Author: Geoff Park
In a Different Light – Australian Native Flower Photographs in Ultraviolet Light
In a Different Light – Australian Native Flower Photographs in Ultraviolet Light … an exhibition by David Oldfield
Why would you want to take such photos in the first place? This sounds like the question “Why would you want to climb Mount Everest?” The answer is not the one given by British mountaineer George Mallory – “Because it’s there” but probably more “Because nobody else is doing that for Australian flowers”.
David Oldfield was bitten by the photo bug while at school in England long before digital cameras were available and learnt all about the wonders of darkroom work. These days you can get digital cameras modified by specialist companies so that you can take photos invisible to human eyes. There is a small band of photographers around the world who enjoy seeing what happens when you use cameras far beyond what they were designed to do.
Many flowers have dark patterns on their petals which are visible under Ultraviolet (UV) light but invisible to the naked human eye. Scientific studies of honeybee vision have shown that their eyes are sensitive to UV, blue and green light. It appears that the dark patterns visible in UV may assist pollinating insects, such as honeybees, to find the nectar or pollen on the flowers. Overseas UV photographers have reported the existence of dark “bulls-eye” patterns on yellow petals in their images.
David has found that Australian flowers show similar patterns, as you will see if you visit his exhibition at the Newstead Arts Hub between 1st and 23rd June, open every Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm. It will also be open on Queens Birthday Monday 11th June.
The official opening will be Saturday 1st of June at 2pm.
Nature Photography on the Goldfields
Nature Photography on the Goldfields
The expression “taking photographs” is a curious and revealing usage. In English, we don’t “make” photographs, we “take” them. When photographing nature – wildlife, plants, landscapes – it can seem that the photographer “captures” a beauty already there, taking something that belongs to the subject, but without diminishing the subject.
Bronwyn Silver, Geoff Park and Patrick Kavanagh roam the goldfields of Central Victoria, stealing images of the beauty they find. Birds, mammals, plants, insects. Not even mosses and lichens are safe from their pilfering ways!
While the targets of their larceny are unaffected by the process, these thieves have been profoundly altered by the images they’ve stolen from the wild, seeing more deeply into the wonders of the natural environment. They are happy to share their bounty at Newstead Arts Hub this December.
Opening Hours 10 am – 4 pm
- Sat 1/12 & Sun 2/12
- Sat 8/12 & Sun 9/12
- Sat 15/12 & Sun 16/12
- Sat 22/12 & Sun 23/12
Exhibition launch Sunday 2/12 11 am
Expression of interest to exhibit – 2019
Newstead Railway Arts hub is accepting expressions of interest to exhibit in 2019.
We would be delighted to be contacted by artists who live or work in our local community or from further afield. The exhibition space is suited to solo or group shows.
The conditions of entry can be found on the website here:
Please email us newsteadartshub@gmail.com by December 20th 2018 to indicate your interest, providing the following information:
- Your name and address
- The preferred dates to exhibit (exhibitions run monthly)
- Two representational images which is indicative of your work/ your groups work
- A short description of the work in three sentences.
A shortlist will be in accordance of the Arts Hubs priority which is:
- Building creative networks in our region
- Supporting arts activities in Newstead
- Working with the Newstead community
After the expressions of interest close the management committee of the Arts Hub will shortlist the applications according to the diversity of artistic ideas, fit the creative rationale with the Arts Hub priorities and the dates proposed.
The Hubs decision will be final but some feedback will be provided if desired.
Diversity on show in November
Diversity is an exhibition of Ellen Hansa, with her siblings, Merete Hansa, Kari Tanberg, and Sean Stanyer, and friend Joan Ledwich.
A busy spring at the Hub
The Arts Hub Committee (and Garden sub-committee) has been busy meeting and planning stages for the planned landscaping around the Railway Building. The application for Pick and Project was not successful, but we thank the 124 people who did vote for our project. It wasn’t a bad response for a small town. We are still sorting out how to move ahead to create the first part of the plan and have submitted an application to the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) to assist with implementation.
On the exhibition front things have also been busy and vibrant. We have just farewelled a wonderful exhibition called Menagerie by Tegan Wheeldon & Laura Gibbs. The artists utilized intriguing methods of printmaking and painting to explore their interest in the natural world. Gibbs’ birds were beautifully finely painted in watercolour. Wheeldon utilized techniques of frottage and relief printing to explore a fusion of insect and textile.
The weekend of Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st October will feature an exhibition inspired by Hansel and Gretel. It is called NIBBLE NIBBLE and will be open from 4pm until 8pm both days. The students from Newstead Primary School will provide a different view of the railway station. Come along and see what they have created. If you miss this visual experience you can see it again on the following Friday 26th, Saturday 27th and Sunday 27th October from 4pm until 8pm.
Closely following this there will be an exhibition called Diversity. This will feature a well-known local identity, Ellen Hansa, along with Merete Hansa, Kari Tanberg, Joan Ledwich and Sean Stanya. The opening will be at 2pm on November 3rd. Everyone is welcome to come along.
