Chapman & Bailey

Harry Rothel explains his art practice like a vice. When he's at work or running errands, away travelling—he's thinking about painting, "It's almost like an addiction, not knowing what you're going to make the next day, or how things will turn out, how the [will] paint react".

Read more about Harry's practice in our our second issue of Studio Forum which will be published this Thursday. Subscribe to the mailing list on our website to receive it straight to your inbox.

While most of us are familiar with the appearance of ornate gilded frames, what you might not know is the remarkable process of how they are created.

Here's Ying, Jarman's resident ornate frame crafter, cooking up the various materials used to make what she dubs 'compo'.

The messy and smelly process involves boiling and mixing a number of essential ingredients until the perfect consistency is achieved. This is formed into pancake shapes and set to dry, and eventually pressed into timber moulds.

Once affixed to prepared frames and after delicate shaping, carving and detailing, the entire thing is gilded with gold leaf for that iconic, opulent look.

We had the pleasure of spending a gloomy Melbourne morning with in her Fitzroy studio.
She took us through her unorthodox process of using encaustic wax medium, drawing sticks, encaustic paints and powdered pigment to create enchanting found object sculptures. We also got a glimpse into her long-standing painting practice which includes cold wax medium.

Ami Morris is the very first artist spotlight in our new monthly publication, Studio Forum: Conversations, studio practice, and material culture from Chapman & Bailey.

Every month, the publication will feature a spotlight; whether that be an artist, exhibition, institution or event. We'll have sneak-peaks into artworks residing into our art stockroom and intriguing goings-on in the workshops. We'll share materials that we're loving, and local events that we're looking forward to with our "What's On" guide.

Once subscribed, Studio Forum will land in your email inbox. The spotlights will live permanently on our website under the 'Arts & Culture' tab, where you can access long form text about each subject, including Ami.

We cannot wait for you to see it.

If like us, you love living with First Nations art, a bark painting is something every collection should include.

These two small but powerful works come from Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre (known simply as Buku by those who know it well), one of Australia's leading Indigenous-owned art and culture centres. Located in Yirrkala, in Northeast Arnhem Land, Buku supports more than 300 Yolŋu artists and filmmakers, nurturing cultural traditions while producing some of the world's most celebrated contemporary Indigenous art.

If you’ve experienced the extraordinary Bark Salon currently showing at NGV: Australia, saw Yolŋu Power at the Art Gallery of New South Wales last year, or visited the new Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met in New York, you'll already know the power and beauty of bark paintings.

These works may be modest in size, but they carry immense cultural knowledge and presence.

Images:
1. Milminyina Dhamarrandji, ‘Dhambadiny,’ 2022. Earth Pigments On Stringybark (Eucalyptus Tetradonta) 71 x 43 cm (Buku 6495-22)
2. Detail of above.
3. Lamangirra #2 Gumana, ‘Garrapara,’ 2023. Earth Pigments On Stringybark (Eucalyptus Tetradonta) 64 x 32 cm (Buku 3966-23)
4. Detail of above.

Read the in-depth stories behind these artworks on the cbOne Gallery website (link in bio), and explore our Art Centre page to discover more exceptional works from Buku and other Art Centres.
At Chapman & Bailey, we make custom aluminium cradles that can be adjusted as bark naturally responds to changes in humidity and temperature. The face clips are spray-painted to match each bark, providing conservation support while allowing the work to move safely over time.

Some artefacts are so compelling that a frame would only distract from their presence.

To that, we say "clear acrylic box!"

Here's workshop extraordinaire Alexei carefully constructing one such object. He uses UV resin to seamlessly join the edges, creating an almost invisible- but very protective- case, for something special to sit inside.

And finally, the fit-up.

After passing through multiple departments and many skilled hands, the works arrive with Connor and the fit-up team, where artwork, glazing and frame are united for the first time.

It's one of our favourite stages in the workshop - the point where all the individual parts come together and the finished work is finally revealed.

Work by
Made for and .

Prepared in our workshop by Connor and the fit-up team.

Joy can come out of even the biggest mess - it’s what you make of it!

These brilliant sea creatures are made from Ghost Nets, discarded fishing nets and industrial gear that drift through our oceans, continuing to trap marine life and damage fragile ecosystems.

Every year, millions of tonnes of fishing gear are lost at sea, becoming persistent plastic pollution that washes up on coastlines around the world.

These works are created by artists at Erub Arts in the Torres Strait - a ghost net hotspot. Through their practice, they transform marine debris into powerful artworks and design objects, including large-scale commissions such as Taba Naba (2026) at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco.

Lavinia Ketchell
KJ, 2023
Ghost nets, aluminium wire and twine
53 x 51 x 9 cm

Racy Oui-Pitt
Tulu, 2023
Ghost net, rope and twine
16 x 19 x 6 cm

Jimmy John Thaiday
Wahmere (Black Tail), 2024
Ghost net, rope and wire
16 x 69 x 74 cm

Take a look at our online stockroom

While the prints are being dry-mounted and prepared in the workshop, Ed is in the spray booth creating a frame rainbow with these juicy custom colours.

In our workshop, every step in the process informs the next, with each work passing through many hands, skills, and knowledges before the final fit-up.

Stay tuned to see the final stage of this frame journey for the upcoming exhibitions at STARKWHITE and 1301SW.