2019 Western Downs Regional Artists Exhibition Catalogue

INSIDE OUT 2019 WESTERN DOWNS REGIONAL ARTISTS’ EXHIBITION

21 October - 10 December 2019

Cover image: Kardia Stokes Australia Du schรถne! (detail) 2019 Photography on canvas | 51cm x 100cm

Message from the Mayor

On behalf of Western Downs Regional Council, it’s my absolute pleasure to support the 2019 Regional Artists’ Exhibition; the region’s premier showcase for local artists.

Your support for these events strengthens cultural ties right across the region and I thank all of those delivering this fantastic event for another year.

This year’s exhibition is Inside Out and explores the individuality of our local talent and gives artists the opportunity to think out of the box while showing off their more playful and innovative side.

I have no doubt you will thoroughly enjoy the exhibition and the artworks created by our talented local artists while sharing in the spirit of the Western Downs.

The Western Downs region is a fantastic place to live, work and grow and I am excited to see how our local artists have interpreted this year’s theme while also celebrating what it is that makes our region so great.

Cr Paul McVeigh Western Downs Regional Council Mayor

Inside Out is the result of extensive collaboration by the region’s three main art galleries - Dogwood Crossing, Gallery 107, and Lapunyah Art Gallery. Building on the success of previous years, it’s fantastic to see the event continue rotation across the region, with this year’s exhibition visiting another of the region’s recreational spaces - the John Mullins Memorial Art Gallery at Dogwood Crossing, Miles.

Showcase events like these really capture the vibrancy of the Western Downs while generating a sense of pride in our community.

This year’s exhibition tells the story of who we are and why we are building pride in our community and our diverse backgrounds.

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Foreword by the exhibition organising committee

The year 2019 marks the sixth year since the inauguration of the Western Downs Regional Artists’ Exhibition.

Born of the cooperative efforts of the three major galleries of the Western Downs region: Dogwood Crossing Miles, Gallery 107 @ Dalby, and Lapunyah Art Gallery Chinchilla, the exhibition has become a much-anticipated cultural highlight of the region; fostering connection between regional galleries and further developing artist networks.

Emerging from the vision of our regional galleries to develop, support and provide greater access to the region’s widely dispersed arts community; this initiative offers professional exhibiting opportunities for both established and emerging regional artists, and further demonstrates region-wide interest and access to the arts.

Each year an independent judge is appointed from outside the Western Downs Regional Council area to critique each category of the exhibition. This year offers a prize pool of $2150, with category prizes of First, Second, and Third Place, People’s Choice, Installer’s Award, and Young Artist Award. Entrants may submit up to four artworks that have not been previously exhibited in an exhibition, show or competition in the region.

The 2019 Regional Artists’ Exhibition organising committee would like to thank the gallery volunteers and artists of the Western Downs region, the continued support of local businesses, and the Western Downs Regional Council, without whom this initiative would not be possible. Together this commitment to building the cultural and artistic capital of the region has become an essential part of the fabric of our regional community life.

The theme Inside Out proposes a challenge to push boundaries, and ultimately becomes a channel for expression and storytelling in the artist’s favoured medium. The artworks themselves come from a variety of make-shift studios; from spare rooms, sheds, and kitchen tables - these humble beginnings together forge a creative statement to the Western Downs community.

Gail Taylor President Lapunyah Art Gallery Inc.

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Kim Nguyen Chairperson Dogwood Crossing Gallery Committee

Carolyn Tillman President Gallery 107 @ Dalby Inc.

Curatorial Essay Robert Natoli

The Western Downs Regional Artists’ Exhibition is an annual event that goes some way to dispel the tyranny of regional isolation for emerging and mature work artists.

Exploring the region; from merely walking along the local Dogwood Creek, one could observe isolation in patterns formed across the landscape, from drying banks, scattered rusting metal fragments of bygone machinery, and the crumbling century-old headstones engraved with poetic homage to loved ones lost. Much to the disdain of the soundings, the breath of life is vivified through the regrowth of flowering trees, and lotus plants.

Drawing inspiration from the land in which they reside, artists are served up a call to action by the immediate surroundings, demonstrating how regional communities are often rich in history, struggle, perseverance and ultimately growth despite hardships. A sense of place pervades these regional communities created by the individuals and communities that reside and contribute to them.

