august, 2021
Event Details
Place your vote to help your favourite Queensland Regional Art Awards 2021 entry win a People’s Choice Award. Selected artists will also be in the running to win judges’ prizes.
Voting Process
You may vote once for an Adult Category artwork, and once for a Youth Category artwork.
- Click on the individual images below to view an artwork, read the artist statement, and reveal their voting link.
- To vote you must fill out the form and provide your real name and email address for confirmation.
- A confirmation email will be sent to your nominated email address to confirm your vote. You will need to click ‘confirm vote’ to validate and confirm your submission. If you do not confirm your vote through this email your vote will not be valid.
Adult Category
In the garden, Vote Now
Artist: Caralyn Wiles
Artist Location: Welcome Creek
Medium: Alcohol Ink on Yupo paper, 2021
Dimensions: 29.5 x 0.10000000000000001 x 25 cm
Artist Statement:
This piece reminds us that it is not only people who celebrate with a splash of colour but also the plant life in our gardens, parks and nature reserves. These areas provide colour to our towns in their own form of painting.
Photographer: Caralyn Wiles
I Bring You Gifts,
Artist: Maharlina Gorospe-Lockie
Artist Location: Palm Cove
Medium: Acrylic and oil pastel on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 88.5 x 3.5 x 48.600000000000001 cm
Artist Statement:
Maharlina Gorospe-Lockie’s work expresses the beauty of landscape while exploring tensions between stasis and change, nostalgia and threat, celebration and despoilment. “I Bring You Gifts” invites the viewer to immerse themselves in water, forest and sky, to find their own sense of scale, time, and joy.
Photographer: Daniela Vavrova
Shoe Show, Vote Now
Artist: Therese Foley
Artist Location: Frenchville
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 30.5 x 3.5 x 40.5 cm
Artist Statement:
Paint the town says celebration to me so if it’s time to celebrate, for me that means grab a great pair of shoes and matching outfit and ready myself for a fantastic time out! These heels and being dressed up says nothing but party! Spending most of my life in the small town of Blackwater, that could mean a day followed by night at the races, a night out with my besties or a special night out with my man. I love shoes and browsing the shop windows at Camden in London inspired me to create my own shop window of interesting shoes!
Photographer: Therese Foley
Ignite
Artist: Michelle Kurth
Artist Location: Cooran
Medium: Plastic Food Packaging, Metal Fan Case, Cotton Warp, 2021
Dimensions: 54 x 13 x 52 cm
Artist Statement:
My memories of fun and celebration always have a brightness about them. Thoughts
re-ignited and brought back to life with feelings of joy, the images bold and full of colour.
Growing up in an English seaside resort, a special outing was often focused around the fairground. The amusement arcade with it’s coloured lights and brash signs.
The carnival that preceded it with it’s balloons, streamers and everything that sparkled.
With these events there were always treats. Food or novelties that came in bright plastic wrappers. Overwhelmed by the choice as a child, yet wanting to have it all.
In adult years the contents of the event changed. Bright colours came from lights in a nightclub, or behind the band. Later still; the observation that celebration and fun doesn’t always need to be an external source, and learning how to create that sweet sparkle within.
Photographer: Michelle Kurth
Painting Aaron
Artist: Catherine Boreham
Artist Location: Yeppoon
Medium: Acrylic and Oils, 2020
Dimensions: 120 x 5 x 77 cm
Artist Statement:
Whilst getting to know Aaron in the last few years I reaslised he gives everything 100% effort. Much later I discovered that his skill set includes actor, writer, director and he has performed in numerous Australian and American stage and screen productions. Aaron is a graduate of QUT’s Acting Strand and some of his roles were in sea Patrol, Harrow and Hobson’s Choice just to name a few.
He wrote, produced, directed and starred in an Australian film Talking Back at Thunder. His outstanding achievements go further than I have space to mention here.
In this portrait there are no balloons, no confetti, no festivities. There is however, a lot of quiet gratitude, reflection and sentiment.
For me painitng a portrait is a joyous activity and a special opportunity that has the potential of bringing a whole community together to celebrate alongside me. It may be an achivement, or a person’s admirable character, a life that was well lived, or a life full of generosity, but also the forgotten, or the poorly esteemed.
In an age that vaidates fame, fortune and followers, what a blessing it is to bring people together, to “paint the town with the colours of an “ordinary, or an “extrordinary” person’s life. Not always necessarily for what they have done, but for who they are.
Photographer: Catherine Boreham
Wallum 3
Artist: Joolie Gibbs
Artist Location: Gympie
Medium: Local botanical inks on Arches paper, 2021
Dimensions: 76 x 0 x 56.5 cm
Artist Statement:
A sign of the times, or a sign of my age, means I have revisited what I would term ‘painting the town red’. These days I celebrate more and more my local/regional environment, which gives me bigger thrills than a night on the town.
I can thoroughly feel fulfilled with a day walking, listening and observing nature, in particular the Wallum heathlands. Sighting the new wildflowers each season gives much joy, and the fact that brave women before me, advocated to save the Cooloola National Park from destruction from mining and logging in the 1960’s gives me cause for celebration.
In respecting this fragile but impermanent environment, constantly in a state of transience, I choose to only use botanical inks I have made from my property. Luscious, sepia red colours from Gympie Messmate, Iron Bark, Eucalyptus, Bunya and golden yellow from the Red Kamala, compound my love of my environment.
Photographer: Joolie Gibbs
Flicker Sparkle Shimmer Glint, Vote Now
Artist: Sharon McKenzie
Artist Location: One Mile
Medium: Beading and mixed media on linen, 2021
Dimensions: 27 x 3 x 27 cm
Artist Statement:
Celebrations are precious and can happen anytime of the day or night but I always associate them with the sensory experience of light. We effectively “paint the town” with light: the flash of a phone camera, the sparkle of sequinned, beaded dresses, bags and jewellery, the flickering of candle light, small fairy lights twinkling on at tree, colored light bulbs and bright diamond like lights. The clusters of colorfully dressed people that breaks up and reforms during the festivities moving and reflecting light like water.
Photographer: Sharon McKenzie
My Town, Vote Now
Artist: Carmen Beezley-Drake
Artist Location: Rockhampton
Medium: acrylic, collage on paper, 2021
Dimensions: 90 x 12 x 66 cm
Artist Statement:
Community has never been more important than ever the last 18 months of this Covid 19 pandemic. It has not deterred our communities and towns from trying to continue with the daily activities and celebrate by coming together for local events. Beef 21, Super Nats, Barra Fishing Competition, and Open Gardens are just some of the events that Rockhampton has enthusiastically embraced during this difficult period.
Addressing the theme of Painting the Town, I have taken these events as my subject and placed them into a created ‘Town’, trying to create the colourfulness of regional towns where these occasions effect and invigorate the whole region.
Working with collage and acrylic on paper, I have incorporated special events into the fabric of everyday community life, there by creating a town where my works echo how these events bring our communities together.
Photographer: Carmen Beezley-Drake
Festival Of Colours, Vote Now
Artist: Elise Higginson
Artist Location: Ayr
Medium: Acrylic Paints With gold cardboard on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 0 x 0 x 0 cm
Artist Statement:
Colour The Town means As The Artist means festival of colours, fireworks explosions of colour & joyful moments of reflection and making memories, traditions, creativity, ceremonies, feasts, rituals, expressed through dancing & signing around a full moon drumming circle with family, friends, the whole community occasionally festival. Celebrating milestones of community spirit, pride Representing your Town, State or Country of Origin. Reflection and remembering where you come from and what you went through to get to what you have achieved in life. My Artwork is called Festival of Joyful Colour. The paintings has Gold throughout and represents celebration, uniting as one nation. Celebration, spirit of the universe soul, mind & body. And loving each other in harmony. Respecting the land and elders past and present among us. Standing tall and proud to be a Queensland.
