ARTS ZINE SEPTEMBER 2025 by Robyn Werkhoven

ART ZINE issue 63 september 2025 s t u d i o L A P R I M I T I V E

I M M Y

PAGE 16

Australian Birds of Prey Series, Bronze various dimensions. Jimmy Rix.

SARAH HICKEY

Wishes for Ridiculous Abundance, 110cm x 110cm, oil and mixed media on canvas, Sarah Hickey.

GAVIN FRY

Carrington at Work, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 91 x 182 cm. Gavin Fry.

g e o r g e g i t t o e s page 96 g e o r g e g i t t o e s

Spring Dancer, 122 x 168 cm. Oil on canvas, George Gittoes 2025.

War and Peace: the day after

WHERE THE GALLERY MEETS THE STREET

LORRAINE FILDES PAGE 152

9.5

9.5THE ELLIOTT EYES

LACHIE HINTON

Gargoyle, 78 x 56 ins. Acrylic and airbrush on canvas. Lachie Hinton.2023

Janelle Gibbon-Heath

Lady Beetle, Lady Beetle, Acrylic on paper, H30 x W20cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

TALES OF MADRID

Jose Luis Seijas Garcia - SEIGAR

studio la primitive CONTRIBUTORS slp

Jimmy Rix

Sarah Hickey

George Gittoes

Gavin Fry

Gordon Elliott

Lachie Hinton

Janelle Gibbon-Heath

Maggie Hall

Lorraine Fildes

SEIGAR

Elizabeth Lish Škec

Eric Werkhoven

Reese North

Peter J Brown

Robyn Werkhoven

Gresford Community Gallery

Arts National Newcastle

Timeless Textiles

Barbara Nanshe

Back to Back Galleries

Straitjacket Gallery

Dungog by Design

Helene Leane

Studio La Primitive

I’m Batman, Acrylic on wooden panel, H30 x W20 cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

Lower Manhattan, 24 x 18 ins. Ink, watercolour, gouache, pencil and linocut on paper

Lachie Hinton 2021.

Greetings to ARTS ZINE contributors and readers to our September issue.

This month we are presenting an impressive lineup of artists and writers.

Accomplished artist/sculptor Jimmy Rix works range from small scale domestic sculptures to extremely large public art works, ceramics, and jewellery, inspired by the Australian wildlife and landscape.

Sarah Hickey is a Brisbane-based contemporary artist whose work explores archetypes, spiritual iconography, and liminal spaces. Hickey has been a Finalist in major Australian art prizes.

Gavin Fry is a writer, artist and museum professional with fifty years’ experience working in curatorial and management positions in Australian museums, galleries and educational institutions. He is the author of twentyfive books on Australian art and history.

Renowned artist and award-winning film maker George Gittoes features two articles – A tribute for artist and friend Bruce Goold and Wisdom and Compassion.

Gordon Elliott and Michael Eyes have written about their amazing bequest of artworks to Maitland Regional Art Gallery NSW.

In Arts Zine May 2019 we featured Australian contemporary artist Lachie Hinton, we have a follow up on his latest exhibition in New York, USA where he is presently living.

Lorraine Fildes, travel writer and art photographer presents WHERE THE GALLERY MEETS THE STREET, - Darwin’s fabulous Street Art.

Hunter Valley artist Janelle Gibbon-Heath features- An Artist’s Journey of Transformation and Passion From Event Management to Artistic Excellence.

Artist and poet Maggie Hall based in Newcastle NSW, presents a provocative political piece and images.

International, award-winning Spanish artist and photographer Jose Luis Seijas Garcia- SEIGAR includes a series of photos – Tales of Madrid.

The Gresford Community Gallery presents latest news on their exhibitions and artists.

Don’t miss out reading new works by resident poets Elizabeth Lish

Škec, Reese North, Peter J Brown and Eric Werkhoven.

ART NEWS and information on forthcoming art exhibitions.

Submissions welcomed, we would love to have your words and art works in future editions in 2025.

Deadline for articles 15th OCTOBER for NOVEMBER issue 64, 2025.

Email: werkhovenr@bigpond.com

Regards - your editor Robyn Werkhoven

A Drama Unfolding

T U D I O

L A P R I M I T I V E

Acrylic on canvas, H40 x W30 cm.

Robyn Werkhoven 2025.

JIMMY RIX

Jimmy Rix works range from small scale domestic sculptures to extremely large public art works, ceramics, and jewellery.

Inspired by the Australian wildlife and landscape, he works in different media including bronze, wood, corten steel depending on the scale of the work.

Rix has received many impressive public sculpture commissions and inclusions into a large number of outdoor exhibitions. His works can be viewed through out Australia and internationally such as the 2020 commission ‘Colossus of the Silk Road’, Minqin International Sculpture Park, China.

Page 14: Symbiotic Relationship, Corten steel, edition 3, 194 x 265 x 115cm. Jimmy Rix.

Right: History Repeating, Ceramic with oxide and underglaze and Corten steel, edition variable 9, 63 x 36 x 21cm. Jimmy Rix.

Man and Nature, Wall sculpture, bronze edition, 9, 9cm x 15cm x 0.3cm. Jimmy Rix.

JIMMY RIX - INTERVIEW

When did your artistic passion begin?

I grew up in rural Queensland, where art wasn’t even offered as a subject in high school. My creative journey instead began through hands-on classes in metalwork and woodwork, where I discovered a love for shaping and building. The spark that truly ignited my artistic passion came earlier, in Year 5, when I chose to do a school project on Pablo Picasso. That experience opened my eyes to the power of artistic expression and planted the seed for the path I would later follow. Have you always wanted to be an artist?

In high school, I had no clear vision of my future. When a friend announced he was going to be a chef, I thought, “I enjoy cooking - why not?” and followed the same path. During my second year as an apprentice, an artist came to work in the kitchen washing dishes. He noticed my creative flair, and we quickly became friends. His mentorship opened my eyes to the possibilities of a life in art. By the age of 18, I knew that my true calling lay not in the kitchen, but in pursuing a career as an artist.

Describe your work?

My practice spans a diverse scale and materiality from monumental outdoor sculptures in Corten steel, to more intimate works in bronze and ceramics, and further distilled into finely crafted jewellery. My forms carry a stylised, hard-edged aesthetic, informed by the bold geometries of Brutalist and Art Deco architecture and design. Growing up on a farm fostered a deep affinity with animals, a connection that continues to animate much of my work.

What is the philosophy behind your work?

The philosophy underpinning my work is grounded in a deep concern for the environmental impact of human activity and its profound effect on the survival of animals. Through my practice, I seek to create works that both celebrate the beauty and spirit of wildlife and serve as a quiet provocation—inviting reflection on our shared responsibility to protect the natural world.

Do you have a set method / routine of working?

My process often begins with small maquettes, which serve as scale models for larger works. Alongside this, I maintain a constant flow of sketches and spontaneous doodles - an ever-growing visual archive that I return to when developing new ideas. I work from my farm studio in Victoria, keeping regular hours from 9 to 6, while reserving weekends as open space for reflection, exploration, and gathering inspiration.

Why do you choose this material / medium to work with?

I choose Corten steel for its workability and permanence, and for the way its rich, earthy tones evoke the Australian landscape and the weathered farm relics I grew up around. Bronze draws me for its versatility and the infinite range of patinas that can transform a sculpture’s surface over time. Clay offers a tactile immediacy and a raw, textural quality that I find deeply satisfying. Jewellery, for me, is the intimate scale of sculpture - small, wearable works that carry the same artistic intent as my larger pieces.

How important is drawing as an element to your artwork?

Drawing is an essential foundation of my practice—both as a tool for generating ideas and as a direct means of marking and guiding the final work on metal. I sketch constantly, refining concepts and reconciling them into resolved designs. Often, I will doodle freely, later distilling elements from multiple sketches into a single, cohesive piece. In this way, drawing serves as both a space for exploration and a blueprint for creation.

What inspires your work / creations?

My inspiration is drawn from the world around me - the animals I encounter, the colours and textures of the Australian landscape, the quiet observations made while bushwalking, and even the unexpected spark that comes from conversation. As a child riding my horse through the paddocks, I was captivated by the forms of manmade machinery scattered across the land. Those early encounters with the interplay between the natural and the constructed set me on the path toward sculpture.

Page 19: Jimmy Rix in his studio. Photograph courtesy of artist.

What have been the major influences on your work?

My work has been shaped by extensive travel and periods of living abroad, with Africa and Europe leaving a profound imprint on my creative vision. Equally influential have been my three mentors - each bringing a different dimension to my practice: one in drawing and painting, another in ceramic sculpture, and the third in bronze. While largely self-taught, I am driven by an enduring passion for learning and the continual expansion of my skills.

What are some of your favourite artworks and artists?

Among the artists I most admire is the Italian sculptor and painter Mimmo Paladino, whose work is deeply rooted in his surroundings and inspired by the history of Pompeii. I am particularly drawn to I dormienti, his collaboration with Brian Eno, in which human forms and crocodiles rest upon water - a work both tranquil and mysterious, imbued with a quiet intrigue. Since childhood, I have also been captivated by the paintings of Pablo Picasso, whose revolutionary vision and role in the development of Cubism continue to inspire me. In addition, I hold a deep appreciation for naïve and outsider art, valuing its raw honesty and unfiltered authenticity.

What are the challenges in becoming an exhibiting artist?

One of the primary challenges in becoming an exhibiting artist is assembling a cohesive body of work that maintains a clear thematic focus. Sourcing specialist materials, such as bronze sheet, can also present practical difficulties. Early in my career, the challenge was simply perseverance staying true to my vision, believing in myself, and working tirelessly to bring ideas to fruition. My 25 years as a chef instilled a strong work ethic, which I carried into my studio practice, balancing the demands of daily labour with the commitment required to prepare for exhibitions.

Name

your greatest achievement, exhibitions?

One of my greatest achievements was being selected to create a sculpture for the MinQin International Sculpture Symposium in China, chosen as one of 20 artists from 5,000 entries worldwide. I submitted sketches that were transformed into a five-metre-high Corten steel horse, installed in the township of MinQin for the community to enjoy - a work that bridges cultural and environmental context. Equally significant has been my representation by Australian Galleries, an institution with a proud history of supporting leading Australian artists. Exhibiting with them, both in solo and group shows, and alongside artists I greatly admire, has been a defining aspect of my career.

Symbiotic Relationship 4, Bronze, 76.5cm x 50.5cm x 28cm. Jimmy Rix.

What are you working on at present?

I am currently developing a large-scale sculpture titled Love, depicting two dogs embracing, for the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Cottesloe, WA, March 2026. Alongside this, I am completing three private commissions and producing limited editions for gallery sales, balancing site-specific projects with works intended for broader collection and engagement.

What do you hope viewers of your art works will feel and take with them?

I hope that viewers of my work experience a sense of connection, encountering pieces that evoke memory or an emotional response. Much of my practice explores body language, capturing fleeting moments that resonate instinctively, much as we do when observing animals. My aim is to create works that invite reflection and a subtle recognition of shared experience.

Your future aspirations with your art?

Looking ahead, I aspire to establish a sculpture park within a carefully cultivated environment alongside my partner, providing both accommodation and an immersive insight into my practice. I am also eager to exhibit internationally, to engage deeply with new landscapes and cultures, and to create work inspired by the unique character of each place, much as I experienced during my time in Japan earlier this year.

Forthcoming exhibitions?

My forthcoming exhibitions include Sculpture on the Farm in Dungog, opening 29th August; Sculpture by the Sea in Cottesloe, WA, March 2026; and a solo exhibition at Australian Galleries, Sydney, in 2026. Each of these opportunities allows me to present new work within distinct contexts, engaging audiences both regionally and nationally.

Lone Dingo Sculpture by the Sea Cottesloe 2022. Jimmy Rix

Photo: Jessica Wyld.

G A L L E R Y J I M M Y R I X

Page 22: St George and the dragon, Corten steel, 370cm x 390cm x 236cm. Jimmy Rix. Above: Waiting for Rain, Corten steel, 185cm x 145cm x 90cm. Jimmy Rix.

Road Kill, Corten steel, 18m x 7m x 2.5m. Jimmy Rix.

Colossus of the Silk Road, Corten Steel, 500cm x 450cm x 150cm. Jimmy Rix.

Fallen Pegasus, Bronze edition 3, 8cm x 15cm x 13cm. Jimmy Rix.

Steam train passing through Taradale, Bronze wall work, . Jimmy Rix.

Coexsisting, Bronze, unique, 30cm x 18cm x 18cm. Jimmy Rix.

Spirit House, Ceramic with oxide and underglaze, edition 20, 32.5cm x 18cm x 8cm. Jimmy Rix.

Dunbi the Owl, Bronze, 80.5cm x 49cm x 31cm. Jimmy Rix.

The Big Bang, Bronze (wall sculpture), unique, 94cm x 113cm x 4cm. Jimmy Rix.

The Moon and Tides, Bronze (wall sculpture), unique, 123.5cm x 77cm x 4cm. Jimmy Rix.

Page 32: Falcon, Necklace, Bronze, 4.3cm x 4cm x 0.3cm. Jimmy Rix. Above: Symbiotic Relationship, Brooch. sterling silver, 2.85cm x 4.2cm x 0.25cm. Jimmy Rix.

Man and Nature, Sterling silver brooch, 6cm x 3.5cm x 0.3cm. Jimmy Rix.

Horus Necklace, Sterling silver, 2.8cm x 4.5cm x 3.5cm. Jimmy Rix.

Ghost Ring, Sterling silver, 2.2cm x 2.7cm x 3.6cm. Jimmy Rix.

Jimmy Rix in his studio. Photograph courtesy of artist.

I never imagined this new blue view the emerald green i walk now. The white ghost trees have become earth angels, limbs extended to the clouds in gratitude, for a singular moment, where i took a leap into serendipity.

I never knew this Lion-soul existed, would guide me through myself back to a love where i am equal in my own eyes. We speak our truthsacred as sea holly blooming from a wound. This new never imagined tanzanite this emerald, this every jewel imaginable view i share with you.

Friendapillar

(for Eric Beach)

I strum a happy tune foot tapping time with you.

A piece of glass stuck in my soul/sole. I pull it out of my foot, keep strumming my happy tune.

I found your letters, old typewriter print sticky taped together. How many legs does a friendapillar have?

I strum my happy tune think about my missing shoes how i laughed at your question. Does a friendapillar regrow legs?

I would ask in reply, Does a friendapillar have ghost feet, keep growing with time?

SARAH HICKEY

Sarah Hickey is a Brisbane-based contemporary artist whose work explores archetypes, spiritual iconography, and liminal spaces. Her layered paintings and collages feature larger-than-life idols and symbolic still lives, drawing on intuition, mythology, and a variety of histories, contexts and worlds. Portals, her latest series, invites viewers to encounter something ancient, alive, and transformative within themselves.