The Western Downs Regional Artists’ Exhibition plays an important role in contributing to the richness of place. Through interpretation of personal stories and depicting broader community sentiment, artists of all forms come together to continue the important role of regional storytellers. In contributing to this ‘art forum’, artists and art observers alike nurture and encourage opportunities for all artists to participate in the arts, as narrators of our society.

Creativity is strong in the regions. Regional Australians are more likely to create visual arts and craft (33%) compared to metropolitan residents (29%). However regionally based artists have increasingly negative perceptions about the impact of their location on their practice. Professional artists living in the regions earn almost a third less than their city counterparts for creative work. These are trends to watch to understand the degree to which artists can maintain practice in regional Australia (Australia Council for the Arts 2016).

Co-produced by three key art spaces in the Western Downs region; Dogwood Crossing, Miles, Lapunyah Art Gallery, Chinchilla and Gallery 107 @ Dalby. The 2019 Western Downs Regional Artists’ Exhibition is hosted by Dogwood Crossing within the theme Inside Out.

Inside Out invites artists to reflect on their personal arts practice by looking ‘in’, to connect with their essence of creativity, and bringing ‘out’ to demonstrate through inspired work. The theme invited playful and divergent thinking and could bring forth something unexpected.

The 2019 Western Downs Regional Artists’ Exhibition is a clear example of a successful ongoing project encouraging and showcasing artists and stories of the region. It is a powerful means to building a strong dialogue within the artistic and broader communities of the region. The Western Downs Regional Council and organising committee are to be applauded for the ongoing commitment shown to the project over the past 6 years and into the future.

The 2019 Western Downs Regional Artists’ Exhibition is a slice of the artists and regional people’s lives. It consists of 46 works by 32 artists and encapsulates a broad response to the theme. Artists have used a variety of media and techniques to portray a personal response, including traditional areas of painting, sculpture and drawing and encouragingly an imaginative use of non-traditional approaches, including the use of text-based works (Catherine Rose and Mardi Sands).

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Entrants have demonstrated a broad interpretation of the exhibition theme. Some artists chose a literal observation by introducing a symbolic sub theme as a gateway to the topic, for instance windows are devises used by Meg Stevenson, Anna Moeba, Patricia Hinz and Shirley Makin as a nexus between inner and outer worlds.

Many artists chose to explore a personal inner journey, including the honest and open works of Connar McLaren, Anna Moeba, Kristen Flynn, Amanda Keogh, Kerryn Rabone and Kim Nguyen. Some artists including Alicia Streten depicted an inner exploration in a more subtle and contemplative way.

With the benefit of two days viewing entries of the Western Downs Regional Artists’ Exhibition 2019, I was afforded the luxury of getting acquainted with the works just as I got acquainted with the town on arrival. Initial responses to the works strengthened or dissipated, as understanding grew. I recommend you take time to visit and revisit the exhibition and allow the works to grow on you too.

Creativity is strong in the regions.

Regional Australians are more likely to create visual arts and craft (33%) compared to metropolitan residents (29%).

Participating Artists Kylie Bourne

Kim Osburn

Guy Breay

Joshua Prentice

Don Custodio

Steph Pumpa

Angelique Delport

Kerryn Rabone

Helen Dennis

Christopher Rigg

Kristen Flynn

Catherine Rose

Sage Gleeson

Amanda (Mandy) Rounsefell

Cindy Grimes

Mardi Sands

Patricia Hinz

Meg Stevenson

Amanda Keogh

Claudia Stiller

Carol McCormack

Lisa Stiller

Connar McLaren

Kardia Stokes

Shirley Makin

Alicia Streten

Anna Moeba

Mary Tierney

Emiley Nixon

Lynelle Urquhart

Kim Nguyen

David Watkins and Caroline Costner

Christopher Rigg The different path 2019 Sculpture - Camphor Laurel | 73cm x 27cm 14.5cm INSIDE OUT | 5

