Working for a famous artist

About March last year I started working a day a week as the studio assistant for internationally famous Adelaide sculptor Greg Johns. Jamie, Greg's assistant of 13 years moved onto to other things and Greg asked me if I would take-on the role. I've got my own sculpture practice which is very different from Greg's, but what a great opportunity for me to work alongside someone with 30+ years 'in the business' of making art, and making a living from it for almost the same period. I'm a 'newbie' with only 9 years of professional arts practice under my belt.

So each Thursday you can find me at Greg's studio in the Adelaide Hills, welding and grinding and welding and grinding. Greg works mainly with Cor-ten rusting steel while most of my sculptures are made in mild steel, then painted. I've learned that rust is wonderful for a sculptor - if a sculpture gets scraped or scratched in shipping it doesn't matter because you can just leave it outside for a while and the damaged area rusts back 'to normal'. Also, with items that are to be painted you have to finish the surface a lot more than with a Cor-ten piece. I'm guessing that the matte finish of rust covers and hides surface detail much better than paint does - paint shows every imperfection.

Come-up and say hello some Thursday! See some of Greg's work.