with her husband Vince in the country with a wood fire kiln.

We play with rolled out clay and coloured glass pieces that had been given to me by my friend Bill Overman. Its one big experiment as Vicky hasn't worked with glass and clay before so we are not sure how our creations will turn out but it was a fun time away.

We went for walks in cotton fields and found some great scrap metal which we dragged from the bushes and loaded in Vince's red tractor. More material to play with and some great textures for future assembled works. The best find for me was a rusty metal USA Star with old rope attached to it! One man's trash is another's treasure ...

Seeing the cotton fields was a wonderful experience, and also saw them being harvested. The rusty sheet metal barns on the drive to and from the cabin were also a treat to my eye .. as I'm drawn to the beauty in the patchwork of rusty metal panels.

Vicky's cabin house was made by Vince out of reclaimed old wood from old barns and also from wood cut from trees in their land .. the look, feel, smell of the wood was wonderful and I loved sitting on their back screened in porch and watching the light change from late afternoon to night .. nature sure is beautiful!

Here are some photos I took of my time with Vicky

Like a Kid in A Candy Shop ...

2011-09-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

That's how I describe myself when I discover some new material or way with my art .. like a kid in a candy shop .. over excited and raring to go! I recently bought myself a Rivet tool and have been experimenting with it on a number of new works .. assembled faces .. more Connolly Characters are emerging from my studio at ACME Art Studios

I am working small .. 12x12", 9"x12" that sort of size and I have been picking through my found material .. more and more now friends are passing their odds and ends to me as they know I am making things out of found objects .. one friend Lin Summers has given me some wonderful rusty metal bits and great broken ceramics and bits of glass .. she is a collector of beautiful objects too ( beauty being in the eye of the beholder! .. I see beauty in discarded objects and love going for walks now as often find the best things on the footpath)

I have uploaded some of my Riveted Faces to an album and will share it here for a slide show of the works

Connolly Characters - show open til 17th Sep 2011

2011-09-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

Celebrating a successful show - Connolly Characters - on display at ACME Art Studios .. a fun evening with art and friends. Rebecca Busch has written some wonderful 'quirky' stories on several of my character works. We are talking now about working on a book together. Rebecca was at the opening Friday night and read these stories out to crowd, there was a great response. I am happy that this collaboration is taking place.

The show of my work will be on display at ACME Art Studios, 711 Nth 5th Avenue until 17th September so for local folk in NC you can contact me for hours when the studio will be open.

I was delighted to sell 12 works at the opening and received a great response.

The next phase is for me to find galleries out of town who respond well to the work and are willing to represent me and my creations.

In the meantime I have taken these photographs of the exhibition to share online

Thanks to all my family and friends for their support .. look forward to the next body of work and many more exhibitions to come .. onward!

Always loved to Doodle .. here are some of my Doodle Buddy experiments on my iPAD..

2011-08-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

Whilst away in Australia I missed by studio .. being able to paint and make art but I was happy to play with Doodle Buddy application on my iPAD to create art .. playing with colour .. here are some of the works ..

they are studies for future works and thinking of getting some of these printed LARGE to see how they work

Connolly Characters Show Sep 2 2011

2011-08-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

I am inspired by Characters .. those people or creatures that have that little something extra to offer .. that make you stop and engage .. whether by how they look or how they move, how they interact, how they sound, their energy, charisma, mystique, enigma, something that draws you in and wants you to hang out more .. thats how I see the artworks that have emerged from my studio .. faces of people and animals .. alien or familiar to the viewer, they all have their story to tell depending on who is watching ..

Come see for yourself, meet the Connolly Characters at my studio .. open studio Friday 2nd September 6-9pm at ACME Art Studios, 711 Nth 5th Ave, Wilmington, NC 28401 or email me by appointment at marsconnolly@gmail.com

Starring:- Royale, Craftsman, Margaret, Yard Boy, Pandora and many more ..

Inspired by Australian Aboriginal Art

2011-08-17T02:16:00.000-07:00

I have been travelling in Australia, visiting friends in Sydney our old home town and now in Perth over in Western Australia with my parents. During our visit down under we have been to several art galleries and art museums and have seen a variety of Australian Aboriginal Art, most recently we saw a great exhibition at the WA Gallery

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS ART AWARDS

took time in a great gallery in Fremantle

J A P I N G K A G A L L E R Y

and bought some wonderful books on Aboriginal artwork. I am excited about learning more about these people their artwork and culture. I also discovered a documentary series which was filmed last year by Hetti Perkins on ABC TV called Art and Soul which follows the way of Australian Aboriginal artists .. their history the traditions of painting etc which I was able to watch here on my Dad's PC I wasn't able to get it to work on my MAC but the link for the PC is http://www.abc.net.au/arts/artandsoul/about/default.htm

I would love to work out in the landscape with some of these artists someday and have been soaking up the spirit of their work which I believe to be pure and alive and has a sense of people and place.

Characters Emerging

2011-07-15T04:40:00.000-07:00

When I'm in my studio I allow myself to dream, to play with materials, its a constant stream of ideas and experiments and often faces emerge from the process .. whether its a spill of ink on the paper or some rusty sheet metal and found objects I enjoy creating the characters which hang on my walls .. they seem to be related in some way. To those that know me I am an extravert, and enjoy people, so I'd like to invite you all to visit me at my studio at ACME Art Studios, located at 711 Nth 5th Ave, Wilmington, NC 28401 and to meet the Connolly Characters that hang on my walls some of which will be for sale. In the meantime if you like the work then connect with me on Facebook and visit my facebook page Michelle Connolly Art

Open Studio at Michelle's Studio is FRIDAY 2nd September 6-9pm

Exhibition at Leighton Gallery

2011-07-09T19:37:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow evening, Sunday 10 July, 15 Connolly artworks will be part of a small group exhibition at Leighton Gallery, Blue Hills, Maine Check out the work by myself and also showing work by artists William Irvine, Libby Mitchell, Lynn Wessel and Diane Wiencke at http://leightongallery.com/pgs/schedule.shtml

2011-07-09T19:37:00.001-07:00

Connolly Characters ..

2011-07-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

Talked with a preschool class this morning .. explaining my work and how I enjoy working with found objects .. that old rusty bits which I just dug up from a friend's garden are like found treasure to me. I see potential in the shapes and colours of scrap metal, odd finds like buttons, feathers, shells etc. And since a child I see faces in a lot of the material I assemble .. I suppose being an extravert its not surprising that most of my work is figurative .. I enjoy the Character of the piece and for the last few years have been making artworks .. paintings, prints, drawings, assembled works of people and creatures .. they are the Connolly Characters that I post daily on facebook and that live in my studio and in galleries where I exhibit and then there are those that now live in private collections across the world .. some in England, others made it to Australia but most of them are here with me in Wilmington NC.

