Discover the north’s hidden arts gems

GOLDEN Plains Arts Inc members in the Shire’s north are opening their creative studios monthly to share their work and spaces with curious art-loving visitors.

The next Hidden Gems Open Artist Studios event is planned for Saturday, 1 and Sunday, 2 May. Painter Kate Wise said five studio-galleries are involved.

“Raintree Art in Cambrian Hill is a gallery with lots of different Aboriginal art and lots of different artists paintings and products on show,” she said.

“Barry Wemyss is a ceramic artist of more than 20 years in Smythes Creek, making gorgeous minimalist ceramics. The other three studios are in Haddon.

“I do a mix of botanicals, abstracts and landscapes, Stella Clarke does oils, acrylics, drawings, seascapes and landscapes, and Vida Pearson and Fred Ross do printmaking and beautiful bespoke timber furniture, respectively.”

Wise said it’s important for artists to be accessible. As all participating studios are in the Shire’s north, close to the Pyrenees municipal border, and only 10 or 15 minutes from Ballarat, so they’re in a good location to reach region-wide audiences.

“Giving people a chance to see where we work and chat to us, see our tools and learn about our processes really helps them understand more about how we create art, and the time, effort and skill that goes into it,” Wise said.

“They’ll get a great sense of the care we give to art, and how important it is to us to make it.

“We think it’s a nice experience to take a tour, slow down, relax and check out what we’re doing.”

The studios will be open from 10am to 4pm on both days, or can be accessed throughout the year by appointment.

The annual Golden Plains Arts Trail was cancelled last year due to COVID-19. These events have been designed to fill that gap.