Artists/ Poets
- Gavin McNamara / Jacqui Merckenschlager & Tash Adams
- Gavin McNamara / Rose van Son & Alistair Bain
- Gavin McNamara / Deb Micallef & Mar Bucknell
- Keith Indich / Andrew Burke & Carol Millner
- Lisa Coles / Scott-Patrick Mitchell & Saz Campbell
- Donna Barnsley / Coral Carter & Jan Napier
- Greg Barr / Liana Joy Christensen & Val Neubecker
- Chris White / Liz Nicholls & Sally Clarke
- Michael Sinclair / Sue Clennell & Colleen O’Grady
- Sharleen Jespersen / Gary Colombo De Piazzi & Virginia O’Keeffe
- Maynard Douglas / Glen Phillips & Julie Fearns-Pheasant
- Peter Dixon / Debra Ratcliffe & Christina Gammon
- Claire Burkin / Peter Rondel & Kevin Gillam
- Stephen Franklin / Peter Rondel & Nathan Hondros
- Karen Forbes-Smith / Janet Jackson & Maureen Sexton
- Josh Harper / Val Neubecker & Peter Jeffery
- Celia Elliot / Paula Jones & Catherine Szathmary
- Richard Kelly / Max Merckenschlager & Amanda Joy
- Catherine White / Tash Adams & Julienne Juschke
- Ric Sullivan / Christopher Konrad & Alistair Bain
- Delores Purdy / Mar Bucknell & Tanya Jaw
- Liliana Cheldi / Laurel Lamperd & Andrew Burke
- Lindsay Stubbs / Saz Campbell & Veronica Lake
- Michelle Storer / Deanne Leber & Dennis Greene
- Chris Curley / Meryl Manoy & Liana Joy Christensen
- Jane Gribben / Sally Clarke & Sandra McAlpine
- Karen Smith / John McBain & Sue Clennell
- Richard Smither / J.R. McRae & Gary Colombo De Piazzi
- Sammy Scopa / Jacqui Merckenschlager & Julie Fearns-Pheasant
- Wayne Cooper / Christina Gammon & Rose van Son
- Wayne Cooper / Kevin Gillam & Deb Micallef
- Sammy Scopa / Nathan Hondros & Carol Millner
- Robyn Edwards / Janet Jackson & Scott-Patrick Mitchell
- Elinor Doddrell / Peter Jeffery & Jan Napier
- Colette Deavin / Paula Jones & Val Neubecker
- Hugo Costa / Liz Nicholls & Amanda Joy
- Geoffrey Sykes / Colleen O’Grady & Julienne Juschke
- Eleana Bredemeyer / Christopher Konrad & Virginia O’Keeffe
- Darren Towie / Glen Phillips & Tanya Jaw
- Kerene Smith / Debra Ratcliffe & Laurel Lamperd
- Dylan Haylett / Peter Rondel & Veronica Lake
- Stephen Dodd / Deanne Leber & Paula Jones
- Elinor Doddrell / Meryl Manoy & Maureen Sexton
- Jeffrey Loh / Christopher Konrad & Sandra McAlpine
- Melissa Costanzo / Catherine Szathmary & John McBain
- Melissa Costanzo / Jacqui Merckenschlager & J.R. McRae
- Colette Deavin / Max Merckenschlager & Tash Adams
- Denis Tomlinson / Alistair Bain & Rose van Son
- Natasha Marchese / Val Neubecker & Deb Micallef
- Sue Mary Clark / Andrew Burke & Carol Millner
- Darren Towie & Eleana Bredemeyer / Saz Campbell & Scott-Patrick Mitchell
- Shelley Marcolina / Coral Carter & Jan Napier
- Tyng Lim / Dennis Greene & Val Neubecker
- Natala Cook / Liz Nicholls & Sally Clarke
- Lana Davie / Colleen O’Grady & Sue Clennell
- Rikki Trainor / Virginia O’Keeffe & Gary Colombo De Piazzi
- Vivienne Sharp / Julie Fearns-Pheasant & Glen Phillips
- Lisa Bernic / Debra Ratcliffe & Christina Gammon
- Kathy Adair / Kevin Gillam & Peter Rondel
- Graham McNally / Nathan Hondros & Jacqui Merckenschlager
- Lisa Bernic / Maureen Sexton & Janet Jackson
- Lisa Bernic / Meryl Manoy & Peter Jeffery
- Ken Reedy / Paula Jones & Catherine Szathmary
- Terry Cousins / Max Merckenschlager & Amanda Joy
- Peter Iland / Maureen Sexton & Julienne Juschke
- Anthony Pedrochi / Andrew Burke & Christopher Konrad
