Regional Rainfall Report ‘The Early Years: A Salute to Charters Towers and District’ Now open in Ingham

DR BIANKA VIDONJA BALANZATEGUI

AN exhibition of the work of Charters Towers artist Jim Arena opened on Friday night, March 10, at the Tyto Regional Art Gallery.

Entitled The Early Years: A Salute to Charters Towers and District, the exhibition features a selection of mining and street scenes of Charters Towers from the 1800s to 1900s. In addition, a selection of scenes along the Burdekin and Herbert River systems are also featured. The mining and street scenes evoke a time past when Charters Towers was a bustling and productive mining town. The paintings are executed with an eye for detail and historical accuracy. The river scenes with water reflections, rock formations and foliage are tranquil and inviting.

The paintings also reflect Jim's history as his great-grandparents were early European pioneers of Charters Towers, who went on to own various businesses and gold mines there. There is also an Ingham connection with Jim's grandfather Alfonzo Arena conducting a hairdressing salon in Ingham.

The exhibited paintings are rendered in oil with painstaking precision and professionalism. It is surprising then to learn