Photographer: Quinten Swaffield
Ephemeral Lagoon, Branch Creek, Chinchilla
Artist: HELEN DENNIS
Artist Location: CHINCHILLA
Medium: Acrylic on canvas, 2020
Dimensions: 61 x 3 x 91 cm
Artist Statement:
Celebrations for those who choose the rural pathway are centred around the whimsy of Mother Nature. One season may be abundant, the next woefully lacking. When she chooses to be indulgent her generosity is shown in the abundant blooming of the land. When she chooses to be frugal, there are cataclysmic consequences for all.
The ephemeral lagoons which fill from our property’s creek are witness to celebrations of life enduring. Indigenous ‘Trade Tracks’ followed the watercourses and lagoons, providing substance, trade goods, tools and shelter. Early European settlers used the waters for irrigation and livestock. Today the ephemeral lagoon is a refugee for weary feathered travellers; animals foraging for succulent grasses and mussels; insects and frogs which add to the night-time chorus. It is our place of quiet contemplation and celebration, our grandchildren’s playground and gateway to the Natural world, and finally, our refuge from an ever increasingly confusing world.
Photographer: HELEN DENNIS
Bunya, Vote Now
Artist: Naomi Hatt
Artist Location: PALMTREE
Medium: Graphite on cotton paper, 2020
Dimensions: 76 x 0.29999999999999999 x 56 cm
Artist Statement:
Summer is Bunya season. The nuts are eaten with family and friends, their starchy texture when fully ripe tastes very much like chestnuts. There is a wildlife carer who lives nearby. Bunya Pines grow on her property and when the cones fall, she collects them and places them in a wheelbarrow beside her front gate. Passers-by pay $5 for a cone, and she uses the money to fund her work saving sick and injured koalas.
Inspired by the open eucalypt woodland surrounding her studio, Naomi Hatt depicts native plant species through drawing works. Her subjects are carefully selected by way of personal encounters. The works are reminiscent of scientific studies and reflect the artists interest in natural history.
Naomi uses drawing to learn about and celebrate the place where she lives. Learning about the physical properties of her subjects, and their historical and cultural significance locally and across Queensland.
Photographer: Martin Barry
Reflecting on Family, Vote Now
Artist: Colleen Helmore
Artist Location: Burnett Heads
Medium: Watercolour, 2021
Dimensions: 54 x 0 x 34 cm
Artist Statement:
Covid has interrupted many family gatherings and when your only granddaughter who lives in Perth comes to visit for the first time in nearly two years the joy is indescribable. My ‘Paint the Town’ moment comes with a quiet reflection on the joy of having nurtured a family who want to visit us and share the joy of their family. Every single moment with them is a celebration and when they leave and go back to their own lives, I can quietly glance at this painting and smile at the memories.
Photographer: Colleen Helmore
Scared, Vote Now
Artist: Donna Glass
Artist Location: Bunya Mountains
Medium: Digital Print In Frame, 2020
Dimensions: 100 x 25 x 100 cm
Artist Statement:
Scared Of What You Don’t Show Me.
Our Universe is Made Up Of 25 percent Dark Matter 70 percent Dark Energy And The Rest Is Normal Matter And A small
Percentage If this is Us.
We Are So Small Yet So Important To The Stream Of Things.
Photographer: Donna Glass
Reflections of Anticipation, Vote Now
Artist: Stacey Bennett
Artist Location: Jimboomba
Medium: Pastels, 2021
Dimensions: 60 x 0.01 x 89 cm
Artist Statement:
When I think about celebration it encompasses a night out on the town. The suspense of the lead-up as excitement fills the air. Envisaging what awaits. Getting dolled up and feeling on top of the world.
“Paint the Town” was taken symbolically and literally. The focal point of this piece showcases a gigantic woman towering upon her city. The city is represented in grey tones to highlight how they are typically seen as concrete jungles, yet she is vivid and bold in colour. Speckles of this colour represent how the city is reflective of self and she is reflected in the city. In her anticipation, she is literally on top of her world, applying her war paint of the night while painting the town.
She has the light in her eye and the street at her feet. She looks to the now and the wonder of what comes next.
Photographer: Stacey Bennett
Celebrating at Sunset, Vote Now
Artist: Debbie Chilton
Artist Location: North Ipswich
Medium: 3D Artbook / Watercolour, 2021
Dimensions: 10 x 1 x 64 cm
Artist Statement:
My idea of celebrating is to indulge in natural beauty. And what is more beautiful than the picture the sunset paints across the sky? The scenic rim is just a short drive from my hometown of Ipswich. Hot air balloon flights over the scenic rim may be booked to celebrate special events such as engagements, wedding, anniversaries, and birthdays. My artwork Celebrating at Sunset takes audiences on this magical journey.
Photographer: Debbie Chilton
Jaded Landscape 2, Vote Now
Artist: Robert Natoli
Artist Location: Kureelpa
Medium: Oil on Board, 2020
Dimensions: 35 x 10 x 118 cm
Artist Statement:
Places, as much as people; reflect the activity, care and interactions in which they exist. Everything is interconnected and reliant on the other for survival.
Our landscapes often bear the brunt of human activity. It’s our choice if that activity harms or enhances the sacred grounds on which we walk.
Photographer: Robert Natoli
Only Pink in Here! (2021), Vote Now
Artist: Lee Fullarton and Sue Hammond
Artist Location: Ipswich
Medium: Photographic Print, 2021
Dimensions: 29 x 5 x 30 cm
Artist Statement:
Through their collaboration FullARTon and Hammond intentionally wander into the narratives of the creative, mythical and adventurous woman. Together they create the work as an installation searching iconic Queensland environments and moments, detailing costumes and evoking the mood of the space. In Only Pink in Here! FullARTon and Hammond capture the preparation for Painting the Town Pink! Beauty is always at the forefront of their making; they explore and play – and Hammond captures ‘that’ moment through the eye of the lens.
Photographer: Lee Fullarton
Poona Lake Ghosts
Artist: Nicole Harper
Artist Location: Gympie
Medium: Oil on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 91 x 4 x 120 cm
Artist Statement:
Poona Lake is unique perched lake in Butchulla country near Rainbow Beach. Sketching in situ, absorbing the landscape and connecting to the place, as a plein air artist, this gathering of information and feeling is the basis for undertaking this larger work in oil paint in the studio. The ghosts, or remanets, of much and many are present in this work. I acknowledge the Traditional Owners, the Butchulla, their elders past, present and future and the value this place holds for them, gathering. I remember a group of women seeking connection, with place and each other, evoking a spirit of festivity. I reflect on times I have sought solace here, found gratitude, and depart with a feeling of celebration that nature provides in being part of it, even if just for a short time. I dwell upon the future, and the achievements that will be celebrated by the next generations.
Photographer: Nicole Harper
Recognition, Vote Now
Artist: Ann White
Artist Location: Pomona
Medium: Acrylic and collage on board, 2021
Dimensions: 45.5 x 2 x 61 cm
Artist Statement:
Many regional towns are competing to be on the map, drawing attention to an identity enhanced through public art. Murals and street art flourish to celebrate events, mark occasions, unite residents with local themes and attract appreciative visitors. This sanctioned art has been agreed by those who commission and those who make it, arguably a celebration in itself that they collaborate on an image to grace a location. Then there are others who paint public statements – bold, shadowy creatives or malcontents with textas and spraycans, demanding to be noticed, expressing their ‘voice’ in a world where being ‘heard’ can be difficult. Across this visual spectrum, all are seeking recognition. Throughout the sanctioned and guerrilla mark-making, marvellous art can be found amongst the less-than and the dross. Categorising which is which is contentious. I wish to credit the guerrilla mark-makers of Nambour and other towns for those elements referenced in ‘Recognition’.
