Craft / The Poetry of Things, Annette Blair & Kirstie Rea. At Suki & Hugh, Bungendore, until December 13. Reviewed by MEREDITH HINCHLIFFE.

Kirstie Rea and Annette Blair are both experienced and consummate artists working in glass.

Their work is quiet and assured, with the confidence that knowledge and experience bring.

Twelve of these works have been made collaboratively and they have used a multitude of glass-making processes and techniques.

We are surrounded by things in our lives – ordinary things which might have been used in the past, but are now set aside, or discarded. These artists have the skills to capture these objects in glass and give us a new way of looking at them. The blush of two ripe peaches in an old enamel saucepan, a small bowl of blackberries resting on a stained cloth, an artist’s cloth that shows its regular use. These are the objects which surround us in our homes, our garages, our studios and which we tend to overlook, or dismiss.

Through their thoughtful and clever reimagining of these objects in glass, we can see them anew. And they will undoubtedly bring back memories: ‘oh look, that reminds me of my pop’s garage!’ I overheard one visitor murmur. The commonplace becomes poetic in the hands of these artists.

Each artist is also exhibiting a couple of pieces they made alone.

Blair’s Vestige #13 (a study of domestic relics) is a compilation of rusted tins cans, resting on a shelf. She has created the rusted, crusted surface of rusting cans – used to paint the house perhaps – that have been cast aside once the job has been finished.

Rea is showing a rake propped up against the wall. The tines have grown wings, and are being blown sideways. This work evokes the endless raking of leaves in a cold Canberra winter. It also refers to Rea’s upbringing in this region, and the outdoors that she loves and continues to return to.

This is a rewarding exhibition for viewers, from two outstanding artists. It is a fitting exhibition for the gallery Suki & Hugh to finish with.