Friends, neighbours, artists

On the north coast of Kangaroo Island two friends find themselves neighbours who meet on the beach at Western Cove and marvel at how they came to be in such a beautiful inspiring place.

Caroline Taylor and Audrey Harnett share the inspiration of their home with us in the exhibition Western River: Wilderness, weather and winding tracks that opens at Fine Art Kangaroo Island tomorrow night.

Painter Caroline Taylor says that they are both interpreting the hills of the area. “Enormous hills and deep dark gullies; big skies and changing landscapes with the weather.”

“I do love those hills – they were formed millions of years ago and they will be there forever. They stand beside us as something solid and timeless.

Caroline Taylor, North Coast Road

“There are places on our land where we have ever been and maybe no one has, the hills are so steep.”

Caroline is very focused on her oil painting, mainly works on paper. She uses a textured look with verdigris and rust oxide. “People can interpret them as cloud or wind or whatever they like.”

Caroline, who is in the last year of her ‘mature-age’ Fine Arts degree at Adelaide Central School of Art, believes that her and Audrey’s art complement each other. Audrey has completed her, also mature age, TAFE arts course at Adelaide College of the Arts.

Audrey’s sterling silver jewellery is inspired by beauty of raw nature of Western River, as are her relief prints from lino cuts, some hand coloured with gouache, some black and white.

“All the work is really speaking about the sense of place and inspired by Western River – what I experience there and with different species.

“My particular connection is the bush we are surrounded by – the birds, animals and plants.

Audrey Harnett, Western River panel, relief print

“What we really appreciate is the character of the area – it is about the hills and the wilderness, the sense of remoteness all the time – watching the weather coming in.

“I love working with the raw materials we find on the property. It’s raw and natural, inspired and elemental – that’s what you feel when you are here.

Caroline Taylor and Audrey Harnett, Western River: Wilderness, weather and winding tracks, at Fine Art Kangaroo Island, Dauncey Street Kingscote, 26 September to 20 October.

Kingscote rules OK?

The Young at Art group exhibition closed up after their planned 4 days. They are a community group that meets once a fortnight to work on their art. It’s a little bit arty and a little bit community but it works and that’s the main thing. Their exhibition is an Art Feast mainstay but they can’t afford to continue beyond 4 days. To me they are an integral part of Art Feast.

Ros Stoldt’s new abstract

I popped into Chocol’art & Coffee for Pete Nash’s Characters of KI exhibition. Yes, great portraits Pete but are there no female characters of KI?

Art from the Heart is an exhibition put on by the women in the Art and Craft Group at KI Community Services. It’s quite delightful and a pleasant surprise.

The opening of the exhibition at the KI Gallery was also a pleasure. Clasina and Fluorolin are put on a fabulous display of fluoroart – which is a lot more difficult to do than we might think. I turned the lights off in front of the Remarkable Rock fluoro canvases and I could see as clear as day that the strange light effects kept happening. But Brian couldn’t. Ah well.

On the Beach by Clasina Boss

Peter Hastwell’s photos of India brought back many memories of almost 30 years ago, when I travelled there.

Washing by Peter Hastwell

Another great Art Feast day. There still plenty more happening so check out the program.