From virus burnout to vibrant debut

CAROLE Callil’s story of finding art is a satisfying one that reminds people there’s more to life around the corner.

A professional nurse working in ICU, Callil was among those who “got slammed” during the COVID-19 pandemic as hospitals struggled to cope with the virus onslaught and the threats it posed.

At around the same time she experienced personal grief through the loss of her mother.

But it led her to discover a talent she didn’t even know she had when, experiencing “burnout” she took a year off and immersed herself in experimenting with painting geometrical shapes, fresh acrylic colours zinging off her canvases as she connected with another aspect of herself.

She gifted one of her paintings to her son, a content editor at Crikey who, impressed with his mother’s work, shared it on Twitter.

“It went viral. I had 12 million views,” Callil recounts.

She was in her 50s and she was discovering a brand new source of vibrancy in her life.

And, it seems, there are a lot of people who can’t get enough of the kind of creativity this Ballarat local is now sharing in her debut solo exhibition.

Launched this month at The Old Butchers Shop Gallery in Soldiers Hill, Where Colour Finds Its Shape showcases Callil’s innate facility with colour, structure and geometry, in a series of striking designs.

Through simple forms, clean lines, repeating patterns and a vibrant colour palette, viewers are immersed in the distinct emotional world of each painting, ranging from calm and meditative to dynamic and joyful.

Now returned part-time to nursing, Callil is quick to own the elements of restraint and discipline that can be seen in the mindful, recurrent geometry of her art.

She laughs, and muses that maybe the training that saw her become a theatre nurse working in ICU – and now on the recovery ward – may have rubbed off here as well.

“I love it. I do it every day. It’s been a real find and a real blessing,” she said.

“People say ‘it just makes me happy looking at it,’ which has been really nice, reaffirming. A lot of my friends have pieces now.”

Where Colour Finds Its Shape runs through to 29 March with the artist on site during gallery hours – 12pm to 4pm Saturdays and Sundays, or by appointment.