Prize Winners FIRST PRIZE - $1000 Condabri Beef Alicia Streten Self portrait

SECOND PRIZE - $500 REStech SOLUTIONS Connar McLaren Broken

THIRD PRIZE - $300 Murilla Foodworks Steph Pumpa Inside looking out

INSTALLER’S AWARD - $100 Western Downs Regional Council Voted for by the volunteer exhibition installers

YOUNG ARTIST AWARD - $50 Sandy Pottinger Emiley Nixon Whispers from the Milky Way

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD - $200 VOUCHER Murray’s Art and Framing Please place your vote at the gallery

HIGHLY COMMENDED Catherine Rose Push out Christopher Rigg The different path Guy Breay Embrace Amanda (Mandy) Rounsefell Looking out, the Amphitheatre Meg Stevenson Island holiday Cindy Grimes Wongle art day Helen Dennis The creek Kristen Flynn Transcendental Alicia Streten | Self portrait 2019 (detail) | Acrylic on canvas 100cm x 75cm 6 | INSIDE OUT

Fairy Wren family 2019 | Mosaics | 44.5cm x 25cm

Embrace 2019 | Sculpture - Budgeroo Branch 81cm x 44cm x 25cm

KYLIE BOURNE

GUY BREAY

Bourne is an artist driven by her love of colour, nature, environment, family, friends and gardening. She enjoys working with glass predominantly and creates artworks that reflect her personality. A self-taught artist, she continues to challenge and develop her skills and passion in working with glass.

For his sculptures, Breay selects gnarled and twisted wood with interesting shapes and movement from his sustainably managed forest. His style constantly evolves to reflect experiences, imagination and inspiration he gets from the natural beauty of wood. His creations are enhanced using lines, negative spaces and contrasting textures and colours.

FAIRY WREN FAMILY I love watching the little Fairy Wrens play in my garden. Their titching, flitting and dancing inspired me to play with pops of colour and capture their busy little family goings on!

EMBRACE This entwined display stand was carved from a salvaged Budgeroo branch. The solid hardwood inside was carved out to highlight the triple helix of natural edge sap wood that is interlaced with curved diagonals that embrace the piece.

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DON CUSTODIO Custodio thinks of art as a way to relax and escape the problems of reality, albeit for a moment. This is also one of the reasons why he never stops creating artwork and is continually creating or thinking of new ideas.

TIMELESS BEACH

Timeless beach 2019 | Mixed media on canvas | 46cm x 91cm

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After a recent visit to Runaway Bay, I was inspired by its natural beauty. I decided to represent its sense of calm on a canvas. The feelings of solitude it presents came from the emotions I feel when I wrap my hands around a brush and paint. The boat is usually how I symbolise the ideas that I want to display on paper or canvas. Now that I think about it, the boat should have been a fleet instead, because I have so many ideas!

Undeniable space 2019 | Acrylic on canvas | 100cm x 75cm

The creek (detail) 2019 | Acrylic on canvas | 61cm x 51cm

ANGELIQUE DELPORT

HELEN DENNIS

Delport is a free-thinking artist loving the dance of colours on a canvas and prefers abstract art. She has lived in the Miles area for the last 11 years and started painting about 8 years ago when invited to an art workshop by a friend.

Dennis’ artworks seek to represent and interpret the environs in which she lives. Her artworks’ narratives are more observational than judgemental. She intentionally chooses images which interest aesthetically and topics which stimulate intellectually. By this means Dennis engages the viewer in an appreciation of art which stimulates enjoyment and encourages consideration and evaluation.

UNDENIABLE SPACE Undeniable space is a dream on canvas. It is the fluidity of everyone’s dreams and the soft edges of who we are in our dreams.

Dreams are the marshmallows of who we are. In our dreams we are the hero, the one who wins the fight, the most beautiful, the acceptable, the one who can accomplish everything. Undeniable space is that inside life we have when we sleep in an outside image.

THE CREEK Water is the vehicle of life in rural Australia. Many properties rely on perennial watercourses to water stock, irrigate crops and supply the homestead. When the dry season comes the lifegiving source is reduced to small pools of stagnant water.

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KRISTEN FLYNN Flynn’s practice investigates identities through external entities, which usually result in the foregrounding of binary oppositions such as man and nature. She uses juxtaposition and layering to produce meaning, both planned and accidental. Flynn’s printmaking process is highly technical and brings together digital technologies with traditional printmaking methods.

