Arts

The Grong Grong School of Arts hosted a successful fire circle session at the Royal Hotel over the weekend ... "We ended up with 17 musicians, many of whom didn’t know each other, playing at the pub all day… they came from Griffith all the way to the border and just drove up for the day, it was great": Gemma Purcell.

The last of the foal shows are done for the year, the royal show horses have a few more weeks rest before the earnest work begins and it’s the quietest time of the year for most horse people. It’s an opportunity to catch up on some reading by the fire while the wind blows cold, or while seated on a 12-hour plane flight – do we revisit some old favorites or go and find something new to read?

HM Woodhouse-Herrick. Former Nhill resident Tim Rath was heard recently on Matt Tribe’s Saturday morning show on ABC Radio. Tim was on to talk about his book: The Footy Jumper Book, which traces the history of the humble guernsey from the hessian sack days of Moonta FC in regional SA back in 1876 through to Neil Craig’s remarkable one-piece lycra invention for Norwood in 1994.

Vuu deftly handles multiple time shifts throughout the novel until it all comes crashing together at the end. The final chapters contain twists enough to keep any reader happy, and the emotional punch of the climax is powerful. This is one the most intriguing crime novels I have read and the story stayed with me long after I closed the book for the final time. I look forward to reading her second novel.

The winners of the highly anticipated 2023 Victorian Architecture Awards have been unveiled, celebrating collaboration and sustainability in design and paying tribute to the influential role of architecture in shaping the way we live, work and play across Melbourne and regional Victoria ... The Regional Prize winner, Warrnambool Library and Learning Centre was heralded for its triumphant contribution to the local community, further receiving an Architecture Award for Public Architecture.

Fitting neatly into co-curricular studies and specifically, the Connecting to Cattana Wetlands program, year 6 students at Trinity Anglican School (TAS) White Rock campus were treated to a special presentation this week about migratory shorebirds by zoologist, microlight pilot adventurer and children’s book author, Milly Formby ... TAS’ year 6 students were captivated by Milly’s presentation which provided a practical perspective to their studies of Cattana Wetlands near Smithfield...

The Tennant Creek IGA has been given a colourful makeover thanks to the talented artists from Proper Creative. The award-winning company from Darwin has 15 years experience in art in public spaces, and the colourful wall art depicts a map of the town.

A crowd of 40 gathered in the oldest town in the Riverina to celebrate the creativity and craftiness in the amateur 2023 Bush Sculpture Competition ... Materials to build the sculpture were plentiful on the farm at ‘Parkleigh’, located between Moulamein and Swan Hill...

With One Voice Riverina was thrilled to be joined by Western Sydney conductor Dr Sarah Penika-Smith in at the CRC Theatre in Narrandera last week. She is working with the Cad Factory on an art project at the Parkside Cottage Museum and has invited Peter Anthony and With One Voice to collaborate on a song.

Byron Writers Festival 2023 (11-13 August)  opens an exciting new chapter at the Bangalow Showground on Bundjalung Country. The 2023 festival will feature compelling and diverse voices, familiar names and new talents guaranteed to entertain  and  inspire.

Yorke Peninsula Council’s latest addition to the Southern Yorke Peninsula Water Tower/Tank Mural Trail was officially unveiled at Wool Bay ... Painted and designed by Sam Brooks and Harley Hall, with the assistance of Mark Harding, Rachelle Plazeriano and Gary Nowlan, the art – which adorns a tank and shed on Green Flat Road – follows the story of Wool Bay from Narungga First Nations to European settlement.

Franca Fredriksen. The sins against the environment by people chucking away clothes are just hitting the headlines while Sustainable Couture has been providing an answer since 2009. The annual function in Alice Springs, except for Covid, staged by volunteers, not only has displayed stunning dress creations, it has also struck a blow for the world: The average Australian buys 27 kilos of clothes per year and a third of them finish up on the landfill.

Kyogle artist Rebecca Tapscott chose to paint a self-portrait at a low point in her life. She was going through radiation treatment to eliminate cancer that had returned to her body from her 2017 breast cancer. Her portrait doesn’t shy away from that harrowing experience.

In a “shock” move, Australia’s tallest poppies were snubbed in the announcement of this year’s Bald Archy Prize for caricature portraits. The prize went to a portrait by Marty Steel of the founder of the Bald Archy Prize, Peter Batey who passed away in 2019. The caricature depicts Peter Batey riding aloft the airborne figure of chief judge, cockatoo Maude.

Maldon locals are most likely to know Anita Sinclair as a puppeteer, a cartoonist or an artist ... she’s releasing her second memoir, A Wild Surmise - A dream of migratory birds, which follows Anita as a new migrant arriving in Australia at the age of 12 through to finishing her painting and sculpture degree at the age of 20.

The multi-award winning documentary ‘Solstice’, about survivors of suicide, including interviews with local people who have been impacted by tragedy, will screen in Corryong next week. The inspiration for the film had its genesis with the Winter Solstice event that happens in Albury for survivors of suicide and those struggling with their mental ill health.

The second ever Ganmain Arts Festival on Ford will be held on June 24 and 25. The Art Festival will transform Ford Street with art from local artists in different disciplines to be featured in storefronts, businesses and the town hall.

This new book is a travel narrative that recounts Renee’s 2016 return trip to the Indian Ocean Territories ... and it’s hard not to fall in love with the paradise she describes in such exquisite detail ... It’s fair to say that when this book starts it’s easy to be lulled into a sense of calm, wonder and delight but as the chapters progress there’s a shift from the beauty that surrounds Renee to the real reason for her trip and the story she needed to tell.

Everybody loves a bit of romance and Australian author Karly Lane has made a living out of writing about it. With nearly 30 books to her name (and several more in the pipeline) Karly has become one of Australia’s best selling authors of rural and women’s fiction ... Serena Kirby recently caught up with Karly   to chat about her journey to becoming an author and why she chose romance as her genre of choice.  

Legendary music icon Paul Kelly is heading to Alice Springs this October to headline an exciting new event, The Warm-Up ... His performance will complete a program of activity for The Warm-Up, which will celebrate one-year-out from the return of the 2024 Alice Springs Masters Games.

“I was ready to repaint the mural three days after it got hit, but the process has taken nine months to get to this stage ... I chose this image because he just had a bit more of a grin on his face ... I thought it was quite suitable too, to come back with a bit of a grinning smile saying you paint over me, and I’ve come back with a vengeance this time with a warrior ochre": NITSUA .

Preparations for Rotary Club of Castlemaine’s 34th Annual Art Show across the King’s Birthday weekend, June 9–12, are in full swing. The featured artist for 2023 is well-known Castlemaine artist Juliana Hilton.