A graduate of the Queensland College of Art, Hickey has presented many solo exhibitions and participated in over thirty group shows and has been recognised in major national prizes including The Doug Moran, The Lester, and The Percival Portrait Prize.

Page 44: A Tiger on My Neck and a Snake up My Sleeve Oil and mixed media on canvas, 120 x 140cm. Sarah Hickey 2018.

Right: Queen of Her Domain Oil and mixed media on canvas, 140 x 180cm. Sarah Hickey 2024.

Tropical Vistas as in a Queensland Kitchen Oil and mixed media on canvas

110 x 110cm.

Sarah Hickey 2024.

SARAH HICKEY - INTERVIEW

Brief outline on your background – where did you grow up and education.

I grew up in Brisbane, Australia, where I am still based. I studied Fine Arts and Secondary Education at Griffith University Queensland College of Art, and have long balanced my studio practice with teaching art at a local high school - two roles that constantly nourish each other. When did your artistic passion begin?

Like most people, from childhood. I was always drawing, building, experimenting, creating imaginary worlds. Art quickly became an expression of an interior world.

Have you always wanted to be an artist?

I have always wanted to be in a creative field - though the path wasn’t always clear. Making art just became something I couldn’t ignore anymore – a calling of sorts.

Describe your work.

I create large-scale figurative paintings, symbolic still lives, and collages. Archetypal beings, guardians, wild creatures, and thresholds emergeimages that act as portals into memory, transformation, and spirit.

What is the philosophy behind your work?

I feel like making art is a conversation with spirit – something greater than me in this human form. I follow intuitive impulses when I construct images. Through the intimacy of collage, I explore ancient archetypes, idols and dualities - life and death, wildness and containment, masculine and feminine. Meaning arrives slowly, often revealed through layering, erasure, and play.

Do you have a set method / routine of working?

My process is instinctive. I often begin with collage—fragments of history, memory, and imagination—then move into painting, letting the work tell me where to go next. Why do you choose this material / medium to work with?

Painting and collage allow me to transform fragments into something new - obscuring, revealing, and layering until the image feels alive. I love the tradition of oil painting and its ability to be thick, textured and buttery. How important is drawing as an element to your artwork?

Drawing is essential. It’s where I loosen ideas, find gestures – it outlines and shapes these forms. What inspires your work / creations?

Mythology, spiritual iconography, memory, and the natural world. I’m drawn to archetypes like the high priestess, the guardian, and the goddess – personalities/figures that echo something timeless. What have been the major influences on your work?

Spiritual traditions, mythology, iconography, patterned textiles, propaganda imagery, fashion and contemporary artists. What are some of your favourite artworks and artists?

Frida Kahlo for her fearless self-mythology. Margaret Preston for celebrating Australian flora. Lucy Culliton for her joyful depictions of Australian life (with technical mastery), and Yvette Coppersmith for portraits that hold both delicacy and strength. Her approach to texture and colour is mesmerising.

Wild Fruits, Flowering

Gums and Full Bellied

Birds

Oil on canvas

152 x 142cm.

Sarah Hickey 2020.

What are the challenges in becoming an exhibiting artist?

Sustaining momentum and navigating the art world’s opacity. Persistence and trust in the work are vital. Name your greatest achievement, exhibitions?

Finalist in The Percival Portrait Prize, The Sunshine Coast National Art Prize, and The Brisbane Portrait Prize; semi-finalist in The Doug Moran Portrait Prize and The Lester Art Prize. Each affirmed my practice. A recent show last year at Grainger gallery was an absolute highlight.

What are you working on at present?

‘Portals’ collection – birthing new paintings and collages exploring liminal spaces and archetypal spirits. Collage is always at the base of new work. There’s a fashion collab coming up which is exciting. I love seeing the working different contexts.

What do you hope viewers of your art works will feel and take with them?

A sense of recognition something both strange and familiar. I hope the work stirs an ancient resonance, a call toward spirit, vitality, and joy. Your future aspirations with your art?

To deepen my practice, create ambitious large-scale works, and share them internationally in contexts that invite contemplation and connection. Forthcoming exhibitions?

Later this year I will undertake a residency at Greywood Arts in Ireland, researching and documenting landscapes connected to ancestral history in the UK. This will feed into new works in 2026.

Sarah Hickey in her studio. Photograph courtesy of artist.

G A L L E R Y S A R A H H I C K E Y

Page 52: The Blonde Itinerant, (Shapeshifter, Snake Charmer, and Tiger Tamer)

122 X 152cm, Oil and mixed media on canvas. Sarah Hickey 2019.

Right: Sitting Pretty like the Queen of Sheba 120 x140cm.

Acrylic / oil/mixed media on canvas

Sarah Hickey 2010.

Orange Grevilleas and Lemon Vase

Oil and mixed media on canvas

Sarah Hickey 2018.

Mem’s Flowers

91.5 x 91.5cm. Oil on canvas

Sarah Hickey 2021.

All that I am, All that I love, The Artist (self portrait with kindreds), 110 x 180cm, oil on canvas. Sarah Hickey 2025.

In Residence - Portrait of Dr. Anita Heiss 122cm x 153cm, oil on canvas.

The Budgie Smuggler, 122 x 153cm, oil and mixed media on canvas. Sarah Hickey 2025.

Margi and The Muse, 110 cm x 180 cm, oil and mixed media on canvas. Sarah Hickey 2019.

S A R A H

H I

C K E Y

Strength, 140 x 180cm, oil and mixed media on canvas. Sarah Hickey 2024.

The High Priestess (guarding change and transformation) 122cm x 153cm, oil on canvas. Sarah Hickey.

The Chariot (She wore clouds in her dress and saw apple skies) 122 x 153cm, Oil on canvas. Sarah Hickey 2025.

I've got a Cheetah in my Chest Oil pastel and ink drawing on A3 300gsm paper.

S E L FP O R T R A I T S

Self Portrait (with Pocket Inner Critic), 61cm x 76.5cm, oil on canvas. Sarah Hickey 2024. Selves, 110 x 180cm, oil and mixed media on canvas. Sarah Hickey 2023.

The Dancers (Split Decisions and Always Backstage)

141 cm x 180 cm, oil and mixed media on canvas. Sarah Hickey 2019.

The Artist: a self portrait (off with their head

122 x 183 cm, oil and mixed media on canvas. Sarah Hickey.

Sunbathers in Studio Jungle

92 x 92cm, Oil and mixed media on canvas.

Sarah Hickey 2024.

E E S E

EULOGY FOR PETER BROWN

Changing Forms (i.m. Pete Brown)

N O R T H

A fallen river tree floated away from land rich with loam, & green shaped by hands of the moon, which are the colours of stars & as strong as stone, it turned into a skeleton.

Tides that rise & wane & rise again flung it onto shores that shift & change like wind around a sculptor‘s hands.

On the shore an age’d man gazed at the ripples in changing forms, he sighed for worlds he’d never know & cried: ‘I go to join an Ageless sea!’

A hole in my heart

— for Pete

I silently stood beside your coffin — ashes of memory blew in the wind along with my elegy tied to a rose & signed: ‘Amen.’ I couldn’t accept life beyond grave’s end, so I bowed my head & said: ‘Adieu’ to you Pete, my oldest friend.

You will leave quietly now lay your body down on this warm & mysterious earth look up at the clouds & watch them pass smell the rich humus of a 1000 years & listen to the songs of evening birds draw in your final breath & let go of all that held you here. You left quietly as mist.

Letting Go

Beyond Western borders

blue Mountains rise; round my city’s eastern shores, white water foams & crashes against granite walls.

To the north a green river rushes to meet the sea. And you my friend, you have wandered 10,000 miles, drifting away from me like a floating cloud.

O how the golden light of evening fades, taking our treasured memories when we were young, & unafraid.

But now a longing stirs old friend, & I feel our friendship coming to an end.

Where are you when I call your name?

I hear you whisper from a darkness where I’m forbidden to befainter, fainter … more softly as you drift further out to sea.

Arts

Zine pays tribute to poet Peter J Brown who recently, sadly passed away.

The poem below is one of the last works he had published in the May issue of Arts Zine.

Anna Fweud, Stwawberries!

Light and innocent as light across the years comes Freud noting his famous daughter Anna, aged nineteen months, with a stomach upset, as Neri had on Thursday night, saying in her sleep excitedly

“Anna Fweud, stwawberries, wild stwawberries, omblet, pudden”; here we have Ibsen and Bergman at a sweep along with all that is eternal in literature: Homer, Sophocles, Shakespeare, Goethe; Hamlet and Macbeth, loss of a parent and a child; And innocence, radiant and delightful innocence. Here in this last week of Winter, I record how lately our daughter lately goes down to the vege garden to pick strawberries, still white and unripe.

She approaches, she picks. My heart leaps as old Ziggy’s must have.

May she be famous, O Lord!

Maybe more famous than her dad!

O muse! Let me tell of her!

I rock her to sleep listening to Linda Ronstadt, saying “we’ve done this as thousand times!” and we have! “I read a German poem about a girl who had apples in her garden.”

And she sleeps, older each day, lips like cherries, face Italian.

Lately I think a lot of what I’d leave my children if I died young, of what I will leave when I die: some books, some houses, some money; Freud and some rings; recollections of these days; this poem.

- Peter J Brown © May 2025.

GAVIN FRY

Carrington at Work, Acrylic on canvas, 91 x 182 cm. Gavin Fry 2016.

GAVIN FRY

Gavin Fry is a writer, artist and museum professional with fifty years experience working in curatorial and management positions in Australian museums, galleries and educational institutions. He is the author of twenty-five books on Australian art and history and a large number of catalogue and journal essays.

In retirement Gavin has returned to his art training and exhibits as a painter in Newcastle and Melbourne. Gavin holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts [Hons] and Master of Arts from Monash University and Master of Philosophy from Leicester University.

“I came into the world on 8 May 1946, making me one of the very first ‘baby boomers’, born just 9 months after the end of WW2. My mother’s family had been involved in the arts, with her mother a keen art collector and supporter of the local artists who lived in Warrandyte, long a favourite place for creative people since the middle of the 19th century. Helen Aron was drawn to the modernists rather than the painters of traditional landscapesparticularly Danila Vassilieff, Arnold Shore and Adrian Lawlor. My grandfather, James Aron, had attended the National Gallery School in Melbourne at the end of the 19th century, although he never followed a career in art. Our family inherited an interesting modernist art collection and it was good to grow up surrounded by challenging and meaningful paintings.” - Gavin Fry.

Clark Island Seaplane, Acrylic on canvas , 120 x 90 cm. Gavin Fry 2020.

Full Circle, Acrylic on particle board, 95 x 90 cm. Gavin Fry 1971.

Big Sun, Acrylic on aluminium panel, 60 x 45 cm. Gavin Fry 1972.

When did your artistic passion begin?

INTERVIEW - GAVIN FRY

We were always encouraged to draw and make art at home and to use the extensive library our parents had accumulated over the years. I was lucky to attend a high school with some excellent teachers. Two art teachers stood out - Harry Hudson, who was an illustrator for a number of national magazines and, in my senior years, Rowley Harman, a well qualified teacher who was also a very good painter in his own right. In year 12 he invited our class to attend the opening of his exhibition at the Leveson Street Gallery in North Melbourne, one of the leading commercial galleries in Melbourne in the 1960s. It was a revelation to see how art might be seen and appreciated - and the social component was not lost on us as we stood around with our glasses of wine, trying to look cool and sophisticated. On Rowley’s advice I applied for and was accepted into the course for training secondary art and craft teachers for Victorian high schools. I was fortunate to have some excellent lecturers during that time - from the young ‘up and comers’ like George Baldessin and Paul Partos to the older, experienced artists like Murray Griffin, Ken Scarlett, Warwick Armstrong and Pam Hallendal. While I enjoyed teaching in country high schools, I knew I wanted more from a career and, after five years and an extended break for a trip to America and Europe in 1971, I decided a change of direction was in order. I really wanted to work with art and artists at a more professional level, so took the opportunity offered by the reforms of the Whitlam government to return to university and get what I saw as ‘proper’ qualifications. With a BA [Honours] and an MA in Visual Arts from Monash University I moved into the world of museums and art galleries, where I remained until my retirement in 2011.

Pitt Street Memory

Acrylic on canvas

102 x 102 cm.

Gavin Fry 2017.

Have you always wanted to be an artist?

When I was at college I was realistic enough to know that, while I could draw and paint quite well, there were others who were somehow better suited to the business and had the skills and determination to make it as artists in the wider world. Teaching made me realise that you couldn’t do both, so I put any artistic ambitions on the back burner while I got on with my career, doing what I did best – writing and talking about art. Working as Senior Curator of Art at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra gave me the intensive involvement with art that I sought, and also the opportunity to start getting my ideas into print. With 30 books on Australian art and history under my belt, I feel I have achieved something in that field and, on retirement from my last job as Director of Newcastle Museum, I thought it was time to return to the practical side of the art world. It was in fact a matter of putting my money where my mouth was! I was spending a lot of time talking about the lives of artists and the work they produced. The test would be if I could in fact achieve anything myself. It was my mother who really got me moving again – she was a really good painter and, in her later years, was showing her work in exhibitions and loving the life of the ‘senior artist’.

Describe your work.

The work I have been making in recent years is illustrative and yet in no way photographic. I enjoy painting ‘real’ subjects –industrial and urban landscapes mainly, but in a way that the design elements are first and foremost. If I am painting a port scene, which I often do having lived by the water in Newcastle, I need to make sure the ships are of the proper design and form is accurate and the relationship between the elements is convincing. But I love to break up the surface of the work to ensure it is not simply a picture of a particular place, that the colour, line and surface of the work are equal elements of the composition.

What is the philosophy behind your work?

I don’t have any deep philosophical meaning behind my work - I like to create challenging subjects that are a test for my design skills, in a form that others will find engaging and appealing. Do you have a set method / routine of working?

I like to think I am fairly organised, carefully planning a work with method and discipline. In some ways it is akin to my work designing and publishing art books - when you are laying out and filling 300 pages you need a rigorous grid and consistent design elements, and a clear idea of how the final product will look and feel. I will take photographs and make drawings of my subjects, gradually building up a composition which I will then draw onto the canvas prior to starting the painting. Many of my works are divided into fine vertical stripes, with close tonal variation that both defines the image but also flattens the picture onto the surface - very much the approach of the cubists of the early part of the 20th century. I always paint with the canvas flat on a table, rather than vertical on an easel. For the fine stripes I do not use masking tape or anything like that – rather, I paint the lines freehand, using a bridge to guide and steady the hand.

Why do you choose this material / medium to work with?

The nature of my work means that acrylic paints are essential - they need to dry relatively quickly to ensure clean lines between each colour and tonal variation. I use high quality watercolour brushes and the best Winsor & Newton

Professional Acrylics - I love the pure intensity of the colour and the density of the pigment, even when thinned down to a degree.

Under Stockton Bridge, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 90 cm. Gavin Fry 2019.

How important is drawing as an element to your artwork?

