Full Bloom Tea House

Solo exhibition by Bess O’Malley

28th September – 17th November

Flowers are emblematic of beauty, across culture and throughout history. This exhibition is about my painting and gardening practice. They are paintings of the flowers I grow from seed and the compositions I design in my garden beds. I have tried to stylise nature in my Petersham backyard and in my art, creating a colour allegory of my own, in paint and in the soil.A primary influence has been Marianne North, a Victorian-era oil painter and explorer who travelled the British Empire painting in situ. Her practice, like mine, was about art and the study of nature. Her gallery at Kew Gardens remains a unique example of a 19th century salon, and it has influenced how this exhibition was conceived. The colour language of the modernist garden painters Emil Nolde and Claude Monet have influenced my palette. The compositional elements and filigree styles of 16th-century French tapestries and Northern Renaissance alter pieces are referenced to imbue my flowers with drama and personality.
This exhibition includes watercolours on paper, as well as oil paintings on canvas and board. The large oil paintings are compositions I’ve constructed using watercolours, drawings and photos as reference material. They are painted in the thin to fat method over a six-month period. The smaller works are views of my flower beds and pots in full bloom, begun in situ and developed in the studio. 
Please join me for the launch of Full Bloom Tea House, from 12pm to 6pm, on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th of September. We will serve traditional Devonshire Tea, in honour of Garden Tea Houses everywhere and in memory of the very fine day I spent at Chelsea Physics Garden in the summer of 2018.
Newsagency Gallery is located at 332 Stanmore Rd Petersham 

