james o'brien

Despite the fact I’m feeling a little crappy at the moment – health issues forced me to take a day off work – there was a bright spot in my day. I took “delivery” of a video made about the art collecting group, Hawkesbury One, that I’m a member of.

I mentioned the group a couple of weeks ago in relation to an invitation I had been working on in anticipation of the forthcoming exhibition of our collection at the Newcastle Regional Gallery.

In a wonderful gesture, a friend of the group, Sean Hogben offered to make a short film about the group which we could use in whatever form we wanted. I’ve uploaded it to the group’s website, and no doubt, it will play some role in the exhibition opening.

I think he’s done a terrific job in capturing the essence of what we’re about in just over 70 seconds. The voice-over was done by me which I think was okay, though it’s been quite some time since I’ve done something like this, and, being fairly critical, therefore think it could have been better. In watching the video, I also noticed a few annoying ticks I have such as rubbing my hands and looking over my glasses.

But who cares, since it’s all about the art? It’s very exciting now, with just a few weeks to go until the official opening, and with a number of events, including talks and tours, now locked in by the Newcastle Regional Art Gallery.