Drawing is extremely important to everything that I do. I suppose I am a designer at heart and take pleasure in drawing ‘real’ things in an interesting way - pure abstraction has never been my thing. I love life drawing and still do it whenever the chance arises.

What inspires your work / creations?

I am always motivated by the world around me. Coming to Newcastle and the Hunter in 1999 opened a new world –I responded to the harbour and since my time at the Maritime Museum in Sydney I have loved ships and boats of every type. It is like the bridges of the Hunter – I enjoy looking at the different structures, what they have in common and why they are different.

What have been the major influences on your work?

One of the benefits – and difficulties – of my time writing about art and artists is that it is hard not to come under the spell of the artists one works with. That is the reason I did not paint for many years. You might spend many months and even years working with an artist, getting to know them and their work with an intensity that will carry your text through a large art book. It is hard not to absorb their thinking and I knew that, if I started painting, it would be in the manner of the last artist I’d written about! I didn’t want to be another second rate Rick Amor, Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan or George Gittoes. When it comes to artists who have had a particular influence on my own work, I look to artists like Lyonel Feininger and the American precisionists Charles Sheeler and Ralston Crawford.

Gavin & Carrington IIl. Photograph courtesy of artist Gavin Fry.

What are some of your favourite artworks and artists?

When it comes to the art I choose to live with, my tastes are relatively conservative. I love the work of Rick Amor, Michael Shannon, Eric Thake, Graeme Drendel and Kenneth Jack and our house has them on every wall. What are the challenges in becoming an exhibiting artist?

The hardest thing in becoming a professional exhibiting artist is to balance your own desires and creative urges with the understanding that, if your work is going to sell to others, it needs to be meaningful and engaging. This does not mean you should only paint in this year's ‘fashion colours’, but rather it must be work that will live in the wider world, perhaps in an environment that is totally different to your own.

Name your greatest achievement, exhibitions?

My most satisfying exhibition was held in 2017 at the Maroondah City Gallery in Ringwood, the town of my birth. It was a retrospective of my work and was mounted in their ‘heritage gallery’, located within the old school building that I had attended 60 years before. The feature work, Full Circle, had been painted in 1971 at our family home, just a few hundred metres from the gallery. It was a joy to be back where it all began, amongst family and friends who have meant so much over the decades. That the Council chose to acquire five of my works for their collection added a special meaning to the exhibition.

What are you working on at present?

To be honest, while I draw whenever I get the chance, I’ve not picked u p a brush for a couple of years - my writing and publishing ventures are all consuming, but I have made a promise that before the end of this year I will be painting again.

What do you hope viewers of your artworks will feel and take with them?

I hope they will understand what I am trying to achieve with a work, how it contains a vision developed over many years of looking at, and thinking about, art in all its forms. People might be drawn to the subject, or simply the colour and style and I’ve always been ready to paint to commission to satisfy a particular client's wants and needs.

Your future aspirations with your art?

I hope I can be like my mother, who was still painting and exhibiting her work well into her 90s. If others like my work enough to want to live with it, that is all for the good. Forthcoming exhibitions?

Nothing is planned at present, but an application to show at the Gresford Community Gallery is waiting in the wings!

Right: Customs House De Chirico, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 30 cm. Gavin Fry 2016.

G A L L E R Y G A V I N F R Y

Page 80: Tampa, Acrylic on canvas, 76.3 x 76.3 cm. Gavin Fry 2016. Above: Tampa in Newcastle, Acrylic on canvas, 90 x 151 cm. Gavin Fry 2017.

Newcastle Cathedral, Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 121 cm. Gavin Fry 2018.

Fort and the River, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 120 cm. Gavin Fry 2016.

Wickham Schools, Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 121 cm. Gavin Fry 2017.

Stockton, Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 121 cm. Gavin Fry 2017.

Newcastle passing Carrington

Acrylic on canvas

60 x 60 cm.

Gavin Fry 2024.

Cosmopolitan Hotel, Carrington

Acrylic on canvas

76.5 x 76.5 cm.

Gavin Fry 2016.

A V I N

Lycett's Mine

Acrylic on canvas

90 x 90 cm.

Gavin Fry 2020.

Warkworth Diptych

Acrylic on canvas

121 x 121cm.

Gavin Fry 2019.

Waratah at Glebe Island, Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 121 cm. Gavin Fry 2019.

Stockton Bridge, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 120 cm. Gavin Fry 2015.

Vacy Bridge

Digital print

60 x 60 cm.

Gavin Fry 2024.

Morpeth Bridge

Digital print

75 x 75 cm.

Gavin Fry 2024.

Belmore Bridge at Lorn, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 120 cm. Gavin Fry 2020.

ARTIST PROFILE BRUCE GOOLD

GEORGE GITTOES

BRUCE GOOLD

‘Bruce Goold is a highly respected and world renown Australian artist whose work covers a diverse range of interests and influences and has asserted its own unmistakable influences on Australian contemporary art and design. He is famous for his work as an artist, designer and printmaker with a particular interest in block prints, linocuts, woodcuts, silkscreen fabrics, paintings, collage, assemblage and furniture designer.’ https://brucegoold.com/

The following pages contain a tribute for Bruce by artist and friend George Gittoes. The tribute also includes memories from Bruce’s daughter Nancy Goold.

Page 96: Bruce Goold at Palm Beach in the 1970s. Photo courtesy of George Gittoes.

Cockatoo

Hand-coloured linocut. Bruce Goold 1986.

Bruce Goold at the Yellow House, Sydney .

Photo courtesy of George Gittoes.

ARTIST PROFILE BRUCE GOOLD - GEORGE GITTOES

There are artists that come into this world so different to the rest they are like strangers, strangers in a strange land, Bruce Goold was one and so was Martin Sharp, I was lucky to have both as friends.

I first met Bruce at 49 Macleay St Potts Point in early 1970, before it became the Yellow House. Bruce told me he was from Newcastle and that his parents owned an interior design business. We walked across the street together and brought a loaf of bread from a Bakers Van, breaking it in half and that was our first meal together. Bruce was strikingly handsome with his blond Afro head of curly hair, Carnaby Road bell bottoms and what looked like a girl's floral blouse. He quickly took over my styling and handed me a satin coat with beautifully embroidered dragons “saying if you are an artist you have to also be a showman and need to dress like one."

His fine and exotic cloths, however, did not stop Bruce from engaging in hard physical work. We went and hired a large and very heavy rotary sanding machine and carried it up William Street from the hardware store. Bruce then set about sanding the wooden floors. As I painted the Puppet Room Bruce created a decorated corner, among the Magritte installations, placing a chaise lounge and throwing a white polar bear skin over it.

I was born in December 1949 and Bruce in 1948 and our close mate, photographer and video artist Jon Lewis in 1950. Then there was Bliss, Moth and Jewellian, the mime in our team of friends. That corner of Potts Point, Kings Cross became like a scene from the Montparnasse of Modigliani, Soutine and Picasso, a bohemian art quarter. The gangs of bikers, American GIs on drunken drugged-out R&R leave, strippers, prostitutes and their pimps were no longer in control, we were! We feared nothing and no one messed with Bruce.

When I mention Bruce Goold to people they say "you mean the printmaker “but Bruce was a polymath and a true Renaissance artist, brilliant in many mediums from performance art to fashion and dance He was living in Victoria Street in a 3-story terrace near the top of the steps that lead to Woolloomooloo. He took me to see his drawings of seagulls and other birds. They were at a Brett Whitely level of brilliance. Exquisite works on paper using pen and blue ink. I was astonished by his graphic talent.

Bruces' favourite scavenging place was the Salvation Army Tempe Tip. I would drive him there, in a St George Cab which was my source of capital. On the way down Princes Highway, Bruce recounted every detail of Huysman's book ‘Against Nature’. It was Bruce's bible, and he told the story as if he had lived it in another life. An aesthetic creates a world within his residence which reflects his taste and imagination and is a substitute for the outer realities of normal life which he despises, Bruce told me the yellow House would have to be like this space, but our creation would be open to the public. When they walked through the doors, they would leave Australia behind and enter an artist vision of reality. Off the street and into what Martin Sharp described as 'The Street of Dreams'.

My most indelible image of Bruce performing was one night he had hung a thick strip of some kind of plastic substance on a hook from a wire and lit it. He danced under and around it shirtless with molten chunks of the material falling from it with him managing to dodge them as he swayed and moved like Nijinsky.

When Bruce moved to Palm Beach nothing changed. His daughter Nancy describes him as being like a Lyrebird,‘Dad was the Creative Director of his own life, ensuring everything around him looked like the most stylish movie we all want to see. He did it all: interiors, costumes, catering, props, music. All to curate the environment that he wanted to inhabit. In all honesty his whole life was a work of art; the art of living. My mother Katie was Bruce's great champion. Without her he would have been lost, she really held us all together, fiercely championed Bruce's work and kept him going.

Bruce and Katie took me everywhere. I never had a babysitter, not once. So many memories of staring at people's knees during exhibition openings, making cubby houses under restaurant tables and napping in bedrooms at parties ... sometimes emerging post-slumber only to find my dad in the middle of a of contortionist dance that those around thought absolutely fabulous and I was (at the time) mortified by!

His legendary dance moves were something I came to love about him in adult life.

We lived on the Peninsula, always in rented beach houses that Bruce decorated with his own special language of interiors. Found-objects, artworks of his own, artworks of friends.. designer cane furniture found by the side of the road then covered in his fabric. A complete artistic immersion for me from a very young age. Why was everyone else's house so sparse compared to mine?’

Nancy Goold with her father Bruce Goold in the garden at Palm Beach home / studio. . Phot courtesy of Nancy Goold.

‘Having an artist father whose studio was always at home meant Bruce was always around. We were very close from the word go. Brucie looking after me would mean things like.. doing large scale drawings while I looked on "art to entertain me"; playing dress ups with an eclectic array of items from Bruce’s studio and my mother's wardrobe (Bruce likely wearing red coattails as the session photographer); watching bioluminescence glow on the beach at night and of course just observing him in the studio for hours with opera music blaring late into the night. He was also an amazing cook, always adjusting the menu so it was exactly to my liking roast dinners always a comfort amongst our colourful and chaotic lifestyle.

All my school projects were works of art. Bruce would lovingly pore over them, helping me, and on days where costumes were required, I was always the best dressed with hand made 'bush couture' by Bruce. Kids at school who had parents that walked a more normal line in life used to call Bruce 'Dr Who' because of his big curls and dramatic wool coats. He always dressed differently to others, somewhat formal in feeling even though we were near the beach. 'Main-character'-energy always!

He had hand-painted a mural for the nightclub when it opened, and we were close friends with Arthur & Gabriel and their kids. The event was a day-time soiree filled with all of my parent’s friends and their kids who were my friends. I always felt very lucky as from an early age often had a custom-made Linda Jackson and Jenny Kee Birthday outfit thanks to my parents. On this occasion It was an amazing fluro, geometric print stretch tank top and matching fishtail skirt … and if that didn’t induce jealousy in my friends, it was the custom Garfield Cake made by Anthea from Sweet art that did —thank you Brucie!

Later, in 1988 the Goold’s packed up and moved to Dublin for 6 months, we lived with Liz and Noel Sheridan and Family. Then onto London for an Exhibition Bruce was having at Jane England Gallery. A very Bruce thought process was renting a sight-unseen 'Studio apartment' as he thought it sounded like somewhere an artist would live. The three of us stuck it out and lived in the 1 room apartment for a year before returning to Bruce's beloved tropical haven, Palm Beach.

In later years Bruce became more and more interested in tribal art. He would sit up late looking at faraway online auctions. Once he purchased what he thought was a small carved wooden crocodile only to be shocked when it arrived and was 2 meters long. He loved it regardless and it now lurks beneath his desk.

Bruce's sources of collecting and acquiring were a mystery to all. I used to say that his beloved local Red Cross shop was like a mysterious portal, out of which interesting artifacts would appear as if the universe was presenting them especially for Bruce.

Martin Sharps 10th Anniversary - Bruce Goold and Johnny Bell Wirian 2024. Photo courtesy of George Gittoes.

Bruce's love for artistic clothes continued throughout his whole life, in recent years he developed a penchant for Japanese work-wear. My partner Felix and I work as stylists in New York and would always bring him back presents from afar. To anyone who would listen he would say, “Nancy and Felix brought me these Jil Sander desert boots back from New York” and so on. He was always so proud, always just wanting me to be happy in whatever I did but all the while thrilled with relaying stories of photo shoots in exotic locations and the glamorous clothes we got to play with. Once I brought him back a woven raffia mobile of dancing figures from a shoot in South Africa. We gave these dancers the jazzy name of 'The Fashionistas'. Bruce cleverly rigged this mobile onto a lamp above our kitchen table. In his mind it needed some adjustments, a project he was working on just weeks before he died. Always active, ALWAYS decorating a space!

Bruce was generous to a fault. This was difficult at times but was always lovely when friends and acquaintances all got to feel this level of generosity for birthdays, celebrations and gatherings. He would give you his Bruce Goold shirt off his back, and sometimes he did!

He set this tone for generosity from a young age. Every birthday party the invitation was always a hand-coloured linocut, each guest receiving a print. To this day I visit people's houses and see Bruce's generosity and creative spirit hanging on the walls. If you're a Bruce collector it's infectious, often seen are whole walls or houses with BG artworks with no company from any other artist — he was so loved by everyone for his art, soul, and authenticity. Right up until this year he was still making me artwork as gifts. As a stroppy teen perhaps, I might have liked something from General Pants better but looking back I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have these one-of-a-kind treasures. Everything from charm bracelets with hand-wrought charms to wooden art figures with shark egg tutus to hand painted pictures and paper cut-out assemblages. All with accompanying poems, words of love and humour.

Bruce always had an affinity and a connection with the tropical beat of nature on the Peninsula. 'King of the Magpies' we would sometimes call him. There was a period of time that a Tawny Frogmouth owl literally became Bruce's best friend. Bruce named him Tawny. Artworks were made with him as the muse! At one point he was so tame that he would fly inside the house, and on one unbelievable occasion he was found perching on a Paul Beadle wooden sculpture of a Tawny Frogmouth! In the last five years Tawny was not around, then, miraculously the day after Bruce passed away Tawny returned.

’

He had come back to visit and sat high in the tree above Bruce’s bedroom window for all of that day. I know he came to pay his respects.

Flying Fish, Hand coloured linocut, 54 x 40cm. Bruce Goold 1994. Electric Cicadas, Hand coloured linocut, 20 x 50cm. Bruce Goold 2011.

Bruce Goold at Martin Sharpe’s 10th anniversary 2024. Right: Eternity’ after Munch, Stace + Sharp , hand coloured linocut, 41.5cm x 29.5cm, Bruce Goold 2013.

