A Creative Journey - Selected Artworks by Joyce Hyam

A Creative Journey – Selected Artworks by Joyce Hyam

Profile on Queensland female artist, Joyce Hyam, from 1960 to 2008 – Editor: Vivien Harris

To savour Joyce Hyam’s artwork, come to it open-mindedly, eager to hear colours sing and to bathe in the talent of an artist who has explored many media, and many perspectives.

Joyce states: “To me, artistic interpretation reaches from drawing, design, and colour, which culminated in my final two decades of art – textile art.” In describing her textile art, Joyce says: “Artistic expression is achieved by making choices amongst techniques, mediums and skills. I aim to produce work which sings and glows by using a limitless range of fabrics and threads as well as paints.”

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Joyce’s loving husband Frank Hyam, who has encouraged, valued and supported Joyce’s artistry throughout her life.

Acknowledgements

The following people have contributed their skills and expertise to the production of this book, and are greatly appreciated for their efforts.

Vivien Harris: Curatorial research and project management

Amanda Page: Graphic Designer

Aaron Tait: Photographer

Frank Hyam: Writer

Greg de Silva: Curatorial research; interviews with artist, and essay used with permission

Publisher:

Vivien Harris, 83 Ludlow St, Chapel Hill, Q 4069, Australia

Email: vivienharris01@gmail.com

Ph: + 61 7 3378 1717

Printer: I.P.G. Print, Brendale, Q 4500, Australia

Publication date: April 2014

ISBN 978-0-646-91646-0

Copyright © Vivien Harris 2014

Front cover image: detail, Hidden Secrets, back cover image: Mystique

The Creative Journey –The Art of Joyce Hyam

Essay written for Joyce’s Retrospective Exhibition at the Royal Queensland Arts Society, September – October 2004, by Greg de Silva.

The Visual artist during a lifetime travels many roads, some are easy and some are difficult. Some are dotted with obstacles, while others are rough or steep. Some are plain sailing, with just that hint of excitement of what one may discover just around the next bend. This creative journey has taken Joyce Hyam down many visual roads from drawing & painting, prints, sculpture, interior decoration, batik and finally textiles. It is fitting that this Retrospective Exhibition of Joyce Hyam’s work held at the Royal Queensland Art Society from the 25th September ‘til the 24th October 2004,1 will bring together for the first time, over 45 years of visual delight in one space.

Never one to be tied down to one visual art form or technique,2 Joyce Hyam’s creative journey had humble beginnings. Born in Brisbane on the 18th January 1923, and eldest of four children to Ray and Gladys Anderson,3 her greatest inspiration during her childhood was the influence of her mother, Gladys Anderson (Keen).4 Of her mother, Joyce remembers: My Mother had been an artist when she was a girl. In those days in her family you either learnt music or painting. She did painting, and she was very good at it. She then went to England to study

art just before the First World War. However, the war cut short this study and she returned to Australia 5 She then studied in Brisbane under Vida Lahey,6 who was well known for her exquisite flower paintings, executed in watercolour.7 She then started training as a nurse, married and began a family. That was really the finish of her art. However when Joyce was a teenager, Gladys did attend pottery classes with L.J Harvey and his school,8 sometimes joined by Joyce.9

Joyce was educated at Clayfield/Eagle Junction State School and later at Brisbane Girls Grammar School. At Brisbane Girls Grammar her favourite subject was, of course art, and she excelled in that subject. The art teacher there was Miss Cottew, who influenced a lot of the girls, including Joyce. This was really her first formal art training.10 After her schooling, she enrolled at the Stott’s Business College, followed by a stint at the National Bank typing for ten tellers (a job she hated). She then worked for a brief period at a photographic studio, during the war years, mostly photographing service men and women. Joyce often became bored and needed to stimulate her passion to learn and experience new things. This took her to Melbourne where she commenced working as a secretary for the Y.W.C.A.11 Joyce maintains: That’s where my education really started.12

L-R Joyce Hyam c1945, Glazed earthenware vase, The Harvey School, Brisbane. Hand-built & carved earthenware oval bowl with feet, grey & blue glaze, The Harvey School, Brisbane. Hand-built & carved earthenware bookends featuring grapes; brown & green glaze, The Harvey School, Brisbane.

Joyce returned to Brisbane after the war and acquired a position as an Activities Secretary for the Y.W .C.A (Brisbane). She underwent and completed a one-year training course for professional staff. She later relocated to Toowoomba for a short period, and was appointed to the Board of Directors at the Y.W.C.A, Brisbane for two years.13 It was shortly after this that she met and married Frank Hyam, and the couple pooled their 50 Pounds and purchased a block of land at 21 Elkhorn Street, Enoggera, in Brisbane.14 They built a house and have been there ever since. On the 1st of October 1952 their daughter Vivien was born.

Joyce began her serious art training (part-time) at the Central Technical College in George Street, Brisbane from 1959 until 1963, studying freehand drawing, colour study, general design, light and shade and painting.15 She studied with professional painters, Melville Haysom and Arthur Evan Read.16 Both artists had trained at the National Gallery School in Melbourne.17 Mel Haysom became senior instructor of painting and drawing at the Central Technical College. Arthur Evan Read went on to teach at the Royal Queensland Art Society, and in 1969 was appointed as a trustee at the Queensland Art Gallery.18

While Joyce was studying at the college, she was approached by Cyril Gibbs Chief Art Instructor) to conduct “Child Art” classes on a Saturday morning. These were a sheer joy, and Joyce adored them.19 She then took an Interior Decoration class, again at the suggestion of Cyril Gibbs. She later lectured to people taking Adult Education classes, which at the time were free. The pay was low, but the experience was great. Because there were no teaching books on interior decoration, Joyce wrote her own text book. The course was originally for a three year period, which she later designed and streamlined down to a one-year course.20

Joyce was keen to exhibit her work and liaise with other artists. She joined the Royal Queensland Art Society in the early 1960’s, and exhibited in their annual exhibitions and in the “Women’s Members” exhibitions. In the 5th annual RQAS Women’s Members exhibition in 1961 Cyril Gibbs noted: Joyce Hyam’s “Drift Wood is clean and crisp, with well handled opposing colour treatment.21 In the 1963 RQAS annual exhibition Joyce exhibited Towards Lands End and Industrial Derelicts. The latter work was commended by Dr. Gertrude Langer in the Courier-Mail. Joyce was now exhibiting with professional

Queensland artists such as Herbert Carstens, David Fowler, Charles Ludlow, Peter Templeton, Dorothy McPhee and Caroline Barker.22

Contemporary art practices were being experienced in Brisbane in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. This practice was instigated by private art teachers, such as Roy Churcher who was conducting private art classes at St Mary’s Studio at Kangaroo Point. He formed the Queensland branch of the Contemporary Art Society (C.A.S.) in September 1961. Churcher had trained in the Slade School in London, and brought with him new methods for teaching art.23 Joyce was a founding member of the C.A.S,24 and exhibited in their first exhibition at Hardy Brothers Gallery in March 1962. There were 47 exhibitors.25 Joyce exhibited Cracked Bowl in that exhibition, in company with John Aland, Milton Moon, Brian Hatch, Don Ross, Margaret Olley, Bronwyn Yeates and Roy Churcher.26 The Courier-Mail art critic, Dr. Gertrude Langer was overjoyed with the exhibition. She stated: The refreshing thing is that at last something is happening in this place, which for too long

Joyce, 1972, with her book Interior Decoration for Australian Homes.

has been a backwater.27Joyce exhibited with the C.A.S. from 1963 to 1967, as well as the C.A.S Red Cross and Spring Warana exhibitions of 1967.28

Although Joyce did not study with Churcher, she did have the experience of teaching with him at the art school.29 During this time Joyce was teaching (part time) at the Central Technical College; the Kindergarten Teachers College at Kelvin Grove and the Board of Adult Education.30 She furthered her studies with private teachers including: Andrew Sibley, Bronwyn Yeates, John Aland and Jon Molvig. She says: Molvig was an excellent teacher. He always had a model, and I learnt a lot from him as far as drawing was concerned. She considered his classes a valuable experience.31 She also attended the Vacation Schools at the Queensland University. These were arranged by Dr. Gertrude Langer during the school vacation, and art students could experience the teaching practices of Stan Rapotec, Desiderius Orban, Lawrence Daws and Charles Reddington. Hyam claims: Those were the artists that helped me. It was from these schools that my awareness of abstraction began.32

Joyce was also exhibiting in a variety of other venues, in order to get her work seen. She showed at Sylvia Monk’s gallery at Mermaid Beach, as well as the Quota Club in Brisbane, Hillsdon Kindergarten, the WaranaCaltex contest and the popular Redcliffe Art Contest. Her work was well received and she was hung along with her contemporaries: Rona van Erp, Mary Norrie, Ian Milton, Clarrie Ventnor, Joy Roggenkamp and William Robinson to name but a few.33 In the non-representational section of the 11th Annual Redcliffe Art Contest, her work Emergence caught the eye of the judge Sir William Dargie, which earned her a highly commended in the 1967 exhibition.34

The Wednesday Group was formed by a group of students, mostly from Roy Churcher’s classes, who were meeting at St Mary’s Studio at Kangaroo Point to paint. They had been using the studio since mid1961, and always meet on a Wednesday. All were members of the Contemporary Art Society, so the group was almost a sub-group of the parent body. The original members included Shirley Miller, Deidre Bennett, Beverley Budgen, Joy Hutton, Dorothy Akers, Rona Van Erp, Conty Robinson and Alison Coaldrake, who

Joyce, c 1970, teaching Interior Design at the Board of Adult Education.

