Back to Burra

Len Bence – Hampton Cottage – Watercolour – $100

John Taylor – Bridge Street West, Burra – Oil $200 SOLD

Gerald Moore – The Duck Pond Burra – Oil – $320

Julie Wilson – Redruth Methodist Church – Oil – $2200

“I have 3 photographs of my wedding, two of which clearly show the Redruth methodist Church sign. The photos show a few well-known Burra identities who came to see the wedding.

I was Julie Pearce and married David Sara in 1957. Our three children James, Anne and Nicholas were born in the Burra Hospital and were christened in the Redruth Methodist Church. The church at the time had stained windows in honour of my grandmother May Pearce and David’s mother Hazel Sara.

The painting is of Anne in a fantasy setting taken from the burra Mine lookout. I included the roof of the church for sentimental reasons.”

Julie Wilson December 2012

Julie Wilson – Redruth Methodist Church – Wedding Photo

Julie Wilson – Redruth Methodist Church – Wedding Photo

Historically Burra has been a place that artists love to draw, paint, and photograph and to imaginatively express their feelings for the past – the remaining mine buildings and miners cottages, the creek with its caved-in dugouts, the town nestling in the fold of hills, seemingly lost in time.

Roslyn Batten – Down to those Burra Hills – Oil – $220 SOLD

Patrick Jones – Standing Tall – Photograph on Canvas – $250

Russell Philip – Boord St. Ruins – Colour pencil – $400

Appearances can be deceiving. Burra Gallery is an example of one of the town’s high achievers, thanks to the dedication of a trusty band of volunteers who keep the gallery maintained and running all through the year.

Burra Regional Art Gallery will welcome new volunteers at a morning tea to be held early in the New Year.

In the meantime, come along to the opening of “Back to Burra”, an exhibition all about Burra, the title derived from a week of festivities held in 1925 and 1937, when past residents were encouraged to return and renew their memories of the much loved town. The visionaries who made the gallery what it is today have been invited to attend a dinner on Saturday and to be present at Sunday’s launch by Judge Andrew Wilson. Those who are interested in the town’s many stories and images will not want to miss this date and time – 2pm Sunday 16 December, with the extra treat of a JMW Turner presentation by the Art Gallery of SA to follow.

Back to Burra – Annex

Scales on loan form the Bon Accord Mine Museum, used to weigh copper ore in the 1850’s

Copper Ore Scales – detail

Lisa Smedley – Rassemble – Textile – $3000

The new exhibition “Back to Burra” in Burra Gallery is not to be missed by locals and those who love Burra. The aim of the exhibition is to unite the past with the present and there are works by Len Bence, Aileen Moorhouse, Russell Philip, and Glenys Christopher, all Burra artists, with Aussie Kanck, Roland Weight, Allen Peters and many more that do just that. A view of the future is also displayed in a triptych by Kerry Youde, together with lots of beautiful jewellery and ceramics for sale to make the perfect Christmas gift.

Back to Burra – Bence Room

Roland Weight – The Burra Mines – Oil on board – $1200

Adrienne Matthews – Watercolour, Pastel and Pen & Wash – $140 to $150

“Back to Burra” is one of the biggest, best and most beautiful of exhibitions that have been shown in the gallery, and the most relevant for the region. Gallery opening times are 1 to 4 pm every day, with the exception of the Christmas/New Year break. The gallery thrives when local viewers take an interest. “Back to Burra” will be on show until 23 January 2013.

Back to Burra – Main Gallery

Kymm and Simon of the Mt Bryan Hotel are great supporters of the Gallery, art appreciation can be a tricky business if you almost fall into an unexpected canoe 🙂

“The final positioning of the canoe was great amusement. Choosing from this exhibition became an hour of discovery. We had great pleasure sharing the gallery with travellers, they are never disappointed. The chance to showcase reasons to visit our region and draw, paint, photograph or explore were on show. personally taken on a journey through time, on a canoe perhaps! into many interpretations of local landscapes.

Kind regards, Kymm and Simon.

PS. On display, volunteerism at its best.”