Bruce became famous to the public when he was commissioned to regularly create full page illustrations for Good Weekend Magazine. I felt proud every time I brought the Saturday SMH and there was Bruce. This was followed by Mambo. I could wear his loud shirts to the beach and brag to my surfing mates that a friend had designed them. Wayne Golding from Mambo had studied Bruce’s printmaking at art school and was stunned and honoured when Bruce stepped into their offices, ‘I was at art-school in the early 80’s and majored in printmaking, and when it came to printmaking in Australia, Bruce was God or at least, a god.

Bruce lifted the portfolio he had brought with him, laid it on Dare’s desk and pulled out - carefully, artwork contained therein. He said he’d be happy to leave a couple of pieces with us, and we could decide whether they were a fit for our program.

Here was one of Australia’s best, and probably most important printmakers flipping through a collection of some of the most incredibly beautiful, hand-coloured linocuts that I’d ever seen out of a frame and offering them to us IF we were interested. I was wondering if that was a challenge. And of course we were … interested.

I remember one occasion when Mambo was visited by the fashion editor of a once widely read daily newspaper. She had come to interview our menswear designer, Glenn Sleath. She was talking at the same time as she was looking through a rack of recently sampled rayons. She stopped at one of Bruce’s designs, Fire In The Cane-field, and asked the name of the artist. She was surprised, almost shocked, when told it was Bruce Goold. “You’re kidding … Bruce Goold works with Mambo? How did THAT happen?” I could imagine her wondering how an artist of Bruce’s talent and reputation could find himself working with a loud and graphically abrasive rabble like Mambo. Comfortably, as ithappened.

When it comes to artists, Mambo could be a bit of a closed shop. We had to be able to sit down with an artist over a beer or a coffee and have a reasonably civil and hopefully entertaining conversation about all manner of subjects from art and music to football and politics without having to resort to either name calling or fisticuffs. Bruce had a wider range of both knowledge and experience than most, although maybe not so much in regard to football. Always a welcome visitor to our studio, his company and his creative vision will be greatly missed.’

Bruce designed a corner in the Magritte rooms of the Yellow House even more surreal than the masters’ paintings. A white polar bear fur was thrown over an antique chaise lounge. One afternoon I was stunned to see Stuart Purvis, who we were in awe of and considered to be Australian Gallery royalty, reclining on the lounge, entranced by one of Bruce’s eloquent stories. Stuart lovingly remembers when Bruce installed his art in Australian Galleries, ‘His exhibitions were great events and drew crowds of admirers. Bruce was an Artist to the core. He was a great contributor to the well-being of this Nation’s culture. To visit Bruce’s studio at Palm Beach was to experience cultural chaos – beautiful tools of the trade of a printmaker all at hand, objects and specimens collected over decades and an air of things that mattered, resulting in a significant body of printmaking, painting, collage, assemblages, and textile design, all taking us to a place we hadn’t been before. I hate these artistic creatures leaving us, there’s been too many lately. The news weakens us immediately of their parting, but their profound lives leave us all stronger in the long run.

Bruce and I were brothers in spirit but distance kept us apart. He was at Palm Beach with daughter Nancy and wife Katie on Sydney's Northern Beaches and I live at Werri Beach on the south coast.

I was delighted when the acclaimed documentary maker , Bill Leimbach rang to say he was bringing Bruce down to interview us together. Bruce spent hours going over every item in the house running his long fingers over my collection of African sculptures and finding my mother’s ceramic Magritte sculpture of a pair of high heel women’s shoes where the black leather turns to flesh toes. He had found the perfect place for them at the Yellow House and decided they could be placed better in my home, next to one of her owls. I will always be grateful to Bill for bringing us back together on camera and recording Bruce’s life in art. Bill wrote, ‘Living on the Northern Beaches, I saw so many different prints, pillows, lino cuts, invitation cards by Bruce Goold in homes, shops, book shops. When I asked if anyone had ever made a film on his life and work, I was surprised to find there was none. Bruce and I spent many months chasing his old haunts. At Lord Howe Island he is regarded somewhat like the Gauguin of that island. But if there ever was a Palm Beach artist it would be Bruce Goold.

Bruce Goold, George Gittoes and Hellen Rose at the George Gittoes Exhibition at the Yellow House 2017. Photo courtesy of George Gittoes.

We went up to Newcastle where he grew up. His parents had a furnishing and decorative store. In Sydney Bruce saw an exhibition of Margaret Preston and became intrigued by her strong black lines holding in the hand-coloured washes of her lino cuts.

Once at art school in East Sydney Tech he wasn’t as political as many other artists of the 70s. He found himself more comfortable with the bohemian gang of artists at places like the Yellow House.

In the early 90’s Dare Jennings invited him to create art and design for his evergrowing MAMBO label.

I loved to watch his process, from the cutting tool slicing into a piece of lino, to the ink printing on his back-garden press, to the delicate inserting of the colours. Each print uniquely hand done at his house in Palm Beach.

In his prints you can see a technical assurance and obvious delight in the medium. He always considered the craftsmanship ranked equally with the artistic expression.”

Greg Weight was the Yellow House photographer and has become one of Australia’s greats in photography. He took the masterful photo of Bruce and Bliss draped on the stairs. Like Pied Pipers that is how Bruce and Bliss brought people up to my puppet theatre and then Bruce would transform into the Puppets’ friend asking them questions from the audience. Greg remembers taking that photograph, ‘Bruce was an extraordinarily good looking and sensual man. One evening in the YH Cloud Room Cabaret I caught one of his impromptu performances where he slid across the floor caressing the guests’ legs and arms much to everyone's delight eventually exiting the room to the stairs and blowing everyone kisses inviting them to follow.’

Martin Sharp and Bruce Goold at Luna Park 1980.

Photo courtesy of George Gittoes.

Bruce Goold at his Exhibition 1979. Photo courtesy of George Gittoes.

My fondest memory of Bruce was when we did the Friar Leo puppet performance in the garden courtyard of the Yellow House. Friar Leo, was the companion of St Francis and wrote the memoir of his time with the saint, titled 'Little Flowers of St Francis'.

My puppet Leo spoke in a very devout serious manner but for the audience it became satirical comedy. Francis was a masochist and so were his followers. They wore prickly hair shirts and flagellated themselves and each other with whips. They wanted to imitate the suffering of Christ on the Cross to bring forgiveness for their sins. Leo told the story of how he and Francis had been walking bare foot for days in winter, in the snow and rain without food. Leo craved warmth, comfort, nourishment and somewhere to sleep. He suggested asking for charity from a Religious Order, some miles down the road. Francis stopped him and said "Leo, if when we get there and the doorman beats us and turns us away, I will be very happy and glad we have avoided the comforts they could offer." This got the audience howling with laughter. Then Leo repeated Francis’s lectures on abstinence of every kind, especially sex. This sanctimonious tirade got too much for our audience when free love was in full swing. The tension increased as Leo called for extreme levels of self-chastisement, and the audience began screaming back abuse. Bruce knew he had to do something and grabbed a burning punji stick of incense, the size of broom handle, and plunged it into the forehead of Friar Leo. As he ground it in, he revelled in demonic laughter before finally silencing Leo, to the cheers and enthusiastic approval of the audience.

Bruce and I were so over excited at the success of our show we sneaked out through the back fence to the adjoining lane and literally did ecstatic cartwheels.

The next day Michael Symon wrote a rave review for the Sydney Morning Herald with the headline PUPPETS UNDER THE STARS. I have too many wonderful memories of Bruce to fit them into this tribute. For weeks before his death, I felt him reaching out to me and he was constantly on my mind. This morning, I saw him sitting in an antique cane chair, leaning on two of his sunflower printed pillows, in my studio, watching me paint and giving great advice, like he always has.

Bruce was the truest of true artist, pure in spirit and I know he has been with me as I have written this as tears have been welling in my eyes and running down my cheeks.

g e o r g e g i t t o e s

WISDOM AND COMPASSION George Gittoes

6th July was the Dalia Lama’s 90th Birthday. There was a large ceremony for him and many speakers including Ministers in the Indian Government and Richard Gere. The Dalai Lama spoke of the formal paths he is taking to achieve wisdom and enlightenment. But when talking to me, while I was doing his portrait, he recognised that for some the pure path is not via formal religion and established disciplines. I admired the way he recognised that there is another invisible road. My compassion has taken me to war zones over and over again. I am presently tortured by seeing the suffering of the Palestinian people particularly since things beyond my control have delayed me from getting there.

Using the word ‘tortured’ would be frowned on by Buddhists as unenlightened because their idea of enlightenment is to reach a state where suffering is not allowed into experience. For them an exalted and enlightened master is beyond suffering. Someone who can suffer for others has not reached the high state of consciousness they seek. That is the difference between the path of an artist and that of Buddhist enlightenment. For me wisdom cannot exist without the suffering that comes from deeply felt compassion for others. I cannot imagine watching SBS coverage of Gaza with skeletal children and dead babies and not feeling pain.

Page 112: Wisdom and Compassion, Oil on canvas, 213 X 167, George Gittoes 2025.

George Gittoes 2025.

Over the last 6 weeks I have been working on a painting depicting the union of Wisdom and Compassion Paramasukha-Chakrasamara MotherFather. I have a different interpretation to the orthodox Buddhist take on this erotic union of deities. My reference has come from the cover image on the book Sacred Art of Tibet by Marylin Rhie ad Robert Thruman depicting ParamasukhaChakrasamvara or Father Mother. A voluptuous naked, red-coloured, woman is having standing sex, with a bluish male. Her right leg is wrapped over his left leg. The male figure has 12 arms a third eye and three smiling but demonic faces coming out of the sides of his head while the female figure only has a third eye to denote her divinity. In his introduction, Robert Thurman writes that modern depth psychology has come to recognise Buddhist images like this ‘represent the deepest archetypes of the unconscious, integrating the powerful instinctual energies of life into a consciously sublimated and exalted state.’ He goes on the write ‘these paintings are not evidence of a culture in which rites and practices are based on or even legitimize sexual extremes. Nothing could be further from the truth. The father-mother union is a manifestation of the Buddha’s highest spiritual essence, of enlightenment as the union of wisdom and compassion. More than metaphorical, to the devout Tibetan this image is concrete evidence of the existence of great spiritual attainment. The female (mother), Vajravarahi, represents transcendent wisdom: the direct awareness of reality as the Buddha experienced it and taught it. The male (father), Shamvara, represents compassion for all beings, which is the natural expression of such wisdom. Wisdom knows the ultimate nature of reality. To Buddhists, the “root of all evil” is our desperate clinging to self-image and self-satisfaction. Wisdom comes through experiencing the perfect “transparency” of the self, which leads to utter freedom from self-concern. Such transparency of self gives a clear view of others; such freedom from self-concern makes room for concern for others. Wisdom is the bliss of seeing through the delusion of self-preoccupation to reveal the underlying dimension of freedom. Compassion is the expression of such bliss to others.” Buddhists feel compassion for those who are suffering from lack of wisdom which is different to feeling it for those suffering from starvation, bullets and bombs. Art, as we know it in the West, is a unique expression of self, and the opposite of the Buddhist desire for the annihilation of self into selflessness.

I wish the meaning of the Tibetan wisdom and compassion paintings, with lovers joined in an embrace, had not been explained to me by the monks. It is cooler to have lovers as a devotional symbol a tortured man on a cross.

DEMONIC DIVINE - Himalayan Art and Beyond, by Linrothe, Rob and Jeff Watt; with Marylin Rhie, Matthieu Ricard, and Carly Busta.

Sacred Art of Tibet , by Marylin Rhie ad Robert Thruman depicting ParamasukhaChakrasamvara or Father Mother.

Art is an expression of compassion and for its creators each time a work succeeds there is an alchemical reaction where pain is transformed into bliss. Artists are lucky to have the means to turn inner suffering into ecstatic joy when completing a work successfully.

The artistic road is different to the Buddhist road because the fuel of our creativity comes through the sensitivity we have for others and the world and how this enables us to transmute suffering into the art which shares this bliss with others.

When drawing His Holiness, the Dalai Lama from life in Sydney, back in 1996, he told me he had agreed to sit for the portrait because he felt it was important to break with the formal style of traditional Buddhist art and show new fresh ways of interpreting subjects. When I sent him photos of the painted portraits that resulted, he sent me a message that they had made him laugh and he was very amused. He requested that I continue to create works which challenged the formal and historic style which he felt was becoming stale. It has taken me almost 30 years to follow up on this request. I will send him a photo of my Wisdom and Compassion painting as a late 90th Birthday present.

Sneeze, Oil on canvas, 168 x 138cm. George Gittoes 1996.

Left: Dalai Lama with George Gittoes, Canberra 1996. Right: Compassion, Oil on canvas, George Gittoes 1996. Photos courtesy of artist.

THE DEMONIC DIVINE

When I visited the Nechung monastery in Lasa Tibet I was surprised by the many large murals of demonic beings – some were literally skinning humans. It appeared as a Tibetan version of Bosch’s and Bruegel’s images of Hell. I asked the monks for some insight into these works, and they explained these were protection deities and not something bad. To them they are the demonic looking deities we need to conjure as protection against our own demons. Their purpose is to help rid us of negative thoughts and feelings – send them scurrying back into the dark. The central aim of the monks is to end inner suffering and attain peace. The monks pursue selflessness. The horrific creatures of the murals symbolise the tools needed to expel suffering. Every Monastery has its own named demons as protectors and these all have unique mythical stories. I was aware that they were talking about inner conflicts and not the outer physical world but my immediate thought was ‘these deities did not protect Tibet from the Chinese invasion and all the suffering it has brought with it.’

Much of my own art shows the horrors of war. I ask myself, is an image of a woman with her face chopped by a machete from the top of her nose to the back of her jaw with terrified eyes looking into my camera a form of protection deity when turned into a painting? I don’t think so. As I assisted her to the improvised field hospital at Kibeho, surrounded by death, I could not imagine what it would be like to live with that kind of injury. Her terrified eyes were more horrifying than any of the imagined monsters of Nechung Monastery or Bosh and Bruegel.

If I was asked to name the 5 paintings I most treasure I would name Pieter Bruegel’s ‘Fall of the Rebel Angels ‘,1562, near the top of my list. I have known it since I was young and made a pilgrimage to see it when in Belgium. I purchased a large reproduction and have it in my studio where I go to wash my hands and brushes. For me it speaks of the invisible battle which has always raged between the forces of positive creation and negative destruction, good and evil.

The toothy snarling monsters of Buddhist murals are more about the inner battle to protect ourselves from our own inner toxic thoughts and depressions. They are guardians of inner peace and wisdom. When I wake in the early hours of the morning and anxious thoughts fill my head and stop me from returning to sleep, I could use a monster or two to shoo them away. Perhaps I should start imaging a protection deity and see if it helps me return to peaceful slumber. By using such forces to defeat our inner demons the monks believe our compassion is expanded. My experience is that the vast majority of people strive for good and are kind to one another. It is a mystery how the leadership in many countries has come to be the opposite in nature to the people they rule.

Image from Kibeho courtesy of George Gittoes.

