Flying Arts Alliance

Art for Life

The Colour and Response tour and exhibition project made its fourth stop in Regional Queensland with the installation of Colour II: Merv Moriarty, In The Field and From the Verandah at Roma on Bungil Gallery.

Colour and Response consists of two exhibitions at each venue, Colour II and a local exhibition drawing upon Flying Arts legacies. Local galleries were mentored by Flying Arts Exhibition Lead Lisa Beilby.

Reflecting upon Merv Moriarty and the Flying Arts School

Image credit: Heather Chandler-Moore, A Place to Sit and Think, 2019, oil, 60 cm x 66cm

Just like backyard cricket, the ‘Hills Hoist’ clothesline and even the humble lamington – the verandah is an iconic feature of the Australian cultural landscape. It has found a permanent home within the urban and rural landscapes of our ‘sunburnt country’. Providing solstice from the harsh summer sun, the verandah is essentially an alfresco area for families to gather, sit down and watch the kids play in the garden or the world go by.  A veranda provides the perfect stopgap between the backyard and the house, a sheltered area in which you can enjoy nature without succumbing to its whims! It is a long held Australian tradition for the fun to take place on the family veranda.

Roma on Bungil’s local exhibition From the Verandah utilised this iconography to explore the relationship that Flying Arts Founder Mervyn Moriarty had with Roma during his time travelling and teaching for the Flying Arts School. The verandah so quintessentially typifies the Australian Outback where the artists that attended Merv’s workshops lived and worked and were influenced by his tutoring. Anecdotes of Merv enjoying local hospitality on his student’s verandas form strong memories for both the artist and his students.

The Gallery Management Committee, volunteer friends of the Gallery, exhibiting artists and members of the local Roma community celebrated the culmination of many months of planning with the official opening of the exhibitions on Friday 27 September. The evening was officiated with speeches from the Chairperson of the Roma on Bungil Board, Di Griffin, featured artist Mervyn Moriarty and Mayor of Maranoa Tyson Golder. 

Colour Theory Masterclass

Roma artists at the Masterclass on Advanced Colour Theory with Flying Arts Alliance Founder Mervyn Moriarty. Image credit: Lisa Beilby
Image credit: Lisa Beilby

The official opening weekend was concluded with an advanced Colour Theory masterclass facilitated by Mervyn Moriarty on 28 September, instilling local artists with knowledge of hues, shades, colour matching and composition for which Merv is well-known.

Participants learnt how to utilise the colour wheel as a method of selecting and mixing pigments and tried their hand at composing their own colour combinations by drawing from local flora. 

This has been an incredible opportunity to learn from an artist of amazing integrity, skill, talent, experience… [next time] it would be great to go longer if possible; six hours is just a workshop taster! – Participant, Mervyn Moriarty Masterclass Roma

 

Colour and Response will be on display at Roma on Bungil until Saturday 9 November. Entry is free.
Opening hours: Monday – Friday 9 am – 5 pm, Saturday 9 am – 12 pm

Colour and Response will be on display next at Gladstone Regional Art Gallery from 13 December 2019 to 1 March, 2020. 

The Colour and Response Project has received financial assistance from the Queensland Government through the Arts Queensland Playing Queensland Fund.