Photographer: Ann White
Sedimentary, Vote Now
View Digital Artwork Artist: Jason Nelson
Artist Location: Witheren
Medium: Interactive Digital Artwork, 2021
Dimensions: 80 x 10 x 120 cm
Artist Statement:
After bushfires swept through the Illinbah Valley, new layers of geology and geometry were revealed. Layers of blue-tinted rock, red volcanic soil, burned grass trees, green shooting eucalyptus, yellowed grass lining the mountain slopes. The Coomera river snaking across the landscape. And while the fires themselves were devastating to many, including those closest to us, there is a beauty in the regeneration of nature, a celebration of creatures and wildlife returning, layering the valley with newly born narratives. Sedimentary is an interactive digital artwork replicating our region’s post-bushfire landscapes. This artwork uses generative coding, and forever changing sediments of color and geometry, surfaces and lines to create a journey through our valley. To us, the notion of a “town” isn’t built from streets and houses. Instead our town is born from the soil and geology, the trees and grasses and rivers. It’s a many layered place, painted by erosion and sediment, fire and growth. The artwork is here: http://dpoetry.com/sedimentary/ Use your mouse to move and adjust and rethink the generative valley.
Photographer: Jason Nelson
I Left My Heart On The Island, Vote Now
Artist: Jay Feather
Artist Location: Qunaba
Medium: Oil and acrylic on cotton linen blend canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 90 x 3 x 70 cm
Artist Statement:
This piece is very special to me, it was created when I was pregnant with my second child. I find it joyful and it reminds me of my son. After having a failed pregnancy, I was able to reflect on the negative space I had come from and into a happy positive space being pregnant. My marks are strong and confident in this piece through the use of thick oil paint and use of a pallet knife. Forever now I will be reminded of the happy island of hope that emerge from the tumultuous sea of despair, of which, I know I will never return.
Photographer: Jay Feather
Waiting for go, Vote Now
Artist: Alison McDonald
Artist Location: Jensen
Medium: Reused anodised aluminium etched, copper, sterling silver, titanium, stainless steel, brass & wood – kinetic sculpture., 2020
Dimensions: 20 x 46 x 47 cm
Artist Statement:
Waking me at night was a list of COVID-19 related words, I wrote them down. I was not sure why, but I wanted to utilise them for an artwork about this current time. Perhaps I was trying to find order amongst the disorder in our current lives. We were waiting for the lockdown to finish, then the distance allowed to travel to be extended and my husband’s cancer treatment to finish. It seemed like forever. All we wanted, was to escape and go camping and celebrate simply amongst the outback bush and birds, where there was no COVID and no clinical hospital reminders.During my ‘lockdown’ clean-up of the studio, I rediscovered some green anodised aluminium that I purchased years ago from my metal recycler as ‘builders’ leftovers’. I combined this with jewellery materials; silver and titanium to reveal our story as we waited for that green light to go.
Photographer: Alison McDonald
Bushwalk
Artist: Jasna Spiranovic
Artist Location: Hollywell
Medium: Oil on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 93 x 4 x 77 cm
Artist Statement:
I celebrate the little things in life by going for walks in nature.
This painting depicts a walk I did one morning where I felt I was walking in clouds one moment and then the forest the next moments. These Spaces of nature not only calm my mind but make me feel appreciate nature .
Photographer: Jasna Spiranovic
Summer Clover
Artist: CAITLIN BRODERICK
Artist Location: Ironpot
Medium: Acrylic on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 61 x 3.5 x 61 cm
Artist Statement:
Where I live, there are many black cockatoos that fly around. They are a beautiful, graceful bird, with a distinct call that can be heard echoing in the coastal breeze. They glide effortlessly in the salty ocean air, calling to each other. They bring an energy that tends to be celebratory, as if they are celebrating their home and their free spirit. I think they perfectly represent our coastal home and the happiness and contentment felt near the beach. I brought in vibrant pops of pinks and blues to bring forth their wild and celebratory energy. Her name reflects her energy and the empowerment she brings. Summer Clover.
Photographer: CAITLIN BRODERICK
Subtle Celebrations, Vote Now
Artist: Edwin Hamill
Artist Location: Buderim
Medium: oil and acrylic on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 80 x 3 x 100 cm
Artist Statement:
We all celebrate in different ways, be it a wild jubilation or a reserved get together the beauty of the human condition is that we are all individuals. However, the common factor in a lot of these forms of celebration is that we choose to do them with the ones we love or appreciate. In my work “Subtle Celebrations” I’ve chosen to share with you my preferred form of celebration, a relaxed gathering of those who are close to me in a camping setting. Being able to appreciate my loved ones in a group with no one around for miles with no distractions allows me to take into perspective how lucky I am to have these people in my life, and for that I am grateful so lets party!
Photographer: Edwin Hamill
A Gentle Sway
Artist: Nicole Jakins
Artist Location: Glenwood
Medium: Stoneware clay, brass, eucalypt pigment, 2021
Dimensions: 50 x 21 x 93 cm
Artist Statement:
The winter light filters through the wattle as they sway gently in the breeze. Cradled in between soft mountain peaks, their blooms slowly turn into a burnt golden hue as the sun lowers in the sky. I breath in the rich, heady scents of the bush, listening to the slow-flowing trickle of tannin stained water as it meanders around me.
This is how I celebrate life – by switching off and quietly reflecting on the incredible diversity of the surrounding environment, and observing the flow of things. A simple, solitary act that fills my cup so profoundly that I am completely restored, feeling blessed that I have been able to share this celebratory moment with nature itself.
Photographer: Nicole Jakins
Music to the ears, Vote Now
Artist: Katherine Civil
Artist Location: Toowoomba
Medium: watercolour on paper, 2021
Dimensions: 42 x 0.10000000000000001 x 30 cm
Artist Statement:
With music in the background, the subtle tones in this painting, bely the celebration happening
without. In the night air, the notes float and and dance to the rhythm of the occasion. It is a joyous
sound that brings delight to all who hear and celebrate. The character is the pied piper and he
belts out a merry tune. Come dance and sing with me, the colours echo
Photographer: Katherine Civil
Dark Skies
Artist: Donna Glass
Artist Location: Bunya Mountains
Medium: Digital Print In Frame, 2020
Dimensions: 100 x 15 x 75 cm
Artist Statement:
Living In The Beautiful Dark Skies Of The Bunya Mountains Is An Absolute Privilege
Home Of The Wakka Wakka people With Huge Towering Ancient Bunya Trees
With Owls Hooting And Dingoes Howling Makes Foer A surreal Setting For Night Shots.
Photographer: Donna Glass
To the Citizens of Paradise
View Digital Artwork Artist: Bianca Tainsh
Artist Location: WEYBA DOWNS
Medium: Digital print on Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, graphite, frame made from sustainable timber, wood chips from land cleared for a shopping mall expansion, online video 1:46min., 2021
Dimensions: 65 x 3.5 x 58 cm
Artist Statement:
With a practice grounded in social change, open-disciplinary artist Bianca Tainsh generates spaces for reflection on social dilemma, with suggestive cues to self-evolve. Her work To the Citizens of Paradise was conceptualised as a response to the exodus of urban inhabitants to idyllic rural locations, in the wake of COVID-19. As towns swell, commercial development is accelerated. And this multidimensional work is an entreaty to these new neighbours to discard urban penchants for convenient consumerism and celebrate a life elevated by locality – our beautiful biosphere and village culture. As a development of her own recent return to ‘paradise’ Tainsh’s more current works seek to reframe the magnificence of the wilderness. At the same time, she avoids romantic and empirical approaches, and comes from a place where primal connections become fundamental for the individual to identify with our true nature, as part of the whole.
Photographer: Bianca Tainsh
Jimmy and Denis – its in his jeans
Artist: Melaine Doheny
Artist Location: Blackbutt North
Medium: Photographic work, 2021
Dimensions: 45 x 3 x 30 cm
Artist Statement:
Isolation, long work days, climate change and globalization are just some of the many pressures that make farming a vulnerable occupation in addition to stock gates.
There is a bond that is made through the love of horses that can be a way of connecting members of community who otherwise would not meet through social events, meetings or networking programs.
From as far back as the human memory reaches, people and horses have always had a special relationship. People form an inexplicable bond with their horses, built on trust, loyalty and love.