Kibeho, Oil on canvas 305 x 172cm. George Gittoes 1997

The Fall of the Rebel Angels. Oil on panel, 117 x 162cm. of 1562 Pieter Bruegel the Elder

While driving in my car I listened to a radio documentary about the rise of Vladimir Putin. To the people of Ukraine, he is a human monster with almost supernatural demonic powers able to send his armies into war with the result of over a million deaths and casualties of his own people in addition to the tragedy he has imposed on the Ukrainians. We have witnessed the open coffins and grieving families in Kyiv. It is unimaginable how Putin can live with himself. When he is filmed on Television news and smirks at the cameras, he does not need fang like teeth and animal features to appear as the worst kind of demon.

I don’t have to invent demons like those in the Tibetan Murals or paintings of Bosch and Bruegel, I have seen them eye to eye and documented the merciless suffering they have caused. Using inner demons to protect against mental torment, in the way the monks of Lasa Tibet suggested, does not seem like the same thing.

My new paintings are a meditation on the Demonic Divine as represented in Buddhist art and they will exist in my body of work alongside images I have witnessed in violent and very real war, where human demons cause the kind of physical suffering the Zionists are presently doing in Gaza and the Putin in Ukraine. In my long career this is the most interesting juxtaposition I have collaged. It is something I need to ponder at this time when man-made suffering is rising like a tidal wave. My instinct is that by placing them together some new unforeseen insight will become apparent. My question is;’ What is the price for an untroubled mind?’.

The Dalai Lama has declared 2025 the Year of Compassion but does he mean compassion for people suffering from starvation, displacement and war or the compassion for those who have not reached the heights of selfless Buddhist enlightenment.

When in Tibet I grew critical of the monks who appeared to sit around all day chanting and working on inner improvement while appearing to contribute nothing to society. Tibetans who had chosen other professions, like doctors and engineers were classed as belonging to a lower order.

Poetry of Love, 210 X 163cm. Oil on Canvas, George Gittoes 2010 to 2025.

When artists reach the end of life they have the joy of knowing they have left the world with something which enriches humanity, not like the Pharaohs who had slaves die making their pyramids but like Mozart and Beethoven who can hear their music being played from where they are in the stars.

I have ABC classical radio playing in my studio. When hosts tell the life stories of the composers of the past most died in poverty and had constant struggles to keep doing their music. But centuries later people are still enjoying hearing the symphonies and operas they have left behind. It is the same with many painters. Dear Amedeo Modigliani died from preventable sickness at 35 without heating in his studio and only sardines to eat. His beautiful wife Jeanne Hébuterne was 9 months pregnant and only 21 years old when not wanting to live without Modigliani, she committed suicide out of the 5th floor window of her parents’ apartment. Her parents hated Modigliani because he was a Jew and an artist and gave her no sympathy. Her brother put her body in a wheelbarrow and took it to the studio where dealers were rushing out with bundles of Modigliani's works. Nothing was left - the studio was bare and within months Modigliani paintings were selling for over a million francs. At Sotheby's auctions they now sell for over 250 million dollars. Imagine the people like Bezos and Musk who can afford to pay that for them. Would they let Modigliani and Jeanne into their homes and lives? Modigliani and Jeanne's only child, a daughter, does not own a single work of her father. Yet there is no greater joy for me than to take out one of my Modigliani books and see the way he captured the inner and outer beauty of his subjects. The first art prize I won as a child I was allowed to choose a book, and I chose a book on Modigliani. I still have it with the 1st Prize sticker on the first page.

While painting the female figure of Compassion in my painting I thought of Modigliani’s nudes often. His art was the embodiment of compassion. After writing this I went into the studio planning to try my hand at painting a reinterpretation of the Demonic Divine monsters from the Nechung Monastery murals in Tibet. But I ended up painting ‘Spring’ and ‘Joy’, dancing spirits of optimism. My subconscious took control saying “This winter humanity has been going through with Ukraine. Gaza, Sudan and monstrous leaders must come to an end. William Blake was experiencing dark times, but he wrote Songs of Innocence.

Amedeo Modigliani and Jeanne Hébuterne in his studio - 1915 /16.

Right: Nude Sitting on a Divan, Oil on canvas 100 x 60cm.

Amedeo Modigliani 1917.

JOY, 122 x 168 cm. Oil on canvas, George Gittoes 2025.

Spring Dancer, 122 x 168 cm. Oil on canvas, George Gittoes 2025.

CURRENTLY SCREENING ON CURRENTLY SCREENING SBS ONDEMAND

YELLOW HOUSE, AFGHANISTAN

https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/movie/yellow-house-afghanistan/2435905603913

Yellow House Afghanistan TRAILER

https://vimeo.com/1026796896/d3cf1562f7

SNOW MONKEY

https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/movie/snow-monkey/797912643939

MISCREANTS OF TALIWOOD

https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/movie/the-miscreants/1567408707818

LOVE CITY JALALABAD

https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/movie/love-city-jalalabad/766390339564

GEORGE GITTOES

George Gittoes is a celebrated Australian artist, an internationally acclaimed film producer, director and writer.

Gittoes’ work has consistently expressed his social, political and humanitarian concern and the effects of injustice and conflict -

"I believe there is a role for contemporary art to challenge, rather than entertain. My work is confronting humanity with the darker side of itself."

As an artist Gittoes has received critical acclaim including the Blake Prize for Religious Art (Twice) and Wynn Prize. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of NSW. His films have won many International Awards and in 2015 he was bestowed the Sydney Peace Prize, in recognition of his life’s work in contributing to the peace-making process. www.gittoes.com

SPRINGTIME

R I C W E R K H O V E N

Springtime comes around again to find us with a small spade and seedlings hoping for more perfect weather.

Garden tips are not forth coming, the way the parables don’t work, because there is always something that isn’t there, that doesn’t watch with us the blossoming festive hours. Rushing away on errands, the spade is left on a rock.

We can admire the Botanical Council Gardens with their French take on gaiety and colour.

Wondering a week later how our garden is faring, since we are busy gallivanting through the days and seasons, on lifelong missions, life long tenure to own a slice of heaven and earth. -Eric Werkhoven © 2025.

Tower of Flowers

H 84 x W46 x B 20 cm.

Autoclaved aerated cement / cement / lacquer. Eric Werkhoven 2010.

9.5 THE ELLIOTT EYES BEQUEST

ELLIOTT EYES BEQUEST GOES TO

MAITLAND REGIONALART GALLERY

Gordon Elliott and Michael Eyes from the ELLIOTT EYES COLLECTION are giving a significant bequest to Maitland Regional Art Gallery (MRAG) on their passing.

The bequest will consist of ten different artist’s works. Some will be just a single major work while others will be several or in one case the entire suite of works by that artist. Artists in the bequest include : Rick Amor, Robert Fielding, James Gleeson, Jess Johnson, Euan Macleod, Clement Meadmore, Reko Rennie, Ann Ross, Terry Stringer and Michael Zavros. Works were selected by negotiation with the collectors and MRAG which represented the original collection as well as works that would enhance the MRAG collection.

Artworks for the bequest are currently on show at MRAG in the exhibition titled 9.5 The Elliott Eyes Bequest. One of the works not on show is a 2m tall bronze work by Terry Stringer which is still firmly installed in their front garden and on show to the public as they walk past their home. However, the 0.5 is the Marquette for this work.

Upon their passing MRAG will get all the works on show as part of their collection.

Page 128: Sculpture - Dancing Dogs, Bronze. 93 x 67 x 41 cm. Ann Ross 2004. And Robert Fielding painting in background. Photo courtesy of Gordon Elliott.

But there is more in this bequest to benefit artists. Apart from the works going to MRAG the rest of the art collection, house and any other assets that are owed at that time will be sold and the money put into a trust fund which MRAG will administer. From the interest of the trust fund, MRAG will get 20% for administration, 10% will go back into the fund and 70% will go to an artist to use for a year. They can buy equipment, travel, study or do as they need over that time. At the end of the 12 months, they create a major work which is given to MRAG as a further work from the Elliott Eyes Bequest. MRAG will select the artists each year.

It is hoped that by doing this Gordon and Michael will leave a legacy that will endure and support artists and the regional gallery they have formed a close bond with while they are alive.

The collectors have already donated several works to MRAG and will continue to support the gallery with further donations while they are alive.

9.5 THE ELLIOTT EYES BEQUEST exhibition is on at Maitland Regional Art Gallery until 2nd November and well worth a visit. The ELLIOTT EYES COLLECTION is also open to the public for viewing by appointment. Contact : gordon@theelliotteyescollection.com - Gordon Elliott © 2025

View of 9.5 the Elliott Eyes Bequest exhibition at Maitland Regional Art Gallery. Photo courtesy Gordon Elliott.

Sunbather (Dark). 2021. oil on canvas. 110x145cm. Michael Zavros.

Nganampa Tjukurpa, Synthetic polymer on line, Robert Fielding 2023.

Regalia (Fade to Teal) & Totem Regalia (Flag), Reko Rennie 2013, Acrylic on linen. 150 x 150 cm., . Bronze. 150 x 30 x 30 cm.

9.5 The Elliott Eyes Bequest exhibition at Maitland Regional Art Gallery. Photo courtesy of Gordon Elliott.

LACHIE HINTON

Lachie Hinton is an Australian visual artist based in New York City. His work largely involves human rights, societal tensions and political instabilities. He has documented life in North Korea, The European refugee crisis, offshore detention on Nauru and New York’s pandemic, offering perspectives on humanity as a witness. Traversing painting, drawing, printmaking and photojournalism, his mixed media works concern capturing the frictions at play in the world around him, oscillating between crisis points and the quotidian moments of everyday life.

Page 136: Bowling Green, 52 x 72in. Oil, spray paint, airbrush and acrylic on canvas.

Lachie Hinton 2025.

Right: Dive Bar, 55 x 40 in. Oil, spray paint, airbrush and acrylic on canvas.

Lachie Hinton 2025.

E 17th St & Broadway, 56 x 78 in. Oil, spray paint, airbrush and acrylic on canvas. Lachie Hinton 2024.

Lachie Hinton - New York Series

I left Australia for the United States in May 2019, right after an exhibition at COMMUNE in Waterloo called LIMBOLAND. The show came out of a risky trip I had taken to Nauru to capture the experiences of refugees held indefinitely in offshore detention. The Australian government had long worked to conceal the conditions on the island from public view. I knew it would not be pretty, but I was not prepared for the level of suffering or the haunting feeling of the place; a tiny, forgotten island where people were hidden away in camps, surrounded by a maze of stripped, open-cut phosphate mines that looked like a jagged moonscape.

Back in Sydney, I developed a series of portraits of the detainees, photographs of the island, and a short documentary. Around the same time, then-Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton was denying medical evacuations for children deemed in urgent need of treatment by Australian doctors. The whole undertaking left me burned out, not just from the scale of the work, but from the disquiet of knowing the people in my paintings were still languishing 3,000 kilometres away, out of sight and out of mind.

I found it difficult to get back to painting after working so intensely with the subject matter. The move to America became a kind of reset, a blank slate that gave me space to reorient my focus. New York had been lodged in my head since my first visit twelve years earlier, energetic in an intimidatingly alluring way. When I arrived, the overstimulating and turbocharged nature of the city landed like a slap in the face. It was unapologetically American: towering architecture, streets draped in flags, sirens on loop, and flashy excess colliding with raw struggle. If burnout had pulled me away from painting, New York’s dizzying appeal gradually drew me back in. Before long, I was wandering the streets with a sketchbook, making quick studies of life around Manhattan.

Consciously or not, my artmaking has always been shaped by my surroundings. Once I secured a studio space, I realised I wasn’t interested in painting the same way I had left off. I felt the need to turn my practice inward on itself, to experiment, and to push my painting in more expressive ways. I began working faster, layering oil with new mediums like spray paint and airbrush, letting gestural movements carry the same immediacy as drawing. Flat passages of paint combined with sprayed haze or heavy strokes, mimicking the layered, collaged feel of surfaces around the streets.

I was drawn to the work of local Brooklyn-based artists like Eddie Martinez and Marco Pariani, who pushed figuration until it teetered on abstraction. My paintings began incorporating figurative and abstract forms as a way to explore contradictions that stood out to me: order and disruption, grit and glamour, structure and decay, all pressed up against one another. At times, symbols of institutional might, such as monuments and flags, surfaced from sprawling shapes and textures in a constant push and pull between definition and disarray. Everyday fragments of scaffolding, trash, rats, sirens, and figures became a recurring backdrop.

The New York Series grew out of this tension; an ongoing study where each work began with walking the city with a sketchbook, gathering street-level elements, physical features, and passing gestures from intersections, corners, and sidewalks.

Lachie Hinton in his studio 2024. Photograph courtesy of artist.

A L L E R Y

L A C H I E H I N T O N

Page 142: Statue of Liberty, 78 x 56 ins. Oil, spray paint, airbrush and acrylic on canvas, Lachie Hinton 2023.

Above: Right This Way, 52 x 72 ins. Oil, spray paint, airbrush and acrylic on canvas. Lachie Hinton 2024.

Figures in Scaffolding, 50 x 66 ins. Oil, airbrush and acrylic on canvas. Lachie Hinton 2025.

Street Basketball, 60 x 84 ins. Oil, spray paint, airbrush and acrylic on canvas. Lachie Hinton 2024.

Studio Wall

Photograph courtesy of artist Lachie Hinton.

Street Basket Ball Study - Lachie Hinton.

Layafette & Wanamaker Street, drawing - Lachie Hinton.

Street Basket Ball Study II - Lachie Hinton.

Layafette & Wanamaker Street, Lachie Hinton.

https://www.lachiehinton.com/

https://www.lachiehinton.com/newyorkseries

https://www.vanderplasgallery.com/

Lachie Hinton’s exhibition at Van Der Plas Gallery, New York 2025. Photo courtesy of artist.

WHERE THE GALLERY MEETS THE STREET

LORRAINE FILDES

WHERE THE GALLERY MEETS THE STREET -

Lorraine Fildes

The tropical city of Darwin is based on Larrakia land in the North of Australia. Street Art in Darwin is amazing. As you walk around you see it adorning the side of tall buildings, hidden carefully around corners, emblazoned on the side of businesses, even on vacant lots. Since 2017, the Darwin Street Art Festival has brought vibrancy and colour to the city's walls, with international, national and local artists contributing to this large-scale art gallery. Darwin streets have been transformed into a spectacular outdoor art gallery that attracts thousands of visitors each year.

During the Street Art Festival murals are painted over with other stunning new murals. Street art is temporary by nature, allowing us to enjoy it for the short term before it evolves or is covered by new art.

Darwin’s streets are vibrant, thought-provoking and accessible to all – see the following photos.