- Harry Wheeler / Saz Campbell & Tanya Jaw
- Graham Hoffman / Laurel Lamperd & Coral Carter
- Millie D’Rozario / Liana Joy Christensen & Veronica Lake
- Harry Wheeler / Deanne Leber & Sally Clarke
- Terry Ashton / Meryl Manoy & Sue Clennell
- Jenny Travers / Gary Colombo De Piazzi & Sandra McAlpine
- Terri Haynes / Julie Fearns-Pheasant & John McBain
- Terry Ashton / Christina Gammon & J.R. McRae
- Terry Ashton / Kevin Gillam & Jacqui Merckenschlager
- Graham Hoffman / Nathan Hondros & Rose van Son
- Adrian Chadwick / Deb Micallef & Janet Jackson
- Jodie Bateman / Carol Millner & Peter Jeffery
- Jennifer Hyde / Paula Jones & Scott-Patrick Mitchell
- Jennifer Hyde / Amanda Joy, Dennis Greene & Laurel Lamperd
- Jodie Bateman / Val Neubecker & Julienne Juschke
- John Pearson / Liz Nicholls & Christopher Konrad
- Douglas Hard / Colleen O’Grady & Tanya Jaw
- Raymond Hill / Maureen Sexton & Virginia O’Keeffe
- Katie Bassett / Glen Phillips & Veronica Lake
- Sean Roche / Deanne Leber & Debra Ratcliffe
- Mathew Froud / Peter Rondel & Meryl Manoy
- Ruth Marpole / Sandra McAlpine & Max Merckenschlager
- Janelle McMahon / Maureen Sexton & John McBain
- Gynetta Panaia / Saz Campbell & J.R. McRae
- Adam Bosich / Catherine Szathmary & Coral Carter
- Raymond Thomas / Liana Joy Christensen & Max Merckenschlager
- Tony Santoro / Dennis Greene & Tash Adams
- Tony Santoro / Jan Napier & Alistair Bain
- Jane Griben / Liana Joy Christensen & Jake Dennis
- Gavin McNamara
25 x 32 acrylic on canvas
I Have A Dream
I have a dream of a boat on the blue,
not a pirate ship with a roguish crew,
not a busy tug with a ship in tow,
not a submarine lurking deep below,
not an ocean liner for the spoilt and rich,
just a little blue boat for me and Mitch.
Jacqui Merckenschlager
Treasure Hunt
I did not choose this vessel
to sail the sea of life
But c’mon and take the time
to see what’s inside
Come listen to my tales of life on the sea.
Each golden sunrise, a shiny opportunity
to fossick for treasures and adventures untold
as life’s treasure map will always unfold.
Natasha L Adams
- Gavin McNamara
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Nest
Such violet blue
like bird or plane that flies
straight to my heart
and settles there.
Is that a wave I see from you?
Rose van Son
Myth Rainbow
the rainbow woman fell
creating a new myth, a river sweeping
leaping through her blouse
her hand reaching for green banked grasses
flushed with the effort of explosion
her body given as landscape
a hand a cross, a windmill
and to remind us – a colour yet to come
Alistair Bain
- Gavin McNamara
50 x 40 acrylic on canvas
Golden
Sunlight through a stained-glass window,
Floating on a breeze
Settling on water like a shimmering rainbow,
Stretching and folding back in like a soundless
Accordion
Sunset on the water, or maybe sunrise
Lacy patterns of Ruby and Gold
Coral curves pulsating, reef fish
Shining scales on spongy fingers
Sky grazing water, trickling trail of molten metals
Fading with the light
Deb Micallef
the skateboarder launches
off the rail
a moment in the air
held forever nothing else matters
Mar Bucknell
- Keith Indich
45 x 35 acrylic on canvas
Your applause runs
like sunlight down
rain-filled gutters…
My wife tries to talk
but I can’t hear her over
green cauliflower cooking
over red flames. My dog
jumps up to see and barks
to see such fun. (Who
ran away with the spoon?)