Recent works and inspiration .

2011-06-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/m/viewer?hl=en&source=mog&hl=en&gl=au&fgl=true&pli=1#album/marsconnolly/5589543466590932481

WIRE - Solo Exhibition of works by Michael Van Hout

2011-06-13T18:03:00.001-07:00

My friend and fellow ACME Artist, Michael Van Hout has an opening reception this Friday 17 June 6-9pm at ACME Art Studios .. not to be missed!

ACME ART STUDIOS - Check out the latest ..

2011-06-13T17:59:00.001-07:00

ACME Art Studios has a new website .. check it out for the latest happenings -

http://acme-art-studios.com

ACME Art Studios .. Film by Gary Breece

2011-06-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

Today ACME Artists are talking about the brilliance of Breece .. Gary Breece has made a film on ACME Art Studios and the artists there .. he captured the magic of the place and people and we are very happy that he is one of the ACME artists .. Check it out at

http://www.publicaddress.tv/work/off-route-acme-art-studios/

Remembering Judith Leighton

2011-04-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

Remembering Judith Leighton .. I met Judith Leighton last year at her gallery in Blue Hills Maine, she was a brilliant artist and gallery owner .. sadly she has died and I wanted to write this entry in rememberance of a lady I knew for a very short time but who inspired me with her work and work ethic .. as my son Aidan said about the Leighton Gallery .. ' I like everything in here Mommy' .. and he has a keen eye for art too .. I am very happy that I did meet Judith and then go on to have a correspondence with her about my work, she was very real and approachable and supportive to me. I think that her gallery is a great example of how a gallery should be http://www.leightongallery.com/ artwork is well presented, well spaced, well lit, works that the gallery loves to represent .. authentic and good.

I only knew Judith a short while and really warmed to her .. wonder how the other artists are feeling now .. I know I feel honored to have met her and worked with her for a short time.

Heaps of art: ACME Art’s “Spring Show” opens Friday

2011-04-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

Justin Lacy has written about this month's group show at ACME on Star News Blog - Heaps of Art: ACME Art's Spring Show opens Friday .. there are 20 artists at ACME Art Studios so a lot of variety in styles and mediums .. here is what Justin writes:-

Heaps of art: ACME Art’s “Spring Show” opens Friday

by Justin Lacy

From what I can tell, ACME Art Studios is sorta like a big processing plant for art – insert paper, paint, pianos, scrap metal, outdated appliances and a few hundred yards of canvas and just sit back and wait to see what comes out.

For this month’s Fourth Friday Gallery Night, ACME Art Studios is throwing an opening reception for its “Spring Show” –a warehouse-sized serving of various mediums showcasing the diversity and creativity within the studio’s core residents.

Michelle Connolly will be showcasing some her new “Assembled Characters” – colorful and quirky human and animal faces (“Tin Dog” pictured), composed of rusty metal, paint and other found objects.

Meredith Connelly (no relation) is going to hang one of her light installations, spindly works that luminously dangle and accent the tone of their surrounding space. You may have seen her rhythmically-blinking piece at the Whiskey, red and twisting and twirling over everyone’s heads, made of 150 feet of tube lighting and 9000 coffee filters.

Also on display will be new paintings and large-scale drawings by Pam Toll, copper work by Dumay Gorham (pictured), sculpture by Marshall Milton and a new series of paintings by MJ Cunningham, as well as works by ACME newcomers Travis Seymour and Gary Breece. Color photography from Breece’s “Off Route” series will be up, alienating scenes from off-the-beaten-path rural North Carolina (pictured top and below).

Opening reception is 6-9 p.m. April 22 at ACME Art Studios, 711 N. 5^th Ave.

The show hangs through May.

ACME Spring Show 2011

2011-04-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

ACME Art Studios is where I work .. I am there most days in my studio, painting, drawing, building and creating .. never a dull moment.. its an interesting place to work and I am always grateful that this old warehouse art studio workplace exists.

Every 4th Friday we have gallery night .. with a show on display in the gallery area and open studios for people to come visit us and our work. There are 20 ACME Artists .. painters, photographers, film makers, jewelers, sculptors and designers .. a large variety of work on display.

This Friday is Good Friday and also our gallery night and this month there is a group show for everyone to see .. I invite all in Wilmington to come see what ACME is all about.

Enjoy!

As well as this blog I post images of my work on my facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/MichelleConnollyArt

Inviting you to my art show ..

2011-01-19T19:43:00.000-08:00

You are cordially invited to a special showing
of artworks by Michelle Connolly at 621N4TH
on February 4th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Moving to Wilmington NC from Sydney Australia in 2007 has been a blessing in disguise for Michelle Connolly -- she is able to work full time as an artist in her studio at ACME Art Studios. She goes to work with a constant stream of ideas and creative energy and creates a variety of artwork -- paintings, drawings, and prints. Probably best known for works of the Emu bird, she explores various subjects for her paintings. Connolly characters are often formed from other wild creatures such as goats, rabbits, dingos, and birds. Recent work includes portraits of friends she has made in Wilmington. She enjoys working in oil paint but also likes to explore other materials, enjoying texture in her paintings. The subject is irrelevant. Whether an animal, a bird, a person, or a landscape, Connolly brings her unique interpretation to the work. The subject is just a point of departure for the artwork, a starting point for the experiment to begin.

On display through February

621N4TH Gallery
621 North 4th Street
Wilmington, NC 28402
(910) 520-3325
621n4th.com

Hours:
1 until 5 pm
Monday through Thursday
or anytime by appointment

Solo Show at 621n4th Opening Friday 4 February

2011-01-13T16:43:00.000-08:00

Show time ... am happy to have the opportunity for a solo show at 621n4th gallery here in downtown Wilmington .. opening night is Friday 4 February .. a couple of days after my 40th birthday .. an eventful week with around 100 artworks on show.

