Portrait painting and felt making will come alive at Pomona Railway Station Gallery on Saturday 5 April.
Awarded portrait artist Jaine Jackson will show how she creates her portraits (from 11am-1pm) while Belle Arnold will demonstrate how she takes raw wool fleece to colourful felt paintings, sculptures and vessels (10am -2pm).
Portrayal is the title of Jaine’s exhibition in The Gallery’s Banana Shed until 23 April. The exhibition is also a portrayal of her amazing resilience, strength and talent.
Her journey into rediscovering her art ability began as the result of a long-standing health condition that became a permanent disability in 2008 which caused paralysis from her neck to her waist and both arms limiting the use of her hands.
Six years later, she won her first award for portraiture from the Pastel Society of Australia, again in 2014 along with Emerging Artist Award at the Kenilworth Art Festival.
Jaine has been recognised and awarded for her portraiture and most recently with ‘Best in Show’ 2022 at the Imbil Art Festival and was shortlisted for the Du Reitz Art Award in 2024.
“I am fortunate to have rediscovered my artistic ability, and the journey has aided with my disability, as it takes me into a zone, where I do not feel pain,” Jaine said.
Belle’s love of nature inspires her exhibition, titled Forrest and Bloom.
Starting with the purchase of wool fleece, she works her magic to processes the wool into felt and then dyes it.
“My background is in pottery and painting, so I adapted shapes from my pottery and colour from my painting to create my pieces,” she said.
After Belle’s playful kittens broke many of her ceramic pieces, she decided she could make felt ones instead.
“They’re both kitten and child-proof,“ she laughed.
Jaine will continue to demonstrate her work from 11am – 1pm at The Gallery on the two following Saturdays, 12 and 19 April, while Belle will be running a workshop on 26 April.
The volunteer-run Pomona Railway Station Gallery is at 10 Station St, Pomona. Opening hours are 10am to 4pm Tuesday to Friday; 10am to 2pm Saturday and Sunday.