Andrew Burke
Hand Song
These hands gloved in paint stamp themselves on to the page
improvise a rhythm in red, white & black. Forget
‘the pale hands’ of poetry these hands beat and dig and jive,
navigate black, hand out hand rails go hand over hand over
hand, take their bearings, sing the land.
Carol Millner
Back to top
- Lisa Coles
35 x 45 acrylic on canvas
pomme
help me paint the sky with potatoes
. stars sing a poem of dappling the
earth, apples birthed from dirt
, ground swell constellating nightdom
, dark clumps undone. we harvest
fields, we paint pages, we mash
everything together
.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
Potato Stars
Star bright star light
I wish upon a star tonight
my falling ones to fly me free
with potato stars I shall abide
this tide from where I come
until it’s time to take me home
fly fly my precious one
cross over to a timeless shore
with the planets, moon and sun
the Universe and I as one
Saz Campbell
Inspired by Celine Dion’s ‘Fly’
Back to top
- Donna Barnsley
40 x 50 acrylic on canvas
before me
the page
hospital white
inside me a colour collection
i dip my paintbrush
each splash a tenor chorus
each dab a dance dalliance
each stroke my heart message
Coral Carter
That’s me in the corner by the pool.
I’m bored it’s too cold to swim.
Everything is grey the clouds
the garden the water.
I want to be warm and happy
so in my mind I splash it all
with sunshine grapes tabasco lime.
Smile take off my jumper.
Jan Napier
- Greg Barr
25 x 60 acrylic on canvas
Aurora Australis
The blue planet
in the front row
has the best seat
for the big show
The dark curtain
of the night plays
all the bright shades
of the light’s grace
Liana Joy Christensen
the last rays of the sun
glance across
tumbling cascades;
an uneasy sky
shadows
ferns, flowers, fireflies…
down to the depths.
Val Neubecker
- Chris White
40 x 50 acrylic on canvas
Acrylic and canvas take me
to a sun soaked cottage
a garden coaxed
from harsh dry earth –
hibiscus ivy plumbago
cling to tumbledown fences
chooks scratch around
under an old lemon tree
and there are fresh eggs
for breakfast every Sunday.
Liz Nicholls
my clever toes
know pigments
wield the brush
squish and swirl
the paint-filled sponge
trees flower
in a mid-summer garden
luminous bands appear
in an aurora borealis sky—
my happiness
Sally Clarke
- Michael Sinclair
25 x 25 acrylic on canvas
Africa
So much blood in my country
of tigers, elephants, men.
So many women crying,
watering the brown soil.
Sue Clennell
Here is my arm – see the colour? A pretty hue.
My eye looks up; I paint it true.
Michael takes the risk and his work dances.
With his favourite disk, his work enhances.
He flourishes the brush in waving lines,
This artwork he loves and his face shines.
This for the exhibition he made very clear,
As he moved the brush in dots very near
the waving lines. Such dedication,
he paints away without hesitation.
Colleen O’Grady
- Sharleen Jespersen
32 x 20 watercolour on paper
In my hands the colours
of sun and foliage swirl
furl with fire and water.
Delivered in the sweep
of a brush and leap
from my fingertips
in a dance to fill dreams
with stories boldly told.
Gary Colombo De Piazzi
Across the yellow plain spinifex humps and hides old lizard
Rainmaker sits clapping his sticks
Calls up lightning, calls up thunder
Rumbling out of the hills
Tumbling, whipping, splintering air
Shards of white awe hunt the lizard.