Inspired by the OMO Valley People

2011-01-02T19:39:00.000-08:00

Since by friend Wayne McDowell told me about the OMO Valley People in 2009 I have been fascinated by these Ethiopians .. wonderful face and body decoration

I bought books by Hans Silvester ... googled them and embraced their playful way when I got into the paint and mixed media .. these characters are appearing in a lot of my recent works

and tonight I watched a great documentary Faces of A Vanishing World which was on Ovation channel .. check it out

http://www.joeyl.com/facesofavanishingworld/new/

great work .. Joey and his team are an inspiration .. makes me want to go out there and paint from life

Especially like the way Joey takes the photos back to the OMO people .. wonderful

Next show .. Friday February 5th 2011

2010-12-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

Working towards my next show .. solo at 621 Nth4th gallery Wilmington NC 28401

Friday at 621N4th Gallery PAST PRESENT FUTURE

2010-12-08T18:01:00.000-08:00

PAST, PRESENT,FUTURE at 621N4th Gallery,

621 North 4th Street in Downtown Wilmington, NC.

13 paintings of mine will be on display and for sale as part of a group show opening this Friday 10 December 6-10pm

Happy to be showing work in this beautiful gallery space together with fellow artists Elizabeth Darrow, William Fridrich, Diane Hause, Dick Roberts, Colleen Ringrose, Harry Taylor, Saben Kane, Quentin Warshauer, Dennis Walsaak and others.

Thanks to Dennis Walsaak for creating a wonderful gallery to showcase Wilmington artists. I look forward to having a solo show of my work at 621N4th gallery in February .. to coincide with my 40th year ..

2010 has been a productive year for me I love what I do and am enjoying my creative journey

NO Boundaries ..

2010-11-15T18:59:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate to be one of the 21 artists involved in this year's No Boundaries Art Colony

a week working at Bald Head Island was a gift to me, chance to be inspired by the beautiful landscape and colours of nature and get into the new oil paints that I have been working with the last 6 months.

Enjoyed working alongside the many artists there, Time to see artist and photographer Harry Taylor at work on his tin types , Sammie Nicely, folk artist from Atlanta Georgia and Carmen Pombo from Spain .

The gala/exhibition of the work of the 21 artists will be held Saturday 20th November at ACME Art Studios 711 Nth 5th Avenue Wilmington NC 28401 USA 6-9pm

Connolly @ Leighton Gallery

2010-09-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today I sent some work to Leighton Gallery today.

Leighton gallery is a beautiful gallery in Blue Hills Maine which we recently visited run by artist Judith Leighton, I am excited to have my work in this studio - 'Leighton Gallery of Blue Hill Maine shows strong & playful work by leading contemporary artists. Superb outdoor sculpture garden.'

happy to be branching out to gallerys outside of Wilmington .. getting ready for the Sydney market for when we return to Australia

Time to reflect with friends at Folks Cafe

2010-09-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday mornings at Folks Cafe a time to drink great coffee and chat with friends here in Wilmington North Carolina, time passes by and its been three years here in USA and we are still unsure when we will return to Sydney Australia ..

Still living in the present and trying to focus on my work here and now and lots of great influences

and time chatting this morning with Steve Roberts, poet and actor has reminded me to blog this morning .. thankful for friends here, all encouraging each other in our art

Portraits .. People .. Animals ..

2010-09-13T18:22:00.000-07:00

I have been working from life painting portraits of people here in Wilmington NC, enjoying working from life and documenting these times .. the most interesting painting recently was a painting of Barbara a local African American lady who sits on the bench outside Folks Cafe and greets us as we go inside to drink our morning coffee .. a regular meeting place for me and friends ..painting Barbara has given me a focus on the painting .. she is very calm and has a great face .. I feel like I can get lost in her gaze .. we have become good friends and I have started several paintings of her

Wayne McDowell

2010-08-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

I've met some very cool people here in Wilmington NC .. We moved here from Sydney Australia in April 2007

I think its true what they say that the People make the Place. I still miss my home and friends back in Australia but happy to be living here in Wilmington at this point in my life.

One of the great people I have met is Wayne McDowell, he has helped me a lot in the last year, made me think of my artwork in a different way and encouraged me to take it further .. working from life and painting in oils but more important than that he has made me look at the work in a pure way, got me asking questions on the purpose and direction of the work. Not all of my work is art .. most of it is me learning my craft and then there are times when the art happens..

Recently Wayne suffered a major stroke, thankfully he is making a good recovery from this .. a shock for him all around him. I look forward to the day that he is back painting as know that he has major work still left in him.

Take a look at Wayne's paintings at Chase Gallery, Boston, Woods Gallery in Bald Head Island and Hodges Taylor Gallery in Charlotte

Inspired

2010-08-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

This week I was lucky enough to hear about an opening at UNCW art gallery work by Sammie Nicely

I was inspired by the work that I saw - the wonderful large scale drawings that reminded me of work I have seen in Raw Vision magazine and Assemblage/Mixed Media masks that reminded me of the work that I love in Souls Grown Deep African American Vernacular work.

Yet again I am drawn to this style of folk /outsider art, it appeals to me and my sensibilites

I am happy that Wilmington was hosting this show and hope they get more folk artists to exhibit here

Life ..

2010-08-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

Always been sensitive to my surroundings and people and places that I come into contact with .. I feel lucky to be at a golden time in my life where the people and place that I'm in are rich in heart and soul .. living in North Carolina has been a blessing in disguise .. and I am very thankful for all the wonderful experiences I have had here.

Today me and my boys had a day together .. Folks Cafe .. this is our second home here .. wonderful friends and great meeting place, then ACME Art Studios .. dropped off artwork .. over to Kevin's house .. he'd had some bad luck and missed his flight to LA so had to take a later flight so me and the boys gave him a lift to ILM airport .. but we had time to play in the music studio in his house .. Rory and Aidan had lots of fun playing the drums .. we left Kevin at ILM airport .. Rory wanted to go with him!! A good friend to us now after 3 years in Wilmington ..

We met with Lane and Matt at Courthouse Cafe .. food to fuel us for the adventures in store at the Children's museum .. we spent 2 hours exploring and having a blast playing .. some fighting of course between the wild Connolly brothers ... nothing unusual there!

Then a first piano lesson today with Cindy for Aidan .. he was very excited with that and so was I!

I had time to reflect on some life drawings I did last night at Projekte an art gallery/studio space here in Wilmington and make some plans for future works from life .. I have asked Barbara a local African American lady who sits outside Folks cafe if she minded me painting her so think that is one of many future projects ..

The stream of ideas is non-stop

Happy to chat with my parents in Perth this evening .. God Bless technology is wonderful to see them on Skype, my Dad - Brian Alfred Harber is now retired from a career in signwriting .. now he has started painting in oil .. so we have lots to discuss .. my mother Jean Anita Harber is happy to be heading out for her facial .. ;)

Life is sweet and I am enjoying every minute right now ..