TRANSCENDENTAL

Transcendental 2019 | Oil on paper | 61.4cm x 42cm

Transcendental is a self-portrait that uses the ‘outside’ to make sense of my ‘inside’.

My portrait is layered with an image of bougainvillea to create a dimension of transcendental experience whilst emphasising humankind’s immortality.

Cut from my garden, the bougainvillea is a metaphor for the beautiful, vigorous and difficult quest to understand who I am. I consider my work beautiful yet peculiar and enlightening yet dark. I created Transcendental using my iPhone, Photoshop, photopolymer plates, oil paint, paper and a printing press.

SAGE GLEESON As an artist Gleeson enjoys exploring creative techniques. She likes working with mixed media and acrylic paints because they allow her to be experimental and explore new skills. Textures and colours especially interest her, and she is inspired by the diversity of nature and landscapes.

THOUGHTS OF THE BUNYAS

Thoughts of the Bunyas 2019 | Mixed media on canvas | 46cm x 91cm

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When creating this artwork, I enjoyed experimenting with different textures and techniques. I worked with materials including string, eggshells, and small rocks to create different textures. This artwork is inspired by the area I live in and the views of the Bunya Mountains. I find nature to be quite peaceful and calming.

Wongle art day 2019 | Acrylic & charcoal on canvas | 50.5cm x 40.5cm

Looking in looking out 2019 | Mixed media on board | 100cm x 70cm

CINDY GRIMES

PATRICIA HINZ

Grimes paints to tell the stories of the landscape and people of her own backyard. Currently she is enjoying painting, learning and practising new skills and processes, whilst experimenting with acrylics, pen and wash and mixed media.

Hinz is a mixed media artist strongly influenced by nature. She predominantly uses water-based media and at times uses pigments found in her environment to add to the work. Often, she uses many layers to give her work depth as she works a piece to its conclusion.

WONGLE ART DAY

LOOKING IN LOOKING OUT

Oliver Sacks wrote about creativity as ‘buzzing, blooming chaos’. As an artist every time you create and hang, you put your ‘inside out’.

We rely on our colleagues to put their blooming chaos on show, to inspire, to instruct, to motivate. Wongle art day is dedicated to my Glenmorgan Art Group colleagues who are generous in letting their ‘inside out’ and encouraging me to allow my inner chaos to reign.

An old window prompted thoughts of looking inwards to cherished memories and looking out to the world outside. In this painting I have painted bits of my garden. Each plant has been given to me by a special friend or has been passed on by a relative, either in celebration or remembrance. Many layers of glazes have been used to show the many layers of memories that accompanied me as I painted this work.

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After every storm, a rainbow 2019 | Mixed media on canvas Diptych 130cm x 41cm each

Gulf blues 2018 | Acrylic on stretched canvas | 40cm x 40cm

AMANDA KEOGH

CAROL MCCORMACK

Art for Keogh is a great way to express herself when sometimes words just aren’t enough.

McCormack is a landscape artist who has lived most of her life working and travelling in outback Queensland. More recently her travels have taken her to other parts of remote Australia and her work reflects her observation of the landscapes crossed from the ocean to desert and beyond.

AFTER EVERY STORM A RAINBOW I wanted to express through my art what affects me most in life, using mixed media; an abstract look at a day in the life of me.

Part 1 - If the inside was out of me then you would see the many years of pain and struggle. I have the disease Endometriosis, the cause of infertility and miscarriage.

Part 2 - But after every storm is a rainbow and the birth of my son, my rainbow baby.

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GULF BLUES As a landscape artist my main aim has always been to ‘feel’ a particular landscape and portray its essence. I have tried many ways of doing this, sometimes as experiment, sometimes simply following the dictates of nature. Sometimes I find my paintings become quite abstracted from the actual scene, and I think the reason is exactly the rationale for the ‘Inside Out’ theme of this exhibition: it is the result of my looking ‘inside’ to connect with the essence of my creativity, and bringing ‘out’ what I see and feel on to a canvas.

