The meandering Mary River and the old valley railway were the inspiration for Geoffrey Webber when he decided to participate in an innovative exhibition at the Mary Valley Art Festival on July 22-25.
Mary Valley Alive celebrates the Mary Valley Art Festival’s 20th anniversary, telling the story of the valley through its flora, fauna and people. Twenty guest artists will interpret the theme by painting plinths to be displayed with artworks from the original Mary Valley Alive exhibit, which is comprised of art from the Traveston Crossing Dam era.
The architect turned artist said his theme for the plinth was a personal one.
“I retired with my artist girlfriend and wife, Narelle some 15 years ago, to Mary Valley country, simply because we both loved the peace and quiet of country regions,” Geoffrey said.
“I was keen to chase more trains and Narelle wanted to continue painting.”
They soon became actively involved in the Traveston Crossing Dam campaign, and learned to appreciate the wonderful attributes that the river and the valley townships offered.
“And just like the railway threaded its way through the valley and connected with townships, so did the river too,” Geoffrey said.
“I treated the four sides of the plinth and the top, quite a large surface – about a metre square – as a three-dimensional work of art, highlighting some of our activities and interests.”
Using acrylic paints, he painted the images so they wrapped around the four sides of the plinth over a period of three weeks.
“It’s been an exciting project, on top of my recent return to life drawing with Pat Cale in Imbil.
“My life revolves around my volunteering with the Valley Rattler, reconnecting with my art interests, our artist friends, kayaking on the waterways, appreciating nature and the beauty of our Mary Valley.”
Geoffrey and Narelle are thankful that the Mary Valley continues to be a beautiful place to live.
“It’s now 10 years since the 2010 Mary Valley Art Festival depicted that wonderful mural of our artistic impressions called Mary Valley Alive, curated so cleverly by Heinke Butt.
“We are grateful and celebrate again the successful ‘Save the Mary River’ campaign with the new exhibition of plinths and those original works.”
If you are an artist, there is still time to enter your artwork in the Mary Valley Art Festival – the deadline for entries has been extended to July 8. The rich prize pool over $8000 includes the Bendigo Bank Open Award of $2500, nine categories for adults, and a Youth Award for 12-17-year-olds.
Festival and exhibition viewing starts on July 22 at the Imbil Public Hall, Edward Street, Imbil near Gympie, with the opening night and award presentations on Friday July 23, and closing celebrations on Sunday afternoon July 25.
Inquiries to Heinke Butt on 0419 024291 or email info@maryvalleyartfestival.com.au
