Growth on and off the canvas

WITHIN the Old Butchers’ Shop Gallery is a series of botanical paintings that aren’t just bright and beautiful, but explore deeper themes.

Grow and Flourish is the space’s current exhibition of acrylic-on-canvas works by Sarah McKenzie and features pieces created over the last year that tell stories of growth through hardship.

“I love the unique forms of native flowers, the diversity and colour, and the deeper meaning there,” she said.

“All living things have optimum conditions to thrive in, and natives can often still exist in really extreme conditions, and survive tough environments.

“Waratahs have dormant buds in their stems and after fires, they can still survive. It reflects the seasons of life. Personal growth, beauty, and joy, and how that can all still come about after deeper life challenges.”

When visitors walk into the gallery, McKenzie said she hopes they feel joy, lose themselves in the colours as she does in the studio, and think about their own personal growth and flourishing.

McKenzie is also a general practitioner who rediscovered her passion for experimenting through visual art in 2020 when she was asked to create works for her practice’s waiting room.

“That opportunity was exciting and daunting,” she said. “It reinvigorated my love for painting, and I realised what I’d missed.

“I listened to the podcast of local artist Susan Nethercote, and she emphasised the importance of making time for regular art practice, and just doing it.

“I made my art a more regular part of my life. Anything you enjoy doing, you should prioritise.”

Commissions came from friends and family, before McKenzie enrolled in an art business course where she found likeminded friends, and a network of fellow artists.

The exhibition is on until Sunday, 26 February at 112 Seymour Street, Soldiers Hill.