Portrayal is the title of an exhibition, opening on Saturday 29 March at the Pomona Railway Station Gallery.
The exhibition is also a portrayal of awarded portrait artist Jaine Jackson’s amazing resilience, strength and talent.
The exhibition’s opening 11am will feature Jaine demonstrating her approach to painting a portrait for the following two hours.
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.
This life changing event ended her career path and her hobby of textile art/sewing.
Jaine needed to rediscover herself, to keep herself engaged and have some purpose.
It was July 2011 that Jaine attended a pastel workshop and the tactile nature of soft pastels that mimicked her love of fabric opening the world of art to her.
Two 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, 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.
“In learning about trusting people, I realised that looking into their eyes was the best way to understand if I could trust them.“
It is this experience which enables her to capture and portray the essence of a person. “I genuinely believe that eyes are the windows to our souls and that they reveal intentions, emotions and one’s life journey,“ she said.
“My goal is to sculpt the subject to create pieces that evoke emotions and depth.”
Opening Saturday 5 April at the gallery is the exhibition ’Forrest and Bloom’ from Pomona artist Belle Arnold.
Belle has her kittens to thank for her amazing felt sculptures, vessels and paintings.
After her playful kittens broke many of her ceramic pieces, she decided she could make felt ones instead.
“My background is in pottery and painting, so I adapted shapes from my pottery and colour from my painting to create felt sculptures, vessels and paintings,“ she said.
She will be at the Gallery, at 10 Station St, Pomona, from 10am-2pm on opening day to demonstrate her felt making.
Gallery opening hours are 10am-4pm Tuesday to Friday; 10am-2pm Saturday and Sunday.