Inspired

2010-08-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to see the Avett Brothers .. incredible night of music .. great energy, inspirational for me from their pure creativity, powerful performance, the crowd was 100% behind them singing along and such positivity, made me realise the power of art.

I want to take that magic in my life and translate it into my visual art.

Southern Culture .. A sense of place .. from Wilmington North Carolina

2010-08-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

Moving to Wilmington North Carolina from Sydney Australia 2007, an interesting contrast in lifestyle ..

I am fascinated by the folk art and music here in the South and how it is influenced by people's passion for religion ..

My friend Wayne McDowell recommended a great BBC Documentary In Search Of The Wrong Eyed Jesus and I'd like to recommend it to friends too its an amazing documentary

In connection with this another friend and artist Fritzi Huber showed me a book she had 'Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 1: African American Vernacular Art'

I was blown away by the beautiful, pure work in this book and so bought both volumes!

So I am on a journey here .. not sure how long we will reside in North Carolina .. before we return to Sydney but am embracing the culture of the South and being inspired by the sense of place .. in my art and in the music I listen to ...

tomorrow evening we head to Myrtle beach to see the Avett Brothers .. wonderful band from NC .. at the House of Blues .. which has some incredible Folk Art on its walls ... Music and Art a great experience ..

But here in Wilmington the music is also an inspiration to us creative folk .. tonight my friends Kevin Rhodes and Sean Thomas Gerard are playing at The Whiskey in their band Onward Soldiers and Holy Ghost Tent Revival ..

Raw Vision ..

2010-08-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

Since moving to Wilmington North Carolina in 2007 I have been researching folk art and outsider art .. I have been inspired by the wonderful work of artists such as Bill Traylor, Karl Mullen, James Castle and more .. some of which have been in an art magazine Raw Vision which I subscribe to..

Being mainly self taught myself I enjoy the pure level of expression and honesty in these works and a conversation I had with a local artist Doug Campbell has me thinking again of this genre of work.

So Raw Vision is a new album of work .. taking works I have produced in the past couple of months I have uploaded only 6 works but I have many more in my studio at ACME Art Studios .. I invite any art lovers inspired by Folk Art or Outsider Art to come take a look .. online or at my studio

The Creative Coalition

2010-07-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

Taking time to work with friends and taking time away from my usual place of work - ACME Art Studios .. a change of scene has been good and I am starting to look more .. ideas are flowing as usual but questioning more and enjoying the time to reflect on my work ..

The next show I'm in is the Creative Coalition at Projekte an artist run gallery space in Wilmington NC .. the grand opening is this Saturday 31 July 2010 6pm-10pm ..

Painting from Life .. Portraits of Friends ..

2010-07-23T02:39:00.001-07:00

My friend and artist Wayne McDowell encouraged me to start painting more from life .. and so we have started painting portraits .. friends sit for an hour in my studio whilst we paint.. for me this is an ongoing exercise I have always been drawn to portrait work.

Working with oils is new for me having worked primarily in acrylic. I am now hooked on the oil - attracted to the richess in colour.

I am learning a lot from the process and loving working from life ..

The Return of the Emus

2010-07-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

Today I collected work from Artfuel gallery here in Wilmington .. it was a successful show and a lot of exposure for the Connolly Emu collection!

So now I am getting reacquainted with my Emu creations .. some of which will stay at home with me Steve and the boys and the others will return to ACME Art Studios for further showing .

I am still fascinated with this bird and what it means to me .. the Australian emblem, mad, humorous, larger than life and interesting character .. lots of characteristics that I can relate to!

the latest works of emus are in oil, I have recently started painting with Williamsburg oil paint and Sennelier Oil pastels and Oil sticks .. this is a good move in my mind I am enjoying the richness of the paint and happy with some of the results .. as usual still learning my way .. a long journey but enjoying every minute of it!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187631&id=561805554

Sketchbook series

2010-07-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

I've always enjoyed sketching and creating in books .. I decided I would take my sketchbook periodically and scan in few favourite pages from each book .. so starting tonight here are the first selections .. there are a lot of sketchbooks to reference and its good for me to revisit these doodles, creations, ideas and drawings .. enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/marsconnolly/Sketchbook?feat=directlink

So I will scan more pages later for you all to see .. maybe I'll get a good enough selection to create something for youtube ,, another idea I have for showing off my work .. shameless self promoter thats me!

I also have been talking to a friend about writing a song .. this is a totally new direction for me but thinking it would be humorous and could be used as part of the promotion front .. so will keep you posted on that..

Projekte - GRAND OPENING GALA RECEPTION ..

2010-07-19T05:32:00.000-07:00

Projekte

art;studio;lounge;gallery

proudly presents

The Creative Coalition

Projekte’s Inaugural Exhibition

participating artists include:

Ben Billingsley, Kate Cathey, Michelle Connolly, MJ Cunningham, Bonnie England, Darren Mulvenna, Abby Spangel Perry, Colleen Ringrose, Dixon Stetler, Pamela Toll and Gayle Tustin

GRAND OPENING GALA RECEPTION

Saturday July 31, 2010

6p-midnight

featuring: classical jazz guitarist MARC SIEGEL and singer/songwriter KLAY MISENHEIMER

523 S 3^rd St;WilmingtonNC;28401

910;763;1197;theprojekte@gmail

New series of paintings entitled 'Archetypes.' at Caffe Phoenix Wednesday 14 July

2010-07-13T03:51:00.000-07:00

New paintings in oil, these paintings are something very new for me and I am pleased to be able to show this work - 24 paintings at the Caffe Phoenix , 35 Nth Front Street, Wilmington NC 28401 . Artist's reception Wednesday 14 July 2010 6-9pm.

Cheers!

Michelle

Puppet Parlour .. ACME Art Studios July 2010

2010-07-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

There was an overwhelming response to the Puppet Parlour show at ACME Art Studios .. an open call to artists to submit work related to the world of puppets .. so we have 45 artists from various areas working in different mediums who will be exhibiting their creations .. Opening Night Saturday 10th July 6-9pm ACME Art Studios, downtown Wilmington, NC.

Fritzi Huber created the Puppet Parlour collage work for the poster.. see attached image .

