Andersch, Joerg The Mercury Sat 14 July, 2007

If You can’t Bite, Don’t Show Your Teeth
Colville Street Art Gallery, Battery Point
Price range $40 to $2750; to July 27

I guess there’s nobody more qualified to talk about dogs and their behaviour than printmaker Deborah Williams. Well, sort of.

Thirty-seven images of some of Australia’s most renowned street breeds are gracing the walls of the Colville Street Gallery. Endearing most of the time, these “man’s best friend” types are rendererd in silhouette on beautifully scrumbled and textured paper, lovingly printed and presented.

Williams has exhibited extensively in major cities and overseas and was a recent participant in the Hobart City Art prize. Having taken dog images to heart in recent years, the artist has evolved a fascinating method of creating those images and fellow printmakers will marvel at the evidence when taking a closer look at her work.

Showing with Williams is sculptor Tricia Swanton. Working with found objects, Swanton fashions creatures and objects from discarded plastic. Her creations are humorous and surprisingly innovative, lending the whole exhibition a novel aura, so you leave the place chuckling.

Andersch, Joerg Poetry and Mirth The Mercury 14 October, 2006 p.8

Poetry and Mirth
Colville Street Gallery, Battery Point
Price range: $60 to $6000

Showing their artwork at Colville St are painter Denise Campbell, sculptor Tricia Swanton and printmaker Gaby Falconer.

It has been a while since Hobart audiences have seen Campbell 's fine paintings; her last solo showing was nearly a decade ago. Represented in this exhibition with a beautiful body of work, Campbell seems to explore her relationship with the sea.

There are no vistas of water crashing onto rocky shores but the visual impressions of her living space in relation to the sea. It's about objects and forms interposing the more distant view of the water, or simply a pattern of shapes strongly related to a marine environment.

Worked in pencils and oils, her paintings have an attractive texture that lends great subtlety to her work. Add to that her audacious balancing act with form, colour and weight, and you have some great work on hand.

Swanton's zany plastic sculptures are a riot. Created from found objects, these beautiful assemblies are toy-like, mostly in brilliant primary colours. Robots they may look like, but with their endearing quality of toys, a Terminator label would not suit them.

Falconer's prints speak of human relationships and have an endearing quality. There is a lovely sensitivity in her vision and product that makes her artwork always a pleasure to view.