Back to Burra – Bence Room

Back to Burra – Bence Room

Kathleen Aird – Watercolour – $450 to $950

Kathleen Aird – Visiting Lis, Rabbit – detail – Watercolour – $950

Aileen McIllree Moorhouse – Burra scenes – Oil – NFS

Aileen McIllree Moorhouse – This Above All – Book

Roger Boehm – Burra Community School – Pen and Wash – NFS detail

Sylvia Cooper – Burra Sunrise – Photograph – $125

BACK TO BURRA
Comments by Artivist

Artists have been invited to make work celebrating Burra, producing a varied exhibition of landscapes, street scenes, historic buildings and impressions, all subjects to inspire in one small country town.

Suzy Tilley – Burra’s Changing Landscape – Acrylic – $290

Suzy Tilley – Burra’s Magnificent Merino Rams – Acrylic – $310 SOLD

Suzy Tilley’s paintings “Burra’s Magnificent Merino Ram” and “Burra’s Changing Landscape” show important aspects of the region, taken further in the bags and swatches of wool from Kath Lomman’s flock of coloured Mount Bryan sheep, soft and beautiful to tempt spinners and knitters.

Lise Temple – Late Afternoon, Burra Gorge – Oil – $1200

Roland Weight – Burra Diptich – Oil on board – $1200

Riverton artists Roland Weight, Tim Dell and Lise Temple favour the big gums and greener pastures of their locality.

Lise Temple – Driving Home – Oil – $2700

Lise’s abstracted Mid North landscapes of views caught by the minds eye give a strong impression of farmland encroached by development.

Tim Dell – Small Fire – Oil on Canvas – $900

Tim’s “Small Fire” causes immediate anxiety – a hazardous subject matter deftly handled.

Shana says: “I like the colours and it’s topical. If I had the money I would give it to my son in the CFS.”

Roland Weight – Land and Sun – Steel and Painting – $1200

Roland Weight – Land and Sun – Steel and Painting – $1200 detail

Roland’s landscape/sculpture is a creative mix of mediums stretched flat as if passing through with glimpses of familiar (and surprising) Mid North countryside flashing by.

Allen Peters – Turned Vases

Turned vases and bowls and sculpture by Allen Peters of Hallett use rough-hewn timbers from old fence posts gleaned round farms north of Burra.

Allen Peters – Horse Head – Sculpture – $250 SOLD

Allen Peters – Horse Head – Sculpture – $250 detail SOLD

Allen Peters – Back in 5 – Wood, Tin, Fibre & Steel – $500

His found-object wall sculpture in the Bence Room is a farmer’s delight and just needs the addition of a few cobwebs and an 8 legged inhabitant.

Mieke Danielse – Colour in the Gum -Acrylic – $350

The forest of tall timber by Mieke Danielse has attracted much attention from viewers with its eerie colours, other-world qualities and aura of mystery. Not all agree in the realm of “like” and “dislike” but that’s how it is with art – you stop to think and wonder.

Mieke Danielse – Under the Leaves – Acrylic – $300

Kate Jenkins – Becoming – Oil on Canvas – $1800

Kate Jenkins has chanced a portrait of two characters in front of a Burra Hills landscape. The double portrait gives the impression that the individuals are companionably posing, but only for a minute or two. The confusion this sets up makes an interesting dilemma for an artist with an ambitious project in mind – do the subjects have time?

BJ Moore of Kapunda has made two series of works about an aspect of Burra that clearly fascinates him – “Mine” and “Gorge”, both of the earth – one the historic man-made top-of-ground evidence of what’s going on below, the other demonstrating a gentler side of nature’s creation; in all, 11 digital prints.

Back to Burra – Bence Room

Aussie Kanck – Photography – $50 to $85

A group of 9 photographs from Aussie Kanck show aspects of Burra past and present. “Excellent value,” says Shana, who would choose “Vanishing Mist” and loves the moody skies in “Approaching Storm”.

“But “Old House” is a subject that has been done to death”, she says. “It’s old hat”.

That’s a matter of opinion!

Lise Temple – Land and Sky – Oil – $1200

Back to Burra – Bence Room

Back to Burra – Bence Room

Tim Dell – Riverton Landscape with Figure of a Woman – Oil on canvas $750