Broken 2014 | Galvanised and copper wire | 63cm x 93cm x 73cm

CONNAR MCLAREN McLaren is a sculptor, repurposing wire and scrap metal through welding, brazing, crimping, weaving and wrapping techniques. Her creativity stems from personal experiences, often reflecting her rural life. She aims for more than visual engagement, but a connection and sharing of the artist’s and viewer’s inner emotions.

BROKEN Art is a very personal projection of my own feelings. My objective is to engage and connect with the viewer’s own memories and emotions with the artwork. Currently I work with metal sculpture, but all my artworks have started with an emotion and then selection of medium to best convey that emotion. My artwork Broken, created by wrapping and weaving galvanised and copper wire, explores the intensity of body language. The outer form is silent but deafening visual expression of inner guttural raw pain, an inside out portrayal of human grief and great loss.

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SHIRLEY MAKIN Makin grew up with a very talented artist mother and so dabbled mainly in oils and pencil in her younger years at home. She only recently started sketching and painting again when she joined the Miles Art Group and has yet to find her preferred medium.

MY MOTHER

My Mother 2019 | Acrylic & ink on canvas | 32cm x 62cm

When the idea for my painting first came to me, a photo of my mother as a child kept coming to my mind, as the girl in the window. She had had a troubled childhood but, from the darkness within, her inner strength and beauty shone out, through her love of flowers, painting and nature. I feel that I have captured this and the theme ‘Inside Out’ in my artwork.

ANNA MOEBA Anna Moeba is a brush name. It has a funny story attached to it, but that is a story for another time. She has morphed from a ‘cool’ name for a writer or an artist, to someone who helps her to become someone else, forgetting all her problems and helping her to deal with depression.

MY VIEW AND SNEAK PEEK

My view and Sneak peek 2019 | Acrylic on glass Diptych 106.5cm x 46.5cm each

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If you were to peep in through my window you would see bright coloured curtains and a small section of last year’s entry in the Regional Artist’s Exhibition hanging in my art room, which is my sanctuary. When I sit at my table working on a piece and I look out through the window, it offers me a sense of calm from my garden, the trees, the sky and the church grounds. Though I am not a religious person, even the church offers a sense of hope.

Jaded lady 2019 | Sculpture - sandstone and jade chips 30cm x 22cm x 12cm

Whispers from the Milky Way 2019 | Mixed media on canvas 91.5cm x 45.5cm

KIM NGUYEN

EMILEY NIXON

Nguyen is a Vietnamese refugee who is quiet and elusive, as is her choice of art. Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts (Interior Architecture) and a Certificate IV in Horticulture (Landscaping) with a passion for conservation and firefighting. A principal theme in Kim’s work is perception. Her style of work has been described as ‘dark’ and ‘intense’. She is currently working on a calmer approach and looks forward to the direction that will take her. At the end of the day what the viewer knows, feels, hopes and remembers are the stories she wishes to create, somewhere between real and imaginary, through her art.

From the time Nixon was little, she has always liked experimenting with colours. She loves the way they blend with each other and is inspired by how colours change. She enjoys trying new techniques, even if they present a challenge.

WHISPERS FROM THE MILKY WAY I have always been fascinated by the random placement of the stars.

As a child I loved sleeping under the starry night sky. I would listen to the night sky as it told its story from above and wonder what it would be like to look down from the sky above.

JADED LADY In a state of disillusionment and sadness I see through everything and have no illusion about what is true. So many negative things have happened that it becomes difficult to stay positive about what once gave me hope and joy. I’m jaded and alone, but I will be fine.

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KIM OSBURN Osburn has been drawing from nature and life for many years. Predominantly a pencil, charcoal and sketch artist, she has ventured recently into watercolour and watercolour pencil. Commissioned works and ‘pawtraits’ of peoples much loved pets remain a favourite challenge.

BE AFRAID The Black Swan is both graceful and beautiful. From a photograph taken by my sister, my aim with this work was to concentrate on bringing out the alter ego.

Be afraid 2019 | Charcoal & watercolour pencil | 59cm x 44cm

JOSHUA PRENTICE Prentice is a young artist whose eclectic interests have led him to pursue many different art mediums including photography, videography, sketching, painting and digital art in many different styles. He hopes to build a career out of his many artistic pursuits.

