Regular visitors will not be disappointed and, following the tradition set by previous exhibitions, there will be a few extra surprises in store.

A visitor favourite and the posterchild of her recent retrospective exhibition A Life’s Work, Thornbills(1993) makes a welcome return to the Gallery for Exhibition 12. Now adorning jigsaw puzzles and tea towels nationwide, Thornbills marked a high point in Annemieke’s career. As we often see in Annemieke’s compositions, the design simplicity of Thornbills belies the complexity of the many different elements, two dimensional and three dimensional. However, each design element is applied to allow the two friendly thornbills in the foreground to occupy the central role. ‘The birds’ eyes were the most difficult and exacting part of the work’, remembers Annemieke. ‘I wanted them to stare and follow the viewer around the room’.

Thornbills is joined—for the first time ever—by Young Thornbills (1992), a paint and stitch trial that went on tour through Australia and New Zealand for the Penguin Threads Trade Fairs, but when it sold Annemieke lost track of the new owner. But as fortune would have it, the owner visited A Life’s Work in May and brought Young Thornbills with her! For the full story of Young Thornbills and the related work Thornbills–Sketch(1989), check out Inga Walton’s article beginning on page XX.

Exhibition 12 also includes the work that Annemieke describes as her favourite, Lewin Honeyeater Nestlings (1989), as well as the newly completed Aestivation–Bogong Moths (2024). Visitors to A Life’s Work may recall this as the nearly-completed work at the exhibition’s exit—a promise of things to come. Annemieke has now delivered on that promise with a stunning new work to rival her very best.

All this and more awaits visitors to The Art of Annemieke Mein this summer!

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