may 31 - june 6 | 2017
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circulating in wangaratta, myrtleford, bright, mt beauty, beechworth, yackandandah, rutherglen, chiltern and districts
Country on canvas By KYLIE WILSON
PORTRAYING HER SURROUNDINGS:
Kathy Ellem is a prolific artist who loves painting nature and rural life. PHOTO: Kylie Wilson
GARDENING WITH
DEBBI
RSPCA
WITH
MICHAEL
MOVIE WONDER
WOMAN
WINE TALK WITH
ANITA
FROM her childhood on an apple orchard in Beechworth, to living in outback Queensland and the rural surrounds of Hansonville, Kathy Ellem has truly embraced life in regional Australia. She fondly recalls her younger years, from spending afternoons outdoors to enjoying the freedom of motorbike riding in the area. Kathy was always an avid doodler, but early in her life she was more interested in graphic design and biology. It was only after meeting her husband in Canada while they were both working on an agricultural program, and moving to Queensland to start their family, that she began to embrace art. In 2007, while pregnant with her first child, she did an oil painting workshop, and she “never really looked back”, working in that time mainly with oils but also with acrylics and other media. “It’s been a bit of an obsession,” Kathy conceded, adding that she was passionate about getting each painting just right. “You have to have good light and good shadow. “I like to play with the concept of tone.” Kathy’s artworks have won her a lot of recognition over the years, with one of her most significant recent prizes being her first placing in the Mansfield District Race Club’s inaugural Equine Art Prize in early April, which attracted entries from across Australia. Her winning work, entitled Just One Short Straw, featured two draught horses eating hay. Kathy is fascinated by the imposing presence of draught horses and the nostalgia associated with Clydesdales, and loves to paint them. continued page |
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