Painting with Papers exhibition debut for local artist

EXHIBITING her own art for the first time, Nambucca resident Leonie Harrison, aged in her seventies, presents Painting with Papers at Nexus Gallery in Bellingen.

Ms Harrison will host a free ‘meet the artist’ event with wine and nibbles between 12-noon – 2pm during the opening on Sunday 19 July.

“I will be there to talk about my collection and happy to chat with anyone,” she told News Of The Area.

Having been creative for many years, her art has evolved over time but it is only in the last year that she has begun to think of herself as an artist.

“Until then, I simply thought of myself as someone who created art,” Ms Harrison said.

“Some people are late bloomers; I consider myself to be one of them.”

Ms Harrison worked for many years in a variety of textiles, which led to combining textiles and paper, moving primarily to paper and stitch.

“I’m not sure why art is called ‘work’ when to me, and I suspect to many others, it feels more like play.”

Her artistic journey took her to the medium of collage.

“It’s common for collage artists to work with so-called found papers, such as pages from old books and manuscripts, envelopes and whatever comes to hand.

“I wanted my papers to be original, so I began to paint my own.”

She found painting to be such a joy that it became her art.

Recently her work took another turn when she realised she could translate her painted paper to canvas.

So began a journey of melding paper and paint to create abstract landscapes.

“While some of the pieces still have a collage feel to them, I love the canvases where the paper and paint blend into one.

The bedrock of all her art is colour, texture and mark making.

Painting with Papers combines each of these elements.

“I hope when people view my art they will take from it some of the joy and delight I experienced in creating it,” Ms Harrison said.

The exhibition runs until Thursday 13 August.

By Andrea FERRARI