Photos: courtesy of The Courier Mail.

suggested the name. The group was officially named in August 1963. Irene Amos and Joyce Hyam joined that year, with Mona Gasteen joining in 1967.35 The group held the first of its five exhibitions in James Wieneke’s Moreton Gallery in July 1966.36The other four exhibitions were held at the Design Arts Centre in 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1972. Joyce exhibited in the 1966, 1969 and the 1972 shows. The group disbanded in the early 1970’s, with members going their own separate ways. Joy Hutton discovered printmaking, while Rona van Erp helped establish the Reid Gallery. Others were involved in the formation of the Institute of Modem Art in 1975,37 which continued on from

the Contemporary Art Society, which closed in 1973. As Elizabeth O’Neal stated: They left behind through their surviving paintings a record of their artistic activity by which we can see that the criteria for change did not arise from a vacuum, but from a rich and varied tradition of painterly investigations by artists working in Queensland.38

In 1968 Joyce, Frank and daughter Vivien spent a year in Germany. They lived in Munich, and Joyce had private lessons from the inspirational Waki Zollner. His studio was always beautifully decorated, with a fresh rose in a vase every day. This was very different from the facilities at the art school in Brisbane. It was there she learnt the technique of batik, and her first batik work was done in Munich. During this time Joyce illustrated a book, written by husband Frank. The Dreaming Time was published in Munich in 1969.39 Some of the batik works that Joyce created in Munich were entered in the H.C Richards Prize of 1969 at the Queensland Art Gallery. The Richards Prize was a good drawcard and it attracted many artists from down south to exhibit here. These included names like John Eldershaw, Tom Gleghorn, Carl Plate and David Rankin. It also included works by respected Queensland painters such as Sam Fullbrook, Frank de Silva, Nevil Matthews and George D. Williamson. Joyce also exhibited a batik artwork of her husband Frank, at the RAQS 11th Annual Women Members Exhibition that year.40

The 1970’s brought new changes to the arts. Joyce was still teaching at the College of Art, which had taken over from the old Central Technical College around 1971. Commenting on her teaching at the old tech, retiring Chief Instructor of Art, Cyril Gibbs said: Mrs Hyam has an enthusiastic and appealing approach to her work and has contributed much to the success of her students.41 Melbourne artist and critic, Alan Warren became the new Principal of the College of Art, which soon relocated to the suburb of Morningside. The college officially opened in 1974.42 Joyce left the college in 1983, notching up 21 years. However she was still teaching art and crafts for the School of Dental Therapy, a position she held until 1987.43 During this decade, she would become a published author and would hold her first solo showings of her work. Her years of teaching and lecturing on interior decoration would evolve into Interior Decoration for Australian Homes published by Jacaranda Press in 1972. The book was written because such a book was requested, and one had not been done before.44

Joyce c 1962, at Nobby’s Beach, Gold Coast, with acrylic painting.

Joyce (right), Vivien Hyam (daughter), Pamela Mc Kay, Channel Nine Television presenter of The Home Show, c 1963 in which Joyce conducted a series of ten programs titled Keeping Children Contented focusing on art and crafts for young children. Photo courtesy of Channel Nine.

During the l974 Queensland Arts Festival, Joyce held the first solo exhibition of her work. The exhibition was held at the Abbott Gallery in Edward Street, from the 5th-12th May 1974, and was favourably reviewed. Dr Gertrude Langer said in the Courier Mail: Her watercolours based on flowers and organic growth, stress the fluidity of the medium and the best of them are the ones that are most free and sparse. However the most effective painting here shows a large petalled form, which radiates joy.45 The Sunday Mail critic Frederic Rodgers expressed: At one end of the variety are quasi-abstracts; at the other, a series of aesthetically conceived flower-based studies done in watercolour to which the artist has attached titles suggesting the evocation of names of female acquaintances. Rodgers continued: The exhibition reveals the artist as a competent operator with a distinct leaning towards romanticism.46

The following year she exhibited drawings at the Twelfth Night Theatre Club in Cintra Road, Bowen Hills. The exhibition was opened by Robert Cunningham, the Assistant Director of the Queensland Art Gallery.47 Speaking about her work Joyce says: My guiding principle is that through my hand and the tip of the pen flows something from the vast reservoir of accumulated knowledge - encompassing the principals of art, psychological awareness, and unconscious emotional sources. What I am “attending to” fluctuate at a rate faster than I could, or would control.48 Reviewed in the Courier Mail, Dr. Langer noted: Abstract and figurative elements intertwine fluidity in a rich play of line and colour - The works are crisp, joyous and full of charm 49 The Telegraph’s

Charmaine Cashel added: The exhibit is exciting while Frederic Rodgers from the Sunday Mail said: The work emerges as free, cheerful expressions of an idea that could be a constant stimulus to artistic thought in the mind of the viewers and the fortunate possessors. 50

Joyce never really gained in the ‘big’ Art Prize arena, but did have success winning prizes from time to time. The first significant one was for the “ Josephine Jenyns Prize” for best traditional painting at the 83rd RQAS Annual Exhibition in 1972. The contest was judged the selectors, Raoul Mellish, Alan Warren and Brian Dean, who awarded the prize to Joyce Hyam’s acrylic Autumn 51 Art historian Keith Bradbury pointed out: Although the painting was representational in form, it was contemporary in effect. So numerous were the negative comments about it, that Joyce resigned from the society,52 but not permanently. Joyce had further success in the Bribie Islands 4th ‘Arts Alive Festival’ in 1980. It was held in conjunction with Australian Theatre

Joyce on left, c1963, at her easel with fellow artist Alison Coaldrake; both members of The Wednesday Group, Brisbane. Photo courtesy of The Courier Mail.

Week and Arts Festival. Joyce collected the first prize in the ‘Bribie Island Scene’ section. The judge Wilson Cooper deemed her painting Pending Storm the best.53 Her work from the early 1970’s to the early 1980’s was entered in exhibitions such as Quota Club Arts Festival; Aspley Art Contest; Dalby Art Contest; Redcliffe Art Contest; Westfield Art Prize (Toombul and Indooroopilly) and the Royal National Association (RNA) art contest. Her work was prized and commended by popular judges: Dr. Gertrude Langer, David Galloway, Peter Abraham, Harold Lane, Arthur Evan Read, and Don Hamilton.54

By the end of the decade she had another solo exhibition in Canberra, as well as exhibiting in “Survey 79” at the Verlie Just Town Gallery. Joyce was a new exhibitor with Verlie, along with Wilson Cooper, Veda Arrowsmith and Ruth Faeber. They joined the gallery’s fine stable of Australian artists, including John Coburn, Margo Lewers, David Schlunke, Judy Cassab, Graham Inson, and John Rigby.55 Joyce already knew Rigby – both were colleagues at the Queensland College of Art. The following year, Joyce had a solo exhibition at Verlie Just Town Gallery and commenting on the exhibition, and commenting in the exhibition catalogue Joyce stated: To interact with me, my art, your own self, experiences and mystique, then you need to disengage each time you go from one painting to the next. Should you discover a “dotted line” connecting them in some way, perhaps this line is your own personal contour 56 Frederic Rogers said of her works in the Sunday Mail: All are handled with a certainty that underlines the artist’s versatility. Her exhibit is, in effect, a vade mecum for students of art who, it is to be hoped, would make a close study. The Courier Mail’s Dr. Gertrude Langer summed up: When I first saw Joyce Hyam’s work many years ago, I thought she would develop best along the lines of decorative designing.57

From the early 1980’s Joyce was leaning towards textiles, because of the costs in framing.58 It was also another road that she would travel, and so find a new avenue for her creative talents. During the 1980’s and early 1990’s, Joyce exhibited textiles frequently with the “Half Dozen Group” of artists. In their 1993 exhibition she exhibited Wit Sun Days, a delightful work using satin stitch and machine appliqué techniques.59The work is an abstract impression using colour, pattern, line and plenty of imagination. This direction would be the future for Joyce Hyam. In talking about some of the techniques of textiles, Joyce explains: It is an interesting extension of the watercolour technique to paint on screens with fabric dyes instead of watercolours on paper. 60 Marbling crossstitch, machine quilting and even painting techniques on canvas were used by Joyce to create her textiles. Joyce continued her involvement in this field by attending workshops at the McGregor Summer and Winter Schools in Toowoomba. Her first rate tutors included Tori de Mestre, Pat Langford, Jan Irvine and Carol Wilkes. As a committed textile artist, Joyce discovers: As I experiment with new methods to achieve effects, sometimes the results are pleasing and exciting, which leads to future experiments and growth in techniques. 61

Joyce (right) with Jan Irvine, Instructor of course Fabric air-brushing dyes on silk, Summer School of the Arts, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, 1991.