Dennis is a paint horse. Jimmy is the custodian of Dennis – or is it the other way around.
Photographer: Melaine Doheny
Out and about, Vote Now
Artist: Jennifer Wright (Summers)
Artist Location: Toowoomba
Medium: Woven Chir pine needles, cotton threads, metal ear ring, 2021
Dimensions: 20 x 17 x 17 cm
Artist Statement:
This work reflects the joy of going out on the town to connect with friends or celebrate at a festival. During the past year going out to ‘paint the town’ has become even more precious.
The base of the piece is an urn in which treasures could be placed.
The pine needles are from a heritage Chir pine planted in 1850 at the opening of the first Royal Toowoomba show. The tree stands at the entrance of much beloved Cobb & Co Museum 171 years later.
The cap of this piece is reminiscent of going on the Merry-go-round at a Show in childhood and with friends, children and grandchildren.
The coloured cotton threads were selected by a process similar to dressing up – and thinking a colour theme for an outfit or selecting ear rings that suits a mood.
Photographer: Jennifer Wright (Summers)
Millennium Esplanade, Vote Now
Artist: Wendy Bache
Artist Location: Tannum Sands
Medium: Oil on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 90 x 3.5 x 120 cm
Artist Statement:
The beach here in Tannum Sands is just the most gorgeous place. I love to hang out around here. The gardens are lush and tropical, there are so many places for picnics and bbq’s. How lucky we are, to have this in our back yard. I think the Highlight of Tannum Sands is definitely this place, if you haven’t been here, then you haven’t been to Tannum.
Photographer: Wendy Bache
TOWN AND COUNTRY
Artist: Brian Hatch
Artist Location: Cleveland
Medium: OIL on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 76 x 4 x 100 cm
Artist Statement:
The theme ‘Paint the Town’ leaves an artist with many options. My interpretation is to do just that, namely paint a town as perched on a hill in the countryside using a contemporary approach. The blocks of colour represent shops and buildings stretched along a ridge with fields suggested by the larger yellow shapes below. The theme suggests painting the town red but instead I painted what can be interpreted as sky in orange/red to indicate the heat of an Australian summer.
The painting had three stages. Firstly blocking in the shapes of the town, then altering the colours to free up the image. The last stage was to modify the colours by scumbling lighter tones over the previous colours to unify the whole painting. The under painting was blocked in using acrylics and then overpainting with oils to secure a more intense paint effect.
This then is my version of “Paint the Town”.
Photographer: Brian Hatch
Number Cakes, Vote Now
Artist: Emma Thorp
Artist Location: Dundowran Beach
Medium: Coloured Pencil over Acrylic on Paper, 2021
Dimensions: 69 x 0.29999999999999999 x 47 cm
Artist Statement:
I love to make cards and cakes for my children on their birthdays. Nothing too tricky, I am no great baker. The kids tell me what colour and flavour they would like and are often involved in the decoration. This image shows an assortment of the cakes I have made for my children over the years. Because my son was born very prematurely, I made him a zero cake on the day he should have been born and went on from there. Some were for my son, some were for my daughter. The last ones were almost identical once they realised that chocolate cake is the best type of cake. They don’t much care for the number cakes anymore, but I miss them. It is so much easier to identify how old they were in old birthday photos!
Photographer: Emma Thorp
Come Share my Moon with Me, Vote Now
Artist: Lindsay-Jane Conroy
Artist Location: Maroochydore
Medium: Acrylic and pen, 2020
Dimensions: 46 x 2.5 x 61 cm
Artist Statement:
Statement by Lindsay-Jane Conroy
Title: Come Share my Moon with Me
“Come Share my Moon with Me” is a fun quirky look at the little bird called the “Egret” which are often seen following cattle around the paddocks. The work is full of playful things such as houses nestled in a large tree and a magical moon peeking through in which the Egret ask his loved ones to come share his moon. It is just a imaginary take the essence of painting the town can be the Joy of simple things that can give an explosion of happiness when sharing something special with others.
My inspiration of art comes from both farm and family coastal lifestyle which have given me a broad gathering of inspiration. With the last drought of 7 years on our farm followed by the hit, to the family Sunshine coast business, like so many with the arrival of Covid19. It has been important to keep a light hearted attitude to my work. As such I have taken a non-tradition approach to my work being drawn to fantasy with a touch of quirk hoping to leave the viewer with a light-hearted feeling.
Photographer: Lindsay-Jane Conroy
From the Bird Hide, Maroom, Vote Now
Artist: Zela Bissett
Artist Location: Gympie
Medium: watercolour on Arches paper, 2021
Dimensions: 48 x 1 x 53 cm
Artist Statement:
From the bird hide at Maroom, on the mainland coast of the Sandy Strait, it is possible to see large flocks of spoonbills feeding on the mudflats and it is a remarkable spectacle when they take to the sky in large flocks. This work paints the town of the Spoonbills, where they live in splendid isolation except for the little red flying foxes, with whom they share roost trees along the salty shore. This work uses wet on wet watercolour and a restrained palette as a suitable medium to paint to the subtle beauty of the biotic communities of the coastal plain. Zela Bissett was born and lived her early years on Butchulla Country along the Sandy Strait. She is endlessly fascinated by its biodiversity and seasonal visual effects. She has been drawing and painting the wildlife of the area since her early teens.
Photographer: Zela Bissett
21st Century Aphrodite, Vote Now
Artist: Ange Venardos
Artist Location: Woorim
Medium: Watercolour, 2021
Dimensions: 80 x 5 x 80 cm
Artist Statement:
21st Century Aphrodite is a simple elegant response to celebrating everything it takes to being a female in today’s world. It evokes a spirit of sensuality, (tulips are said to refer to the perfect lover), fertility, and grace (signified by the magnolia) with a focus on quiet moments of reflection and gratitude, ceremony, tradition and ritual through the choice of Eastern composition and colour.
This is a work rich in metaphor and symbolism. The female form, at one with the landscape, rises from adversity and pain depicted by the thorns embedded in her lower limbs. The Carline Thistle (an ancient remedy for pestilence and plague) to the bottom left, references hope for a natural Covid cure. The traditional shell of Venus has diminished. Today’s female has outgrown the embellishments of history’s expectations. She looks down serenely upon the lily which was once used to enhance natural beauty but often killed more women in the process of pleasing and attracting a mate. This lily recognises the woman’s responsibility to ‘keep it hot’ deferring to the importance of inner beauty and natural glow.
Aphrodite – goddess of love – celebrates the awakening feminine in all mankind.
Photographer: Ange Venardos
Mardi Gras, Vote Now
Artist: Richard Ranson
Artist Location: Charleville
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 76 x 4 x 76 cm
Artist Statement:
Mardi Gras. In your face, loud, confronting, and oh so good. It is the perfect vehicle for painting the town red!
For me, whether it’s Sydney or Rio de Janeiro, the essence is the same. A relentless underlying beat that carries performers high on a wave of emotion and excitement.
I am drawn to the way a Mardi Gras is not about one person. It’s a living writhing thing, moving through the crowds like a serpent or a Chinese dragon. I have tried to reflect this with performers painted in the minimalist style.
Photographer: Richard Ranson
Celebrating the Colours of Coolum,
Artist: Libby Derham
Artist Location: Peregian Springs
Medium: Watercolour on paint chips, 2021
Dimensions: 40 x 0 x 38 cm
Artist Statement:
I have the best job in the world, celebrating my surrounds every day as a landscape painter and my local town doesn’t disappoint. Its colours are majestic, Stumers Creek golden orange, Tickle Park green and famous golden sands of Coolum Beach. Aqua colours emerge beyond rocky outcrops below Point Perry and boardwalk views take in salt and sand. It is the natural beauty that Coolum is renowned for and many flock from near and far to appreciate these great delights. Mt Coolum even puts on its own water show in monsoonal rain! Come together where the community and tourists meet, at the local surf club, where red represents courage and dedication and raise a cold one for Coolum, a celebration of the unspoilt beauty.
