A last look at Nick Bland Unmasked
Bidding reserve: Highest bid so far: $200
Meet the Noble Nick Bland
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The mask that Nick made.
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Title: The Green Spirit
This is what the mask looked like before Nick worked his art magic on it.
Nick on making his mask
“When Isabelle asked me to paint a Venetian Mask, I jumped at the opportunity to paint on something that isn’t flat,’ Nick said.
“Green Tree Ants are constant companions here in the tropics and since my studio has no walls, I spend all my days with them.
‘My mask is a tribute to the tiny soldiers with whom I share my wild space every day. Far from being creepy, I find them elegant and organised.
‘They are also a frequent source of food and medicine in aboriginal culture so I honour them here on this mask.”
-Nick Bland
About Nick Bland
I first met Nick in the Piazza Maggiore in Bologna during one of the Book Fairs years back. But Nick was born on a farm in the Australian Yarra Valley in 1973.
The son of an artist and a primary school teacher, he spent his early childhood climbing haystacks and making mischief in his father’s studio. When he moved to “the bush” at age 6, he discovered a wonderful new world and his creativity bloomed. Nick always told family and friends he was going to be a cartoonist and a writer. It wasn’t until 1996, when he stumbled into a bookshop job, that he finally found the medium that would bring those two loves together. Untrained, he spent the next couple of years reading every picture book that hit the shelves and began honing his style as a storyteller and illustrator.
He illustrated several readers before sending A Monster Wrote Me a Letter to Scholastic Australia in 2001. Since then, Nick illustrated I Lost My Kisses and created The Very Cranky Bear.
He lives in tropical Darwin, where he works as a guardian for 120 aboriginal boys who board nearby. He loves both of his jobs and hopes to combine them in the near future
He has been running his own wonderful fundraising effort for refugees, selling off his original artwork – you can read more about it by using the second link below. I asked how it had gone and he said “The exhibition went very well. Made 21k for the refugee advocates but more importantly, the inmates were thrilled to know someone cared.”
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Visit the magnificent new Geelong Library and Heritage Centre complex to see Nick’s mask, and the others, before it is claimed by its lucky new owner.
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Now all you need to do is scroll down and take a look at some of Nick’s other work, follow a link or two if you want to see more, then make your bid. If it is the highest bid at the end of the auction period, every cent of that amount will go to our charities, and you will receive your wonderful Nick Bland original as a keepsake and a reminder that we are all part of the wild world, so we had better look after it!
For more about ...
Here is is a nice story about Nick
http://downunderteacher.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/one-of-my-favourite-authors-nick-bland.html
here is an especially nice story about Nick
http://www.outstation.com.au/exhibitions/2016/50-pages-the-picture-book-art-of-nick-bland/
and here Nick is answering some questions
http://www.mybookcorner.com.au/articles/708-nick-bland-author-interview.html
Other work
Mask bidding reserve: Highest bid so far: $200
$100
$115
$150
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$190
$200