We are excited about the exhibition .. Puppet performance by Fred Michael, Short Film by Benjamin Simon Belmont and Hope Henderson, Music by My Wonderful Machine, Puppets by Noah Harrell from Bread and Puppet Theatre, Puppets from Beau Brown from Atlanta, Puppets from David Hervey, Gina Gamobony, Karen Crouch, artwork from Elizabeth Darrow, Fritzi Huber, Barbara Scalia, WEndy Kowalski, Assemblage art by Sandra Ihly, Grey Pascal, Meredith Connelly, Michelle Connolly, Abby Spangel Perry, Carolyn Foland, Nina Bays, Allan Swartz, photographs from Arrow Ross, Drawings by Ben Billingsley, Prints by Janette Hopper, sculpture by Gayle Tustin, Steve Brimm and many more ...

For those in Wilmington come see the spectacle of the Puppet Parlour!

As the Puppet Turns ...

2010-06-10T03:31:00.000-07:00

This week Gina Gambony interviewed me for the next big show at ACME which is open call to artists to submit artwork .. check out the interview

To See with the Eyes of a Child ..

2010-05-28T02:20:00.001-07:00

Working in my studio this week .. took time to clear up some of the work that was lying around .. chaos reigns in my space , sometimes this works well .. but it was time to tidy up ..

Whilst at my desk I discovered a drawing my son Aidan had done several weeks back when I was working on the Circus themed prints ..his own Circus flying man on unicycle! I was blown away with the beautiful, playful, simple yet clever work he had created .. the first time I had discovered this work but not the first time I had seen the beauty in his creations ..

Made me smile ... here is my 6 year son trying to be like his Mum and then I am trying to be like him and capture the pure innocence of what happens when you allow yourself the freedom to see with the eyes of a child

I have pinned his work to my studio wall .. its brilliant! I would love to do a show with him one day soon

Here is a scanned copy of the work , the original is red on white but I made it sepia on computer

Ink blots .. seeing things

2010-05-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

My friend and artist Fritzi Huber just came over for dinner, always good fun with Fritzi, great chat and exchange of information ..

Started discussing mental illness and connections in my work .. making the most of happy accidents ... allowing the work to reveal images in ink spills and tears in paper etc .. she referred me to the work of Rorschach and his ink blot tests in psychological analysis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_test

interesting connections, and also a great music video for

Gnarls Barkley - Crazy [video] Album Version

I was only thinking today about a crazy ink work I did in 2008 .. Naughty Ned

Creative Exchange at Folks Cafe ..

2010-05-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

Daily ritual .. after dropping both boys at school and daycare I head to Follks cafe ..

Double shot espresso with steamed skimmed milk .. we call it skinny flat white in Sydney ..

The best coffee in Wilmington is at Folks Cafe where they roast the beans and make it as I like it!

But apart from the coffee the past three years I have met some brilliant people and made some good friends here .. and share stories and information at the center table.

This morning was a good exchange of information and great conversations with Laurie Webb and Kevin Rhodes as we talked about promotion of music, art and film .. bouncing ideas off each other.

Most days the exchange is between my good friend and artist Michael Van Hout, and afternoon coffee with Pam Toll, Abbey Spangle Perry, Dixon Stetler .. the list is long and I realise that I should write more about these great folks as I wont always be living in Wilmington and when I return to Australia I would like to look back and remember these times with good friends in my favourite coffee hangout

Show Time .. Puppets and Pets ..

2010-05-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

Taking time to reflect on my work .. slowing down in some ways and speeding up in others

a friend of mine told me a story the other day about an old woman who was telling her grandson .. ';boy life is a not a race .. boy life is a stroll ...' so we were saying how high speed we were in our ambition for our art and how we should slow down ..

so the result was I took time away from the studio and started working at home .. yes somewhat slower but still there is the speed of ideas and of creating images left, right and centre to the point where in a week I am surrounded by new works ..

new work around the theme of Puppets and Pets .. Puppets for the ACME show in July .. open call to artists out there interested in creating works around the theme of the puppet .. endless opportunities ..

and the Bottega show in June for Pets .. fundraiser for animals .. all up my alley as they say .. drawn to characters whether it be people or animals . .. life is a performance and there is a lot to see out there ..

Listening to various music and enjoying some local American musicians ... Kevin Rhodes, Big Al Hall, OnWard Soldiers, Rayland Baxter, L Shape Lot, ... and some old classics .. Tom Waits .. Daniel Johnston .. the life of the musician is of interest to me , performers .. so brave, yet vulnerable, give so much to others and get little back in return ... so it goes

Flock of Emus at Artfuel on display til mid June

2010-05-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

The many characters of the Connolly Emu are on display at Artfuel

http://artfuelinc.com/location/

Key Art Show at Independent Art Company

2010-05-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

Key Art Show this Friday 7th May at Wasi Sabi Warehouse. I have Urban Keyscape on display in this group show ..

Read the article in this week's Encore http://www.encorepub.com/articles.php?i=read&article_id=1136&section_id=3

PUPPETS! PUPPETS! PUPPETS!

2010-04-27T02:35:00.000-07:00

Call for Artists to submit work related to the world of puppets for a puppet themed art show at ACME Art Studios ..

June 16th is the Deadline for submissions .. email jpeg files of work to Michelle Connolly

at marsconnolly@gmail.com the work will be reviewed by a group of ACME Artists

Work chosen will be displayed for an opening reception Saturday, July 10 to run through the end of July. Festival visitors will have a special opportunity to see this exhibit on Saturday afternoon.
Paintings, prints, sculpture, assemblage, photography, mixed media .. any work which relates to the world of puppetry.

ACME Art Studios, 711 Nth 5th Ave Wilmington NC 28401

2010-04-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

MOMART Art Benefity Show in Durham Friday 30 April - Sunday 2 May
Michelle Connolly together with 50 other artists

http://www.justafewfriends.org/

ARTFuel .. A great response to a family of EMUs ..

2010-04-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

Artfuel hosted a group show this weekend, myself, Nicole Nicole, Eli Thompson and Todd Carignan exhibited work. I selected the Emu series covering a number of works created from over the past couple of years, varying scale and media representations of the Emu bird.

Great to meet the other artists and discuss the work. A

A few red dots and a good turn out to this event. The show is on display til June so if you get a chance to see it go take a look

http://artfuelinc.com/news/

Spectacle of the Circus ..

2010-04-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Something about circus life attracts me .. the drama, suspense, the bold personalities, being daring and fanciful ..

The camaraderie of the circus performers sharing a dream and desire to entertain. .. it has captured my imagination and seduced me, I have been working on a large number of paintings, prints and drawings based on circus life and am not tiring of the subject .. I am in love with the energy of the characters and lifestyle ..

