Painting

Honor Auchinleck. Timing and circumstances ensure some wartime tragedies are more defining than others and so it was with Malcolm Chisholm. He was the first Australian to die and the first of some 60,000 Australians who lost their lives on the First World War battlefields. His death has resonated through more than a century and well beyond the Upper Murray.

Rod Moss. Good rains recharged Lhere Mparntwe (Todd River) drawing crowds to its banks for the infrequent spectacle. When its rushing subsided waterholes became an unparalleled recreational attraction. In full rage it is perilous as friends, Johnathan Rodd and Rowley Hill, would discover, drowning near Wigleys Gorge.

Studio? Who needs a studio? I paint anywhere the mood takes me. Easel? Who needs an easel? Margaret Olley.

You will most likely know Alexander McCall Smith as the ingenious and inexhaustible author of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series or any number of his more than 80 other titles, but it was art that brought McCall Smith to Maldon last weekend. The cherished Cascade Gallery is currently showing the work of the entrancing and prolific artist Robert Maclaurin ... McCall Smith is an avid admirer - but they were yet to meet.

“I just like to depict life,” said artist Brian Williams as we discussed his upcoming Cohuna art exhibition ... From landscapes to seascapes, Brian’s work captures the beauty of the Australian environment, the animals and people.

The Labour Day long weekend saw the Birchip community celebrating its many talents and services at the Mali Heart Festival, as the most recent Mali Heart Art piece nears completion on the Historical Society wall.

A new exhibition by Greg Mallon is showing at EDGE galleries until Monday, March 13. Greg’s works resemble maps of the land.

Now on display at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery is the national art exhibition Three Echoes – Western Desert Art curated by writer, artist and activist, Djon Mundine OAM FAHA, showcasing works by 57 acclaimed artists heralding from communities in the Western Desert regions of the Northern Territory.

St. Arnaud artist, Gabriele Rohlje, is all set to unveil her latest creative works at the upcoming exhibition titled “Sayings and Quotations” at the St. Arnaud Raillery Hub Gallery on Queen Street, St. Arnaud. Gabriele has been a prominent figure in the St. Arnaud contemporary art scene for several years now, known for her unique style that blends figurative and abstract elements in a stunning display of colour and form.

Rod Moss. Bernadine Johnson, Ricky Ryder, Aureole Perkins, Therese Johnson and Arthur Webb are wandering in search of the purple-flowered plant awele awele, the bush tomato. Looking for bush tucker was a weekend pursuit. How gratifying to see these activities continuing apace in the formal structure provided by Children’s Ground/ Ampe-kenhe Ahelh.

Large landscape paintings by Liz Sullivan take the viewer on an immersive and close encounter with nature. The works are of vibrant landscapes of green grasses and flooded countryside, reminiscent of the recent flooding experienced in the region.

Artist Donna Mitchell has been drawing and painting since the age of eight, with portraits her speciality. She now shares her knowledge and skills by conducting art classes for kids and adults ... "Since moving to Hendon in 2022, we have enjoyed the simpler lifestyle that comes with living in the country."

Chris Oldfield. SA taxpayers, not ratepayers, will fund a 30 per cent budget blow-out for a mural on the back of the new Naracoorte Public Library facing Ormerod St. Cr Peter Ireland said the mural looked “fantastic” but questioned “why” there was a budget blow-out?

Two very talented street art and design artists have helped the Murrabit Group School students capture the natural world and add some colour to the school. Melbourne based Chuck Mayfield and Brian Itch travel the world with their skills, completing works at festivals, schools, shopping centres, churches, buildings, glow laser tag parlours, video games and hosting their own exhibitions.

Internationally recognised geologist Dr John Jackson’s exhibition “The Art of Scottish Geology” opens at the Old Kirk, Yamba Museum on Tuesday December 13 ... The artworks depict what the earth’s activity and landscape looked like from 350 million years ago moving into the present day, including Australia.

A dedicated and permanent First Nations gallery, Djaa Djuwima, has officially opened at the Bendigo Visitor Centre with its first exhibition. Gurangarr Dja Dja Wurrung Djayi (you are on/in Dja Dja Wurrung Country) brings together stunning works from 20 First Nations artists and celebrates their connections to Country.

Charles Jangala Inkamala was born 1968 in Ntaria (Hermannsburg) ... Charles lives in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and began painting with Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists in 2017. He paints significant cultural sites such as Rwetyepme (Mount Sonder) and Yapalpe (Glen Helen Gorge) in stylized detail.

The mural is finished. It’s been two years in the making but the water tower on the hill overlooking Casino is complete. The mural is broken into four paintings – the swan, the platypus, the farmer and the Indigenous basket weaver.

Emma Pritchard. Stunning drawings and paintings by First Nations artists from the Clarence Valley will be projected onto the Sunshine Sugar building in South Grafton each night from October 22 until November 6. Celebrating the life cycle of the endangered coastal emu, glorious creations by proud Yaegl artists Kahlua Charlton, Gareth Charlton and Aneika Kapeen, proud Bundjalung artist Maisie Monaghan, and proud Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung artist Deborah Taylor have been delighting spectators who have been stopping to admire the impressive visual display. 

Nancy Whittaker. Don’t miss visiting the David Moore exhibition at the Cascade Art Gallery in Fountain Street, from now until 13 November ... Red dots abound as the works are so popular and covetable. David Moore is a delightful interview subject, erudite and somewhat self-effacing, given his long and dedicated artistic career, which started with a teacher training course at Hawthorn Tech (now Swinburne).

As well as the Craft & Fine Food Spectacular, Pittsworth is hosting an exhibition of paintings by Cliff Bauer titled A Time for Change, this weekend. The focus of this exhibition will be Mr Bauer’s love and appreciation for the Australian landscape and his desire for its preservation.

The Brightsiders artists Steve Falco and Jordan Bruce were here in February but returned to Brisbane while it rained…and rained…and rained ... Steve and  Jordan are working on the eastern side of the mural, drawing and painting a farmer and his dog in a field of sunflowers.