Joyce at sewing machine, Summer School of the Arts, Toowoomba, c 1985.

In 1993 she became a member of the “Textile Ten” group, with the aim of working together to promote textile arts through exhibitions. The group included: Pamela Hill, Tina Sutton, Judy-Anne Moule, Joan Apel, Rosemary Penfold and Pam Winsen. The group only ever had five members at one time. The thinking behind the name was ‘five women, ten hands, many pieces.’62 In the group’s 1994 exhibition at Narek Galleries, Canberra, Meredith Hinchliffe observed: Joyce Hyam is exhibiting three small pieces conveying the colours and movement of vibrant ocean life: “Deep Blue Sea 1, 2 and 3” “Pipe to the Spirit-After Dorrit Black” is quite different. Appliquéd figures in bright yellow move in a circle over a ground of purple/ mauve and pink/ blue. The quilting links the figures and forms shadow-like patterns.63 At the group’s showing at Verlie Just Town gallery in 1999, Joyce exhibited Seasons, which was later chosen by Bernina Australia for the ‘World Quilt Competition’ in North Carolina, USA in August 1999.64 Reviewing the exhibition in the Courier-Mail Jeff Shaw said: Hyam’s Seasons identifies leaf elements through a carefully considered exploration of colour and surfaces. This is by far her strongest and restrained work.65

Joyce beside her textile artwork at Textile Ten Exhibition, c1995.

Joyce (third from right) with Textile Art Group (TAG) c2003.

In 1996 Joyce created the outstanding “Alice” series, based on Lewis Carroll’s book and John Tenniel’s drawings. Joyce claims: I have used artistic licence in my interpretation. Of these works Kay Faulkner wrote: Lewis Carroll’s “Alices’ Adventures in Wonderland” come alive in a series of quilts by Joyce Hyam. Each a delightful interpretation of John Tenniel’s Illustrations, but only when viewed as a whole can they be fully appreciated.66 Frank Hyam added: Joyce has great joy in ‘fabricating’ those fabrications, in rendering them as material substance.67

Joyce has travelled many roads in her artistic life, knowing that she has created something beautiful for

the enjoyment of others. This talent has netted her some outstanding accolades such as first prize in the 1998 Dame Mary Durack Outback Award at the Queensland Museum. She was also invited to exhibit in the “Australian Bounty” Travelling Exhibition throughout Australia and Europe in 2000. Her work Aura Australis was very Australian in concept.68

In recent years she had work judged in Lansing and Greensboro USA in 2002 and started exhibiting with a new group of textile artists. The new group “Textile Art Group” (TAG), got together at the Royal Queensland Art Society in 2003. The group consists of Liz Heber, Elaine

Campbell, Fran Robinson, Kay Faulkner, Cynthia

Greg de Silva (left), John Rigby (centre) Joyce Hyam (right) at opening of Joyce’s Retrospective Exhibition, RQAS gallery, 2004.

Greg de Silva and Joyce Hyam, at her Retrospective Exhibition, 2004.

Morgan and Joyce Hyam.69 Speaking about her recent work Joyce says: Artistic interpretation reaches from drawing, design and colour, culminating in my present multi-media approach. I aim to produce work which sings and glows, by using a limitless range of fabrics and threads as well as paints.70 This creative journey has reached its pinnacle with this retrospective exhibition, which has given Joyce Hyam and the viewing public a lifetime of colour, imagination and sheer joy. In summing up on her diverse art form, Frank Hyam writes: To savour Joyce Hyam’s work, come to it open- mindedly, eager to hear colours sing, ingenuous laughter and sometimes, a sly undermining of the ground beneath the feet of the cognoscenti. The fountain of Youth is not somewhere else; it is within. All we need to do is keep it bubbling.71

© Greg de Silva: September 2004

1 “Joyce Hyam- Retrospective Exhibition RQAS” Textile Fibre Forum 75, 2004 p26

2 Joyce Hyam interview, Enogerra 2nd September 2004

3 Ibid; phone conversation Joyce Hyam, 3rd September 2004

4 Ibid

5 Joyce Hyam interview

6 Phone conversation with Joyce Hyam 3rd September 2004

7 See Battina Mac Auley: Songs of Colour. The Art of Vida Lahey. Queensland Art Gallery, 1989

8 Joyce Hyam interview; Joyce Hyam phone conversation

9 Phone conversation

10 Hyam interview

11 Ibid

12 Ibid

13 Ibid; YWCA Training Course Certificate 29th September 1947 in Joyce Hyam scrapbook

14 Hyam interview

15 Department of Education, Examination of Technical College Arts Certificates in Joyce Hyam scrapbook

16 Helen Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Arts Society, Queensland Branch. Boolarong Press, Brisbane1991, p.135

17 Steven Rainbird Melville Haysom, Ipswich City Council Art Gallery, 1987, p.7; Max Germaine, Artists and Galleries of Australia and New Zealand, Landsdowne Press 1979.p.471

18 Biographical notes on Melville Haysom in Half Dozen Group of Artists 22nd Annual Exhibition Catalogue,10-24 September 1962; Steven Rainbird, op cit; p.37;Germaine op cit; p471; Caroline Nolan, Ribbons Beads and Processions: the foundation of Stuartholme, Stuartholme School 1995 p 150;Leading Queensland Painter dies in Kent, Courier Mail 12 August 1978

19 Hyam interview

20 Ibid

21 C G Gibbs, Better Display of Art, Telegraph, Brisbane 9th November, 1961, p49

22 RQAS 75th Annual Exhibition Catalogue 8-20 July, 1963; Dr. Gertrude Langer, Arts Society Show Courier Mail, 19th July 1963

23 Elizabeth O’Neal. The Dynamics of the Wednesday Group. Glen R Cooke ed. Art off Centre Placing Queensland Art, Queensland Studies Centre, Griffith University , P.161; Helen Fridemanis, Contemporary Art Society Queensland Branch 1961-1973 (exhibition Catalogue) Brisbane City Hall Art Gallery Museum 1991

24 Hyam interview

25 Glenn R Cooke, A Time Remembered. Art in Brisbane. 1950-1975

26 Contemporary Art Society (C.A.S) 1(Exhibition Catalogue) Autumn 1962

27 Dr. Gertrude Langer. Contemporary Art Body Puts on First Show. Courier Mail, 4th April 1962. P.2

28 Information of C.A.S. Exhibitions in Joyce Hyam scrapbook

29 Hyam interview

30 Joyce Hyam CV 2002

31 Fridemanis op cit p.135; Hyam interview

32 Hyam Curriculum Vitae; Hyam interview; O’Neal op cit p.161. August School of Creative Arts Program 1964

33 Quota Club Brisbane 1964; Warana-Caltex 1964 Redcliffe Art Contest 1963-64 (Exhibition catalogues)

34 Redcliffe Art Contest 11th Annual Exhibition (Exhibition Catalogue)

2-16 September 1967

35 Glenn R Cooke, Women of the Vital Decade. A Contemporary Cast. A Homage to Women Artists in Queensland Past and Present. Centre Gallery, Surfers Paradise. 1988 p.17

36 Ibid

37 O’Neal op cit. p.166

38 Ibid

39 Hyam interview; Betty Patterson Now She Paints in Batik. Sunday Mail, 19th January 1969

40 H C Richards Memorial Prize for Painting 1969 (Exhibition catalogue) Queensland Art Gallery 1969; RQAS Women’s 11th Annual Exhibition, RQAS, 1969

41 Reference by Cyril Gibbs, 30th November 1971 in Joyce Hyam scrapbook

42 Glenn R Cooke. John Rigby, A Career Revealed. The World of Antiques and Art, 66th ed. Feb-Aug 2004 p.105

43 Hyam Curriculum Vitae

44 Ibid: Her Book Turns a House into a Home. Undated press cutting, 1972. Joyce Hyam scrapbook

45 “Crusades” Near End, Courier Mail 29th April 1974: Dr. Gertrude Langer Courier Mail 11th May 1974 p.2

46 Fredric Rogers, Mood and Style. Sunday Mail 12th May 1974

47 Invitation and Exhibition Catalogue, Joyce Hyam Drawings. Twelfth Night Theatre Club. 14th July- 2nd August 1975

55 Joyce Hyam CV Survey 79, Verlie Just Town Gallery 1979

56 Joyce Hyam quoted in Joyce Hyam (Exhibition Catalogue) Verlie Just Gallery Gallery, 1980

57 Fredric Rogers, ‘Together Two Artists Strike Happy Medium’ Sunday Mail 3rd August 1980; Dr. Gertrude Langer ‘Iridescent Veils and Images’ Courier Mail 30th July 1980

