Group holds annual art show

ABOUT forty artworks are on display at the Mercure Ballarat showcasing the output of members of the Tress Street Art Colony group.

Ten exhibitors are featuring in the show as part of the collective’s annual showcase and is open until Sunday 14 January.

Exhibitor, Sue Taylor, said a range of styles will be on display.

“It’ll be everything from landscapes, still life, and portraits,” she said. There’s acrylic, oil, graphite, and pastel works, and mainly paintings.

“This year we gave ourselves the challenge of creating a self-portrait each within four hours.

“It’s a very welcoming art group. We all learn from each other and it’s amazing the sort of knowledge that’s there between us.”

Tress Street Studio Art Colony was established more than 20 years ago by Ballarat creative Katrina Jens, with members meeting twice a week at the Golden Point-based namesake for group painting sessions.

As well as Taylor and Jens, artists Carolyn Bilson, Leona Ryan, Lorraine Collishaw, Jane Hand, Karen Garrett, Rob Taylor, Barb Hand, and Alan Marini will feature.

Taylor has been with Tress Street Studio for two years since moving from the Grampians region and said she’s excited to see the audience involvement in the group’s supportive ethos.

“It’s always exciting to get feedback and you learn from other people,” she said. “That’s what happens in our group, we learn from each other.

“It’s the ancient apprenticeship system of the great painters and we’re almost doing a modified form of that and learning from others. It’s extending that to the audience.”