Photographer: Libby Derham
High Tea, Vote Now
Artist: Wayne Boyle
Artist Location: Silkstone
Medium: Acrylic on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 61 x 4 x 61 cm
Artist Statement:
High Tea, a time to unwind, laugh, eat cake, drink tea with friends and family, forget about our troubles. We have suffered through the isolation, paper cups and takeaway. At the end of Covid lockdown Queenslanders have emerged better off than most, now we can enjoy a new normal with the freedom we have missed so much.
With bold brushstrokes I strive to capture the opulence, social engagement, the eccentric and the ordinary, flamboyant relationships, joyous occasions, outpouring of emotions, lively conversation, laughter, and tears.
Our support networks have never been more valuable, we have probably come to take for granted the simple pleasures such as getting out and sharing cake and a cuppa, enjoying each other’s company and conversation, meeting face to face, listening to the highs and lows, laughing till we cry.
Time to get out of the house, what better way to celebrate than with high tea.
Photographer: Wayne Boyle
You Beauty!
Artist: Gail Meyer
Artist Location: FRENCHVILLE
Medium: Acrylic on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 40 x 1 x 40 cm
Artist Statement:
You Beauty !
Hoo roo to the big dry. Send her down Hughie! Farmers, graziers, gemstone fossickers and country folk alike toss away their laid back manner and feel uplifted and celebrate the arrival of the rain with a huge shindig or maybe a private celebration.
Rock up, raise a glass, have a cold one.
Here is the rain, the refreshment to the land; seeds sprouting, crops growing, wild flowers exploding, and gem stones gleaming on the wet ground. The big wet.
Party time, true gold, good times – time to paint the town!
Woop it up, acknowlegde and honour the good times.
Photographer: Gail Meyer
‘By the Shoreline We Gather’, Vote Now
Artist: Jacqueline Sanderson
Artist Location: Sunshin Coast
Medium: Buff raku clays, mid-fire glazes, gold porcelain paint, 2021
Dimensions: 44 x 18 x 41 cm
Artist Statement:
By the Shoreline We Gather’ originate from the vessel shapes which are the foundation of my pottery practice. Vessels embody the cultural union of my Sri Lankan-Australian heritage where sharing food is central to any gathering. The vessels vary in shape, size and purpose, and their glazed colours pay homage to the Gubbi Gubbi land and sea where I have lived for over 10 years. Transforming the vessels into the shell-shape was a beautiful, organic process that extended my practice by combining my love of food and food sharing with symbols of the sea. This artwork acknowledges the significance of cultural sharing through celebration, food, and meaningful relationships.
And so, as the ritual moon rises, by the shoreline we gather to celebrate the natural world, friendship, and diversity through food, music, and stories and to honour the shells and other gifts bestowed by the sea.
Photographer: Christine Hall
Drought Rain
Artist: Jasna Spiranovic
Artist Location: Hollywell
Medium: Watercolour on paper, 2021
Dimensions: 30 x 2 x 42 cm
Artist Statement:
In summer 2021 I was bushwalking in the Giirraween National Park where the local town was buying in tank water because of the extended drought. One day it rained and I couldn’t believe my eyes . The colours changed immediately .
I celebrated the breaking of the drought by drawing and painting in the rain.
Photographer: Jasna Spiranovic
PAINT IT YOURS, Vote Now
Artist: Jodi Bowen
Artist Location: Ipswich
Medium: FREE-STANDING CERAMIC- hand built and painted with 18 carat gold detail. Works are finished with either a gloss or matte finish, 2021
Dimensions: 40 x 20 x 20 cm
Artist Statement:
Everyone likes to celebrate differently. Whether it’s partying, picnicking or a pot of tea- celebration is a personal experience. PAINT IT YOURS invites the viewer to make their own experience. You mix and match from the following ‘pots of colour’ to design your own celebration.
‘Paint it red colour pot’ : champagne, a new party dress, heels, handbag, some long lashes, sparkly jewellery and a red lippy (followed by a taxi home and a few Panadol before bed)
‘Paint it yellow colour pot’ : a day at the beach, a picnic, a sun-bath, a ball game and a spot of surfing
‘Paint it blue colour pot : ’ a cosy night in, a good read, a pot of tea and a comfortable chair or bed.
Select your options from the 20 available and add to the ‘Paint it Yours’ pot to create your ultimate personal celebratory experience.
THIS WORK IS MADE UP OF 4 ‘POTS’ AND 20 OPTIONS. ALL PIECES ARE HAND BUILT AND PAINTED CERAMICS- SOME WITH 18 CARAT DETAIL. The second photo is an example of the options available.
Photographer: Jodi Bowen
Grasses of Diamantina, Vote Now
Artist: Karen Stephens
Artist Location: Winton
Medium: Acrylic on polyester, 2021
Dimensions: 19.5 x 1 x 80 cm
Artist Statement:
I live in Channel Country and ‘Grasses of Diamantina’ was painted on site at Diamantina National Park. The ‘Diamantina River’ that can be up to fifty kilometres wide when waters flow inward is surrounded with unique grasses and textures of soil. The river was named for the late Lady ‘Diamantina’ Bowen, the wife of Sir George Bowen, the first Governor of Queensland. Because of the areas abundance from life giving water, this region was also a thriving trade route for many First Nations people living in Channel Country.
‘Painting the Town’ conjures up the idea of noisy celebration. Waiting for water, the Diamantina landscape is so quiet it becomes unquiet. I hear myself breathing in and out and find joy spectating and painting little pathways of grasses that gently come to a close. ‘Grasses of Diamantina’ is a window for quiet contemplation and a celebration of remote Queensland landscapes.
Photographer: Mick Richards
Palette-able, Vote Now
Artist: Warren Richardson
Artist Location: Kuranda
Medium: Photograph, 2021
Dimensions: 38 x 3 x 60 cm
Artist Statement:
I live in the rainforest in Kuranda. On the morning side of the mountain. 90% of my palette is green in all of its variability. However, I have travelled all over tropical Queensland with my entomological mate, photographing the night life of the insect world. One of my favourite locations is Talaroo station, now being developed as a hot springs tourist destination by the Ewamian native-title holders. Not only are the insects great but the sunsets over the dam are to-dye-for. Here the palette holds all the colours of the spectrum to ‘Paint the Town’ with tranquility and reflection. Truly Palette-able.
Photographer: Warren Richardson
David Invited a Few Friends Over (after lockdown ended), Vote Now
Artist: Marlies Oakley
Artist Location: BUNDABERG
Medium: 3D Hancut Collage, 2020
Dimensions: 82 x 4 x 62 cm
Artist Statement:
How we dream of flying to Europe to party with our overseas friends and families, but we know the reality. Parties and celebrations have been planned, rearranged and cancelled, all at short notice. Social responsibility is the mantra of the new normal, as we try to do the right thing, with its confusing and sometimes conflicting messages.
It started as a quite get together as David invited a few of his fellow artistic friends over (after lockdown had ended of course), but things got a bit out of hand when JD was invited, which was hardly a big surprise.
You can see for yourself where it ended up, but I guess these things can happen to those who have remained still and silent for a few hundred years.
I just hope we’re free again soon and David invites us to his next “get together”.
Photographer: Marlies Oakley
Give Me Gidgee, Vote Now
Artist: Rhondda Scott
Artist Location: Tambo
Medium: oil on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 48 x 4 x 22 cm
Artist Statement:
The road to our local dump is one of my favourite painting places. The contrast of the tree colours to the earth excite me. I have started using ochre gathered from Tambo’s ochre fields to create my own paints and incorporate them into my work to create the truth that is the outback. The effort to crush and mix rocks to create paint places me even closer to the subjects I paint. It puts the earth into my work and pulls my work back to its origins.