58 Joyce Hyam interview

59 Information in Joyce Hyam scrapbook; Half Dozen Group of Artists City Exhibition (Exhibition Catalogue) 19th -30th April 1993; information in Joyce Hyam file

60 Joyce Hyam, Why Textiles? Textile Fibre Forum, no. 24, 1989, p.31

61 Hyam CV: artist’s statement in Hyam file

62 Down Under Quilts June-July 1998 p.12; Hyam file

63 Meredith Hinchcliffe, ‘Pursuit of Excellence in Textiles’ The Canberra Times, 17th July 1994 p.18

64 Textile Fibre Forum no. 56 1999 p.52

65 Jeff Shaw, ‘Textile Ten Stitch up a Rich Fabric of Expression’ Courier Mail 28th April 1999 p.39

66 The Alice Series – Joyce Hyam, Textile fibre Forum, no.53, 1998 p.40; Kay Faulkner ‘Contemporary Fibre Art, Ontario Hand Weavers and Spinners c. 1998 USA

67 Frank Hyam ‘Inspiration in Colour and Stitch’ The World of Embroidery. Vol 48, no.2, March 1997 UK p. 150

68 Hyam CV; Australian Bounty Quilts Australiennes-Natura 2000 (exhibition catalogue)

69 Hyam CV; Focus on Fabric, exhibition invitation RAQS 2003

70 Joyce Hyam quoted in ibid

71 Frank Hyam, Artful Humour. Undated article in Joyce Hyam scrapbook

Joyce, age 87, 2010, Brisbane.

48 Joyce Hyam quoted in ibid

49 Dr. Gertrude Langer. ‘Fluid Line Play’ Courier Mail 19th July 1975 p.2

50 Charmaine Cashel, Telegraph 16th July 1975; Fredric Rogers, ‘With a Little Help from IMA’, Sunday Mail, 27th July 1975

51 Invitation on this prize on back of invitation to 83rd Annual RAQS Exhibition, RAQS (Exhibition Catalogue) 18- 30 July 1972

52 Keith Badbury & Glen R Cooke. Thorns and Petals 100 Years of Royal Queensland Art Society. RAQS 1988 p.188

53 Win Davson (ed) Australian Theatre Week and Arts Festival Quarterly Bulletin, April 1980 p.12

54 Information in Joyce Hyam scrapbook

Watercolours

Watercolours have been a much visited medium and passion for Joyce. Indeed several of her favourite works are watercolours, some of which include drawing as well. In her very early art career, Joyce enjoyed many days painting watercolours at Cribb Island * alongside her artist friend, Irene Amos. The two women would regularly visit Cribb Island during the 1960’s; set up their easels in quaint streets or lanes, most of which were still unsealed, and draw inspiration from the scenes before their eyes. The place was so quiet, with its own raw appeal, and afforded Joyce and Irene the opportunity to capture its essence. Two of Joyce’s watercolours are featured in this book, and many were exhibited in her Retrospective Exhibition at the Royal Queensland Art Society in 2004.

* The original area of Cribb Island was populated in 1884 by a tribe of approximately 50 Aborigines who bartered their locally caught fish and mud crabs for bread and potatoes from the early European settlers. The entire area of Cribb Island (about 5 km long and 400 meters wide) was built on essentially a mud flat that faced Moreton Bay. The 1930s saw a severe economic downturn and from then Cribb Island became a haven for the poor. This demographic remained the status quo until the end of the suburb’s existence, when it was resumed in 1970 to build a run-way for the expanding Brisbane airport. Cribb Island was the childhood home of Bee Gees pop stars Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.

Amongst Joyce’s favourite watercolours are several she did whilst teaching art students at the College of Art, Morningside. Sometimes, she demonstrated techniques, other times she would paint alongside the students, including at the Queensland Museum where they painted and drew taxidermied fauna. Her watercolours often included drawing with pen and ink – a medium which complimented the delicate washes of the watercolour and brought life to the abstract ideas or representational subject matter.

The appeal of the watercolour medium transcended into other art forms – mixed media of watercolour and charcoal/pen and ink; watercolour techniques were commonly employed in many of Joyce’s textile works, such as in the beautiful delicate textile work, Sensuality. The development of her watercolour skills over her artistic career is exemplified in her latest watercolours: Deep Secrets and Reef Magic.

c1963

39.5cm x 53cm

Watercolour

The Quarry, Mount Cooth-Tha

Rockface 1963

42.5cm x 35cm

Watercolour

Watercolour

Cribb Island Shacks

1963

32.5cm x 39cm

Cribb Island Shed 1963

31.5cm x 52cm

Watercolour

1985

64 cm x 52cm

Watercolour

Rockface with Vine

Flowerburst 1985

50cm x 31cm

Watercolour

Reef Magic 49cm x 63cm Watercolour

Deep Secrets

49cm x 63cm

Watercolour

Unconcerned

1978

64cm x 50.5cm

Watercolour and ink

63cm x 50cm

Watercolour and ink

Through a Glass

Darkly c1978

62cm x 49cm

Watercolour and ink

Acrylics and Oils

From the early 1960’s and into the mid 1980’s, Joyce painted many works using acrylics, whilst at the same time continuing with watercolours and drawing. For a short period, she used oils, but preferred acrylics which were a new medium then, and dried a lot faster than oils did. One of the few remaining oil paintings Joyce owns is Lost Legends, inspired by motifs and colours from Australian indigenous Aboriginal culture.

Some of her acrylic paintings were soft, representational works such as Loveliness Increases and Still Life, and the naked female forms in Demure and Nudes Others were boldly vivid, expressive in their simplicity, and grand in size, such as Tectonic Drift and Via Satellite. Joyce shows her love of nature, especially gardens and delicate creatures, in the works Lovesome Garden, Wandering Lizard and Requiem for a Green Frog. These artworks, she said, would make wonderful illustrations for children’s books, since children would enjoy trying to find the little creatures within the myriad of flowers and foliage! Once Joyce commenced textile art, she continued to use the techniques that she used with acrylics - now painting on fabric with fabric paints, then working up the design with threads, appliqué, quilting, and other techniques.

Lost Legends

1967

50cm x 45cm

Oil painting

Loveliness Increases

c1969

75cm x 60cm

Acrylic painting

c1970

44.5cm x 58cm

Acrylic painting

Nudes 1987

35cm x 45cm

Acrylic painting

Demure

c1970

72cm x 61cm

Acrylic painting

Boats - Tweed River

c1964

59cm x 80cm

Acrylic painting

Via Satellite 1981

90cm x 107cm

Acrylic painting

Subterranean Moods

1980

66cm x 61cm

Acrylic painting

Autumn

1978

60cm x 65cm

Acrylic painting (1st prize RQAS Judge: Alan Warren, Principal, College of Art, Seven Hills, Brisbane) 1972

Lovesome Garden

1978

60cm x 76cm

Acrylic painting

Tectonic Drift

1982

96cm x 77cm

Acrylic painting

Venus Probe 1981

102cm x 84cm Acrylic painting

Wandering Lizard

1987

59cm x 65cm

Acrylic painting

Requiem for a Green Frog

1979

85cm x 102cm

Acrylic painting

Dreaming of Thee

c1979

65.5cm x 60cm

Acrylic painting

Drawings and Mixed Media

As with most artists, the ability to draw is critical to creating noteworthy art. During her art studies, drawing was viewed by her teachers as the most important subject, and by Joyce as well. This instruction taught Joyce skills that she has developed over her life as an artist, and that she used in all her artworks, no matter what the medium. Joyce produced many hundreds of drawings in pencils, charcoal, pen and ink, and pastels, and several of her drawings are included in this book. In Unconcerned; Art Class 1; Art Class 2; Hills are Alive, and Through a Looking Glass she used ink as the drawing medium, with watercolour complimenting the subject matter.

In Whispering Wood, and Before the Rain, pastel is the medium of choice, giving these works both softness and vibrancy. Her bold, yet minimalist works Reclining Man, Disagreement, and Contemplation, illustrate how strong black lines can convey the essence of human emotional and physical states.

In her printmaking years, drawing was also pivotal to her artmaking – she drew on etching plates, and drew designs to produce her lithographs; she drew on sheets of glass covered with printing ink to produce mono prints. One sees that her drawing skills are perhaps best realised and illustrated in her textile art, where she uses free-form machine stitchery to draw. The detail achieved in the nudes in the textile artwork Mystique, is a wonderful example of how Joyce drew skillfully and artistically with thread, using a sewing machine rather than a pencil, ink, or any of the conventional drawing materials.

