Dual exhibitions a family tribute

A LOCAL artist is displaying two exhibitions across Avoca in acknowledgement of the town’s familial connections.

The works of painter and mosaicist Bel Woodruff will feature across two galleries, with the Summer Series exhibition displayed at the Blue Pyrenees Estate and Sunrises, Sunsets, Twilights + MidDaze at Gallery 127.

Although Ballarat-born and based, Woodruff said the pieces provide a way of giving back to the place that helped inform her creative voice.

“My great aunty Elva was born over there, and she was an artist who had some artworks in my grandparents’ house, and I was very close with them,” she said.

“I saw those works as a very early influence. They really empowered me to honour my creative passions throughout my life.

“I felt like those pieces of art were very much pride of place in my grandparents’ home, and my aunt being born there just seemed like a beautiful symbolic connection to place and purpose.”

Thirty one of Woodruff’s pieces are being displayed across both galleries, all of which were created in the past two years.

When not painting, Woodruff works as an advocate for Jobs Victoria, and she sees her exhibitions as a way of assisting the recovering rural economy while intertwining with her creative output.

“For me, I bring my whole self to my work,” she said.

“So, working with people that may have barriers is something therapeutic for me like my art, and perhaps the intuitive nature of my pieces is an outcome of what I’ve done career-wise as well.”

“Maybe it’s a natural build-up of creative energy that’s got to come from somewhere.”

Both exhibitions are currently open, with the Summer Series running until Saturday, 30 April, and Sunrises, Sunsets, Twilights + MidDaze ending on Monday, 28 March.