LIMITLESS

Limitless 2018 | Pen & ink | 44cm x 54cm 16 | INSIDE OUT

Limitless was created through a series of sessions focused on letting go of any preconceived ideas or plans and just letting my imagination come out from within, and loose on the page. It was the process and the discovery of my own creativity that makes this art special to me. It is my hope that the audience can lose themselves in my artwork, discovering their own infinite creativity and imagination as they explore its intricacies, just as I did.

Inside looking out 2019 | Acrylic on canvas | 60cm x 49cm

Creation 2019 | Acrylic paint, cotton thread, paper on canvas 60cm x 50cm

STEPH PUMPA

KERRYN RABONE

Pumpa is a Dalby artist working in the mediums of oils, watercolour and pen & ink. She is inspired by God’s creativity and design reflected in nature and the human form.

Rabone’s body of artwork reflects several different styles and media as she loves to challenge her capabilities. She mainly enjoys creating visually pleasing and playful artwork, however, from time to time she chooses to create artworks which challenge the viewer to think.

INSIDE LOOKING OUT This is one of my more traditional pieces that expresses the adventurous, curious and wide-eyed approach children have to the world. I believe it is important to not lose this curiosity as we age.

And continue to look outward with childlike enthusiasm.

CREATION I have chosen to explore the theme of ‘Inside Out’ by portraying a pregnant woman with a child ‘inside’ her, which is then brought ‘out’ into the world. The background is a space theme complementing the idea of a woman creating life, just as we are a product of the universe. The baby as an extension of the background plays on the phrase “We are all made of stardust” which is the idea that every element on Earth was formed inside the heart of a star. Love is felt so fiercely within, the heart barely able to contain it from bursting outward. The two hearts contained briefly in one body are bound by a thread representing an eternal bond.

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The different path 2019 | Sculpture - Camphor Laurel 73cm x 27cm x 14.5cm

Push out 2019 | Artist book | 51cm x 75cm x 75cm

CHRISTOPHER RIGG

CATHERINE ROSE

Rigg attended Newcastle Art School in the 1980’s, majoring in sculpture. He now lives and works in Chinchilla where he has created a studio in his backyard. Working in timber and pencil on paper are his two preferred mediums.

Rose enjoys challenges and variety and has worked in various creative media. Nowadays it is more about printmaking and artist books. This year Rose sent printed moths to the International Moth Migration Project for exhibitions in Queensland and Victoria.

Rose has participated in many regional exhibitions at Dogwood Crossing, Miles.

THE DIFFERENT PATH Creating this work involved an introverted look within. Looking at the life choices that have gotten me to where I am today. The good, the bad. The dumb. Decisions that have had major life outcomes.

Life altering at times, pushing me down unforeseen pathways. The different path is my way of representing these choices and the different direction these choices have pushed me in.

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PUSH OUT The challenge of creating a book that addresses the theme ‘Inside out’ drew on the many skills learned during my time as an artist.

My belief is to ‘give it a go’. Using materials, tools and an old book I designed a sculptured arrangement that reflects me as an artist intuitive, precise, motivated, adventurous and able to think laterally.

Invent, plan, lovingly alter, reuse, make - processes that eventually arrive at a visual representation reflecting my inner thoughts being pushed out.

Looking out, the Amphitheatre (detail) 2018 Acrylic on cotton canvas | 150cm x 60cm

IN and OUT 2019 | Words on paper | 30cm x 39cm

AMANDA (MANDY) ROUNSEFELL

MARDI SANDS

Rounsefell travels widely and paints in both acrylic and watercolour.

She is a landscape architect by profession and designed the recently opened Chinchilla Botanic Parklands. Rounsefell enjoys discovering and communicating local stories and the ever-changing elements of light, shade, colour and texture in the world around us - whether it be in a painting or a parkland.

Sands is addicted to words. She uses them to create fiction and nonfiction, with her favourite genre being poetry. Sands especially enjoys sharing her love of words and believes that words have great power.

They can help build, heal, explain, be beautiful - but they can also destroy and disturb.