HONOURING THE LGBTQIA TOP END COMMUNITY

By KAFF-EINE

About the Artist:

Kaff-eine has worked in a wide range of employment but in 2012 decided to concentrate on her art. Since then, she has painted public walls and completed private commissions across the world; exhibited in successful solo and group exhibitions; collaborated on paintings with diverse groups such as recently-arrived refugees; and illustrated three children’s books. In 2016 Kaff-eine co-founded the International creative collective Cheeseagle, which has produced four exhibitions and two documentaries, including the award-winning feature film Happyland (2017), which follows Kaff-eine’s unique art-as-housing project with the notorious Happyland dumpsite slum community in Manila, Philippines.

About the Artwork:

When Kaff-eine was invited to paint a mural for the Top End’s first Street Art Festival, she was immediately inspired by the regions iconic wild and strong buffaloes. She wanted to honour the power and character of the Top End’s LGBTQIA+ communities by painting her signature ‘deerhunter’ characters with a Territorian twist; broad, masculine buffalo skulls and limbs were the perfect choice.

The two buffalo-characters meet on the wall with strong buffalo energy. Are they wrapped in a firm embrace? Lovingly holding up each other? Locked in a wrestling grip, in combat?

Elegant and quiet but full of tension, the action is deliberately obscure, as are the gender and sex of the characters. Kaff-eine enjoyed painting an image that encouraged emotional reactions from audiences.

Location: Litchfield Street Darwin, on the side wall of the Cavenagh Hotel

K A F FE I N E

SHANIQUÁ

by KAFF-EINE

About the Artist:

See information provided with the last mural HONOURING THE LGBTQIA TOP END COMMUNITY

About the Artwork:

This is Kaff-eine’s second mural for the Darwin Street Art Festival.

Sistagirls are transgender Aboriginal Australians traditionally known in the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin, as yimpininni. Kaff-eine painted an elegant portrait of Shaniquá, a Tiwi Islands’ sistagirl, to celebrate the strength, power, character & beauty of the Territory’s sistagirl community.

Kaff-eine felt honoured to meet and to be able to paint Shaniquá and learn more about this special part of traditional and contemporary Aboriginal identity.

Location: West Lane, Darwin.

CHEEKY DOGS

by DION BEASLEY

About the Artist:

Dion Beasley lives in Tennant Creek where he draws every day. As a deaf artist with muscular dystrophy, Dion uses drawing to communicate with the world.

Dion’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra among others. Since 2011, Dion has collaborated with Darwin-based author Johanna Bell on the creation of three picture books.

About the Artwork:

Dion depicts his family, the country where he grew up, the monsters he sees at night and all the dogs at Mulga Camp.

Location: Shadforth Lane, Darwin. D I O N B E A S L E Y

E N I S E

GUNIMIDJINA GWALA DARANIKI

(Saltwater Country)

by DENISE QUALL

About the Artist:

Denise Quall is a Saltwater person from the Dangalaba Clan (Crocodile Clan) and has lived in Darwin on Larrakia Land her whole life. She recently won NAIDOC Artist of the Year and has painted numerous murals throughout Darwin. This mural is designed and produced by Denise Quall with her brother Tibby Quall as the cultural advisor.

About the Artwork:

Gunimidjina Gwalwa Daraniki (Saltwater Country) is a street art piece that provides a vibrant Larrakia welcome for visitors to Darwin and for the local population to enjoy. The 30-metre mural holds deep cultural significance for local Traditional Owners.

Ngagan-Dji Nagandji – Bah (Brahminy Kite) features at the beginning of the mural. Its broad wingspan stretches wide across the first section and will welcome people to Larrakia Country, Badjigirri Kulumbirigin Country.

The colours of the mural represent the natural ochres of Saltwater Country where she grew up and still lives today.

Location: Bennett Street, Darwin.

A M S C A L E L E S H U D D L E S T O N

MONSOON

By CAM SCALE and LES HUDDLESTON

About the Artist Cam Scale:

Cam Scale is a Melbourne-based artist whose craft reaches a wide variety of mediums, although his preference is aerosol, acrylic and oil. His style is a raw mix of street-based and contemporary techniques.

About the Artist Les Huddleston:

Les Lipwurrunga Huddleston is from Roper River, East Arnhem Land. Les was born and grew up near Penrith. His parents and older brother were moved to Mulgoa Mission, from Groote Eylandt after the bombing of Darwin in 1941 during WWII.

Les moved back to Darwin in 1971 to re-connect with the country from which his family had been dispossessed. It was there that he sought permission and guidance to paint from the Ngardi elders and began his career as an artist. Les is an accomplished painter nationally and internationally and has been a Cultural Adviser for over 35 years.

About the Artwork:

Cam, in collaboration with local artist Les Huddleston, created this wet season themed mural in response to the wall’s venue - Monsoons. The depiction of fish swirling in the billabong at the feet of the dancing brolgas is a reminder of the beauty and necessity of the natural world.

Les channels inspiration for this piece from the monsoonal rains that fill the billabongs to the point where the bodies of water connect with the ocean. This causes saltwater fauna to breed in the billabongs, turning them into a life source for Aboriginal people to drink and hunt for food.

Location: Nuttall Place, 46 Mitchell St, Darwin

Multidimensional Man Space Crab Sanctum

This three-part greyscale mural series, situated on the side of the Metro apartments in Darwin's CBD, was painted over three years.

First mural was Multidimensional Man, painted by Peter Seaton in 2018. It is a portrait of Hilton Garnarradj an Aboriginal guide from Arnhem Land.

In 2019, Brisbane based artist Russell Orrie Fenn (aka Sofles) added the Interdimensional Space Crab alongside using the same tones as those used for the Aboriginal man.

In 2020 Jesse Bell and Andrew Bourke teamed up to produce the third and final instalment of the mural series. They have called their work Sanctum.

Location: Austin Lane, Darwin.

THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL MAN

By PETER 'CTO' SEATON

About the Artist:

Peter ‘CTO' Seaton is a Melbourne based, urban contemporary artist. He studied at Whitecliffe College of Art and Design. Peter wanted to make his art available to the general public. This wave of thinking coincides with the rise of what some would coin the biggest art movement in history: Street Art.

About the Artwork:

The colonisation of aboriginal people has forced them to adapt their culture to a different way of living. They have been introduced to many different modalities and technologies yet this exchange seems to be one-sided. Their understanding of the land and the connection to spirit realms is not understood by the colonists.

Our ‘Civilised’ western culture, with all the advances in our sciences and tech, have overlooked the understanding that Aboriginal cultures have embodied for thousands of years - The Multidimensional connection to Country, Spirit and all of creation. This is a portrait of Hilton Garnarradj an Aboriginal guide from Arnhem Land.

Location: Austin Lane, Darwin.

INTERDIMENSIONAL SPACE CRAB by SOFLES

About the Artist:

Sofles has been both reviled and embraced by the media over his ten-year career that began as a graffiti artist in Brisbane.

Following years of perfecting his craft, he burst onto the scene in the late 2000s with various sold-out exhibitions, collaborations with artists such as Anthony Lister, Ben Frost and Revok, and contracts with the likes of Red Bull and Adidas.

With many a finger in many a pie, Sofles’s work spreads across illustration, tattoo, canvas and any markable surface. Sofles’ imagery is wide and varied, with collages of mind-bending abstraction melting into intricate form, perfect snapshots of the artist’s wild imagination.

About the Artwork:

Interdimensional Space crab shows Sofles ability for large scale mural work with incredible detail. The monochromatic wild imagery of the crab is even more potent then if he had used his usual brilliant coloured pallet.

SANCTUM by ANDREW BOURKE and JESSE BELL

About the Artist Jesse Bell:

Hailing from a Māori heritage, Jesse developed his passion for painting whilst living in New Zealand. Once moving to Australia, Jesse spent time growing up alongside the Adelaide River where he was inspired by the natural world. Moving to Darwin he continued to develop his creative skills through the local graffiti and street-art scene. Jesse is now considered one of the Northern Territory's leading street and mural artists.

About the Artist Andrew Bourke:

With an unwavering love and curiosity for the natural world, Andrew Bourke’s work encapsulates the raw energy and beauty that is found within nature. Having developed his skill set as a graffiti artist, mediums such as aerosols, house paints, charcoal and acrylics flow with ease throughout much of his artwork. He was heavily inspired by the ‘subway art’ movement that rose up from the New York underground. Bourke was instantly drawn to the medium of aerosol paints and the ability to create works on a larger scale.

About the Artwork:

Jesse Bell and Andrew Bourke teamed up to produce the third and final instalment of the greyscale mural series situated on the side of the Metro apartments in Darwin's CBD. They continued on the theme of paying tribute to both Top End nature and local culture. They fused together the concept of elements inspired by nature both adored and sacred in their being. Totemic ideals, forged through time, delivered as a celebration for their love of the wild; a true sanctum to our northern Mother Nature.

S P A C E C R A B S A N C T U M

VINCENT LINGIARI TRIBUTE by JESSE BELL

About the Artist:

See information provided with the last mural Sanctum.

About the artwork:

This mural is a very special memorial piece for the late, great Vincent Lingiari. Vincent Lingiari was a Gurindji man from Central Western NT working and living at Wave Hill Station. In the 1960's Wave Hill became a flash point for Aboriginal Rights with workers demanding improved pay and working conditions as well as the repatriation of some of their traditional lands. Vincent was elected to become the leader of the workers and took the fight to Canberra and gained national attention for the movement. After 8 years of striking the fight at Wave Hill reshaped the conversation around Aboriginal land rights and ultimately culminated in land being handed back to the Gurindji people and the symbolic gesture of Gough Whitlam pouring sand into Vincent Lingiari's hands.

Later, Australian musician Paul Kelly wrote the hit song "From Little Things Big Things Grow' which tells the story of Vincent Lingiari's fight at Wave Hill.

If you look closely at the mural you see the important elements of this story. On the left-hand side there is an image from the Wave Hill Walk Off with the Gurindji workers sitting and striking rather than working. In the middle are the beautiful lyrics from the Paul Kelly song that helped immortalise the story in the public eye. Lastly on the right-hand side is the symbolic finale of the fight with Gough pouring the sand into Vincent's hands.

Location: 7 Cavenagh Street, Darwin., Darwin.

GOULDIAN FINCH

By JESSE BELL and JAMES BEATTIE

(DVATE)

About the Artist Jesse Bell: See information provided with the last mural Sanctum.

About the Artist James Beattie (Dvate): Jimmy Dvate (pronounced D-V-8) is a renowned Australian contemporary artist specialising in large-scale murals. Trained in graphic design and visual arts at Monash University, Jimmy’s work has a strong sense of design combined with the accuracy and eye for detail of photorealism. Underpinning his most recent works is his passion for nature and the environment.

About the Artwork:

This mural shows the three colour-variations of Gouldian finch found in the wild: Blackfaced (which make up around 75% of all birds), red-faced (25%) and the extremely rare yellow-faced variation, who only occur in around 1 in 3,000 birds.

“I found it interesting that these finches highly threatened in the wild, but a popular animal to breed in captivity, so they get overlooked in a lot of ways because people assume they’re everywhere, but in fact they’re struggling. One of the main places they are found is just South of Darwin. If you’re invited here to paint you should be giving a gift back to the city with your work, so you want it to have a sense of place and feel like it should be there”, said Beattie.

Location: West Lane, Darwin.

POPPIES FOR THE PEOPLE

by MIKE MAKA

About the Artist:

Melbourne-based artist Mike Maka is a painter and multidisciplinary artist working across various media, including large-scale murals, canvas, illustration and sculptures. Maka delivers a powerful message - urging us to step beyond the concrete jungle and reconnect with nature, and with the wildness within ourselves.

About the Artwork:

This mural is adjacent to the Darwin RSL club and this provided the inspiration for Mike. He sought to link and contrast the distant World War I battlefield of France, and its iconic red poppies (said in folklore to have grown from the blood of fallen soldiers soaking into the ground), to the green of tropical vegetation in the Top End, home to the families of the forever-lost soldiers.

The tropical scenery can also be seen to evoke more recent conflicts, such as the Vietnam War. Tropical vegetation can be seen as lush and inviting, or oppressive and overwhelming, depending on your experience.

Location: 24 Austin Lane, Darwin.

WHITE-BELLIED MANGROVE SNAKE

by TAYLA BROEKMAN

About the Artist:

Tayla Broekman is a Melbourne based visual artist who paints illustrative human and animal characters. She studied; Diploma of Visual Arts, Diploma of Illustration and the Advanced Diploma of Creative Product Development. Tayla’s work is influenced by pop surrealism and digital illustration. Her background in digital painting is evident in her style, as she uses flat block colours and refined line work. She uses bold and contrasting tones to create a striking image.

About the Artwork:

Tayla's mural looks at the conservation of the natural habitat of the Northern Territory. The snake featured is the White-Bellied mangrove snake, found in the mangroves in the northern areas of Australia. This mural creates a narrative around our connection to animals and reflects determination to preserve our wildlife and their habitats. As the girl nurtures the snake close to her, she investigates the distance with determination, and awareness of the importance of the task. The background illustrates the sky and the flat vast landscape in the isolated desert of the Northern Territory.

Location: West Lane, Darwin.

FOR THE LOVE OF READING by POLLY JOHNSTONE (AKA MISS POLLY)

About the Artist:

Polly Johnstone is a Northern Territory based visual artist and arts educator. Her art practice includes oil, acrylic and watercolour paintings. She participated in the first ever Darwin Street Art Festival and has since gone on to participate in many of the subsequent years of the festival.

Polly is passionate about creating art in public spaces for all to enjoy and to hopefully inspire the next generation.

About the Artwork:

In this mural she depicts a young lady reading a book adorned with the phrases: “A child who reads is an adult who thinks” and “The world belongs to those who read”.

Location: 8 Austin Lane, Darwin.

METAMORPHOSIS by LUCY DESBORDES (LUCY LUCY)

About the Artist:

French-born artist Lucy Lucy, immigrated to Australia in 2006 and currently resides in Melbourne. She has established herself as a prominent figure in the Australian urban art community, specializing in large-scale mural painting for over a decade. She is a figurative painter whose art explores the evolving narrative of femininity. She portrays women as symbols of social change, resilience, and reconciliation.

About the Artwork:

This mural is about metamorphosis and the need for change. The shape formed by the two symmetrical women wrapped in fabric like cocoons is evoking the wings of a butterfly. The artwork is characterized by an elegant fusion of colours, textures, and patterns, prompting reflection on a potential alternative narrative that values nurturing and caring.

Location: 27 Cavenagh Street, Darwin.

ARGUS BUILDING MURALS (2022 & 2024) by

GEORGE ROSE

These two towering 10-storey murals by Australian artist George Rose transform the façade of the Argus Apartments in Darwin into vibrant floral wonderlands, created two years apart as part of the Darwin Street Art Festival.

About the Artist:

The following information is from her website: My name is George Rose. I’m a Melbourne-based artist best known for my large-scale murals and vibrant use of colour. After an initial education in design, I completed my formal training at ANU School of Art before embarking on a full-time career as a muralist.

