Homecoming exhibtion for former teacher

Well known artist Rod Bax will be featured at the Naracoorte Regional Art Gallery this year for South Australian Living Artist’s (SALA) month.

Rod has connections with Naracoorte and its landscape that go back to his art teaching days at the Naracoorte High School from 1978 to 1988.

During this time Rod was on the board of the Art Gallery and was involved in the setting up of the gallery in its current location in Ormerod Street.

He has been exhibiting his work for more than 40 years. SALA began in 1998 to promote and celebrate visual artists in South Australia. From small beginnings it has grown to last year featuring the work of 12,000 artists including those who are emerging, midcareer or established. It is a very popular festival with galleries and venues in 2022 having 1.76 million visitors statewide.

Rod’s exhibition is called ‘Wetlands Wildlife and the Studio Dog’ and features 21 works. These include oil on clay board and canvas and gouache which is his specialty.

The focus of the artworks is on the wetlands of the Limestone Coast, magpies, pelicans and the studio dog.

The exhibition opening in the Main Gallery will be on Friday, July 21, at 6pm. The following day Rod will run a masterclass in drawing and painting.

Weather permitting, the workshop will start with sketching outdoors but participants are encouraged to bring an image of something they wish to paint, just in case.

This will be followed by transferring the sketch into a painting.

Rod will demonstrate using gouache but is happy to work in any medium or work or advise on an artwork already in progress. The workshop is filling fast.

Rod, who lives in Adelaide, said his time in the Limestone Coast ‘established a devotion to the recording of the natural world and developed a sense of awareness for the preservation and conservation of the environment’.

“Places like Bool Lagoon have been an inspiration since the late 70s,” he said.

The Rod Bax exhibition will be in the Naracoorte Gallery from July 21 to August 27.

Gallery hours are Wednesday to Friday 10am to 4pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 3pm. The Gallery can be contacted on (08)87623 390 or 0478 609 868.