OIL Painting Wall
Watercolour Wall
Lonely Poppy 20x20cm oil on linen board $220
Lonely Poppy 20x20cm oil on linen board $220 SOLD
Wall Flower Triptych #2 30x50cm oil on canvas $600
Wall Flower Triptych #2 30x50cm oil on canvas $600 SOLD
Poppy Line-Up 40x30cm oil on canvas $550
Poppy Line-Up 40x30cm oil on canvas $550
Potted Pink Daisies 35x30cm oil on canvas $400
Potted Pink Daisies 35x30cm oil on canvas $400
Pink Dahlia with Snap Dragons 50x35cm oil on canvas $700
Pink Dahlia with Snap Dragons 50x35cm oil on canvas $650 SOLD
Chelsea Garden 50x30cm oil on canvas $600 SOLD
Chelsea Garden 50x30cm oil on canvas $600 SOLD
Nasturtium in shade 30x30cm oil on board $450
Nasturtium in shade 30x30cm oil on board $350
Flower ’n’ Strawberry Cascade 25x25cm oil on canvas $350 SOLD
Flower ’n’ Strawberry Cascade 25x25cm oil on canvas $350 SOLD
Chantilly Snapdragon 20x20cm oil on canvas $250 SOLD
Chantilly Snapdragon 20x20cm oil on canvas $250 SOLD
Giant Face Petunias 25x25cm oil on canvas $350 SOLD
Giant Face Petunias 25x25cm oil on canvas $350 SOLD
Snapdragon line-up 20x20cm oil on canvas $250 SOLD
Snapdragon line-up 20x20cm oil on canvas $250 SOLD
Scarlet Snapdragon 20x20cm oil on canvas $250
Scarlet Snapdragon 20x20cm oil on canvas $250
Big Kiss Gazania 25x25cm oil on board $300
Big Kiss Gazania 25x25cm oil on board $300
Potted Viola 25x25cm oil on canvas $350
29 Viola Cascade 45x35cm oil on canvas $500 SOLD
29 Viola Cascade 45x35cm oil on canvas $500 SOLD
Little Blue Isotoma Stars 25x30cm oil on canvas $400 SOLD
Little Blue Isotoma Stars 25x30cm oil on canvas $400 SOLD
Holly Hock Altar Piece 91x61cm oil on canvas $2200
Holly Hock Altar Piece 91x61cm oil on canvas $2200
English Lavender 61x76cm oil on canvas $1200
English Lavender 61x76cm oil on canvas $1200 SOLD
‘Viola Cascade’ A3 watercolour on 220gsm paper $200 SOLD
Russian Sunflowers’ 59x42cm watercolour on 300 gsm paper $300 SOLD
‘Sweet Flower Bed’ 15x21cm watercolour on 220gsm $120 SOLD
‘Orange Snapdragon’ A4 watercolour on 300gsm paper $180
‘Sweet Pink Daisy and Calibrachoa Bed’ 15x21cm watercolour on 220gsm paper $120
‘Sweet Camellia Buds’ A4 watercolour on 180gsm paper $80
‘Sweet Dianthus’ 21x15cm watercolour on 220gsm handmade paper $120
‘Sweet Gazania’ 21x15cm watercolour on 220gsm paper $120
‘Gerbera’ watercolour on 220gsm 18x25cm $80
poppy + Pink Daisy Bed A4 watercolour on handmade paper 300gsm $150 SOLD
‘Dahlias’ watercolour on 300gsm handmade paper $150 SOLD
‘Heritage Garden Bunya Trunks’ A2 watercolour on 300gsm paper $250 SOLD
‘Heritage Garden Wyoming’ watercolour on A4 300gsm $250 SOLD
‘Wyoming Heritage Garden’ watercolour on A3 300gsm $200
‘Yellow Jonquils in the sun’ 18x25cm watercolour on 220gsm paper $80
Wyoming Heritage Garden” 18x25cm watercolour on 300gsm paper $120
Wall Flower Triptych 1 25x25cm oil on canvas $350 SOLD
Wall Flower Triptych 1 25x25cm oil on canvas $350 SOLD
Daisy Cascade 25x25cm oil on canvas $350
Daisy Cascade 25x25cm oil on canvas $350
Sleeping Beauty 20x25cm oil on canvas NFS SOLD
Sleeping Beauty 20x25cm oil on canvas NFS SOLD
Wall Flower Triptych #3 30x30cm oil on canvas $350
Wall Flower Triptych #3 30x30cm oil on canvas $350 SOLD
Gerbera ’n’ Marigold Cascade 25x25cm oil on board $300
Gerbera ’n’ Marigold Cascade 25x25cm oil on board $300 SOLD
Petunias ’n’ Pompom Marigolds 30x40cm oil on canvas $600 SOLD
Petunias ’n’ Pompom Marigolds 30x40cm oil on canvas $600 SOLD
Gazania with Holly Hock leaves 20x20cm oil on linen board $250
Gazania with Holly Hock leaves 20x20cm oil on linen board $250
Marigold ’n’ Petunia Cascade 25x25cm oil on canvas $350
Marigold ’n’ Petunia Cascade 25x25cm oil on canvas $350
Yellow Dahlia 20x20cm oil on linen board $250 SOLD
Yellow Dahlia 20x20cm oil on linen board $250 SOLD
Pink ’n’ Purple Cascade 25x25cm oil on board $400
Pink ’n’ Purple Cascade 25x25cm oil on board $400 SOLD
Potted Viola 25x25cm oil on board $400
Potted Viola 25x25cm oil on board $400 SOLD
Delphinium ’n Daisy Cascade 40x50cm oil on board $800 SOLD
Delphinium ’n Daisy Cascade 40x50cm oil on board $800 SOLD
Potted Petunias 20x20cm oil on canvas $250 SOLD
Potted Petunias 20x20cm oil on canvas $250 SOLD
Tangerine Marigold 20x20cm oil on linen board $220 SOLD
Tangerine Marigold 20x20cm oil on linen board $220 SOLD
Potted Coral Pea 40x40cm oil on canvas $800
Potted Coral Pea 40x40cm oil on canvas $700 SOLD
Zinnia and White Petunia field 50x70cm oil on canvas $1700
Zinnia and White Petunia field 50x70cm oil on canvas $1700 SOLD
Russian Sunflowers 91x61cm oil on canvas $1500
Russian Sunflowers 91x61cm oil on canvas $1500
Shaded Nasturtiums 60x40cm oil on board $850 SOLD
Shaded Nasturtiums 60x40cm oil on board $850 SOLD
‘Viola Bed’ A3 watercolour on 300gsm handmade paper $200
Petunia + Marigold Bed A3 watercolour on 300gsm $200 SOLD
‘Viola Bed’ A3 watercolour on 180gsm paper $120 SOLD
White Petunia Bed A3 watercolour on 300gsm paper $200
‘Russian Sunflower’42x59cm water colour on 300gsnm paper $300 SOLD
‘Sweet Calibrachao Bed’ 21x15cm watercolour on 220gsm handmade paper $120
‘Sweet Calibrachoa bed’ 21x15cm watercolour on 220gsm handmade paper $120
‘Sweet Zinnia Bed’. 21x15cm watercolour on hand made 220gsm paper $120
Sweet Poppy Bed 21x15cm watercolour on handmade 220gsm paper $120 SOLD
‘Poppy longlegs’ A4 watercolour on handmade 300 gsm paper $150 SOLD
‘Hollyhock’ A3 watercolour on handmade 300gsm paper $250
‘Marigold and Petunia Bed’ 18x25cm watercolour on 300gsm paper $120
‘Poppy twist’ A4 watercolour on 300gsm handmade paper $150 SOLD
Poppy Cascade A4 $200 SOLD
‘Agapanthus and Heritage Pine Trees’ A2 watercolour on 300gsm paper $250 SOLD
The Wall

About the Artist: Bess O’Malley is an artist based in Petersham, NSW. She has a BA and an MA (art) from COFA, graduating in 1993. Aside from working in her studio and her garden, since 2000 she was co-founder of the public art group “Hotbed Designs”, creating public art to educate urban communities about their backyard ecosystems. In 2012, Bess established the artist-run space “Newsagency Gallery”, supporting more than 100 emerging and mid-career artists to develop and exhibit their work. Her work has been exhibited in Australia and overseas and is included in private collections and academic transcripts.