Have you checked out ST Gill's Australian Sketchbook at the National Library yet? There's something so edifying about these vivid, delicate sketches of colonial Australian life – prospectors, larrikins, swagmen and the like. The show has been curated by our own critic Sasha Grishin, who also produced a very handsome book on the subject as a companion to the show. He'll be in conversation by ABC's Virginia Haussegger about S.T. Gill on Saturday, September 18, 2pm in the National Library Theatre. Entry is free but bookings advised. Visit nla.gov.au for more information. Australian Sketchbook: Colonial Life and the Art of S.T. Gill is showing until October 16.

Canberra artist Helen Geier is showing paintings and works on paper that display her pivotal themes of "the perception and experience of the spaces within the landscape…Schematic expressions of colour and pattern within her works set up a tension between perceived and constructed space, bringing into question traditional notions of linear perspective." And sculptor Clara Hali is focused on the human form in a contemporary context. "The work in this exhibition, Fusion, integrates the landscape and the practice of yoga into figurative forms with the landscape acting as a metaphor for the duality of fragility and strength in humans and yoga representing the potential for equilibrium." Coming storm, by Helen Geier, and Fusion, by Clara Hali, are showing at Beaver Galleries, 81 Denison Street, Deakin, until October 2.

It's a pretty basic thing, a vessel – but not if you're a silversmith. A new exhibition at Bilk Gallery in Manuka has contemporary investigations of that most basic of objects, with works by Mark Vaarwerk, David Walker, Vito Bila, Inari Kiuru, Alison Jackson, Mark Edgoose and the late, great Robert Foster. "In traditional silversmithing, constructing or raising a vessel is one of the cornerstones of the guild," says Bilk. "Vessels are steeped in tradition and ritual, they lauded for their technical ability and marvelled at for their beauty and flair. While contemporary vessels and their makers acknowledge the history of the tradition, their use of materials and construction techniques expose new forms and explore the outer boundaries and endless possibilities of the notion of a vessel. The makers in this exhibition are no exception to this." Vessel is showing at Bilk Gallery, Palmerston Lane, Manuka, until October 8.

Sydney artist Ben Edols is currently doing a six-week residency at Canberra Glassworks, and is working from a dedicated studio in the Engine Room, doing "further development on a body of work which resulted from a time of great change in his life. He wants to continue to refine it and explore pattern and mark making which carries this feeling of water dwarfing the land." And you can watch him in action, and maybe ask a probing question or two. He'll be around Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-4pm until October 18, at Canberra Glassworks, 11 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston. Entry by donation.

A new season of shows has opened at Belconnen Arts Centre, starting with A Tribute to Mossy, Frances Luke's homage to that loveliest of lovely South Coast enclaves, Mossy Point: "The honeycombed cliffs at Mossy Point at times appear as a rusted monument to the hundreds of ship wrecked vessels along the coast, and also a magnificent medieval cathedral, a place of worship and sanctuary," says Luke. "I feel blessed to witness and be inspired by their beauty. I do not seek to imitate nature, only to celebrate." In the Foyer, Liz Faul has curated a selection of works by her late brother Tony Faul, "a prodigiously talented child and gifted artist who created many artworks, particularly illustrations in watercolour, pencil and oil, exploring his passion for the natural world and the human figure. His work was never exhibited in his lifetime." The works are from the 1970s and 1980s. And in Ship of Fools, Ann McMahon references the allegorical ship, bereft of leadership and direction. "This iteration of the Ship of Fools makes use of recycled material to question the way resources are used, consumed or thrown away in the relentless pursuit of economic growth. Ann McMahon's dysfunctional boat is woven from plastic that would otherwise go to landfill." All three exhibitions are showing at Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen, until October 9.

We're a long way from Australia's red centre down here in Canberra, but two Canberra artists, Sharon Field and Cathy Franzi, have gone to the nearest best thing, the Red Centre Garden in the Australian National Botanic Gardens up there on the base of Black Mountain, and have created an exhibition of drawings and ceramics: "These works have developed from a dialogue between two artists who share a visual language and passion for Australian plants. Field uses the botanical art medium to convey in a subtly declarative way the continuum of nature and its struggle for co-existence in our contemporary world, and Franzi investigates ways in which representations of Australian flora on the ceramic vessel can express current botanical and environmental knowledge." From the Red Heart is showing in the Visitor Centre Gallery at the Australian National Botanic Gardens on Clunies Ross Street, Acton.