Precious & Beautiful

Wishing everyone a year full of good things and importantly, good health!

Last month I was invited to exhibit at the Poatina Tree Art Gallery in Northern Tasmania as there had been a cancellation for a scheduled exhibition for mid-January through to almost the end of February. Should I accept the invitation?

Such an invitation isn’t a matter of saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’, because exhibitions cost money (and time) and require a good deal of preparation. To add to this, I am already committed to another solo exhibition in March that follows a 5-day Coloured Pencil workshop I’m conducting. Framing a collection of work at such short notice was out of the question.

Fortunately, I was able to get together a collection of framed drawings that would relate to each other when displayed. So, I agreed.

My March exhibition, ‘WATERSound’, is ready for framing and my forthcoming workshop is in the advanced planning stage, so why not accept the invitation?

I chose work that I had completed over the past 3 years that feature aspects of the Tasmanian landscape. The island has many fine examples of diverse landscape and all are indeed precious and beautiful in their own way. Economic prosperity and development is a major part of modern life, but at what cost?

We need to pay greater attention to, and place greater value on our landscape. We are already paying the price for greed and neglect. Why hasn’t the message sunk in?

I value all aspects of our landscape from thundering waterfalls, babbling creeks, to forest floors and tiny shells. Every object should be regarded as precious and beautiful, because they are.

Richard