Now I am looking back over work that has flowed out of me mostly from a spontaneous reaction to circus images found in books and seen on film and I am struggling with putting my intentions into words and finding suitable titles for the works ..

Even the music I have been listening to .. Tom Waits and Daniel Johnson has a circus/theatrical link in with the work

I have a couple more days to work out my statement and select titles for the prints and drawings to be shown as part of the INK show this weekend ..

Its been one juggling act with moving house and the dramas of family life ..

Currently listening to Table Top Joe

Woman About Town - Encore article

2010-04-14T08:29:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Encore for the Woman About Town article today promoting my shows around Wilmington

http://www.encorepub.com/read_articles.php?r=read&cat_id=37&section_id=3

Life is busy in the studio and at home its one big juggling act ... maybe that's why I feel inspired by the Circus at present!

Anyone out there want to sit for me?

2010-04-12T10:16:00.001-07:00

I'd like to work more from life and have been thinking of asking friends if they'd sit for me whilst I paint them .. but they are not to take offence if the portrait looks nothing like them ..! Its more about me exploring my way as a painter than the finished article ..

Fans out there ?

2010-04-12T02:59:00.000-07:00

Its hard to keep up with the promotion of my work as an artist .. I am known for self promotion and promotion of others. The latest attempt at promotion was to setup a page for myself on facebook to show my work, I will keep this page posted with new artwork - Paintings, Prints, Drawings and Mixed Media and post exhibition dates!

INK ... A group show at ACME Art Studios

2010-04-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

INK .. prints & drawings from artists Michael Van Hout, Pam Toll, Evalyn Boyd Hines and Michelle Connolly

I will be showing a large number of monoprints, collagraphs and some lino prints based on my fascination with Circus life .. its been an interesting journey and I hope you get chance to come see the work.

Michael Van Hout has produced a series of strong images of animals and fish cut from lino

Pam Toll will show some of her narrative drawings

Evalyn Boyd Hines has enjoyed exploring and experimenting with monotypes and prints with abstracted forms and striking colour contrasts.

Monoprints - Circus Inspired

2010-03-03T17:45:00.000-08:00

Inspired by circus performers .. life is one big performance ..

anyway friends Michael and Marlisa gave me a Circus book for christmas which is packed with great old photos of circus life

I found some figures on tight ropes and acrobats flying through the air .. there are some great images which I want to play with in a series

of monoprints and woodcut and lino relief prints

Today I continued with this theme - resulted in several monoprints

These prints and more will be displayed in next months Print show with Van Hout, Pam Toll and Evelyn Hines at ACME

One Woman Show - PattersonBehn

2010-02-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

Friday 26th February - PattersonBehn will be showing my work framed and unframed.

Hope you can join us!

511 1/2 Castle Street, Wilmington, NC 28401 USA

http://www.pattersonbehn.com

http://www.michelleconnollyart.com

No Boundaries Art Show Tonight at ACME Art Studios

2010-01-22T02:48:00.001-08:00

Its been a long time since I last blogged .. sounds like a catholic confession!

Life at home, away and in my studio has been full , lots of new work

I had a great experience working at Bald Head island as part of the 2009 No Boundaries art colony and learnt a lot from my fellow artists there . Tonight we are having an exhibition of our artwork produced whilst at this colony.

19 artists - a great show so if you happen to be in Wilmington - dont miss it!

John Stanton wrote a good article in Star News

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20100119/ARTICLES/100119684/1050?Title=No-Boundaries-art-colony-works-shown-in-downtown-Wilmington

Connolly & McGraw @ Mad Hatter Cafe Durham

2009-11-29T19:15:00.001-08:00

Today I hung the Bunny Series together with some Connolly Characters and a lone Grand Emu at the Mad Hatter Cafe in Durham NC USA. A great cafe to show artwork - they serve good food and a good java too! I am happy with the way my work looks in this space they will reside there until Jan 2010 - hope lots of people get to see and appreciate these works .. a little crazy but well suited for the Mad Hatter me thinks!

Cheryl McGraw's work is a powerful tribute to the struggle of the women of Darfur The Revenge of Darfur Women

http://www.encorepub.com/a_a/blogs/blog1.php/2009/02/04/the-mind-of-a-victim-artist-cheryl-mcgra

Preparing for Bald Head Island No Boundaries

2009-11-04T16:39:00.000-08:00

Life is busy and this week I have been packing art materials in readiness for a 2 week artist retreat in Bald Head Island - with ACME artist friends Pam Toll, Dick Roberts and Michael Van Hout and 16 other artists from NC and UK and Austria

Hoping to get time whilst there to post artwork from all artists as works in progress so watch this space!

New Work

2009-10-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

Exploring new ideas for paintings and collage .. things that inspire me at the moment are theatrical, circus-like, puppetry and childhood inspired, dreams etc .. looking forward to a trip to Bald Head Island for the No Boundaries artist retreat next month - 2 weeks of painting my ideas out ..

Fish Boy

2009-10-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

Inspired by an image I saw of a boy kissing a bird, this long necked warrior boy is looking at the fish he has caught in awe at the wonder of nature

New Website .. Look at Me!

2009-10-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

Thanks to William and Marsha Fridrich for the website here it is, some additional work to be completed to see the larger images and details of the artwork but looks great!

http://www.michelleconnollyart.com/

True to yourself

2009-10-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

Been thinking about my work and how important it has been for me to be true to myself and to do the work that comes from within, to be in the moment and let myself 'go' when I create to not think too hard on it but to let it happen to explore my work through the accidents and to stay playful and honest to myself

Bunny Love .. Connolly Style

2009-09-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

Something about bunnies .. I am using this creature a lot in recent works ...

Art Opening @ Caffe Phoenix - October 7th 2009

2009-09-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

Caffe Phoenix presents artwork by Connolly, Hartmann and Hutchins

Don't miss it!

Opening Reception : Wednesday 7th October 2009

5-9pm

9 South Front Street

Wilmington

28401

www.clairhartmann.com

www.ameliahutchins.com

www.michellecconnolly.blogspot.com

Modelling the Head in Clay

2009-09-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

I just took my first ceramics workshop modelling the head in clay, it was a great class and Debra Fritts the artist running the workshop was very inspiring to me, I felt I learnt a lot.

My head ended up being a warrior boy with goat-like horns! Here is a photo of us all with our modelled heads. Now I have to wait a month to fire it in the kiln

Childhood Inspired Art - Aidan's Inventions

2009-09-07T13:17:00.000-07:00

My son Aidan does some amazing drawings which he calls his 'inventions' they capture my imagination and I have decided to do a series of drawings and collages using his inventions as a starting point.