Photographer: Rhondda Scott
Reconnected To The Self and The Ancestors Through The Act of Washing My Body
Artist: Sammaneh Pourshafighi
Artist Location: Hollywell
Medium: Digital photograph on archival paper, 2021
Dimensions: 120 x 4 x 85 cm
Artist Statement:
My family and I came to Australia as refugees from Iran. As part of a diaspora, I am constantly trying to find a place as a queer, Muslim and Persian person living on unceded, stolen, indigenous land. For as many moments of struggle that exist in this experience, there are moments of joy, quiet introspection and pride. The Covid-19 pandemic has added more layers of complexity to my experience especially around the importance of nurturing and maintaining connections to my social communities, cultural background, traditional rituals, and my family both living and ancestral.
This photograph was taken in my parents’ Gold Coast garden after being reunited with them. Covid-19 restrictions had prevented me seeing them in over 6 months. My mother and her sister are wearing traditional Persian garments and ritualistically washing my body in an Islamic style. The ritual was equal parts celebration, act of love, and spiritual cleansing.
Photographer: Sammaneh Pourshafighi
Portrait Of An Artist, Vote Now
Artist: Grant Quinn
Artist Location: Bundamba
Medium: Photography, 2021
Dimensions: 50 x 1 x 70 cm
Artist Statement:
As a photographer, I am inspired by the power that photographs hold. I take pleasure in knowing my images invite you to be immersed in what I felt at a particular moment in time. Photography being the true form of social documentation is crucial in providing viewers with meaning of the cultures in which we live, and without this social documentation, we are left with only the spoken and written word, and these two forms of communication alone can not provide us with the full knowledge of the society in which we exist. By capturing Ipswich based artist Jil Nugent, in serene contemplation of what’s next, visualising her passion for colour, and celebrating her love of art through her paintings of local historical buildings and the Urban Landscape, including St Mary’s church and the Ipswich Railway Workshops, allows me share with the viewer a glimpse of her journey. Jil’s artistic accolades include work being commissioned and exhibited throughout Australia and evokes her spirit for celebration of all things iconic. Now residing in Regional SE QLD, Jil is still producing art and painting the town she so proudly now calls home.
Photographer: Grant Quinn
River Town, Vote Now
Artist: Kylie Stevens
Artist Location: Pine Mountain
Medium: Bremer River water, copper leaf, charcoal, earth and acrylic paint on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 92 x 3.5 x 92 cm
Artist Statement:
River Town is a celebration of my hometown and the river it is built around. Creating artworks is how I celebrate, in River Town I have I have painted the town, by incorporating the major streets and bridges into the work, and by celebrating my town in paint.
River water thins my paint, allowing it to pool and travel across the canvas. With the addition of hand ground ochres and charcoal the canvas is marked; then, I map the river in copper leaf. Using the natural elements of river water and earth, the work contains the essence of the place it represents.
I am an Ipswich-based artist working with and within the environment. It is my aim to showcase the beauty and alchemy of nature, inspiring in the viewer a deeper respect for and desire to protect our precious natural spaces.
Photographer: Kylie Stevens
My Big Red Heart, Vote Now
Artist: Sandra Ross
Artist Location: Gympie
Medium: Mixed Media, 2021
Dimensions: 80 x 0.20000000000000001 x 108 cm
Artist Statement:
I immediately thought of ‘red’, “painting the town RED”. A celebration of love. Our love for each other, our love for those who are no longer with us and the love for those important to us – whether that’s from a distance or together.
My work uses the beauty of the natural world as a springboard for expressing loss, loss of loved ones and loss of our environment.
When I begin the work, I use a large brush on a long stick and watery ink with the work on the floor. Like tears, it drips and flows. I think about how I celebrate those who have gone before me and the marks that are left in my heart.
Turning inwards, I listen closely, feel blessed and celebrate those around me and the love we all share.
Photographer: Sandra Ross
Sunday Morning, Vote Now
Artist: Eva Fritz
Artist Location: Sadliers Crossing
Medium: Oil on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 100 x 1 x 120 cm
Artist Statement:
For myself, ‘Paint the Town’ holds similarities and differences post 2020. Similarities are things like waking up with the sweet evidence of the night before: my discarded clothes and paraphernalia from the evening, and the still-lurking adrenaline from the fond memories of the places I have gone and the people I have been with. Sitting on the edge of my bed the morning after and relishing the recall of the experiences, however simple or subjectively grandiose they were, can often be as rewarding and fulfilling as the night itself. Differences is there is often a whole new sense of organisation and restriction that accompanies these nights, as suggested by the Check in Qld App. Reflecting this is the juxtaposition of spontaneity of brushstrokes and abandonment of objects in this piece with the harsh lines and flat tones of the mobile device.
Photographer: Eva Fritz
Pink Sky Delight, Vote Now
Artist: Jassy watson
Artist Location: Innes Park
Medium: Ink, Acrylic & Oil on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 95 x 4 x 95 cm
Artist Statement:
This painting created with inks, acrylics and a splash of oils is inspired by one of the many vantage points of the only hill in Bundaberg – ‘The Hummock’, otherwise known as ‘Burning Mountain’ by the Tarilbelung people – it was also once an active volcano. The hill is now dotted with houses and communication towers. One of the most stunning views is the hot pink sky as the sun sets behind the Hummock, the old of the landscape and the new of technology and modern life set against each other. This location is such an iconic spot in our regional town of Bundaberg and is steeped in ancient history. I felt to paint the town was to paint the only vantage point that offers a 360 degree in FULL colour – as iridiscent as the landscape itself. Merv Moriarty taught me that the ‘Landscape was our greatest teacher on colour’, I took this to the canvas.
Photographer: Jassy watson
The Sacred Tree (Araucaria bidwillii), Vote Now
Artist: Leisa Gunton
Artist Location: Cambroon
Medium: 500m of natural fibre, 4000 knots, handmade porcelain pieces embedded with Bunya, cats claw hoops, strung onto Bunya heartwood, hand shaped and sealed with fire, and 100% biodegradable., 2021
Dimensions: 100 x 2 x 100 cm
Artist Statement:
The sacred tree is better known as the Bunya Pine. Bunyas dominated the landscape of the great subcontinent Gondwanda, 200million years ago. It was lore to never harm these sacred trees, but as early settlers logged the giants of yesteryear, the local indigenous still mourn for their loss.
The great Bunya gathering was an annual tradition that united indigenous peoples of this land, and many would make the pilgrimage to celebrate the abundance that the Bunyi/Bonyi would bring. Due to covid19, the gathering was unable to happen, so I created this 100% biodegradable wall hanging in recognition of The Kabi Kabi people and celebrate the Bunya.
Photographer: Richard Muldoon
At the Oak, Vote Now
Artist: Ela Bozek
Artist Location: Healy
Medium: Acrylics on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 77 x 4 x 102 cm
Artist Statement:
The first beats of live music starts the evening at the Oak. Undeniably, there would be no celebration without it. Everyone in the room waited the whole week to come here to the dancefloor. Familiar and unfamiliar faces smile to each other. It always helps to look at that joy.
Visiting the Oak made me feel like me, back home.
Photographer: Ela Bozek
Desert Rose
Artist: Donna Glass
Artist Location: Bunya Mountains
Medium: Digital Print In Frame, 2021
Dimensions: 100 x 25 x 100 cm
Artist Statement:
Surrounded But Still Alone
We are Surrounded by Billions Of Galaxies But We Alone Are The Only Biological Life That Has Been Found As Yet
We Indeed Are Rare And Special
Photographer: Donna Glass
Peepshow-a-go-go, Vote Now
Artist: Lisa Ashcroft
Artist Location: Townsville
Medium: Handstitched sequins, beads and kitsch, glitter on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 50 x 6 x 60 cm
Artist Statement:
This textile artwork addresses the seedy underbelly of our society. It pokes fun at brothels and prostitution, Tinder and other dating platforms. I have constructed the canvas to have a viewing recess area to simulate that of viewing a porn peepshow. This is to make the viewer question what they are viewing and why. The artworks surface and colour patina camouflage the manipulation of Disney characters (to deconstruct our childhood memories of fairy tale characters). I wanted to use hand stitching as a method of production outside of my traditional abstract landscape oil paintings. Hand stitching is an inherent female hobby and fits the representation of the piece: showcasing gender inequality that still exists and the placing of kitsch objects represent our plastic, self-absorbed society.
