WESTERN DOWNS ARTS

Regina Hyland

The early bird

The early bird depicts a young girl on her confirmation day in 1974 at St Cecilia’s Anglican Church in Chinchilla, Queensland. The church walls are dotted from the ground to the roof in coloured stained-glass crosses and at night it glows from the inside out, casting cellophane symbols into the darkness.

Patricia Hinz

Beyond blue

The inspiration for Beyond blue came from daily observations of the sunrises and sunsets filtering through the treetops outside my studio. The kaleidoscopic colours changing and reflecting on the shimmering leaves and branches was a reminder of how life, as well as the seasons, in nature evolve. Through the dark times we can look ‘beyond blue’ and hope for better times ahead. On the land we endure the disasters of drought and flooding rains and progress to the occasional triumph and magic season.

Wayne Rasmussen

Outback kaleidoscope

The Queensland outback: vast, dangerous, magnificent. A kaleidoscope of mesmerising landscapes, as present as any sunrise or sunset. As visible as the flora and fauna, and standing in all weather, are the ever-present highway traffic signs. They are damaged, faded, vibrant, cracked, scratched, bent, shot, and have absorbed the weather conditions and dust into the very fabric of the sign. A visual ‘outback kaleidoscope’ assault.

The work can be viewed three ways, (1) in normal light; (2) under a black light (fluorescent); and (3) in the dark (phosphorescent).

Chris Osborne

Kayaking through a mirror

As a lone kayaker slices through the mirror surface of Dunns Swamp, the perfect reflection of the surrounding sandstone cliffs is destroyed. The kayaker’s disturbance of the water slowly flattens, and the picture-perfect reflection is soon rebuilt. Then wind fractures the reflection, and the cycle of destruction and recreation is played out once more.

Helen Dennis

Drifting along

Along the banks of our creek, the water’s translucency exposes the flotsam and jetsam of nature’s life cycle. Leaves, sticks and miniscule water plants form community clusters, readjusting their patterns as the creek water ebbs and flows. Their colours change through greens to browns to greys as they age and decay. At every stage patterns reform, rearrange, and respond to the forces that impact on them.

Karen Gaskell

Not so common Bronzewing

A wildly colourful, unfinished abstract painting set the scene for this artwork. The idea of creating a subject in the ‘scene’ that mirrored the patterns and colours already there drew me to the male Common Bronzewing pigeon. However, ‘common’ the Bronzewing pigeon may be, the resplendent metallic colours in the wing feathers made it the perfect subject. The complex interplay of colour, pattern, and light between the ground and the bird, as the artwork was created and changed, mirrored the turning of a kaleidoscope. The result suggests that nature itself is a kaleidoscope that is reflective, dynamic, elusive, and beautiful.

Hilary Coulter

From sunrise to sunset (and then some)

In the fortnight leading up to the completion of this work, our babysitter had gastro, my son (3) had conjunctivitis, I spilt boiling water on my foot resulting in a considerable burn, my daughter (5) taught herself how to climb up on the trapeze and swing like a fairy, we had a night in hospital with my son, my husband and I contributed to the running of a fundraiser for our local kindergarten, my son chased 10 scary monsters out of the garden, and my daughter taught my son how to pronounce the word ‘balloon’ properly. It’s a crazy, precious, kaleidoscopic life.

Angelique Delport

Angel in our midst

The world of angels is a kaleidoscope of interesting happenings, possibilities, and adventures. I truly believe that angels are watching over us, as the Bible tells us so. This artwork was created in a moment when I felt the presence of something supernatural comforting me and reassuring me that I am loved and special to God, my Father.

Helen Dennis

The year that was…

Time cannot remain still; it is always evolving. The world as we see it is not static like a picture, but full of movement. Taking a pictorial calendar of the year that was past, tearing the colourful landscape images into pieces, and then rearranging the images into a new landscape, created The year that will be… so, continuing the kaleidoscopic cycle of creation, destruction, and re-creation.

Melody Walker

The years are short

This piece began on an autumn afternoon, watching my daughters play in the golden light. Endless movement captured in the repetition of their images across the canvas. The same few elements somehow repeatedly colliding to create unique moments in time. Easily missed. Each second something lost, something gained. The kaleidoscope of life in its early years.

Tracey Irvine

Remember to live

Mother Nature whispers to her children, “Remember you must live”. This artwork reinterprets the notion of Memento Mori, and rather than focus on the inevitability of death, instead shows the potential within all living things to burst forth as brilliant, ever evolving kaleidoscopic forms.

Carol McCormack

Blue Mountain daydream

A friend at Blue Mountain Heights had a lovely view to the north-east. The blues of the distance contrasted with the dry warm colours where the eucalypt forest thinned out, and the colours danced in a soft swirling kaleidoscope.

Cindy Grimes

Me

We can describe our lives as a kaleidoscope of experiences, bold technicolour, pastel shades, or the grey of darker times; a journey of direction, changes and surprises which makes up a life. This self-portrait is a vehicle for reflection. Do I really see and respond to the detail and patterns in the turning tube of others’ stories? How well do I reflect on my own? Do the subtleties show on our faces? Or does everything blend together into one blur of colour and light?

Patricia Hinz

Beyond red

Although in the year 2022 we are enjoying a magic season on the Western Downs, during many of the years in our recent past we have learnt to survive debilitating droughts. Living close to nature we become familiar with adjusting to the evolving seasons. In Beyond red I wanted to suggest that the vagaries of nature are similar to the turning of the kaleidoscope as it changes colours.

Sharlene Smith

Nature strip

As you drive through the region you see one side of the country dry and burnt, and the other green and thriving. This kaleidoscope of colours represents the changes of the season.