The artist's studio
Townsville artist Ron McBurnie has put together a collection of etchings of artists’ studios, accompanied by artworks by the featured artists, for his most recent exhibition ‘The Artist’s Studio’.
The idea for this unique touring exhibition had been at the back of McBurnie’s mind since his first studio etching of David Paulson in 1993. This initial idea did not progress until 1999 when McBurnie decided to pursue a series of prints that captured artists in their studios. Things started to move in 2000 after McBurnie had discussions with Michael Marzik, Project Manager with Cairns Regional Gallery, who agreed to tour the exhibition.
McBurnie attributes much kudos to Marzik in developing the final exhibition concept, particularly for conceiving the idea of combining McBurnie’s etchings with artworks from the depicted artists. Since 1999 McBurnie has visited twenty-five more eastern coast artists in their studios, each for a period of between three and five days, to build up this collection of twenty-six prints with matching artworks. After the studio visit, McBurnie completed the copper plates, in some cases involving up to three plates per image. The exhibition was finally launched at Cairns Regional Gallery in June 2003, before it embarked on its three year touring program.
This exhibition is more collaborative than might initially be apparent, as the artists contributed more than the sharing of their studio space, the exchanging of ideas and the provision of an artwork. Mc Burnie has always been intrigued with a collaborative approach in art as he believes the result of such a process ‘…is always more than the sum of two halves’. This was his approach to the exhibition, with the artists also working into the etching