Photographer: Lisa Ashcroft
Celebration of the bridge, Vote Now
Artist: Tarja Ahokas
Artist Location: Ninderry
Medium: Acrylic on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 45.200000000000003 x 3.7000000000000002 x 45.700000000000003 cm
Artist Statement:
Artwork is often projected onto bridges for various celebrations.
My new bridge, built over a ditch, leading to my studio is not as grand as the Brisbane Story Bridge but it also has its own story and I wanted to “paint the town” by celebrating my bridge with my own colours and imagery.
Photographer: Tarja Ahokas
Charlie’s Party, Vote Now
Artist: Susan Dryden
Artist Location: Lockyer Valley
Medium: Oil on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 45 x 5 x 55 cm
Artist Statement:
Charlie’s party was a celebration that brought friends from as far away as Boonah, The Lockyer Valley and Brisbane to Maleny. It was an occasion for old friends to gather and celebrate our long friendships and to meet new ones. We may not be 20 again but we dined and laughed and felt 20. The painting captures just a moment at the party.
Photographer: Susan Dryden
Meet Lenny, Vote Now
Artist: Suzanne Furness
Artist Location: MONS
Medium: Handwoven with wool and silk, 2020
Dimensions: 120 x 0.59999999999999998 x 72.5 cm
Artist Statement:
I’d like you to meet Lenny. During the day he is Leonard, a CEO wearing a full business suit and highly polished brogues for his ZOOM meetings. At night he transforms into Lenny – freewheeling and colourful.
This weaving was my response to the dismal news cycles about Covid 19
Photographer: Suzanne Furness
Gateway
Artist: Kym Barrett
Artist Location: Chatsworth
Medium: oils, mixed media on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 120 x 4 x 120 cm
Artist Statement:
I’m not a party girl. Never have been. What makes me feel most alive and uplifted is the simplicity of being in Nature, alone. No painting the town red for me.
I live in open hilly bushland beside a rainforested creek. That fact is cause for daily celebration, and especially during Covid 19 restrictions, it was a source of emotional and spiritual sustenance.
GATEWAY emerged as an abstract expression of the animating and sustaining life-force that flows at my place, and in all of Nature. In all our busyness and distractions, it is a reminder of our need to connect with and celebrate the green places. When we pay attention, listen and just be there, it can be a portal to slowing down, breathing deeply and feeling joy. Our hard edges soften and our difficulties subside.
Photographer: Kym Barrett
Going in Cycles, Vote Now
Artist: Glen Smith
Artist Location: Bundamba
Medium: Mix Media, 2021
Dimensions: 66 x 4 x 50 cm
Artist Statement:
For me the joy I get from being involved with our art community gives me a sense of belonging and fulfilment. One of the ways I achieve this is by hosting or partaking in workshops. As a member of a local art group we come together to share ideas, food, good company, the love of art and a little gossip. Our workshops are simple affairs that all are welcome regards of skills and abilities and we get to take home a little memento of the day. In this small way we are painting a town that is inclusive, accepting, joyous and known as an artist hub. I have created this piece of mini artworks showcasing some of the many workshops I have attended or tutored, from book folding, drawing, painting, eco dying to felting just to name a few.
Photographer: Glen Smith
Talchum (The Mask Dance), Vote Now
Artist: Jooyun Lim
Artist Location: broadwater
Medium: clay, 2020
Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 15 cm
Artist Statement:
This work uses slip casting to create plates and bowls using moulds. I chose the Korean traditional dance called Tal-chum (mask dance) as a pattern. There are many different types and colors of Tal (mask) to represent different themes, also different costumes and dance moves. There are tears, laughter, happiness, sadness, jokes, love, anger, wisdom and life in the performance. When my ancestors hoping and celebrating for something or console people, they gathered together in the ceremony and danced. I used traditional rhythmical humming in the Korean language to maximize the dance movement. I also wanted to give texture by carving patterns and then inlaying colour on the surface and I wished to show the five traditional colours of Korean patterns: red, yellow, blue, black and white.
This remote peaceful town is quite different to where I was born and raised .
This town has unique environment which you get to meet people from all over the world for traveling and farm work.
I was hoping to share my culture in this diverse town through my work .
Photographer: Jooyun Lim
Family Colour, Vote Now
Artist: Tricia Reust
Artist Location: Clontarf
Medium: Mixed Media on Canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 76 x 3 x 76 cm
Artist Statement:
Artist Statement – Tricia Reust
FAMILY COLOUR
Mixed Media on Canvas
76 sq cms
Joy and undaunted application abound every time we create together – how better to celebrate being an artist than to share art with my grandchildren? They bring me closer to the primary reasons I draw each day.
Here, a portrait of Nanna (me!), a portrait of Rudolph and an ice cream melting in the sun – all gifts – are collaged around my jar drawing, full to the brim with rediscovery of my life work.
When we make art together we “paint the town” in family colour.
Photographer: mark Lutz
Human to Humas, Vote Now
Artist: Kuweni Dias Mendis
Artist Location: Beechmont
Medium: Pastel and Gouache on Hahnemuhle Paper, 2021
Dimensions: 106 x 1 x 77 cm
Artist Statement:
The words Humus ( soil) and Human ( earthly beings) comes from the same source, the Latin origins meaning from the earth. We eventually return to the soil, the earth and to the ground. Death is that humble moment of returning back to the Soil, the pregnant void and the untapped potential.
Celebrating and bidding farewell to a dearly departed in my Sri Lankan culture is to finally take the cremation Ashes to the river. Ashes are taken to that place in the river where the fresh water meets salt water. The spirit of the river takes the soul home to its source. In this ritual these ashes become the sediment of the river, its a beautiful celebration of human becoming the humus. It’s is a sacred moment where we witness the soul weaving its way to the beginning of time, the interconnectedness and interdependerbility between death and birth
Photographer: Kuweni Dias Mendis
Eucalpytian Glad Rags
Artist: Anne Mossman
Artist Location: Elanora
Medium: Coloured Porcelain, 2021
Dimensions: 26 x 22 x 22 cm
Artist Statement:
Mossman’s inspiration is drawn from the disparate colours on some of the eucalypt tree trunks that surround her hinterland environment. In the summer the eucalyptus bark peels off in sheaths to reveal nude like patches of new ‘skin’ which is invariably smooth and lighter coloured than other parts of the bark. The contrast in colours and tones is wondrous and provides an ever changing visual feast. This vessel purposely exaggerates the colour palette as a celebration of Australia’s iconic trees.
Photographer: Anne Mossman
Sandbeach songlines
Artist: Samantha Hobson
Artist Location: Lockhart River
Medium: acrylic on canvas, 2020
Dimensions: 61 x 3 x 106 cm
Artist Statement:
Songline’ is a term that is often used to define relationships between stories, ceremony and sacred sites; the knowledge that is passed down through oral tradition, song, dance and more recently, fine art painting. Sharing these stories brings the community together in celebration.
‘Sandbeach Songlines’ captures a contemplative mood. For Samantha, this begins with a creamy white background representing the pristine sands of the Great Barrier Reef, north of Lockhart River where the artist lives. Fractured lines bleed into this tranquil background. The artist often reflects how such opposing forces echo her own turbulent life, delicately balanced between a sense of apprehension and acceptance. ‘Sandbeach Songlines’ is a gestural landscape which epitomises the inseparable dualities of land and sea, culture and identity, time and healing.
Photographer: Mick Richards
Maleny, Vote Now
Artist: Sophie Thyer
Artist Location: Caloundra
Medium: Watercolour and Gouache, 2021
Dimensions: 30 x 1 x 45 cm
Artist Statement:
My family and I relocated to Sunshine Coast during the Covid-19 pandemic period. Lockdowns and snap border closures mean that we needed to stay local and appreciate everyday life without travelling overseas, or even interstate. I was inspired to paint this work to capture a glimpse of natural beauty in my town. I can’t help but wonder, why is nature so therapeutic? Beaches, Hinterland, mountains, and subtropical rainforest- Thank you. You have made my memory during the pandemic much more beautiful!