Nibble, nibble @ The Hub
Menagerie: Tegan Wheeldon & Laura Gibbs
Menagerie is an exhibition of new works by Tegan Wheeldon and Laura Gibbs. The artists utilize methods of printmaking and painting to explore their interest in the natural world, with particular focus on avians and insects. Gibbs’ birds, finely painted in watercolour, are drawn from her immediate environment; the vast countryside and lakes of northern Victoria. Wheeldon utilizes techniques of frottage and relief printing to explore a fusion of insect and textile in her mandala-esque compositions. Together these artists weave a menagerie of feathers and antennae, beaks and mandibles, within the exhibition space.
Saturday 22 September – Sunday 14 October
Exhibition opening event: 2-4pm, Saturday 22 September
Exhibition hours: 10am – 3pm Friday, Saturday & Sunday
E: teganwheeldon@gmail.com
Wasteland to Wellspring … Pick our Project!
We need you to vote for our Newstead project. Funding will go to the projects that get the most votes. There are around 150 projects across our region seeking funding (and 2500 across the state), so there is a lot of competition! You can vote for three different projects. Voting closes at 5pm Monday 17 Sept 2018. Read our guide to voting below.
Background
Pick My Project is a new State government funding initiative. During June-July, Victorians were invited to propose a project that would benefit their community. Voting is now open on more than 2500 projects across Victoria.
The Newstead Railway Arts Hub project – Wasteland to Wellspring – proposes to create a vibrant sculptural garden at the Arts Hub to inspire our community and the arts. With the recent news from VicTrack and the Arts Salon on the restoration of the goods shed and conversion into arts-based workshops, this garden would convert the ‘wasteland’ around the station into a creative and beautiful entry to the precinct.
Now our community needs to vote to demonstrate that they are really behind the project. And, as we explain below, any Victorians over 16 can vote – so please ask your friends, relatives, colleagues – no matter where they live – to vote for our project.
Wasteland to Wellspring: a community art garden for Newstead’s Arts Hub
With VicTrack support, we now have a lovingly restored and well-used railway station building, but the surroundings remain an uninviting wasteland; muddy in winter, hot and unshaded in summer, inaccessible for wheelchairs and prams. Now, with lots of community input and working with the talented design team of Cassia and Anna Read, and a dedicated working group, we have created a garden design to inspire and connect our community. Funding through Pick My Project will enable us to realise our vision.
The design includes spaces for community celebration, cultural activities and quiet reflection. The garden will honour the many layers of our history – as Dja Dja Wurrung country through to today. And the garden will be a welcoming entry for locals and visitors alike into the evolving arts precinct at our railway station.
How to vote
The simple steps to voting are:
- First register at https://pickmyproject.vic.gov.au – you’ll need to register your name and contact details.
- Then, put your pin at the centre of Newstead, and look at the projects in our region. Wasteland to Wellspring is our project – please pick this one!
- You can create a short list of up to 6 projects as you look around at the different projects in our region.
- You need to vote for three projects, and you can’t give your three votes to the one project. Each vote is equal.
- Then, when you are ready, you can vote for three projects. Once your vote is in you can’t change it, so take your time!
Invite your neighbours, friends and relative to vote for our project as well. They can vote for projects in Newstead and our region no matter where they live in Victoria.
And if you need help to register or vote, please let us know as we want to make sure everyone in our community can vote on this great project: Call Geoff on 0418 138 632 or Chris on 5476 2457 and we will help you lodge your vote in another way.
A wonderful launch of ‘Earthbody’
‘Earthbody’ was beautifully launched last Sunday at the Arts Hub with a large and appreciative crowd in attendance.
Here is a lovely note from Ros Hart about her response to the event and the works.
Congratulations on a wonderful, wonder-filled art exhibition and a very enjoyable launch yesterday. I think this my favourite of all art exhibitions I have been to at the Arts Hub. I loved Belinda Prest’s work especially (wish I had $$$ to spare). Her work took me right back to my younger self when I was a jillaroo, out all day in the highlands of Victoria, looking across beautiful vistas which mending fences and attending to livestock.
My favourite of your lyrical pieces, (Saide), is the weaving in the second room. I loved the flow of the white through the burnt oranges and browns, underscoring the delicate and minimalist placed pieces pf your beloved found vegetation.
Ann Berg’s room was stunning too – reminded me of aboriginal dreaming. I could feel Ann’s heart in her work. Warm and powerful. ….
I loved the floaty ethereal, otherworldliness, dreamy quality of Chrisanne Blennerhassett’s work. It was full of heart.
Please pass onto your fellow artists my thanks and gratitude for the hard and heartfelt work you all do to bring insight, reflection and beauty into our world. Thank you from Ros.
Note: This Exhibition, EarthBody, is open all weekends in August from 11am – 5pm. Viewers and visitors are most welcome.
If any of the Friends of Newstead Railway ArtsHub would like to spend some time during August weekends assisting with minding the ARtsHub or joining in Words in Winter events please feel free to find out more at
Or contact us by email:
Or by phone
0419 543 667 text is fine.
Newstead Arts Hub 