Lucy Bonnin set to brighten our world

Lucy Bonnin has spent a lot of time at the Mount Gambier Rail Lands, walking and cycling with her son, and eventually her artistic passion got the better of her and she could only see a dirty limestone wall as a potential canvas for her work.

“My son and I walk or ride through the Rail Lands every few days and I would often look at this expansive limestone wall that is so well positioned, but a bit grey,” Lucy said. “To me, it was an ideal space for something bright and inviting to further enhance the overall rail landscape.”

That vision is set to become a reality with Lucy not only securing permission to bring her talents to the popular community space but securing a grant from the City of Mount gambier’s Creative Arts Fund to complete her project.

Lucy’s large interactive mural will feature colourful balloons and will be located on the large vacant wall in the central plaza of the Mount Gambier Railway Lands.

“I moved to Mount Gambier with my family at the start of this year and appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the community and the region’s public art realm,” Lucy said.

“The mural is colourful, bold, and interactive. The design includes a collection of balloons symbolising joy, freedom, creativity, and hope.

“The interactive element adds to this sense of depth and allows viewers to stand at the bottom-centre of the mural and ‘hold’ the bunch of balloons by the string. This will create an excellent opportunity for people to take photos of themselves with the mural.”

“I certainly hope this public art would help to bring life to the city for all those who live here or pass through.”

It was a job transfer for her husband that saw Lucy and her family return to the region where her husband grew up and the move has secured more time with family and also a chance to continue to explore her art practice, building on a lifelong love of the creative arts.

“I have loved art for as long as I can remember,” Lucy said. “Making, creating, and building things has been a constant source of joy. Over the years I have also become more attracted to the technical aspects of the craft, which I think will be a lifelong challenge.

“I have always drawn inspiration from surrealism and translated this to the themes of my oil paintings. Over the years I moved into portraiture and ultimately large-scale murals, whilst maintaining a commitment to an objective and detailed style.”

Lucy was initially trained at Adelaide Central School of Art after earning a scholarship straight out of high school, but not all her training has been so formal.

“My favourite classes were with Anna Platten and Chris Orchard, who both specialise in techniques of classical realism,” Lucy said. “I think every artist is predominantly self-taught through a process of trial and error.”

Right now, bringing her vision to life in the Rail Lands is priority number one and she is also hoping to host a solo exhibition in the region later next year.

Lucy’s mural project is one of two projects recently endorsed as part of the 2023/24 Creative Arts Fund.

The program supports artists, community groups and not-for-profit organisations to deliver projects that contribute to a connected, vibrant, culturally diverse community.

Each year the Creative Arts Fund attracts a diverse range of applications, representing the broad interests and creative capacity of our arts community.

Tabitha Williams, from Little Blue Wren, was the other recipient and we will share Tabitha’s story in a coming edition.