Did you miss out on the Opening Night? It's ok, the Art is staying up at the Kerfuffle Cafe until the 7th of July! And I want to invite you to another event related to 'Lots Of Fish' (more info to come). So if you missed that one, I hope you can make it to the next one! 

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If you are reading this post, it means you are truly interested and supportive, so thank you. Here is the speech you were meant to hear at the Exhibition Opening Night: 

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"I would like to begin by acknowledging that this land we meet on today is the traditional land of the Whadjuk people and that we respect their spiritual relationship with their country. We also acknowledge the Whadjuk people as the Traditional Owners of the greater Walyalup area and would like to pay respect to the Elders past, present and future.

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Thank you Yating for hosting us in your beautiful cafe. For about a year or so when this place was still called 'There', I kept driving past thinking 'I need to check this place out'. It was not before a few months ago that I finally did, and met Yating through a friend* photographer who exhibited his beautiful work here before, and suggested that I did the same. 

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I had attended a workshop on how to put an exhibition together with Paula* a few weeks before that and I jumped in! 

Like Paula said, you can't do it all alone, and I can't thank you all enough for making this possible. Through your encouragements, feedback, advice, help, support, guidance, I grew and was carried to do this. I'd like to particularly thank my partner for his patience and love and support everyday, and for inspiring me to express something from within through Art, which he does in his theatre practice. I want to thank my children for showing me the way, always. 

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This exhibition opening is a thank you for all of you who made it possible, and it is also a way to share. 

Sharing is the act of giving a part of ourselves to someone else so that we can both enjoy it. I hope you can enjoy these ink drawings and screen prints tonight. 

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They're all about love, of course. I love that so many fish can create one movement all together. Did you know that in a school of fish, there is not one leader, but they are all leading and moving as one consciousness? When I was drawing them, I liked to think that we are all like these fish, all different and all the same, part of one consciousness creating a movement.

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There are many ways to experience and interpret these drawings, and your interpretation will be the right for you. 

A bit after starting this series, I found out through a friend and energy worker that fish can be a symbol of our emotions; the ones we need to go through to grow and become stronger, to become who we are.

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Finally, an amazing movie called 'Seaspiracy' came out as I was working on 'Lots Of Fish'. Check it out if you haven't watched it yet, it is very eye opening. It is not only about the fishing industry, it also about the planet, it bring some awareness and solutions to different issues we are facing today. I like to see these women depicted here as sea goddesses or Mama Earth representations. 

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You'll notice that some of the Artworks are in plastic sleeves and some aren't. The plastic sleeved ones are the screen prints, the ones without sleeves are the originals. There are only 4 originals here because some of them have already found new homes, and also because I created some on iPad with Procreate. The Tote Bags are screen printed by me too, on fair trade cotton tote bags. 

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If you wonder how I got here, doing what I do, I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. I went to Art school back in France, where I studied 2D animation. Somehow, I have never felt satisfied working in animation studios. It may have come from the lack of creativity, the crazy deadlines, too much screen time, or perhaps the fact that I had this taste of freedom in my mouth; the freedom of working for myself, which I experienced when I was drawing caricatures on summer markets in France, to finance my Art studies. I haven't stopped drawing caricatures. I used to draw them at the Fremantle Markets for a while, and I am now focusing on drawing at events like weddings, parties, corporate events... 

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As much I like caricatures, 'Lots Of Fish' was born from wanting to express something different and deeper. 

Thank you again for coming and enjoy the night, and the fantastic music played by Marcus!"

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