Echoing the landscape in art

A CREATIVE learning experience is on its way to Dereel at the end of the month.

GP Arts members are hosting Echoing Landscape, a day of activity and showcases at the Dereel Community Centre on Sunday, 30 October.

They’re encouraging more than 70 fellow GP Arts members to revive their enthusiasm about their practice, and connect with likeminded creators.

Demonstrations will run throughout the day, with music performances and workshops, a photography tutorial, and ephemeral art, including paintings and drawings, to be created within the landscape.

Artist Malcolm Sanders will be in conversation with children’s book illustrators Liv Lorkin and Wendy Spall, while Lyn Dickson and Peter Walker will respectively do some sculptural outdoor art and drawing outside.

GP Arts president and ceramicist Barry Wemyss said the event is about giving something back to members and thanking them for retaining their membership in challenging times.

“It’s a free event, and we would love them to attend to reengage with arts practice if they have lapsed over the last couple of years, feeling like they couldn’t exhibit or take part in events,” he said.

“It’s a chance to meet, mingle, network, learn and give something. We hope our members can be active and enthusiastic contributors to GP Arts Inc.”

Members can bring artwork along to hang, and there will be a postcard exhibition and exchange.

Wemyss said the organisation would like to see more young up-and-coming artists in their collective.

“We have fantastic artists in Golden Plains, and there are far more than our members, and those we know about,” he said.

Echoing Landscape has stemmed from the pandemic and the cancellations of the Golden Plains Arts Trail in recent years.

GP Arts plans to run the trail again, depending on funding, and Wemyss is currently in the early planning stages for the Smythesdale Arts and Music Fiesta in February of 2023.

Visit gpartsinc.com.au and facebook.com/smythesdaleartsandmusicfiesta for more information.