Let me Touch

1999

28cm x 17cm

Mixed media, collage, mono print

Whispering Wood 1988

62cm x 47cm Pastel drawing

Disagreement

1979

33cm x 24cm

Ink drawing

Contemplation

1979

33cm x 24cm

Ink drawing

All that Jazz 1988

46.5cm x 24cm

Watercolour, collage, printing

Art Class 1 1978 68cm x 50cm Ink drawing

c1978

59cm x 43cm

Ink drawing

Printmaking: Viscosity Etchings and Lithographs

Joyce always liked new challenges in her artistic development and expression, so it is not a surprise that she decided to explore the printmaking techniques, of Viscosity Etching and Lithography during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. She produced some fine works in that period, and sold many prints at exhibitions and from her own private studio. Several are featured in this book. The art critic Dr, Gertrude Langer claimed that her work I know a Bank revealed great talent, artistry and sophistication. After a few years of working with etching plates, and using what Joyce considered were unpleasant inks, she ceased printmaking and turned her art-making passion to a new medium – textile art. Here she didn’t have to use etching plates, heavy printing presses, and inks, and also didn’t have to spend money on framing her artworks. She took to this new medium with passion and enthusiasm, and continued working for over 20 years developing her textile art skills.

Raindrops

Illumination

1979

30cm x 45cm

Viscosity etching

Eon Icon 1980

22.5cm x 30cm Viscosity etching

1980

30cm x 22.5cm

Viscosity etching

Fawn Fire

Raindrops

1979

22cm x 30cm

Viscosity etching

Julie’s Garden 1980

30cm x 22.5cm Viscosity etching

Shall crowd into a Shade

c1978

50cm x 40cm

Lithograph

46cm x 33cm

Omega Alpha c1978

41cm x 50.5cm

Lithograph

Sleeping Nude

c1978

37cm x 46cm

Lithograph

Wise and Foolish Virgins

1979

53.5cm x 44cm

Monoprint

Textiles

Author: Joyce Hyam

Why Textiles?

“This art medium adds a new dimension to an artistic expression. It involves a number of skills – ie. Dyeing techniques, mixing the paste, screen printing and sewing techniques as well as artistic knowledge.”

“It is an interesting extension of the water colour technique to paint on a screen with fabric dyes instead of water colours on paper, even though more time-consuming. The process consists of painting on a screen with fibre-reactive dyes... then using a squeegee and a screen printing paste with ‘Manutex,’ which transfers the dyes to the fabric.

Artist Statements:

By Joyce Hyam (written in the mid 1980’s when Joyce redirected her artistic talents to textile art)

“Central to my work is feeling, being conveyed through colour, line and form. Each work is a new experience for me, and, hopefully for the viewer. I am now working with a number of mediums, including painting on fabric, appliqué, and free stitchery using both silk and metallic threads. As I experiment with new methods to achieve effects, sometimes the results are pleasing and exciting, which leads to further experiments and growth in techniques. With a fine arts training on which to build my textile work, and artistic background in teaching and exhibiting drawings, paintings (oils, acrylics, watercolours) and print-making (etching, lithographs), I now find I can convey my knowledge through textile art.”

Excerpts from Textile Fibre Forum, no.24, 1989 p.31

I sometimes use two layers of fabric (ie. cotton voile over cotton), so that one layer can be cut away for a special effect. The print is then dried for twenty four hours, washed and ironed. The work is completed with machine stitchery. When complete, the work is professionally stretched and framed.

Excerpts from the Review section of Craftlink, Volume 7, no.2 March 1993, p.3.

Author: Jeff Shaw

“Landscapes and Illusions was an exhibition of the work of four South East Queensland textile artists, Joyce Hyam, Cynthia Morgan, Lois Skinner and Tina Sutton. It was mounted at the Arts Council Gallery from 10 to 27 November 1992.”

“...these artists used the theme (Landscapes and Illusions) as a starting point for their own interpretations and emotions in an often startling exploration of the expressive and the emotive elements of their textile medium...” “While the work showed great variations in both technique and expression, some of the stronger pieces exhibited a dramatic visual impact more often associated with the work of painters, while others appealed through subtle placement and employment of colour surface.”

Joyce’s textile artworks, c2002. Private Collection, Cugnaux France.

Joyce’s textile artworks, c2002. Private Collection, Vancouver, Canada.

“In general, the large works held most appeal and of those, Joyce Hyam’s ‘A Poem Lovely’ demanded the most immediate attention. Perhaps its appearance is in part atavistic, a call from a well remembered quilt of earlier years where colours, forms and textures always had an element of waking magic. Whatever the case, this piece presents as a sparkling mosaic with bands and variations of tone and colour endowed with pine trees and magical landscapes. Brilliant and enjoyable, the piece is described as ‘strip pieced, machine appliqué and quilting’ – but a pleasure in any medium. Still on an imaginative note, the Hyam work entitled ‘Everglades’ displays elements of stitchery which are a visual delight.”

(Note: the works referred to are now in private collections)

There is an advantage in working with people in different art/craft areas. Cynthia Morgan helped me with dyeing and machine stitchery, and I contributed my knowledge of watercolour techniques. Preparing for exhibitions of textile art, both in Brisbane and Rockhampton was a pleasant experience for us.”

In describing her ’The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland’ series of textile wall hangings, Joyce wrote:

“To me, artistic interpretation reaches from drawing, design, and colour, culminating in my present multimedia approach. Hence, artistic expression is achieved by making creative choices amongst techniques, mediums and skills. I aim to produce work which sings and glows by using a limitless range of fabrics and threads as well as paints. My present series, ‘The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland’ was inspired by Sir John Tenniel’s blackand-white drawings. It involves painting on canvas and embellishing the work with a range of textile techniques.”

Excerpt from Down Under Quilts, September, 1997

Art Quilts

Joyce Hyam describes her technique for marbling on silk:

“After working in a wide variety of media for twenty-five years, the challenge of a new art form presented itself when I experimented with a marbling technique on silk.

The process is to float fabric dyes on a carrageen moss gel. I make a tray using a sheet of thick plastic placed on a large table, with bricks making four sides. This provides a bath for the moss, should be about 5cm in depth. The Everfast dyes, which have a squirt of oxgall and 60% water are the medium which floats on the gel. The art is the manipulation of the dyes. When the pattern is made to my satisfaction, I need the help of a friend to lower the silk onto the surface of the gel. The silk is then pulled out of the bath, hung to dry, and ironed. It is washed to remove the gel.

Joyce’s textile artworks, c2002. Private Collection, Cugnaux France

Joyce’s textile artworks, c2002. Private Collection, Cugnaux France

Vivien Harris (center) and Ivor Harris (right) with visitor in front of ‘Alice’ textiles at Joyce’s Retrospective Exhibition, 2004.

To present the machine-quilted hangings, I sometimes use appliqué technique and stitchery.”

Textile Ten is the name of the original group of five textile artists formed in 1993 – Joyce Hyam; Pamela Hill; Judy-Ann Moule, and Pam Winson, who exhibited together many times during the ninetees and into the early 2000’s. The group met regularly to discuss their work, both technically and artistically, and membership of Textile Ten changed to include textile artist Tina Sutton who exhibited with Joyce, Pamela Hill, and Pam Winsen at the Rhythm and Blues exhibition held at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery from 1st to the 27th January 1997.

Ten refers to the ten fingers on the five hands of the women artists. Other exhibitions by the Textile Ten included: Diversity: Textile art by ‘Textile Ten’ was held at the Logan Art Gallery in July 1996; Textile Ten - five women, ten hands, many pieces from 23rd May to the 27th June 1998 at the Verlie Just Town Gallery, and Japan Room Brisbane. The group comprised Joan Apel; Joyce Hyam; Judy-Anne Moule; Rosemary Penfold; and Pam Winson. This latter exhibition is described in Textile Fibre Forum no.53, 1998, p.39

Later the women joined several more talented textile artists and the group Textile Art Group or TAG was formed to which Joyce belonged. Even though she ceased exhibiting with TAG around 2008, when she was in her mid eighties, Joyce continued her involvement as a textile art friend, and has followed the women’s works and exhibitions with great delight. She was awarded a Certificate of Life Membership of the Textile Art Group on the 10th November 2008 (pictured to the right).

‘Pursuit of Excellence in Textiles,’ The Canberra Times Sunday, July 17 1994, p.18

Critique of Textile Ten exhibition at the Narek Galleries, Cuppacumbalong, Nass Road Tharwa, ACT.

Meredith Hinchcliffe of The Canberra Times wrote:

“Textile Ten is a group of artists dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in contemporary textiles. Each artist (Joyce Hyam; Pamela Hill; Judy-Ann Moule, and Pam Winson) works as an individual exploring her own talents and inspirations with the joint aim of artistic expression. Most of the works in this exhibition involve quilt making and several related needlework techniques.”

“Successful quilts must be more than a combination of skills, no matter how well executed. They must have vigour and excitement and breathe life.”