The Importance of Being Wild - Art Show @ UNCW

2009-08-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

A selection of work that examines

and responds to the issues that

women face and the choices

that women make concerning motherhood.

Artist Reception: Thursday, September 3, 7-8:30 p.m.

Exhibition: August 31-October 2

Warwick Center Lobby Gallery

University of North Carolina Wilmington

One of my mixed media works 'Boy and Clown' will be on show at UNCW

Connolly Characters ..

2009-08-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

These are my people I am exploring my craft making paintings and drawings of people I find in books and in family albums I am not trying to get a true likeness instead I am trying to capture the character in the marks and tones that I use - they are on my studio wall and feels like they are cheering me on in my pursuit of major art!

Rabbit Series

2009-07-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

Breeding like .. these critters are multiplying in my studio I am thinking of showing them somewhere soon if you have ideas of a good location let me know!

ACME 4th Friday ...

2009-07-22T03:27:00.000-07:00

I have been working away in my studio and playing with some new characters for upcoming art shows at Edge of Urge and Cafe Phoenix.

Fourth Friday Gallery night is this week - 24 Jul so hope you can come visit me at my studio

located at ACME Art Studios, 711 Nth 5th Avenue, Wilmington, NC 28401 - cross street Brunswick

Bottega Mini Masterpieces Jul 24- Sep 3 09

2009-07-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

Characters 'Arthur', 'George', 'Alfie' and 'Buster' are a few of the smaller works on canvas and paper which will be showing at Bottega Bar & Art Gallery, N Front St, Wilmington, NC 28401

from 24 Jul - 3 Sep

Photos of my art by Justin Pearson

2009-06-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks Justin for photographing this work ..

What IS ART?

2009-06-25T17:59:00.001-07:00

Had an interesting, though provoking conversation this week with a fellow artist who declared my work wasnt art - not sure what art is or what he actually means but has got me thinking and asking questions which is good .. any thoughts out there?

Thanks Alice

2009-06-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

Met Alice this week - she lives across from the art studio but had never been to visit - she came this week and bought one of the bunny series - 'Take Me I'm Yours' - thanks Alice

Thanks PattersonBehn for introducing Alice to ACME

ACME Art Studios - 26 June 4th Friday 6-9pm

2009-06-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

Come visit us at ACME Friday evening 6-9pm

ACME Art Studios

711 Nth 5th Ave

Wilmington

NC 28411

More Monoprints - Inspired by my boys ..

2009-06-09T18:29:00.000-07:00

Exploring some ideas from photos of my boys - enjoying doing loose contour drawings - monoprints of them

Art Studio - creative chaos!

2009-06-07T09:07:00.001-07:00

New Work

2009-06-07T05:40:00.000-07:00

Playing with character monoprints, reprinted the first lino of 3 Emus, Some crazy rabbit stencil stories and some pastel faces ..

Prints Prints Prints

2009-05-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

A great turn out for the print show and a lot of red dots so we are very happy

and I am still playing with ideas for new works in my studio.

The show will be up through June at ACME Art Studios ...

The Article ..

2009-05-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

Most of us have experience of the rudimentary art form of relief printmaking – memories of potato cut prints and rubbings of old grave stones.

ACME artists and friends Michael Van Hout and Michelle Connolly are exhibiting a collection of their relief block prints and monoprints at ACME Art Studios, opening Saturday 16^th May 6-9pm, also on display Sunday 17^th May 1-4pm and Friday 22 May 6-9pm.

Michelle had the idea of a joint show after seeing some of Van Hout’s early woodcut prints, encouraging him to work again in two dimensional form.

Relief printing is a first choice for Van Hout with its direct physical nature woodcuts have a sculptural element. Michael’s animals subjects; ‘Zebra’, ‘Giraffe’,’Rhino’ focus on the form of the subject, he is interested in its shape and mass, sculptural influence. The single iconic image reminds Van Hout of “circus posters without text, use of bold colour and tone to accentuate the physical form.

Connolly’s contrasting style has more focus on the emotional state of the subject, expressionistic she has an interest in the ‘character of the piece – the clown, the performer, happy, sad, theatrical …’

Connolly likes to play, experiment with styles and techniques and has a spontaneous approach to her work, she is an ideas person. Michelle enjoys the immediacy of monoprints and gets excited by the ‘happy accidents’ which occur with printmaking – ‘every monoprint is a surprise!’ – the ink that runs in ‘A portrait of an Emu’ gave the print an edginess and dramatic impact. Connolly likes the speed of monoprints and found woodcut prints a challenge- she felt restricted by the discipline required for this print process but found the results were worth the struggle, having fun with reliefs ‘the Young Warriors” and “Angry Frank”.

Connolly and Van Hout are both dedicated studio artists who share the same enthusiasm and commitment to their work.

Slideshow of Prints

2009-05-13T03:30:00.000-07:00

Me in my studio with my prints ..

2009-05-13T03:24:00.000-07:00

Tend to work on multiple pieces at a time .. one idea leads to another .. enjoy this process of exploring the possibilities with my work

Prints Prints Prints

2009-05-13T03:12:00.000-07:00

A large number of relief and monoprints have developed over the last couple of months at ACME and I am excited with the endless possibilities that they have presented to me, using some of the relief cuts as collage in the monoprints was an interesting step for me

Jan Allen has bought this print 'Joy' which develped from an abstract monoprint with a young warrior woodcut cut out.. I am still producing, more surprises in store ..

Thanks also to Gina for buying 'Me Clown' print made from relief of wire face plus pastel

Emu monoprint

2009-04-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today's effort at monoprinting .. Emu Head

playing today with Pam Toll's printing press .. some results

I liked the large Emu head

Relief and Monoprint Show - 16 May 6-9pm

2009-03-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

RELIEF & MONOPRINTS

by Michael Van Hout and Michelle Connolly

at ACME Art Studios

711 Nth 5th Avenue, Wilmington, NC 28401

OPENING RECEPTION Sat 16 MAY 6-9PM,

also

Sun 17 May 1-4pm

and

Fri 22 May 6-9pm

Woodcut and Photoshop

2009-03-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

Playing with printmaking - Michael Van Hout and I are having a print show in May at ACME

here is one of my prints with some layers of colour I added in Photoshop

Emus

2009-03-07T15:22:00.000-08:00

My Emu creations have been a big success - something about that crazy bird that people can relate to. I am planning on doing more Emus for the collection and will try hard to update my blog with the recent characters ..