LOOKING OUT, THE AMPHITHEATRE After accessing it via a very steep ladder and through a dark narrow crack through solid rock, I wanted to convey the delight and wonder of the revelation of this enormous space - the depths of the shadows, the sheer scale and height of the cliffs, the cool damp walls and peacefulness, its own hidden ecosystem; the feeling of being inside this ‘secret’ space, while looking out and observing the bright world beyond.

IN AND OUT IN and OUT is a fun play with words. Words have many levels and meanings, depending on where they are placed. Here the words are having fun. Art reflects life, and laughter is as important as the deep and serious.

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Island holiday 2019 | Glass | 60cm x 49cm

My Dad 2019 | Photograph on canvas | 46cm x 30cm

MEG STEVENSON

CLAUDIA STILLER

Stevenson works in glass after many years of working with clay as her preferred medium. She is inspired by the natural environment and its flora and fauna. Stevenson finds shape, form, colour and texture endlessly fascinating. These provide infinite possibilities as she experiments with using the qualities of glass to communicate her ideas and tell the stories of her encounters. A major focus in her work is harnessing the reflective and refractive qualities of glass to explore the nature of light in the landscape and its effect on the observer.

Stevenson continues to experiment with different techniques and finds the results often unexpected and interesting, leading to new paths to follow, and always very satisfying.

Stiller is nineteen and from rural Queensland. She has dabbled in mixed media, but found a love for photography, especially capturing rural life. She is studying with YWAM Brisbane, travelling Australia and overseas with a heart for helping people. She hopes to return to ‘the bush’ one day as a police officer.

ISLAND HOLIDAY A gentle breeze wafts in through the open window, bringing with it the sounds and scents of the outside world.

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MY DAD This is a photograph of my Dad. His rugged exterior and gravelly voice portray a tough man, a farmer, dealing silently with this awful drought. But if you look carefully, you will see captured here the inside shining out through his kind eyes. This is a man of faith, a man of great compassion, integrity, kindness, generosity and love for his family. This is my Dad, looking at you from ‘inside-out’ and I’m hoping my photo reveals to you, the beauty shining from ‘inside-out’ of this man, my Dad.

Oh happy day 2019 | Mixed media on board | 90cm x 60cm

Australia Du schöne! (detail) 2019 | Photography on canvas 51cm x 100cm

LISA STILLER

KARDIA STOKES

Stiller is a rural artist living near Guluguba, north west of Miles in Queensland. She and her husband run their grain growing property, whilst raising three daughters. She wants her art to be uplifting and encouraging to all who view it, dabbling in mixed media, acrylics and watercolour.

Stokes believes Inside out - looking inside and bringing out, is a reflective exercise, highlighting the artist’s role. She finds herself torn between art and advocacy, and art and critique. Photography, her medium of choice, can’t let go of the referent, but ironically, she seems now conflicted since it looks like the instrument is being taken for a ride.

OH HAPPY DAY

AUSTRALIA DU SCHÖNE!

In a world of chaos, turmoil and political correctness, sometimes we get lost in stress, anxiety and pain, and forget about all that is truly wonderful. We allow the outside world to bombard us, yet we have the power inside us to remain peaceful and joyous. What is on the inside of us truly has an impact on the outside world. This may seem ‘inside-out’, but it is truth. I hope this artwork causes the viewer to stop and refocus, to bring to mind all the wonder, beauty and goodness that is around us and to find peace.

It translates as ‘Australia, you beaut!’ and is a satire on the calamitous state of affairs in the country of my choice, lamenting these troubling times where we seem to be lurching from crisis to crisis. Besides economy, climate, diminishing freedoms, Australia was always still in the making. It is turning into a nightmare - the stars of the Southern Cross mocking the weary traveller, even the horse looks accusingly; it was implicated without knowing it.

The power of numbers pitted against the power of decency and community, Australia, Du schöne! is emblematic of the break-down as it plays out before our eyes.

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Self portrait 2019 | Acrylic on canvas | 100cm x 75cm

Bark patterns (detail) 2019 | Oil on canvas | 50.5cm x 40cm

ALICIA STRETEN

MARY TIERNEY

Streten is a self-taught, 19-year-old artist who grew up in and continues to live in the Western Downs. She has explored various mediums including pastels and digital art but has found her passion in baroque inspired portraiture.