“Joyce Hyam is exhibiting three small pieces conveying the colours and movement of ocean life: Deep Blue Sea 1, 2, 3. Pipe to the Spirit – After Dorrit Black is quite different. Appliquéd figures in bright yellow move in a circle over a ground of purple/mauve and pink/blue. The quilting links the figures and forms’ shadow-like patterns.”...” The colours are startling and there is barely constrained movement in the dancing figures.”

“Quilted textiles are far more than pictures which hang on walls. They are three-dimensional, absorbing and reflecting light. The exhibition is an excellent chance to see what is being produced by a small group of textile artists from Queensland.”

Down Under Quilts, Spring 1995, p.4

Around the Quilt World

Australians recognised internationally

Work selected for prestigious Fibrearts Design Book Five

“Three Australian quilt makers have had their work selected for the prestigious Fibrearts Design book, to be released in October 1995, to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of publishing Fibrearts Magazine. Each of the 585 pieces included in the book, chosen from 6,000 artists from 34 countries, was picked on the basis of artistic integrity and technical expertise. The artists are Pam Hill and Joyce Hyam from Brisbane, and Alison Schwabe from Shelley in W.A. Alison’s quilt (entitled) “Undercurrents” ...Pam Hill’s (entitled) “Evensong”...and Joyce Hyam has made a quilted art hanging entitled “Pipe to the Spirit – after Dorrit Black”...It uses handdyed cotton fabrics, is machine appliquéd and machine quilted.”

Art Quilt Magazine, Issue 7, 1996-7

This magazine features new works done by fibre-art artists and featured Joyce’s work, Australian Waters, in this issue. In describing her work, Joyce wrote:

“A recent holiday in the Whitsundays inspired this work. Australian Waters is made of hand-dyed cotton fabric. The batik sea creatures are appliquéd with metallic threads, as are the fishes and other sea forms suing free stitchery. This work comes to life under a spotlight.”

Brisbane Convention Centre Craft Fair, October 2000

Divine Displays (publicity produced for the Craft Fair)

“The Queensland Quilt Show, by the Queensland Quilters Inc. Is their annual quilt exhibition and will include both traditional and contemporary quilts in various sizes. In addition to member’s work, special features including:

9 Contemporary Quilts by Joyce Hyam from her “Alice Series.” Joyce is an artist who only recently in the last 10 years developed an interest in textile art. Her quilts have been selected for display in Australian Quilts in Public Places (Melbourne 1997), the World Quilt Competition (Pasadena California 1998 and WinstonSalem, North Carolina, USA 2000), and National Patchwork Association, UK 1997. With these impressive accolades, we consider her quilts a special inclusion this year.

Joyce (right) with daughter Vivien Harris at her Retrospective Exhibition, Royal Queensland Arts society, Brisbane, Sept – Oct 2004.

“Here Be Magic” is my original design, inspired by the sparkling effect of sunlight on trees after rain.

It is painted on canvas, the tree foliage being created by using small pieces of fabric and threads, held together whilst sewing using soluble fabric and gold metallic threads.

The created shapes and patterned organza are appliquéd with invisible thread. The work is machine quilted.

“Here Be Magic” has been selected to be judged at the WORLD QUILT COMPETITION in Pasedena, California USA, and will hang on display during the event from April 16-19, 1998.

Joyce Hyam

Aura Australis 125cms x 110cms

Selected by Dijanne Cevaal, Quilt Artist and Curator, to travel with Australian Bounty, Quilts AustraliennesNatura 2000. The quilts went to the following venues in 2000 and 2001:

Gellilbrand Town Hall, Gellibrand

Chatteau de Chassy en Morvan, Chateau-Chinon, France

Galerie du Pontgirard, Galerie d’Art Contemporaine, Manceaux-au-Perche, France

European Quilt Championships, Waalre, The Netherlands

Autumn Fairs, Ardingly and Chilford, England

Australian Embassy, Paris, France

The Heights, Heritage House, Geelong, Australia

New England Regional Art Gallery, Armidale, NSW, Australia

Sydney Quilt Festival, Sydney, Australia

Te Tuhi (formerly the Fischer Gallery) Auckland, New Zealand

Joyce Hyam

Here Be Magic 129cms x 107cms

Green Island

c1985

63cm x 84cm

Textile: (velvet appliqué; machine stitchery)

Via Satellite 2

c1985

91cm x 122cm

Textile: (cotton pieced appliqué; machine stitchery)

Colour Zones

c2000

86cm x 74cm

Textile: (patchwork; appliqué; netting; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Come Into Being

c2000

92cm x 80cm

Textile: (patchwork; appliqué; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

81cm x 100cm

Textile: (curved piecing; appliqué; weaving; bead decoration; machine quilted)

c1992

70cm x 50cm

Textile: ( appliqué; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Sneak Peek

Curiosity Masks

c1992

55cm x 40cm

Textile: (machine appliqué; weaving; beading; machine quilted)

Razzamataz

c1993

74cm x 63cm

Textile: (marbelling on fabric; appliqué; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Silken Dalliance 1992

56cm x 41cm

Textile: (marbelling on silk; appliqué; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Swirl 1992

122cm x 97cm

Textile: (marbelling on silk; appliqué; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

50cm x 36cm

Textile: (hand-dyed cotton; appliqué; machine stitchery)

Bush Alert 1989

Western Sky c1990

56cm x 42cm

Textile: (hand-dyed & painted cotton; machine stitchery)

Vibes

1999

55cm x 43cm

Textile: (machine stitched & layered slashed fabric; beading; machine quilted)

Seasons 1998

131cm x 131cm

Textile: (hand-dyed cotton; slashed blocks; brocade; machine appliquéd; machine quilted)

1995

50cm x 50cm

Textile: (screen printed; pieced; free standing motifs; machine stitched & quilted)

Green Gold Galaxies

Nine Prancing Cats 2003

103cm x 84cm

Textile

Way Out

c2000

122cm x 92cm

Textile: (patchwork; machine stitchery; bias binding with free stitchery; machine quilted)

107cm x 69cm

Textile: (hand-painted cotton; organdie overlay; machine stitchery; appliqué; machine quilted)

Lightning Strike

c2002

Soft Reef Current

c2002

43cm x 58cm

Textile: (hand dyed & painted cotton; machine stitchery)

Opalescence

c2002

43cm x 58cm

Textile: (hand dyed & painted cotton; machine stitchery)

c1996

124cm x 109cm

Textile: (painted canvas; appliqué; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Southland Sailboat

125cm x 110cm

Textile: (painted canvas; appliqué; machine stitchery over fabric pieces & threads; machine quilted)

Aura Australis c1997

Ocean Intrigue

c1993

122cm x 86cm

Textile: (marbelling on silk; reverse appliqué; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

105cm x 101cm

Textile: (hand-dyed cotton; appliquéd batik; machine stitchery with metallic threads; machine quilted)

Australian Waters 1996

The Stylist 1991

37cm x 32cm

Textile: (air-brushing on silk; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

There was a Green Hill 1991

46cm x 29cm

Textile: (air-brushing on silk; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Fleeting Moment

1995

55cm x 54cm

Textile: (organdie overlays; reverse appliqué; gold metallic machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Trees-a-Dancing 1995

44cm x 40cm

Textile: (layered organdie over cotton-patterned fabric; glitzy fabric appliqué; machine stitchery)

Mystique 2001

108cm x 90cm

Textile: (painted fabric; machine stitchery over layered fabrics; appliqué; machine quilted)

Hidden Secrets

c2004

100cm x 61cm

Textile: (hand dyed silk; appliqué; machine stitchery with wool & metallic thread)

Fabrication 1995

42cm x 40cm

Textile: (layered organdie& commercial fabric; cut-away technique; machine stitchery)

36.5cm x 30cm

Textile: (layered organdie & commercial fabric; cut-away technique; machine stitchery)

Night Glow

c2005

30cm X 25cm

Textile: (appliqué & machine stitchery on dyed silk)

Pipe to the Spirit - After Dorrit Black

c1994

122cm x 86cm

Textile: (hand -dyed cotton fabrics; machine appliqué; machine quilted)

Set of Miniatures

c2002

39cm x 34cm

Textile: (machine stitchery)

Spirits of another Sort

c2001

103cm x 82cm

Textile: (painted fabric; machine stitchery over layered fabrics; appliqué; machine quilted)

30cm x 25cm

Textile: (machine stitchery; fabric ornaments; appliqué)

Butterfly Haven

c2005

c2006

30cm x 25cm

Textile: (machine stitchery of raised fungi motifs; machine appliqué & quilted)

Into the Woods

Ophelia – Get thee to a Nunnery

2001

93cm x 78cm

Textile: (painted fabric; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Sensuality

c2002

58cm x 43cm

Textile: (hand-dyed cotton; hand painted; machine stitchery)

Arachnida

c2003

70cm x 51cm

Textile: (machine stitchery; appliqué; machine quilted)

Nature’s Wealth 2008

51cm x 35cm

Textile (machine stitchery; quilting; applique)(Joyce’s last artwork, age 85)

Alice in Wonderland Series

their colourful attire and humorous stout bodies. ‘The Queen’s Gardeners’ pictures three comical cards of different ages and opinions. ‘Alice and the Duchess’ portrays a domineering powerful woman wearing rather odd clothes who contrasts the gentle elegance of Alice.

