Step into Africa in Buninyong

RAISED hearing her parents’ stories of their African travels, Ballarat artist Louise Frith long harboured a hankering to get there herself.

However, as a young adult in 2022, Frith developed complications after contracting COVID-19 and wasn’t well placed to fulfil her ambition.

Instead she turned her artistic abilities to painting the African animals of her childhood dreams. The result is her new small exhibition, Step Into Africa, that’s just gone on display at the Maggie and Kate cafe in Buninyong.

“I really love the colours of the African animals,” said Frith, whose creative passions saw her complete a degree in art history and curating through Monash University before going on to complete a Masters in heritage and museum studies at Deakin University.

“I’ve always loved art throughout my life and I went to uni and did the art-historical side of things with a few fine art electives in between,” she said.

“I’m now training to be a curator and I enjoy doing my own exhibitions because I get to curate them as well.”

Frith said that when she was unwell post-COVID, art became more important than ever in her life, offering both a source of escapism and a means to maintain positivity and productivity.

“Art was a really amazing way to keep myself focused,” she said.

“After I had COVID in 2022 I never really recovered. I was initially told I’d developed long COVID, and after about 18 months I was diagnosed with a heart condition associated with COVID and also an autoimmune condition called psoriatic arthritis.

“I am able to manage it with medication and it’s now really about managing my energy levels, which does impact my ability to travel.”

Step into Africa features a series of acrylic paintings on canvas, all of which Frith completed over the course of 18 months with each piece depicting an African animal.

“I started off with the two lions because I’ve always loved lions,” Frith said.

Meerkats, flamingos, a baby giraffe, a cheetah, a hippo and elephants are all among the subjects, and Frith has aimed to capture and celebrate something of each animal’s personality.

The works went on display last week and will remain on show through to 17 January at Unit 4/403 Warrenheip Street, Buninyong.