Life after 70 for local artist

SALLY O’Connor has unveiled her newest exhibition, ‘The Other Side of 70’ at the South Australian Hotel.

Running until August 30, it is a snapshot of the Mount Gambier artist’s work since celebrating her 70th birthday in 2020.

In a way Sally could be described as a late bloomer, given her first solo exhibition was in fact unveiled back in 2020 when she turned 70 and a celebration with family and friends wasn’t on the cards as the world navigated its way through COVID.

She has been exhibiting her work as part of collective exhibitions since 2017 but is was the 2020 Gallery 54 exhibition that saw her showcasing just her work – a debut solo exhibition.

“I’ve always loved art but I didn’t have the time or was steered in another direction which was fine,” Sally said.

It was in the mid-1980s when she took three months long service leave from her teaching role that she used the time to pursue her artistic ambitions, taking art classes at TAFE, when it called Wehl Street home, with Bev Puckridge and Chris Marks.

“Those classes blew me away,” Sally said. “But I still didn’t have the time to commit to it.”

Sally returned to classes in the early 2000s, starting a Cert IV at the Wireless Road TAFE campus with Deb Rogers and Ann Carpenter as her mentors.

“That was also fantastic but again I parked it,” she said.

That was until she retired but by that time there was no official art classes at TAFE and Sally feared she may have missed her chance.

Enter her former TAFE mentor Deb Rogers, who was running the Artsparks Art Therapy Group, and Sally had her classes and the opportunity to spread her artistic wings.

“That was so great,” Sally said. “Deb is so encouraging, which is wonderful. If someone is encouraging and likes some of your work it gives you all the strength, the will to try and pursue it further and to have a go and to see what you can produce.”

Despite the false starts on her own artistic career over the past three decades, art has always been a part of Sally’s life and collecting has been one of her passions.

With family in Hong Kong – Kait and Dean Aslin – that has been a regular stop on Sally’s art calendar.

“My first visit anywhere we travel has always been the galleries to see what’s around,” Sally said. “And with Kait and Dean in Hong Kong it has been an enormous influence for me. We have visited all the galleries in Hong Kong and they have a fabulous affordable art fair that’ve I’ve been to about four times. It gives you a huge range of art from all over the world, from different genres, different styles and I find it very exciting.”

Sally looks to devote some time every day to her art but admits it doesn’t pan out like that.

“I love cooking too and before you know it, the day is gone,” Sally said. “But I am thinking about art all the time.”

Sally has described herself as a semi-abstract artist and over recent years has developed a genuine passion for print making in all its forms, employing overprinting as one of her favoured techniques.

Life drawing is also one of Sally’s favourite artistic past times, again working in her semi-abstract style and she has a stunning space to work at home, above her husband’s workshop, where he crafted her a stunning cabinet to store paper, paints and set up her computer when required.

“I love it because I can leave my work there and some and go as a I please,” Sally said.

Sally has certainly packed a lot into the five years since she turned 70 including Nebula (Country Arts), Places of Eight Exhibition in Burra, Portrait Project, Holdfast Art Project, Secrets of Seaweed Exhibition and the formation of Holdfast Limestone Coast Incorporated.

‘The Other Side of 70’ showcases Sally’s interpretation of several themes over the past five years, drawing on multiple techniques to share her view with you.