Inspiration in Colour and Stitch

A Series of pieces based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Author: Frank Hyam (1997)

As a child, my wife Joyce was given a copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, containing black-and-white illustrations by John Tenniel. These have remained in her sub-conscious for over six decades, and inspired the interpretations that her art training enabled her to create.

The ‘Alice’ Series

Author: Joyce Hyam (1997)

Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, I adapted several of the images from the original illustrations by John Tenniel, using artistic licence to create the nine artworks in the series. I painted on canvas using a textile medium, and sculptured the scenes with selected fabrics including gold cord; netting, and lace. To further develop the artworks, I used invisible stitching (eg. to stitch the [playing cards around the perimeter); metallic threads; appliqué; free machine stitchery, and quilting.

The ‘Looking Glass Garden’ extends from a massive tree in the left foreground through a pattern of flower-beds to a distant mountain on the horizon at right. ‘Tweedledee and Tweedledum’ capture the viewer’s attention with

That Lewis Carroll’s inventions are famous is, in no small way, due to Tenniel’s sensitive and comic perception of a world peopled by anthropomorphic as well as quasi-human beings. They are engaged in interactions as enchanted as they are disturbing. Who would not be distressed about the possibility of drowning in her or his tears? Which child is unfazed by having to face predicaments of tininess, illogicality, and unfamiliar beings and situations?

Joyce had great joy in ‘fabricating’ those fabrications, in rendering them as material substance. Painting and stitching together – literally as well as metaphorically – what comes from different universes was a great challenge.

Because these pieces rest on Carroll/Tenniel’s inspiration, small variations lie within the artist’s province. While three gardeners try to re-colour roses in the story to deceive the queen, Joyce uses other blooms, which give a fresh view of their attempted deception. This secondary deceptive move is intended to underlie the gardener’s would-be guile.

Cartooning is, of course, at the heart of both Carroll’s and Tenniel’s artifice. Yet an artist seeks to work at a level beyond that of a cartoonist. Thus all characters receive their facial and body language, including their costumes and environments, from a world in which the principals of art are paramount.

Our everyday language has abundant examples of ‘colour’ used in a non-visual sense. Colours are called ‘loud’ with no distinction made between auditory and visual perception. There are warm colours, cool colours and those that ‘shout’. The emotional dimensions of colour subtly affect viewers’ responses that are interactive and affect each other. Resonances are also set up by characters’ faces, costumes, backgrounds, stories and settings.

In the piece ‘Alice and the Duchess,’ the Duchess’s domineering character comes through in her features, her odd attire and her sheer size, which contrast so strongly with the far more demure personality that Alice presents. The appeal of ‘The Queen’s Gardeners’ stems from the age-range of the characters, plus their differences of opinion. In ‘Tweedledum and Tweedledee,’ the twins, as they seems to be, are the highlight of the work – Alice’s presence is of subsidiary significance.

Joyce Hyam beside her textile wall-hanging “The Looking Glass Garden” at her Retrospective Exhibition 2004.

128cm x 125cm

Textile: (painting on canvas; ‘sculptured fabric’ with invisible thread; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

The Caterpillar and the Mushroom 1996 -1997

The Cheshire Cat 1996 -1997

99cm x 78cm

Textile: (painting on canvas; ‘sculptured fabric’ with invisible thread; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

82cm x 92cm

Textile: (painting on canvas; ‘sculptured fabric’ with invisible thread; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

The Madhatter’s Teaparty 1996 -1997

The Queen’s Gardeners

1996 -1997

109cm x 92cm

Textile: (painting on canvas; ‘sculptured fabric’ with invisible thread; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Off with her Head

1996 -1997

107cm x 97cm

Textile: (painting on canvas; ‘sculptured fabric’ with invisible thread; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Alice and the Duchess 1996 -1997

127cm x 104cm

Textile: (painting on canvas; ‘sculptured fabric’ with invisible thread; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

The Looking Glass Garden

1996 -1997

153cm x 97cm

Textile: (painting on canvas; ‘sculptured fabric’ with invisible thread; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

1996 -1997

106cm x 123cm

Textile: (painting on canvas; ‘sculptured fabric’ with invisible thread; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

108cm X 81cm

Textile: (painting on canvas; ‘sculptured fabric’ with invisible thread; machine stitchery; machine quilted)

Queen Alice 1996 -1997

Joyce Hyam Curriculum Vitae

Artist’s Statement

To me, artistic interpretation reaches from drawing, design and colour, culminating in my present multi-media approach. Hence, artistic expression is achieved by making creative choices amongst techniques, mediums and skills. I aim to produce work which sings and glows by using a limitless range of fabrics and threads as well as paints.

Studies

My art study commenced in 1960 when I attended the Central Technical College, Brisbane. In 1968, I spent one year in Germany and attended the Waki Zollner Art School in Munich. This was followed by study tours in the U.K. and Europe, 1970 and 1975, Japan Arts and Crafts Tour in 1972, Bali in 1980, Taiwan in 1982 and three months in Japan in 1986.

Private Studies (Painting, Drawing, Etching)

Andrew Sibley, John Aland, Bronwyn Thomas, Jon Molvig, Ysabel Hoyos

1978-79 College of Art Nora Anson (Etching)

1977 Kelvin Grove C.A.E. Brian Dean (Lithography)

1974 Residential School, University of New England. John Olsen (Drawing)

1962-68 University of Queensland. Queensland Arts’ Council August School of Creative Arts (Painting Tutors: Desiderius Orban, Stan Rapotec, Lawrence Daws, Louis James, Andrew Sibley, Robert Grieves)

Professional Development Workshops

McGregor Summer School, Toowoomba (two weeks course: textiles)

1996 Drawing - Design & Embroidered Textiles

1991 Curves in Quilts

1990 Stitch as a Design Element

1988

Creative Textiles

Textile Art

1993 Reversible Log Cabin Quilt

1992 Seminole Patchwork

Nine Patch Colour-wash

Celia Player

Fiona Gavens

Jan Irvine

Tori de Mestre

Sharyn Hall

Sigrid Sina

Judy Turner

Employment

1994 Tutor, Quilt Experience, Toowoomba

Subjects: Nine Patch Colour-wash Wall Hanging, Drawing & Design for Patchwork

1974-87 Art & Craft Lecturer, School Dental Therapy

Subjects: Drawing, Painting, Poster-making, Puppetry

1962-83 Art Instructor, College of Art, Brisbane (part-time)

Subjects: Child Art, Interior Decoration, Drawing, Design, Colour Study

1965 & 1973 Art Lecturer, Kindergarten Teachers’ College, Kelvin Grove (part-time)

Subjects: Painting, History of Art

1963-72 Lecturer, Board of Adult Education, Brisbane

Subjects: Interior Decoration, Art Appreciation

Textile Exhibitions

2014 Creative Journeys: An Exhibition of Textile Art and Photography. Textile artist Joyce Hyam and Photographer, Vivien Harris. 29 April 2014-10 May 2014, Petrie Terrace Gallery, Royal Queensland Art Society Gallery, Brisbane

2008 Textile Art Group exhibition “Many Voices, Common Thread” Pine Rivers Regional Art Gallery, QLD

2005 Textile Art Group exhibition “Focus on Fabric” Royal Queensland Art Society” Gallery 419, Brisbane

2004 Textile Art Group exhibition “Art in Textiles,” Redcliffe City Gallery, Queensland

2001 Textile Art Group exhibition “Out of step,” Trevevan House Gallery, New Farm, QLD

1997 Rhythm in Blues, Toowoomba Regional Gallery

1996 Diversity, Logan Regional Gallery

1995 Warwick Regional Gallery,

1995 ABC Ferry Street, Brisbane

1994 Beauty Rich and Rare, Gallery on Five, David Jones, Brisbane

1994 Narek Gallery, Canberra

1993 AMP Place, Brisbane

1992 Landscapes and Illusions, Arts Council Gallery, November 1992: Artists represented: Joyce Hyam; Cynthia Morgan; Lois Skinner; Tina Sutton

Solo Exhibitions

2004 Joyce Hyam Retrospective Exhibition, Royal Queensland Arts Society (Sept-Oct)

1993 Brisbane Stephens Gallery, City Hall (early & recent work)

1988 University of Queensland Staff & Students’ Club

1985 Stephens Gallery, City Hall (water-colours, textile art)

1980 Town Gallery (water-colours, graphics)

1978 Canberra Theatre Centre Gallery (water-colours, graphics)

1975 Twelfth Night Theatre Gallery (drawings)

1974 Abbot Gallery (oils, acrylics, water-colours)

Joint Exhibitions

1994 Brisbane Stephens Gallery, City Hall (with Mary Norrie)

1987 Dabbles-on-Days Gallery (with Gary Field)

1986 Burnie Brae, Chermside (with Cynthia Morgan)

Rockhampton Attic Gallery (with Cynthia Morgan)