Tierney is a traditional landscape artist, inspired by our local environment; from the Australian bush with its unique flora and fauna, to the changes from season to season on farms and country towns.

She works mainly in oils, watercolours or pen and ink, sometimes enhanced by collage.

SELF PORTRAIT To admit that you are uncertain is brave, and today I will be brave.

In truth, I cannot explain why I painted what I painted. My work is comprised of fragments of my passions, my fears, my hopes, my dreams. They surround me, crowd me. This is how my mind is, filled with too much, too many details, I am still working myself out. I don’t know how I feel yet, but one day I will. One day I will understand. For now, I will accept myself, and hold fast to the light that guides me.

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BARK PATTERNS The tough outer bark of deciduous trees falls away in spring revealing the beauty of the clean, glossy smoothness of the trunk, which then becomes the outer bark itself, and begins to toughen, ready to protect the tree in the coming winter. Aspects of natives like this are my favourite subject.

Zen Swamp Wallaby 2019 | Graphite pencil on watercolour paper 47cm x 41cm

Rustic wool 2006 | Natural & synthetic wools | 90cm x 67cm

LYNELLE URQUHART

DAVID WATKINS AND CAROLINE COSTNER

Urquhart lives on a farm at Moonie, Queensland and contributes photographs and stories to several magazines and newspapers. She has painted, sketched, photographed, sewn, dyed and drawn since she was a child. Urquhart graduated in Early Childhood Teaching, majoring in art and drama, and went on to teach hundreds of children and some adults art skills over the decades. She has also been commissioned to sketch homes and photograph family portraits and events.

Watkins was taught that to be an artist, your art had to be perfect.

He persisted successfully but was not happy! Leaving his trade as a smith he pursued other things and unexpectedly discovered a philosophy that described the way he felt about life and art… WabiSabi … perfection in imperfection… his artistic heart sang!

ZEN SWAMP WALLABY Looking out from my patio at home, people and animals, including Swamp Wallabies, use my garden as a refuge. This one had just finished cleaning out her pouch on a scorcher of a summer day.

Making eye contact with wildlife and observing them helps me to reflect (looking in) about what I value in life. I feel privileged to be able to share moments with them. Looking out helps me look inwards at what I value and enjoy in life.

Costner studied fine art and enjoys pottery. Costner also repurposed things she found or scrounged before it became trendy. She has an incredible skill set, a wonderful artist’s eye, and is not afraid to tackle a project. Costner shares Watkin’s outlook on art and life.

RUSTIC WOOL This piece was a collaboration between myself and Caroline Costner.

While living in a van, in remote Tasmania, I asked Costner if she knitted, and could teach me. A quick trip around op shops yielded wool and needles. After weeks of patient teaching Costner said, “Watkins you are useless”, give me the needles, I will do it!” My job then became sorting, tying and rolling the wool. This piece reflects both Costner and my Wabi-Sabi philosophy. It is made with love, it is repurposed material, it is imperfect, it is literally …inside out!

INSIDE OUT | 23

Acknowledgements Inside Out Hosted by John Mullins Memorial Art Gallery @ Dogwood Crossing, Miles 21 October - 10 December 2019 John Mullins Memorial Art Gallery is proudly sponsored by Murilla Hardware Supplies.

An initiative of the Western Downs Regional Council through Dogwood Crossing, Miles, in partnership with representatives from Lapunyah Art Gallery, Chinchilla and Gallery 107 @ Dalby committees.

This project is kindly supported by: Condabri Beef, REStech SOLUTIONS; Murilla Foodworks; Murray’s Art & Framing; Sandy Pottinger.

Photography and file optimisation by: Photographers of the Great Divide (Spowart + Cooper) Many thanks to the exhibition organising committee, staff, volunteers and artists involved in the delivery of this exhibition.

Copyright is retained by the artists for their artworks and statements and by Robert Natoli for the curatorial essay.

ISBN 978-0-6486854-0-1

PRESENTED BY THE COMMITTEES OF

SPONSORS Proudly supported by The Drury Family proudly support the Western Downs Regional Artists' Exhibition

SANDY POTTINGER

24 | INSIDE OUT

Joshua Prentice Limitless (detail) 2018 | Pen & ink | 44cm x 54cm

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