Oxford Falls+

27th January 2012 - acrylic on canvas.

In January 2012, I organised to go painting in the bush with my artist and friend, Arto Heino. It seemed like Sydney's non-stop raining summers had finally finished, but we still needed to cover our easels and run to the trees for cover every so often… and just wait it out. Arto managed to make a start on a few paintings, but I was determined to completely finish this one painting.

I've been observing the Australian landscape a lot recently, and this painting gave me an opportunity to express a more stylistic and slightly "Seussian" interpretation, especially of the trees' wavy trunks and branches, and the cloud-like canopies of leaves.

En Plein Air Painting Workshop+

3-5 November 2011 - Acrylics on Canvas.
Duration: each approx 3-6 hours.

I was privileged enough to be offered the opportunity to attend a 3-day "en plein air" painting workshop. It was the first workshop to be held at the The Outlook Artist's Residence in Austinmer (1 hour south of sydney).

The workshop was held by artist and friend, Rudy Kistler
(who is an excellent teacher too, by the way).

Featured here are my paintings from the workshop. To the left is the first day's study, looking out from a headland at Austinmer beach. Above-left is a costal landscape painted from the vantage point of the old, run-down Headland Hotel.
And above is a painting of a creek flowing under a shady spot on a little bridge by Austinmer train station.

The Plight of Old-world Vegetables+

6-9 October 2011 - Chalk on Canvas (2x3m). Duration: 3½ days.

The Plight of Old-world Vegetables - Adam Celeban - Chalk 2011

My entry to The Chalk Urban Art Festival, this year, won a prize! The theme for this year's competition was "food", and it seems as though each year of the competition just keeps getting bigger and better. Congratulations to all of the other prize winners, and to everyone else who competed.

My work (an appropriation of Grant Wood's American Gothic) tells the tale of an old migrant couple, from a bygone era,
Mr Zucchino and his wife, Melanzana. They plead that their taste never be forgotten. Their only hope for the future is that their kind never die out - that they are eaten, and their descendants flourish once more.

Big Mamma3

20-21 September 2011 - Digital Painting. Duration: 7 hours.

As a gift to a friend and Blues lover, who doesn't have nearly enough room to house the entire chalk series of Croak, Bellow, Howl & Growl, I completed this digital painting version of "Bellow" (also affectionately known as Big Mama).

Normally reticent to re-make or revisit old work, and keep developing as an artist, I really enjoyed painting this piece because it gave me an opportunity to just concentrate on the painting and focus solely on how the light works in it and develop that to a finer degree.

North Pole Portrait+

16th December 2010 - Digital Painting (Photoshop). Duration: 9 hours.

Merry Christmas! This artwork was designed as a christmas card, and was done to a fairly tight deadline so it could be printed on time.

On the left is Uncle Frosty, filled to the brim with christmas cheer. Ever since he discovered that alcohol won't freeze at temperatures just below zero, he's always managed to have a good time at all of the family get-togethers. Larger than life and full of pride, Santa Claus embraces his family. On Santa's other side stands Jack Frost, always a little unimpressed by family activities. Mrs Claus sits in the middle, with her elvin children around her. And let's not forget the family pet, Rudolf.

Croak, Bellow, Howl & Growl+

7-10 October 2010 - Chalk Artwork Series. Duration: 3½ days.

Croak, Bellow, Howl & Growl - Blues Tribute - Adam Celeban - Chalk Art 2010

As the chosen "poster boy" for the Chalk Urban Art Festival of 2010, I was swamped with interviews and consequently given an opportunity to flesh out my identity as an artist. I was interviewed by Aesthetics Now Magazine, Street Corner, AFTRS Radio, and Hawkesbury Radio. If you'd like to read it, the Aesthetics Now article can be read online (page 112).

2010's Chalk Urban Art Festival was given the theme of
"The Blues". For my entry I chose to tribute Blues musicians with four characters, each drawing inspiration from a mix of different artists. This year I gave myself an added challenge of splitting the 2x3m canvas into a series of artworks, each one a more manageable size. You might notice that the Gorilla (The Growl of Croak, Bellow, Howl & Growl) is shown unfinished. Unfortunately due to time, over-achieving and suffering for my art (that led to painful and bloody fingers), "time" was called just before I was able to complete it.