1962 to present

Numerous painting and graphics group exhibitions, including:

Wednesday Group of eight artists

Royal Queensland Art Society

Contemporary Art Society

Half Dozen Group of Artists

Ipswich City Council Regional Gallery, 1989

Queensland Quilters, Brisbane, 1990/91/92/93/94/95/96

Arts Council Gallery, Landscapes & Illusions, 1992

Mary Durack Outback Crafts Award, Queensland Museum, 1993/94/95/96

Selected to exhibit textile art:

Quilts from Queensland National Patchwork Association (UK)

One of twenty selected quilts to tour the United Kingdom and Europe, 1997

Selected to exhibit painting and graphics:

Queensland Art Gallery

Gold Coast Art Prize

Royal National Association

Crafts Council of Queensland

Royal Queensland Art Society

National Women’s Art Award, 1988, Gold Coast

Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School Old Girls’ Exhibition, 1995

National Women’s Art Exhibition, R.Q.A.S. 1995

Awards

First Prize

1981 Chermside Quota Club Arts Festival (non-traditional acrylic)

1980 Bribie Island Arts Festival (water-colour) Westfield, lndooroopilly (water-colour)

1978 Redcliffe Art Society (water-colour)

1972 Royal Qld Art Society (acrylic)

Second Prize

1987 Brookfield Show (viscosity etching)

Highly Commended

1993 Gatton Arts Festival (viscosity etching)

1982 Westfield, lndooroopilly (viscosity etching)

1980 Aspley Art Contest (acrylic) Dalby Art Exhibition (drawing)

Commended

1987 Brookfield Show (watercolour)

1980 RNA Show (acrylic)

Represented

Bribie Island City Council Art Collection

School Dental Therapist Training Centre

College of Art, Taipei

Private Collections in Australia, Munich, Germany; Cugnaux France; Vancouver, Canada

Illustrator

Hyam, F. The Dreaming Time, Max Hueber Verlag, Munich, (1969)

Publications in which Joyce’s art is featured

Hyam, J.R. Interior Decoration for Australian Homes, Jacaranda Press, Brisbane Australia (1972)

Australian Waters in Art/Quilt Magazine, Issue 7, (Houston, TX, U.S.A. 1996-7). p 45.

Frank Hyam, Inspiration in Colour and Stitch in The World of Embroidery, Vol 48, No 2, (U.K. 1997), pp 100-101.

The “Alice” Series: Joyce Hyam in Textile Fibre Forum, No 48, (1997), p 30.

Textile Ten in Down Under Quilts, (Autumn 1997), pp. 20-21.

Alice and the Duchess in Craft Arts International, No 38, (1996-1997), p. 115.

Alice and the Duchess in Down Under Quilts, (Spring 1996), p. 51.

Australians Recognised Internationally in Down Under Quilts, (Spring 1995), p. 4.

Fibrearts Design Book 5 (1995), Editors: Batchelder, A; & Orban, N. Authors: Janeiro, J. & Larsen, J.L Publisher: Sterling USA, p. 218.

Craft/ink Vol 8, No 7, (August 1994), front page.

Hinchcliffe, M. Pursuit of Excellence in Textiles, Canberra Times (17th July, 1994), p. 18.

Marbling on Fabric in Textile Fibre Forum, No 36, (1993), p. 48.

Textile Art in Down Under Quilts, (Autumn 1993), p. 25.

Shaw, J. Landscapes and Illusions in Craft/ink, Vol 7, No 2, (March 1993), p. 3.

Marbling in Quilts in Patchwork Quilt Tsushin, Issue 44, (Tokyo, 1991), p. 7.

Art Quilts in Down Under Quilts, (Sept. 1990), p. 34.

Quilted Hangings in Textile Fibre Forum, No 30, (1990) p. 51.

Art Quilts in Ita, The International Magazine for Women, (June 1990), p 128.

Why Textiles?Textile Fibre Forum, Vol 8, Issue 1, No 24, (1989), p 31.M

Listed in:

Artists and Galleries of Australia, Max Germaine, p. 258 .

Keith Bradbury and Glenn R Cooke, Thorns & Petals; 100 Years of the Royal Queensland Art Society, pp. 126, 188

Helen Fridemanis, Artists and Aspects of the Contemporary Art Society, Queensland Branch, pp. 57, 67, 135.

Glenn R Cooke, A Time Remembered- Art in Brisbane 1950-1975, (1995).

Who’s Who of Australian Visual Artists (1995).

Who’s Who of Australian Writers (2nd edn. 1995), p. 340.

Fibrearts Design Book 5 (1995), Editors: Batchelder, A; & Orban, N. Authors: Janeiro, J. & Larsen, J.L Publisher: Sterling USA, p. 218.

Index

Artists, art teachers, art curators, and art critics with whom Joyce exhibited, studied under, and instructed with during her artistic career, and who are referenced throughout this publication.

Abraham, Peter 10

Akers, Dorothy 7

Aland, John 6, 7, 129

Amos, Irene 8, 15

Anson, Nora 129

Apel, Joan 11, 73

Arrowsmith, Veda 10

Barker, Caroline 6

Bennett, Deirdre 7

Bradbury, Keith 9, 132

Budgen, Beverley 7

Campbell, Elaine 12

Carstens, Herbert 6

Cashel, Charmaine 9

Cassab, Judy 10

Cevaal, Dijanne 75

Churcher, Roy 6, 7

Coaldrake Alison 7

Coburn, John 10

Cooke, Glen 13, 14, 132

Cooper, Wilson 10

Cottew, Miss 5

Cunningham, Robert 9

Dawes, Lawrence 7, 129

Dargie, Sir William 7

de Silva, Frank 8

de Silva, Greg 5, 12

de Mestre, Tori 10, 129

Eldershaw, John 8

Faeber, Ruth 10

Faulkner, Kay 12, 14

Field, Gary 130

Fowler, David 6

Fridemanis, Helen 13, 132

Fullbrook, Sam 8

Galloway, David 10

Gasteen, Mona 8

Gavens, Fiona 129

Germaine, Max 13

Gibbs, Cyril 6, 8, 13, 14

Gleghorn, Tom 8

Grieves, Robert 129

Hall, Sharon 129

Hamilton, Don 10

Harvey, L. J. 5

Hatch, Brian 6

Haysom, Melville 5, 13

Heber, Liz 12

Hill, Pamela 11, 73, 74

Hinchcliffe, Meredith 11, 14, 73, 132

Hoyes, Ysabel 129

Hutton, Joy 7, 8

Hyam, Frank 12, 13, 14, 118, 132

Inson, Graham 10

Irvine, Jan 10, 129

James, Louis 129

Lahey, Vida 5, 13

Lane, Harold 10

Langer, Dr. Gertrude 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 51

Langford, Pat 10

Lewers, Margo 10

Ludlow, Charles 6

Matthews, Neville 8

Mc Phee, Dorothy 6

Mellish, Raoul 9

Miller, Shirley 7

Milton, Ian 7

Molvig, Jon 7, 129

Moon, Milton 7

Morgan, Cynthia 12, 13, 69, 72, 130

Moule, Judy-Anne 11, 73

Nolan, Caroline 13

Norrie, Mary 7, 130

Olley, Margaret 6

Olsen, John 129

O’Neal, Elizabeth 8, 13, 14

Orban, Desiderius 7, 129

Penfold, Rosemary 11, 73

Plate, Karl 8

Player, Celia 129

Rainbird, Steven 13

Rankin, David 8

Rapotec, Stan 7, 129

Read, Arthur Evan 6, 10

Reddington, Charles 7

Rigby, John 10, 14

Robinson, Conty 7

Robinson, Fran 12

Robinson, William 7

Rodgers, Frederic 9, 10, 14

Roggenkamp, Joy 7

Ross, Dan 6

Schlunke, David 10

Schwabe, Alison 74

Shaw, Jeff 11, 14, 69, 132

Sina, Sigrid 129

Sibley, Andrew 7, 129

Skinner, Lois 69, 130

Sutton, Tina 11, 69, 73, 130

Templeton, Peter 6

Thomas, Bronwyn 129

Turner, Judy 129

Van Erp, Rona 7, 8

Ventnor, Clarrie 7

Warren, Alan 8, 9

Wilkes, Carol 10

Williamson, George, D 8

Winson, Pam 11, 73

Yates, Bronwyn 6, 7

Zollner, Waki 8, 129

A Creative Journey – Selected Artworks by Joyce Hyam

Profile on Queensland female artist, Joyce Hyam, from 1960 to 2008 – Editor: Vivien Harris