Photographer: Sophie Thyer
MY HAPPY PLACE, Vote Now
Artist: Christine Holden
Artist Location: Boyne Island
Medium: Marine debris rope, twine and fishing line, 2021
Dimensions: 16 x 25 x 26 cm
Artist Statement:
Life is full of highs and lows and the challenges we face can be overwhelming at times, so for me, creating art helps me to maintain a healthy balance. Simply put, weaving makes me happy. The process of gathering materials from the environment, recycling and reusing what is around me is a very healing activity that quietens the mind and replenishes the sole. Through this journey I have become increasingly aware of the need for everyone to reduce their waste and protect our beautiful planet. This basket reflects my love of the ocean and our unique Australian reef systems that need our help to remain a happy place for future generations.
Photographer: Christine Holden
Topography, Vote Now
Artist: Barbara Pierce
Artist Location: Townsville
Medium: acrylic & collage on canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 76 x 3.5 x 91 cm
Artist Statement:
A celebration can be described – and shaped – by its’ location in the landscape. The landscape where I live has been the inspiration for this painting. Collage and acrylic paint have been used to make reference to a hillside – its’ rocks and pathways – and a celebration at day’s end as night falls.
Every day I connect with the surrounding environment and notice the changes – subtle or dramatic – depending on the time of day, the season or whatever is happening at the time. All sensory stimuli have an effect or leave an impression. Every day I quietly celebrate ‘my’ landscape.
In this painting I have reinterpreted the landscape surroundings and played with the idea of the possible appearance of a celebration at day’s end in the imagined topography of this environment. Every celebration – like every day – is unique. A celebration takes on a life and shape of it’s own.
Photographer: Ed Pierce
The final meal, Vote Now
Artist: Katie Hooper
Artist Location: Tamborine Mountain
Medium: Digital photograph, 2020
Dimensions: 50 x 0.5 x 50 cm
Artist Statement:
The final meal. With friends, a lover, a community, with life.
The final meal. No matter the reason to say goodbye, it is a time to celebrate.
The final meal. A reflection of what was and is no more.
The final meal. A time to remember the laughter, the love, the learning.
The final meal. All the favourites, all at once.
Photographer: Katie Hooper
Cobb&Co1, Vote Now
Artist: Katherine Civil
Artist Location: Toowoomba
Medium: oil on canvas, 2020
Dimensions: 51 x 4 x 77 cm
Artist Statement:
The town of Toowoomba is painted in this work as the iconic museum. Bringing visitors from far and wide, this part of the world echoes the celebration of town and country. The wind machines
turn for water and the structure is stable in the elements. In this oil the paint is applied quickly and loosely and the colours harmonise to ring in sync with all that is Toowoomba.
Photographer: Katherine Civil
Corroboree, Vote Now
Artist: Cholena Hughes
Artist Location: Mt Mellum
Medium: Cyanotype with Jinibara ochre, Jinibarra clay, Jini (lawyer cane) and raffia, 2021
Dimensions: 80 x 9 x 80 cm
Artist Statement:
My artwork is symbolic of corroboree. Depicting our strong connection to country and celebrating all that Country provides. The cyanotype was made exposing plants from Jinibara Country and the ochres which decorate the cyanotype are from Jinibara Country. The figures are made of clay from Jinibara Country. The weaving on Jini (Lawyer Cane) depicts time, creation and connection to Country. The shape of the work depicts the bora ring where ceremony took place. Celebrating our land, our people, our spirit – Corroboree.
“Paint the Town” I believe is a celebration – to celebrate with community.
A corroboree is a generic word for a meeting of Australian Aboriginal peoples. It may be a sacred ceremony, a festive celebration or an event of cultural importance.
Photographer: Cholena Hughes
A Nature in the Self., Vote Now
Artist: Julia Skye Higgs
Artist Location: Bowen
Medium: Canvas Print, 2021
Dimensions: 30 x 5 x 100 cm
Artist Statement:
This work is a series of puppets and body extensions that evoke the spirit of celebration through colour and self-expression as sculptural forms on the body. 9 people stand in one frame, each wearing a different body piece. Each of these are different from the other and express aspects of a bush turkey, a pet dog, and human elements in both recognisable and abstracted ways through their disproportions, amalgamation of human and animal and use of colour. They are bright and bold and combine papier-mache, wire, recycling, acrylic paint, and second-hand fabrics to create a series that celebrates and evokes play, the body, and self-expression by recreating and altering familiar forms into vibrant wearable art.
Photographer: Brooke Miles
Be Alright, Vote Now
Artist: Benitta Harding
Artist Location: Goodna
Medium: Pastel on Paper, 2021
Dimensions: 40 x 0 x 30 cm
Artist Statement:
“Be Alright” captures getting lost in the moment without any thoughts to either the past or future. It’s being in that beautiful headspace that makes you feel like everything will be alright.
As an artist I work in isolation so for me to Paint the Town is responding to the experience of isolation and how we express our creativity during these time in our own way… It getting lost in the moment while creating – that moment which is free from judgment, criticism or fear of what others might think.
Photographer: Benitta Harding
Sundae Night, Vote Now
Artist: Charlotte Wensley
Artist Location: Peregian Beach
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, 2021
Dimensions: 76 x 4 x 76 cm
Artist Statement:
We ‘paint the town’ with a family tradition that can be traced back to my childhood; a time when growing up on farming country left little time for celebrations and visiting the ice cream parlour in town was a grand and poignant affair. This ‘treat’ inheritance lives on today as part of our family’s story about how we celebrate special occasions. Gatherings big or small, loud or quiet, with friends or kith and kin, our festivities are incomplete without ice cream sundaes, crafted with care and ceremony. ‘Sundae Night’ is inspired by our familial devotion to all things sweet and sugary. In this painting I wanted to convey a sense of layers of indulgence and the feeling of gravitas evoked by special celebratory moments. This humble confection, dolloped, drizzled and steeped in family folklore, symbolises abundance, joy in our togetherness, gratitude for family and sweet moments in time.
Photographer: mark Lutz
Tallulah, Vote Now
Artist: Gayle Fleming
Artist Location: GOODNA
Medium: Acrylic on Paper, 2021
Dimensions: 29 x 0 x 21.5 cm
Artist Statement:
I am the vase on the table.
My name is Tallulah and I have a wild side.
Much like the flowers in me.
By day I am content, quietly reflecting on my role to display myself.
Tonight I dance on the table, celebrating my freedom.
I don’t need an audience, I am totally me.
When I put on my dancing shoes, I am the total surprise package.
Again energised, I dance till exhausted.
Happy to slip into my vase, secretly content.
This ritual I love and wait till darkness approaches.
To again be, wild Tallulah.
Photographer: Gayle Fleming
A Reason to Celebrate
Artist: Pamela Finlay
Artist Location: Bowen
Medium: Mixed Media on Watercolour Paper, 2021
Dimensions: 56 x 2 x 76 cm
Artist Statement:
Art is a process of exploration. Today I might see something fresh and new in the landscape that I didn’t see yesterday. Every day is a reason to celebrate the diversity of what I see. Today might be windy, tomorrow may be calm and these elements can affect the natural world immensely. Leaves can be blown off trees and tomorrow sees a new cycle of growth emerging. The Scrub Almond Tree comes to mind when I think of this, the colour, size and shape of the different leaves on the same tree. The Red Tailed Cockatoos enjoy devouring fruit from this tree and set about leaving litter from their munchings on the local beachfront avenue of trees. To see them flying across the sky is a sight to behold. The ground throughout Bowen is a carpet of red leaves after their onslaught and afterwards fresh new growth of bright green leaves appear.
Photographer: Pamela Finlay
