Capital life

Glass artist Emma Varga recently travelled to Antarctica, and has created a series of glass works based on her experiences there. Her absorbing exhibition, Antarctica, at the Canberra Glassworks, evokes the ice continent's breathtaking natural beauty. Canberra Glassworks, 11 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston, until November 14. Varga will give a floor talk this morning at 10.30.

Botanical artist Sharon Field has a show opening this week at the Q Exhibition Space in Queanbeyan, and it has a thought-provoking theme. ''Much of life is made up of mirrors and memories,'' she says. ''The mirror reflects what is happening at a particular point in time. What is. The memory is a reflection on time past. What was. I have rendered not just the plant but what it has been through. There is beauty in plants as they start to decay. They should be appreciated for what they were, and what they are: living things transmigrating from one state to the next.'' A Mirror on Memory opens at the Q Exhibition Space at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, at the back of 253 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan, and runs until October 12. Sharon Field will talk about the show at 11am on Friday, October 4, and Friday, October 11.

Continuing on the botanical theme, the Australian National Botanic Gardens is set to open a new garden devoted to the Red Centre, and has opened an exhibition of plant stories as a precursor. The show explores the iconic plants, Aboriginal culture and colourful history of central Australia and its dramatic landscape. Uncovering the Red Centre is at the Australian National Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre Gallery until Sunday, November 10. Entry is free. The Red Centre Garden will be open during the Gardens' Bush Capital Celebration on November 2 and 3.

If you keep missing out on the rare and wonderful appearances of our patron centenary saint, the Skywhale, there will be another opportunity on Saturday at the Belconnen Arts Centre. Weather permitting, Patricia Piccinini's majestic balloon sculpture will be aloft (but tethered) at Emu Bank from 8-10am, with breakfast and tethered flights available by donation. Donations will go towards the centre's community arts programs. Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen.

It's always interesting to see how international artists interpret this fair city. Chinese artist Ji Chen arrived in Australia in 1989, and has exhibited annually in Canberra since 2000. To mark the city's centenary, he has drawn on his impressions of the city, the landscapes and images for his latest exhibition at Paintbox Fine Art. He has also paid homage to the recent blockbuster exhibition of works by J.M.W. Turner at the National Gallery, with four works inspired by the Master of Light. A Celebration of Canberra and Homage to Turner is at Paintbox Fine Art, 32 Lonsdale Street, Braddon, until October 13.

The ACT Screen Arts Fund is accepting applications for 2014. The fund focuses on projects and programs that help develop screen artists into new stages in their work. It supports all narrative screen art forms, including film, television, documentary, experimental film, games, apps and digital media. Applicants can be in the running for development, production and mentorships up to $20,000. For full guidelines, a budget template and an online form, see screenact.com.au. Applications close on Monday, November 4, at 5pm.

We've had Canberra in photos, prose, history, dance, opera, symphony, fireworks, balloon, poems, anthologies, paintings and more photos. Now it's time for paper and glue. Artist Elizabeth Paterson offers a new perspective of the Canberra environment, using her sculptural paper landscapes to ''evoke the light and natural forms of Canberra as an urban paradox sited in a paddock. The playful qualities of the work act as a contrast to the planned and manicured green spaces of much of Canberra.'' Paterson says she wanted to ''create the feeling of moving through Canberra, particularly through its openness and space''. She has drawn on various archival materials, including maps and files relating to the Burley Griffin plan, as well as Canberra's more recent planning history, including the National Capital Open Space System. Paradox in a Paddock runs until October 19 at Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre, Level 1, North Building, 180 London Circuit, Canberra.

But maybe you just feel like chilling out alone for a while. Artist Dianne Libke can relate. Her first solo exhibition, Where Do You Go To?, is a series of sculptures, paintings and drawings inspired by ''solitude, stillness and those moments when you just want to switch off from the world''. Libke uses objects such as chairs, woven cassette tape, tiny microphone parts and discarded metal to create her work, and often depicts lone figures in large landscapes - tiny figures swallowed by the surroundings. Loneliness or solitude? You decide. Where Do You Go To? is on in the Arts Lounge at the Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen, until October 13. Libke will speak about her work at the centre on Sunday, October 6, at 1pm.

Have you ever wanted to feel at one with the elements? What if it meant no room, no bathroom, no running water, no phone or internet? What if you had to bathe in an icy rock pool after walking for hours just to find it? Belconnen artists Carolyn Fitzpatrick and Carole Osmotherly wondered how they would manage, but they did it anyway and lived to create art about it. They joined a group last year who left Alice Springs and made camp at the remote Ruby Gap, about 150 kilometres into the Eastern MacDonnell Ranges. They lived rough and slept under the stars, spending the day creating art. The results of their experiences are now on display at Strathnairn Gallery. Fitzpatrick used coloured inks on thick watercolour paper, and created most of her works in situ, while Osmotherley made paintings on silk back in her Canberra studio. Roughing It at Ruby Gap and Beyond is showing until October 13 at Strathnairn Gallery, 90 Stockdill Drive, Holt.