Art of The Flower and Garden exhibition , Burra Regional Art Gallery 2020.

There are several highlights on the local gallery’s calendar every year. One of them being The Art Of The Flower And Garden exhibition, with two categories for the adults,contemporary and Traditional and several for the children’s section ,with participation from many of the local schools in the area.

It is always a delight to walk in and see the expertly hung exhibition, with space and consideration given to every single art work entered.

This year I had to art works entered, both works made with paper, something that I had never tried before.

After seeing some amazing works online, by a European paper artist – the name escapes me at the present – I had started to play around with a few different sorts of paper.

The first entry was Fungi Magic. Three basket fungi, made out of paper, finished with a coat of clear lacquer. Basket Fungi are endemic to Australia and New Zealand.

Fungi Magic, got me a Merit award, which was a very nice surprise.

My next entry; Ash Shower, was something I had had my doubts about. It was so left of center compared to the rest and not really a beautiful or feel good entry.

Ash Shower – refers to the drought and the terrible bush fires that Australia had experiences recently. With Ash being blown over big distances, falling from the sky in the cities as well as the country side, creating a fine layer of ash and giving anybody with breathing issues, more problems than normal. Was this the new “Normal”……? was this just something we would have to get used to? – and what are the long term effects on humans ,plants and animals, we don’t know, as yet?

Constructed from hundreds of pieces of paper that had been first ripped and then stuck together with a glue paste, that was grey from ash, from a local tree that burned in a recent fire. After they were dry, they were all burned at the edges and strung on thin fishing line, that was hung from a spiral construction, made from old rusty fencing wire. It was a stark contrast to all of the colorful paintings, with its prominent hanging spot, there was no way of not seeing it.

conveniently the gallery had the air con going, and that small movement of air, made the string move and twirl, it was quite mesmerizing to observe.

I was delighted and surprised to learn that Ash Shower had won the contemporary section of the Art Prize.

A huge Thank you to The Burra Art Gallery and its volunteers , a special thanks to Lis Jones Ingman and Kerry Youde for their tireless work behind the scenes.