By Hollie Harris
Sometimes people meet those gentle souls who ignite that fire inside to become better. Those souls who have a spirit geared to uplift and care for others and their environment while forging change for a better world.
Verrierdale artist Jane Welsh is one of these special people who makes a difference every day, slowly, slowly, creating a better future for her family and yours.
Passionate about creating uplifting art pieces through abstracts and clay sculptures, Jane recently learned of an environmental crisis she felt compelled to paint about.
During a snorkelling trip to Bali earlier this year, Jane and her family were deeply saddened to see the extent of coral bleaching happening below the surface of Menjangan Island waters.
Always passionate about protecting nature and caring for the environment, the issues facing the reefs lingered with the softly spoken artist long after her adventure to Bali was over.
“I tried to get back to painting for beauty, but I felt blocked and upset about the news of half of the Great Barrier Reef being bleached in the last two years,” Jane said.
“I have been aware of the proposed mega coal mine in Central QLD for a while,” she said.
With some of our politicians wanting to burn more coal, the idea of painting reef animals gathered around them and wondering if they can be heard came to Jane in the middle of a restless sleep.
She wanted to give the reef animals a voice.
“The more I looked into the Adani mine, the more rattled I felt; it just does not make sense to dig up the biggest mine in Australia when nearly every country in the world is working hard to reduce carbon emissions, and is turning away from fossil fuels.”
Jane began work on the painting she had imagined that restless night, which would eventually be named “Coral or Coal?“ The end result was a powerful environmental piece which she hoped would speak volumes for her and so many others who were following the Adani mine issue.
“I have painted this to raise awareness, as many people don’t realise the threat this mine poses to our reef, which provides 69,000 jobs and $5billion to our economy each year, or that our PM wants to loan a billion of taxpayers money to subsidise the mine,” she said.
“As Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie says, “We can have coal mining or we can have a healthy reef, but we can’t have both.“
“Coral or Coal?“ has made appearances at the front line of several peaceful protests, including last month’s protest outside LNP Federal member for Fairfax, Ted O’Brien’s office in Maroochydore.
“We added a sign saying, “Adani is poor quality” at the last minute after hearing Ted O’Brien saying he thought the mine would be good for the environment, as Australian coal is such good quality,” she said.
“Data shows the coal coming from Adani’s mine is poor quality and is poorer than some other countries supplying India and only slightly better than Indonesia’s.
“He also talked about 10,000 jobs, which is again nonsense; the figure reported in court is only 1464 jobs over the lifetime of the mine (30-60 years), whilst 60,000 jobs on the reef will be put at high risk,” Jane said.
Jane’s painting “Coral or Coal?” now makes its journey down to the art gallery of New South Wales to enter into the Sulman Competition, which runs alongside the well-known Archibald Competition.
“Please send some well wishes for it to be accepted, and hung in the AGNSW, for thousands of people to see. For the love of all the beautiful creatures of the world’s coral reefs,” Jane asks.
Jane is currently finishing a new piece in this series which continues this message.
“This new painting is actually about the proposed Colton coal mine near Fraser Island. This is possibly going ahead without an environmental impact assessment; only a good word from the company, which was recently declared in court as being dodgy. The claim is that the untreated water into the Mary River and then Great Sandy Straits will have no impact…. yeah right!” Jane said.
When nearly every country in the world is working hard to reduce carbon emissions, and is turning away from fossil fuels, Jane feels it is her responsibility to get up and do something to push for these changes here in Australia.
“A wise woman told me, ‘our children and their children will want to know we did everything we could to protect our world,’ and I realised as an artist I could and wanted to do more,” she said.
Jane’s genuine, honest joyfulness about life can be found in every curve of her sculptures. With her use of bright colours and rich opulent textures in her abstract paintings and her ability to capture feelings on the faces of her works of art, she is able to evoke beauty and wisdom within each piece.
With a long string of exhibitions, a handful of awards and over 150 privately commissioned paintings, Jane holds her talent and success humbly close to her chest.
As a young woman dabbling in the art world, Jane focused on achieving a science degree majoring in biochemistry. After working within the Indigenous health sector and a good dose of travelling under her belt, the life of an artist lingered in her soul and led Jane to the Sunshine Coast.
“I always knew that deep inside I was an artist and it was just a matter of time. I moved to the Sunshine Coast in 2001 to be near the Eumundi markets, and soon I had a stall there, seeing it as my ‘apprenticeship’ as a self-taught artist,” she said.
She finds great inspiration in teaching others the quiet peace of sculpting with mud and opens her studio doors and her heart to anyone willing to explore their inner artist with her six-week clay sculpture classes for beginners, Magic of Mud.
Teaching clay sculpting classes has always brought her fulfilment, but like many artists, Jane has had her fair share of dancing around a creative block. It wasn’t until her recent awakening to paint “Coral or Coal?” that she felt such an inspiring shift through “the block.”
“This first political painting has got the fire in my belly burning, and I feel it is the first of many, to be balanced with joyful works, colourful abstracts and a series to celebrate our connection with nature.”
It has become her passion to work toward a better planet for her two young children, and will continue to paint using this fuel to create pieces that speak volumes.
“The Great Barrier Reef is OUR reef. Its health is hanging in the balance, and new coal mines will destroy it. Please phone your local MP, drop into their office or send them an email.
“The Adani Coal mine does not make sense, no matter what angle you look at it, jobs, finances, climate obligations, water, public health, Native Title, ethics, trust for Adani, public funding, they all stack up against the mine. How can we knowingly kill off the only living thing visible from space, as a trade in for last century’s technologies? What will we tell our children?”
*The next Magic of Mud course starts 18 July. Check out www.janewelshart.com.au for more information.