My work is rooted in gestural mark-making, often recreated at scale intertwining with endemic botanicals and personal source material. Exploring the fragility of nature, I balance a combination of hard edges with bold undulating colours and texture. My work frequently showcase endangered indigenous flora and fauna, utilising the expansive size of each building as a canvas to transform the micro into a macro-scale.

Together, "Sand Plains" and "Progression" transform the Argus Apartments into a towering tribute to Darwin's rich natural heritage, showcasing George Rose's signature use of vibrant colours and intricate botanical motifs.

Location: Argus Apartments, 6 Cardona Court, Darwin.

Sand Plains (Blue Side - 2022 by George Rose

About the Artwork:

This piece features an electric cascade of native flowers in a surreal palette of purples, teals, and neon yellows set against a deep indigo backdrop.

The mural is a vibrant tribute to Darwin’s rich and unique biodiversity. Inspired by the rare species native to the region’s sand plain habitats. George incorporated intricate depictions of bladderworts – tiny, carnivorous aquatic plants that thrive in the wetlands near Darwin. The mural stands as both a celebration of the natural world and a striking addition to the city’s artistic identity.

PROGRESSION (Red Side - 2024 ) BY

GEORGE ROSE

About the Artwork:

In contrast, the 2024 mural bursts from a rich red wall, showcasing George’s signature stylised florals and birds. Bold outlines and warm, glowing gradients in peach, lavender, and turquoise highlight tropical blooms and native fauna. A whimsical, layered composition evokes the vibrancy and warmth of the Top End’s flora and fauna.

MILABIRRAbyGEORGE ROSE

About the Artist:

Information about George is given with the Argus Building Murals (2022 & 2024)

About the Artwork:

This work celebrates one of the many diverse languages spoken by traditional owners of Australia, (Up to 363 languages belonging to an estimated 28 language families and isolates) and pays respect to the Larrakia Nation. Milabirra - means Woman kind in Larrakia and is a powerful word that attracts good feminine energy. The wall features Blue Lotus and Sturt’s Desert Rose, from the Northern Territory.

Location: West Lane, Darwin.

INSPIRED BY GUNLOM FALLS IN KAKADU NATIONAL PARK

By JACK ROWLAND

About the Artist:

Jack Rowland is a Melbourne-based artist, whose chromatic and saturated landscape paintings aim to offer alternative perceptions of the natural world. Rowland holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from RMIT University, Melbourne. Rowland is also an established muralist, painting many walls across Australia, including numerous public art commissions for councils.

About the Artwork:

This vibrant mural was inspired by the incredible beauty of Gunlom Falls in Kakadu National Park. The enhanced color palette is a direct response to the fiery Northern Territory sunsets.

Location: 100 Esplanade, Darwin.

I N C E N T P O K E

BUILD UP/MELT DOWN by VINCENT POKE

About the Artist:

Vincent Poke is a Darwin-based visual artist who works in acrylics on canvas and does murals. His style is influenced by pop, Japanese, and graphic styles. Sometimes serious but usually tongue-incheek.

About the Artwork:

Known as the ‘build up’ in the Northern Territory, the weather cycle where heat and humidity increase leads up to the wet season. Build Up/Melt Down is a depiction of what it is like to live through and deal with this experience in the Top End.

Location: West Lane, Darwin.

AZURE KINGFISHER by JORDAN CONRAD

About the Artist:

Jordan ‘PABS’ Conrad loves painting. He is a mural artist and enjoys nothing more than a commission for a large-scale commercial mural project. He has worked in regional and in remote Northern Territory alongside community groups and young people to create unique local pieces that hold pride of place in communities. He is inspired by epic spaces and always looking to continue to develop his style and take on bold new challenges.

About the Artwork:

Jordan has painted the azure kingfisher or the (Alcedo azurea). This little bird manages to live in the harsh territory environment as well as the cool of Tasmania showing how strong, adaptable and resilient it is.

Location: Peel Street, Darwin.

SOLE-VEINS by CHRISTIAN VINE

About the Artist:

Christian Vine is a 26-year-old Melbourne based artist who studied a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Melbourne’s RMIT University. HIs explorations through art define sexuality, morality, physicality, psychology and worldly issues that juxtapose with the human as an animal in the moments of what we call functional or dysfunctional living.

About the Artwork:

The Northern Territory is home to some of Australia’s most brutal and beautiful life forms. These subjects reflect the landscape that they inhabit, playing a part in the raw atmosphere, contrasting the harshness with the beauty of the environment.

The goal of the mural is to reflect the contradiction of harshness and beauty juxtaposing them throughout the artwork.

Location: Austin Lane, Darwin.

HISTORY OF DARWIN IN A MURAL

By ELLE

About the Artist:

Elle’s work is evocative, alluring, lavish, outrageous, purposeful and informative. Although she began as an illegal graffiti artist in New York, Elle is now considered one of the top touring street artists

Elle creates stories by collaging disparate images: powerful females, flora and fauna, classical paintings juxtaposed with pop-culture and high fashion imagery, revealing a purposefully designed messages to the world.

About the Artwork:

This mural tells the history of Darwin- the collage is representative of the beautiful and strong Larrakia aboriginals who thrived on these lands first, and the Chinese, who immigrated to Darwin in the 1900’s during the gold rush. The intense colors representative of the NT with its red dirt and incredible sunsets

Behind and over the forehead of the woman flies a Black Kite bird. Elle is fascinated by the accounts of lightning starting fires in the bush and the Black Kite picking up twigs from the fire and dropping them to spread the fires further to burn out food. This symbolism stands for the resilience and brilliance of the individuals and creatures who lived here, in these desert-like surroundings. The woman is also surrounded by local flora - the vegetation that can be found in Australia.

Location: West Lane, Darwin.

Jimmy B4mble

RUKUS

by JIMMY BAMBLE (aka Jimmy B4mble)

About the Artist:

B4MBLE (b. 1986) Darwin. Beginning with the street as his canvas and inspired by the works of Basquiat, KAWS, Banksy and the Saturday morning cartoons of his youth, Jimmy Bamble is a contemporary painter specialising in biting social commentary portrayed in a Technicolor dreamscape.

His paintings combine vivid colours, pop culture references, familiar street art tropes and an original cast of characters to navigate the complexities of joy, family, heartbreak, optimism, loneliness and life with a dark and complex undertone.

About the Artwork:

Rukus – The buffalo skull, is iconic to Northern Territory symbolism and is brought to life with Jimmy B4mble’s distinct use of colour and style. This artwork represents the strength of the Territory in all it’s multifaceted glory.

“Let my art kick you in the face” – Jimmy B4mble.

Location: West Lane, Darwin.

CATHERINE MILES

HIGHTAIL COCKATOO by CATHERINE MILES

About the Artist:

Catherine Miles is an active member of the Darwin Arts community and is rapidly growing a reputation as a talented new Darwin Artist.

Although better known for her pet portraiture, she now explores a wide range of subject matter. She enjoys the exploration of colour and texture to capture the spirit within her subjects.

About the Artwork:

This mural is a snapshot of a fleeting moment in time when one of Darwin’s Northern Wanderers, a cheeky Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo, leaps into action. Hightail Cockatoo combines realism with the loose painterly style of splattered and thrown paint to help emphasise the translucence often associated with quick movement.

Location: 17 Cavenagh Street, Darwin.

Following are a selection of street murals where the actual artist is unknown

Janelle Gibbon-Heath

Rockpool, Acrylic on canvas, H200 x W300cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

Janelle Gibbon-Heath – An Artist’s Journey of Transformation and Passion

From Event Management to Artistic Excellence

Janelle Gibbon-Heath’s story is a testament to resilience, adaptation, and the transformative power of art. Her journey into the vibrant world of creativity began during one of the most challenging periods in recent history - the COVID era. It is a narrative of finding beauty and purpose amidst disruption, and it exemplifies how passion and dedication can pave the way to new horizons.

Born in Sydney, Janelle's enthusiasm for the hospitality industry was evident from a young age. She left school in Year 10 to pursue a career in catering, which led her to work for large hotel chains and notably, the New Zealand Parliament House. Over the years, she mentored, trained, and encouraged thousands of staff by setting an example, rolling up her sleeves, and working alongside her team in the trenches.

From Event Management to Art Exploration

Before venturing into the world of painting, Janelle had already cultivated a successful career in the event management industry. For 25 years, she ran an Event Management Company with great success, harnessing her creativity to design memorable experiences for clients. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought her business to a standstill, as restrictions and uncertainties forced many industries into hibernation.

Faced with unexpected free time, Janelle refused to let the circumstances dampen her spirit. Instead, she embraced the opportunity to explore a long-held love for creativity in a new form. With curiosity as her guide, she turned to YouTube tutorials to teach herself the basics of painting. This self-directed learning became the foundation of her artistic journey, setting the stage for what would become a passionate pursuit of art.

Mushrooms, Acrylic on wooden panel, H20 x W30cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

The Turning Point: TinKat Alley Studio

In October 2020, Janelle received a pivotal gift from her sister: art classes. This thoughtful gesture marked the beginning of a transformative chapter in her life. By November, she had immersed herself in the welcoming and vibrant community of TinKat Alley Studio in Fassifern, NSW. The studio not only nurtured her budding artistic talents but also provided her with a sense of belonging and inspiration.

Janelle’s newfound passion for art flourished as she dedicated herself to learning and experimenting with various techniques. Her days became filled with creative exploration, especially after she and her husband sold their event management business. Art became her sanctuary, enabling her to channel her energy into something meaningful and fulfilling.

Achievements and Recognition

Since embarking on her artistic journey, Janelle has achieved remarkable success. She has sold numerous paintings, a testament to the appeal and quality of her work. Additionally, she has completed commissions, creating personalized pieces that resonate deeply with her clients. Her efforts have not gone unnoticed in the art community. Janelle has received several awards, recognizing her skill and creativity. Among her most notable accomplishments is winning the People’s Choice Award two years consecutively, an honour bestowed upon her by the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Art Society. This recognition reflects the admiration and support she has garnered from her peers and art enthusiasts alike.

Teaching and Mentorship

A few years into her artistic journey, Janelle began sharing her expertise with others by teaching at TinKat Alley Art Studio. Her focus is on Acrylic Art, and she works with both beginners and intermediate students. Teaching has become an integral part of her life, allowing her to pass on the tips and techniques she has accumulated over the years. Janelle’s approach to teaching is rooted in her love for learning and her desire to make art accessible and enjoyable. She takes pride in breaking down complex concepts into bite-sized, understandable pieces, empowering her students to grasp and apply new techniques with confidence. Her dedication to mentorship reflects her belief in the importance of nurturing talent and fostering creativity.

Artistic Inspirations and Style

Janelle’s artistic repertoire is diverse and reflective of her personal interests and experiences. She delights in painting a wide range of subjects, “Eclectic” some would say, including seascapes, beaches, rocks, animals, birds, and food. Her food paintings hold particular significance, stemming from her 45 years in the hospitality industry. These works are imbued with a sense of nostalgia and appreciation for the culinary world that has been a major part of her life.

Janelle’s artistic style is characterized by attention to detail and a deep connection to her subjects. She draws inspiration from the techniques of other artists, studying their work to refine her own approach. In her early days, Angela Anderson provided her with foundational guidance, introducing her to the basics of painting. Later, Janelle found inspiration in the works of Mark Waller, Andrew Tischler, Carla Grace, and Brenner Fine Arts. Their influence encouraged her to elevate her art by focusing on intricate details and developing her unique voice.

Today, Janelle thrives on learning new techniques, realism and detail. Still studying at least two hours a day, she paints most days for 6-8 hours. A dedication that most people would find horrifying.

Conclusion

Janelle Gibbon-Heath’s artistic journey is a story of transformation, resilience, and the pursuit of passion. From her beginnings as an event manager to her emergence as a celebrated artist and mentor, she has demonstrated the power of creativity to overcome challenges and create new opportunities. Her dedication to her craft, coupled with her ability to inspire and teach others, has solidified her place in the art community.

As she continues to paint, teach, and learn, Janelle’s work serves as a reminder of the beauty that can emerge from adversity. Her journey is a source of inspiration for aspiring artists and anyone seeking to redefine their path in life. Through her art, Janelle Gibbon-Heath has not only found her own purpose but has also touched the lives of many, leaving an enduring legacy of creativity and passion.

Adrift in the Mist, Acrylic on canvas, H60 x W50cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

A L L E R Y

Page 194: Ship Happens, Acrylic on canvas, H60x W50cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath. Above: Wisdom of the Sea, Acrylic on canvas, H45 x W 90cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

Beach Entrance, Acrylic on canvas, H120 x W90cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

Reflections of the Outback, Acrylic on wooden panel, H40 x w 30cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

Nobby’s Sea Wall Under Siege

Acrylic on canvas

H120 x W 90cm.

Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

Let’s Take a Stroll, Acrylic on canvas, H120 xW90cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

1770 Headland, Acrylic on wooden panel, H20 xW30cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

A N E L L E

I B B O NH E A T H

Blueberry’s

Acrylic on wooden panel

H30 x W20cm.

Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

A Handful, Acrylic on wooden panel, H30 x W20cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

A Cup of Cherries, Acrylic on wooden panel, H40 xW30cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

Kookaburra Sits, Acrylic on wooden panel, H40 x W30cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath. Gang Gang, Acrylic on wooden panel, H40 x W30cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

https://www.instagram.com/artbynellstudio/

Poly Want a Passionfruit, Acrlyic on canvas, H30 x W20cm. Janelle Gibbon-Heath.

War and

Peace:

the day after

MAGGIE

War and Peace: the day after

Chapter 1: Echoes of the Past

The old television crackled to life in the basement of the Reagan Presidential Library, its static-filled screen casting eerie shadows across the archives. Dr. Sarah Chen, a historian researching Cold War documentation, had stumbled upon a collection of tapes marked "The Day AfterPresidential Screening, 1983." She adjusted the tracking, and the grainy image of a fictional nuclear wasteland filled the monitor.

Above her, in the library's main hall, three men sat in an unlikely configuration around a circular table. The emergency summit had been called hastily—too hastily, some would later say. President Trump, his characteristic confidence subdued by the gravity of the moment, faced President Zelensky across the polished wood. Between them, Vladimir Putin sat with the composed demeanour of a chess master contemplating his next move.

"Gentlemen," Trump began, his voice uncharacteristically measured, "we're here because the world is closer to the brink than it's been since Reagan and Gorbachev stared down the nuclear abyss."

Putin's fingers drummed silently on the table. "Ronald Reagan," he said, his accent thick with memory, "understood that even enemies must sometimes choose survival over victory."

Zelensky, exhausted from months of defending his homeland, looked between the two men. "My people are dying while we debate philosophy. This isn't a movie where we can reshoot the ending."

Chapter 2: The Weight of Memory

In the basement, Dr. Chen found herself transfixed by the footage from 1983. The movie had been devastating in its realistic portrayal of nuclear war's aftermath families torn apart, civilization crumbling, hope extinguished. She remembered reading Reagan's diary entry after he watched it: "It left me greatly depressed."