Studio Opening Sat 21 Feb "Fezmouliya"

2009-02-01T17:33:00.000-08:00

To celebrate my new studio Fezmouliya and to show off some of my recent artwork I am having a studio opening on Saturday 21 Feb 6-9pm. I hope you can make it.

ACME Art Studios located at 711 Nth 5th Ave, Wilmington, NC 28401

A little love and tenderness

2009-01-25T14:01:00.000-08:00

Some new small works on paper from last week ..

Natural History Museum

2009-01-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

We all went to London for the day whilst in England for christmas and visited the Natural History Museum - absolutely brilliant! Inspiration for new work! Great to be there with our friends the O'Driscolls who were over from Ireland, a great day out

Fezmuela

2009-01-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

The name of my new big studio at ACME - I am having a great time painting in my new space - so much room to spread out - its going to be a good year! Thanks Marshall for doing a great job of cleaning up the space for me a great welcome back to ACME

Folks Cafe drawing

2008-12-09T20:52:00.001-08:00

This morning at Folks, Sandra Ihly, Michael Van Hout , Wayne McDowell and I played with some 2 pen contour drawings, holding a pen in each hand and drawing was not so hard and had interesting results

Tom and Jerry Drawing time

2008-12-09T20:35:00.000-08:00

Aidan and I have started drawing together in the evening whilst watching Tom and Jerry - here are a couple of my contour drawings from the book

ACME Christmas Show Success!

2008-12-07T20:58:00.000-08:00

The ACME Christmas show was a great success - great people, great art, great music and food -- we had a blast!

I sold 7 artworks and was very happy with myself! It was great to see people enjoy my work and to meet some new people and catch up with some good friends here in Wilmington.

Thanks to all those people who came to visit and thanks to Hannah, William & Marcia, Deborah, Julia & Christian, Bart, Adrian and Lane who purchased some of my work.

Thanks to Kevin and his mates for the brilliant music - loved it.

I am off to Sydney this Wednesday but will be back from travels 4th January when I look forward to moving into my studio at ACME, 'Frezmuela'... lots of art planned for 2009 so watch this space!!

Cheers!

Largest bird native to Australia

2008-11-24T20:20:00.000-08:00

Emus .. cheeky looking, they make me laugh - its good to laugh! I've been experimenting with some more emu paintings and pastel and ink drawings, enjoying playing with the colours, textures and mad expressions of these crazy looking big birds. Rod Hull eat your heart out !

Check out my album of Emu Paintings

Mad about Emus!

2008-11-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

Seems I'm not the only person mad about the mad emu - what a laugh we had at Art for the Masses, I sold 7 small emu paintings and traded 2 emus for beautiful work by Brian Petterson and Lynn Manock. I met some great people and had lots of laughs ... let the good times roll!! Here are some more Emus left over from the sales ... Hannah I will be painting more red fellas to show you too ..

MICHELLE CONNOLLY ART

My First Art Book ..

Website Work

A productive 2011 ..

Clay and Glass .. in the Countryside ..

Like a Kid in A Candy Shop ...

Connolly Characters - show open til 17th Sep 2011

Always loved to Doodle .. here are some of my Doodle Buddy experiments on my iPAD..

Connolly Characters Show Sep 2 2011

Inspired by Australian Aboriginal Art

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS ART AWARDS

Characters Emerging

Exhibition at Leighton Gallery

Connolly Characters ..

Recent works and inspiration .

WIRE - Solo Exhibition of works by Michael Van Hout

ACME ART STUDIOS - Check out the latest ..

ACME Art Studios .. Film by Gary Breece

Remembering Judith Leighton

Heaps of art: ACME Art’s “Spring Show” opens Friday

Heaps of art: ACME Art’s “Spring Show” opens Friday

ACME Spring Show 2011

Inviting you to my art show ..

You are cordially invited to a special showingof artworks by Michelle Connolly at 621N4THon February 4th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

On display through February

Solo Show at 621n4th Opening Friday 4 February

Inspired by the OMO Valley People

Next show .. Friday February 5th 2011

Friday at 621N4th Gallery PAST PRESENT FUTURE

621 North 4th Street in Downtown Wilmington, NC.

NO Boundaries ..

Connolly @ Leighton Gallery

Time to reflect with friends at Folks Cafe

Portraits .. People .. Animals ..

Wayne McDowell

Inspired

Life ..

Inspired

Southern Culture .. A sense of place .. from Wilmington North Carolina

Raw Vision ..

The Creative Coalition

Painting from Life .. Portraits of Friends ..

The Return of the Emus

Sketchbook series

Projekte - GRAND OPENING GALA RECEPTION ..

The Creative Coalition

GRAND OPENING GALA RECEPTION

New series of paintings entitled 'Archetypes.' at Caffe Phoenix Wednesday 14 July

Puppet Parlour .. ACME Art Studios July 2010

As the Puppet Turns ...

To See with the Eyes of a Child ..

Ink blots .. seeing things

Gnarls Barkley - Crazy [video] Album Version

Creative Exchange at Folks Cafe ..

Show Time .. Puppets and Pets ..

Flock of Emus at Artfuel on display til mid June

Key Art Show at Independent Art Company

PUPPETS! PUPPETS! PUPPETS!

MOMART Art Benefity Show in Durham Friday 30 April - Sunday 2 MayMichelle Connolly together with 50 other artists

ARTFuel .. A great response to a family of EMUs ..

Spectacle of the Circus ..

Woman About Town - Encore article

Anyone out there want to sit for me?

Fans out there ?

INK ... A group show at ACME Art Studios

Monoprints - Circus Inspired

One Woman Show - PattersonBehn

No Boundaries Art Show Tonight at ACME Art Studios

Connolly & McGraw @ Mad Hatter Cafe Durham

Preparing for Bald Head Island No Boundaries

New Work

Fish Boy

New Website .. Look at Me!

True to yourself

Bunny Love .. Connolly Style

Art Opening @ Caffe Phoenix - October 7th 2009

Modelling the Head in Clay

Childhood Inspired Art - Aidan's Inventions

The Importance of Being Wild - Art Show @ UNCW

Connolly Characters ..

You are cordially invited to a special showing
of artworks by Michelle Connolly at 621N4TH
on February 4th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

MOMART Art Benefity Show in Durham Friday 30 April - Sunday 2 May
Michelle Connolly together with 50 other artists