‘ Look Up, Look Down.’ an exhibition by Barbara Stuart – Olive Pink Botanic Gardens – August 10th – 26th 2012
This new body of work has mainly been inspired by the transformation of the desert by the rains beginning in 2009. Not expecting another year of rain Morris and I took a flight from Coober Pedy to Lake Eyre in 2009 believing this event wouldn’t happen again in our lifetime.
I’ve since painted from the photos I took during that flight. The rains have continued for three more years with resulting work emerging of the country and gorges around Alice Springs. Included in the exhibition are several images depicting the night skies mixed with aboriginal and creation themes. Mediums used are oils and watercolours, the paintings ranging from small to large.
She has a passion for the Australian landscape – especially the vast deserts of the Australian centre and the Northern Territory which she visits annually. A mainly self-taught photographer, artist, and teacher of water-colours, Barbara has staged many solo and shared art exhibitions in Victoria and Central Australia over the past 20 years. Her work is in private collections in Australia, the U.K., New Zealand, Japan and the U.S.A. Her images are also sold on cards and larger prints.
Barbara is passionate about multiculturalism and reconciliation in Australia. Through several trips to the Northern Territory, she has forged strong links with the Warlpiri people. She has initiated and undertaken a series of arts/reconciliation exchanges between Melbourne and Warlpiri women, so as to foster mutual understanding and to celebrate shared goals and dreams between Australian women of diverse cultural backgrounds.
Barb is widely travelled and seeks to reveal some of her passions through her work. She sees painting as a tool for communicating concepts, including her great love of light, design, colour, texture, tone and beauty, especially in Australia’s outback.
Her annual cultural visits to the Warlpiri community of Yuendumu N.T., plus her Afro/South American Aussie family have had a big influence on her life, faith, thinking, musical interests, cooking and artistic expression.