The film had changed everything. Within months, Reagan was reaching across the ideological divide to Gorbachev, proposing the impossible: the elimination of nuclear weapons. The two leaders, separated by oceans of mistrust and decades of Cold War animosity, had found common ground in their shared fear of mutual annihilation.

Now, forty years later, their successors faced a similar crossroads.

Upstairs, the tension was palpable. Putin spoke of security concerns, historical grievances, and the need for Russia to defend its interests. Trump talked of deals, of winning, of the art of negotiation. Zelensky spoke of children in bomb shelters, of cities reduced to rubble, of a people's right to exist.

"You want to know what changed Reagan's mind?" Zelensky suddenly asked, interrupting Putin mid-sentence. "It wasn't strategy or politics. It was the realization that in nuclear war, there are no winners only degrees of losing."

Trump leaned forward. "That movie, The Day After. I remember the controversy. People said it was too graphic, too depressing." "Sometimes," Putin said quietly, "we need to see the worst to choose the better path."

Chapter 3: Ghosts in the Room

Dr. Chen had discovered something remarkable in the archives: a letter from Gorbachev to Reagan, written after their first summit in Geneva. In it, the Soviet leader wrote: "We are not just negotiating between our countries, but for the future of humanity itself."

The three presidents above seemed to sense the weight of that same responsibility. The room fell silent as each man grappled with the magnitude of their decisions.

Trump broke the silence. "Reagan and Gorbachev—they weren't friends. Hell, they barely trusted each other. But they knew the stakes."

"My grandfather fought the Nazis," Zelensky said, his voice growing stronger. "He used to tell me that the greatest victories aren't won on battlefields, but in the moments when enemies choose to stop being enemies."

Putin's expression softened almost imperceptibly. "Mikhail Sergeyevich—Gorbachev—he was criticized heavily for his choices. Called a traitor by some in Moscow. But he understood something that many leaders forget."

"What's that?" Trump asked.

"That history judges us not by how much power we wielded, but by whether we used it wisely."

The conversation continued deep into the night. They spoke of Reagan's "Trust but verify," of Gorbachev's perestroika, of the moments when the world had stepped back from the brink. They watched clips from The Day After, seeing in its fictional devastation a reminder of very real consequences.

Chapter 4: The Dawn Decision

As dawn broke over the Reagan Library, Dr. Chen emerged from the basement archives, her research complete but her mind racing with the parallels between past and present. She could hear voices from the main hall—not argumentative now, but collaborative.

The three leaders had reached an understanding, not through grand gestures or theatrical diplomacy, but through the simple recognition of their shared humanity. They had looked into the abyss that Reagan and Gorbachev had faced and made the same choice: to step back.

Trump spoke first to the waiting press: "Sometimes the best deal is the one where nobody loses everything."

Putin was more measured: "We have remembered that strength is not always shown through force, but sometimes through restraint."

Zelensky, tears in his eyes, simply said: "Today, we chose tomorrow."

Dr. Chen watched from the archives window as the three men shook hands not as victors or vanquished, but as leaders who had felt the weight of history and chosen hope over destruction. The ghost of Reagan seemed to nod approvingly from his portrait on the wall, while somewhere in the distance, the fictional ruins from The Day After flickered and faded, replaced by the very real possibility of a different ending.

In her notes that day, Dr. Chen wrote: "The greatest leaders are not those who win wars, but those who prevent them. Today, three men looked into the same darkness that Reagan and Gorbachev once faced, and like their predecessors, they chose the light."

The summit ended not with fanfare, but with quiet determination. The world, which had held its breath, could finally exhale. And in the Reagan Library, among the documents and memories of another time when leaders chose peace over pride, history prepared to write a new chapter one where tomorrow was still possible.

Of empires lost to endless night. Across the ocean, tweets take flight, From golden towers, promises made. Where deals are struck and debts are paid. In Kyiv stands a man who stayed, When darkness fell upon his land he took the stage microphone in one hand. Three paths converge on history's page, Each writing lines in different ink. The autocrat, the populist sage, The wartime leader at the brink. The world watches as they decide, what legacy they'll leave behind.

War and Peace: the Day After was created by Maggie Hall using ‘Claude’ AI.

Images generated by Artist AI.

TALES OF MADRID

Jose Luis Seijas Garcia - SEIGAR

TALES OF MADRID by Jose Luis Seijas Garcia - SEIGAR

Artist Statement:

The Tales series is how I present all my travel and street photography. Through these photo narratives, my main goal is to express the Latin message of Carpe Diem. To me, it’s about waking up - embracing life fully. Enjoying life is essential, but so is taking care of ourselves: eating well, staying active, and resting properly.

I've realized that two key steps can help us feel better, improve our lives, and strengthen our relationship with ourselves and our daily routines. First, we need to listen to ourselves and reflect on what we discover in our inner thoughts and conversations. Second, we must be mindful of our thoughts, words, and actions towards ourselves. What we tell ourselves matters - our inner dialogue should be kind, and even more than that, it should be the best we have to offer. These ideas all work together.

I'm also deeply interested in freedom. The ongoing debate about censorship and cancel culture reminds me of a bird in a cage with its doors wide open - it’s free to fly. So let’s do it! Let’s take action instead of complaining. If we only realized the power we have in our own hands - it’s up to us! We make the decisions. We are free, each of us, as individuals. This metaphor applies not just to censorship but to every aspect of life. How often do we delay our dreams, waiting for permission from someone - or worse, from "the system"? But the doors of the cage are wide open - just go for it!

One more thing I’ve learned - not only from traveling but also in everyday life (because you don’t have to go far to witness human nature) - is that despite our differences, the most important things in life connect us. I've realized that most people are beautiful souls with so much to share and incredible potential. Yet, this vision of humanity feels quite different from the image portrayed by the media. It makes me wonder: Why? I’ll leave you with that thought. Reflect on it, draw your conclusions.

Enjoy Tales of Madrid!

Jose Luis Seijas Garcia - SEIGAR Biography:

Jose Luis Seijas Garcia (Seigar) is a passionate visual artist based in Tenerife, Spain, whose work spans travel, street, social documentary, conceptual, and pop art. Deeply fascinated by pop culture, this influence is reflected in his artistic explorations across photography, video art, writing, and collage.

A philologist by profession and a secondary school teacher, Seigar is also a self-taught visual artist, having expanded his skills through advanced courses in photography, cinema, and television. His artistic mission is to tell stories through the lens of his camera, weaving an ongoing narrative shaped by his travels and personal encounters. He has participated in numerous international exhibitions, festivals, and cultural events, with his work featured in a wide range of media worldwide. More recently, his focus has shifted toward documenting identity and promoting the message behind the Latin phrase "Carpe Diem."

Seigar was awarded the prestigious Rafael Ramos García International Photography Award. He also shares his thoughts and passions for art and culture on his blog, Pop Sonality.

Blog Pop Sonality: https://www.instagram.com/popsonality/

G

A L L E R Y

Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jseigar/

Webpage: https://seigar.wordpress.com/

Albums: https://www.flickr.com/photos/theblueheartbeat/albums/

Blog Pop Sonality: https://www.instagram.com/popsonality/

GRESFORD COMMUNITY GALLERY

12 Park Street East Gresford NSW. Gallery Hours: Saturday & Sunday 10am - 4pm.

GRESFORD COMMUNITY GALLERY - NEWS

A busy month for the Gresford Community Gallery with many events -

The Gresford Community Gallery will be presenting new artists Ros Elkin and Gavin Fry in the Spring Exhibition. The exhibition includes a great variety of quality art and craft, featuring painting, drawing, sculptures, ceramics, photography, fibre art and jewellery.

The Winter Exhibition runs till Sunday 21st. September.

The Spring Exhibition - First Birthday Celebration opens on Saturday 27th. September 2-4pm.

Officially opened by Gavin Fry.

The Gallery will present artist and writer Gavin Fry talking about the Australian artist Kenneth Jack, Lost Master of the Australian Landscape on Saturday 13th September at 2.30 pm. Entry $5 – will include afternoon tea.

SKETCH CLUB 2025

The gallery holds Sketch Club each month. Everyone enjoys the creative, friendly atmosphere. Please join us at the next event, all welcome –beginners and professionals.

In September there will be a model if would like to include a figure in your drawings.

Next Sketch Club date – SUNDAY 28th. Time: 1 – 4pm

Still Life – inspiration from Australian artist Kevin Connor.

Hosted by artist Christine Pike. Please bring your own art supplies. Cost $10.

Venue: Gresford Community Gallery 12 Park St East Gresford. (next to Arboretum/park, entrance at ramp.)

Enquiries : gallerygresfordcommunity@gmail.com Phone : 0428 271 819 Christine Pike .

WINTER EXHIBITION ARTISTS

JOHN BARNES

BARBARA NANSHE

BENJAMIN BROINOWSKI

SUSANA ENRIQUEZ

ROBYN WERKHOVEN

ERIC WERKHOVEN

SUZANNAH JONES

DAWN THOMPSON

JANET STEELE

FIONA WRIGHT

CHERIE PLATEN

GAYE SHIELD

TARA MANN

GISELLE PENN

NATHAN KEOGH

CHEL KING

HEATHER ANDERSON

LAURENCE THORSSELL

MICHAEL GARTH

SANDRA LEE BROWN

SUE STEWART

TIM MULLANEY

KRISTEN LETHEM

LIBBY CUSICK

GILLIAN WADDELL

HELENE LEANE

LINDA BIZON

CECILY GRACE

BERNADETTE MEYERS

GEORGIA HORACEK

PETER RONNE

CYNTHIA DENNING

WENDY JOHNSON

JOANNA GREENWOOD

ALICE ROPATA

KYLIE WEEDON

KRISTEN LETHEM

SANDRA LEE BROWN LIBBY CUSICK

12 Park Street East Gresford NSW. Gallery Hours: Saturday & Sunday 10am - 4pm.

DAWN THOMPSON GISELLE PENN

B A R B A R A N A N S H E B E N J A M I N B R O I N O W S K I 12 Park Street East Gresford NSW. Gallery Hours: Saturday & Sunday 10am - 4pm.

12 Park Street East Gresford NSW. Gallery Hours: Saturday & Sunday 10am - 4pm.

ERIC & ROBYN WERKHOVEN MICHAEL GARTH

GRESFORD COMMUNITY GALLERY

SPRING EXHIBITION

FIRST BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

SATURDAY 27th SEPTEMBER 2-4pm.

Officially opened by Gavin Fry 12 Park St. East Gresford

Flower Shop by Gaye Shield.

Connecting people with the arts, and each other

More information on ArtsNational Newcastle and the annual lecture schedule at https://artsnationalnewcastle.org.au/ A R T O F V A N A L I S M

Be entertained, fascinated and informed. Become a member or attend individual lectures as a guest.

After each lecture join the lecturer for conversation and light refreshments.

2025 membership now available on-line.

https://artsnationalnewcastle.org.au/

Lectures are at 6:30pm at the Hunter Theatre, Cameron St, Broadmeadow.

2025 LECTURES

8 September 2025 (evening)

The Life and Art of Georgia O’Keeffe presented by Lydia Bowman

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) rose to an almost mythical status as the pre-eminent modernist artist in early 20th century America. She did so at a time when painting was still considered an unsuitable occupation for women and despite spending decades in the isolation of Northern New Mexico. We will look at her iconic landscapes, cityscapes, skull paintings and notorious outsized flower paintings.

20 October 2025 (evening)

Art or Vandalism presented by Georgina Bexon

‘Street Art’, one of the largest art movements of modern times, has achieved huge popularity and is rapidly growing. It encompasses graffiti, protest art that speaks to political and social issues, and monumental painted murals. This talk explores the history of the medium from prehistoric times to the modern day and discusses how and why this art has ended up as a mainstream art practice.

Lectures are at 6:30pm at the Hunter Theatre Cameron St, Broadmeadow. More information on ArtsNational Newcastle and the annual lecture schedule at https://artsnationalnewcastle.org.au/

STUDIO LA PRIMITIVE ARTS ZINE

Arts Zine is an online independent art and literary magazine, featuring artist’s interviews, exhibitions , art news, poetry and essays.

We have been publishing the Zine since 2013, featuring many high profile national & international artists – Blak Douglas, Wendy Sharpe, Kathrin Longhurst, Nigel Milsom, Loribelle Spirovski, Kim Leutwyler, Matthew Quick, Braddon Snape, Del Kathryn Barton, Ann Cape and many more. George Gittoes has been a wonderful supporter and contributor to the Zine.

The Zine is free, with no advertising from sponsors. It is just something Eric & I want to do for the Arts, which has been our lifelong passion.

Our extensive mailing list includes art collectors, art lovers and galleries.

Arts Zine in 2017 was selected by the NSW State Library to be preserved as a digital publication of lasting cultural value for long-term access by the Australian community. - Eric & Robyn Werkhoven.

T U D I O

L A P R I M I T I V E

Dog and Dancer

Acrylic on canvas, H30 x W30 cm.

Robyn Werkhoven 2024.

POETRY & SCULPTURE

Right : Fragment from a Dream, Autoclaved aerated cement / cement / lacquer.

Right : Eric Werkhoven at Studio La Primitive.

Photograph courtesy of artist.

90 Hunter St. Newcastle, NSW. https://timelesstextiles.com.au/

S T R A I T J A C K E T S T R A I T J A C K E T

TOM KEARNEY

EXHIBITION CALENDAR 2025

16 August - 7 September

Claire Martin

Michael Bell

13 September – 5 October

Susia Ryman

Tom Kearney - Chevron Island

Kerrie Oliver

11 October - 2 November

Nicola Hensel & John Turier

SUSAN RYMAN

Chichester #2, Acrylic on Canvas, 100x 150cm. Helene Leane.

Rhino Images - Art and the Rhinoceros

Lorraine Fildes and Robert Fildes.

Art and the Rhinoceros - There are over three hundred Rhino images in this book.

Whether in the ancient past or in the present the rhinos are always represented as huge, powerful and solitary animals. The book includes paintings, drawings, woodcuts, etchings, rock carvings and sculptures of the rhino all depicting the power of the animal.

These images of the rhino range from early civilisations such as in China, Roman Empire, Indus civilisation in Pakistan/ India area and from Southern Africa down to current day images of paintings and sculptures produced by modern day artists.

The text indicates where you may find these wonderful images as well as the websites of the artists concerned, the caves where the rhino images have been found and the places where posters use the rhino image.

There are very few of these magnificent wild animals left in the world, so unless they are protected and managed, artistic images will soon be the only viewing option.

Rhino Images – Art and the Rhinoceros, First Edition, 2017, is available for download at The Rhino Resource Centre web site.

Direct Link : http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=refs&CODE=ref_detail&id=1518479271

L I B B Y C U S I C K G R E S F O R D G A L L E R Y

Retro in Blue, 30 x 30cm. Oil on canvas, Libby Cusick. - Gresford Community Gallery, page 236.