And in the aftermath, the puddles
Chainstitch the sand.
Virginia O’Keeffe
- Maynard Douglas
30 x 21 pastel on paper
Still Life
You see the old masters
painting a still life.
It could be a pink bowl
full of green pears
or a tulip bouquet.
But I see colour strokes
one upon one
claiming freedom
of the canvas,
freedom of life.
Glen Phillips
‘Bending Autumn Trees in the Park’
I’m sat sitting in my favourite park
Contemplating my toes and the shadow they cast
on the path in front of the bench.
I hear the sound of a duck on the water nearby
and look up, noticing stuff for the first time..
The trees look like a bending blanket of awesome
colours, happy together…
…the shadows the blanket casts are like blocks
bending and blending…
Julie Fearns-Pheasant
- Peter Dixon
35 x 25 acrylic on canvas
The Orange Spider
An orange spider dropped and dangled
As I walked beneath a tree
Its web was crumpled and its legs were tangled
but it gave a smile to me
As I moved nearer, it became clearer
its smile wasn’t as it should be
with one sharp tug, it reeled in a bug
and I was invited for tea.
Debra Ratcliffe
warm earth bathes
in sunlight
a fervent fusion
beside blooms
peeking from patches
of purity
Christina Gammon
- Claire Burkin
25 x 18 acrylic on canvas
Waiting
What fickle creature people are
we spend our lives in queues,
in busy supermarkets
or at sales when buying shoes.
These people stand so quietly
and pay no heed to us,
their day is done and everyone
is queuing for the bus.
Peter Rondel
losing North
jaundiced streetlight, losing North,
the weight of angst?
blood on the eyelids
wind freshening to thirty knots,
jaundiced North, losing streetlight
as the day’s light retires,
eyelids blooded
this day, light retiring,
dark’s consolation
in angst, waiting
Kevin Gillam
- Stephen Franklin
23 x 27 paper print
A light bulb
The porch light shines into the night
to bathe the lawn in shadowed light,
and like a beacon shining there
draws moths and insect everywhere;
they dance there for the world to see
performing every night for me.
Those beetles green and moths of red
write poetry within my head,
but when the sun wakes up once more
I realize what night was for.
Peter Rondel
in this fragile geometry
he points out the multifaceted
direction of last things
of the tension formed between shape and colour
but then trees appear
in the red and gold
the road signs
of winter pre-dawn
Nathan Hondros
- Karen Forbes-Smith
42 x 31 collage
From our central curl
we send across the floor our various breaths,
our bits, our strips and feathers. Deployed
on the clean orange space
they cluster in yellow and blue
with a green flag, a pink wink and a purple teardrop.
Their tendrils extend, quietly,
over the hard white walls
into the blankness that frames us
and make shadows there.
Janet Jackson
paper and feathers
perfectly woven
threaded together
no need for rock or scissors
paper flutters
feathers fly off the page
in a tapestry of texture
and freedom
Maureen Sexton
- Josh Harper
60 x 42 pastel on paper
Come and step into my maze
and see what you can find;
a boat so blue
a boomerang, too
an open book
a crown in a nook
The deeper you wind
more treasures you find
But, now, can you find……
……your way out?
Val Neubecker
Words, Words, Worlds
The word ‘poetry’ comes from a Greek word –
To make, to form, to build –
And here in lively color and every filled space
You Josh create a city of words
Which in turn relays into my collection of words.
Together we can build worlds out of words.
Peter Jeffery OAM
- Celia Elliot
50 x 35 acrylic on canvas
Stained Glass
Catch me in the curved colour of the glass.
Reflect me in the whole world of the room.
Chase me in the liquid claret and indigo cubes.
And let me stain your senses
with the smooth discovery
of the impossible.
Paula Jones
Peacock Dance
Peacock dance
Bow and prance
Shake and shimmer
Dusk and glimmer
From those who seek emancipation
You engender admiration
Strut in gorgeous feathered glory
Tell to all, your story.
Catherine Szathmary
- Richard Kelly
16 dia. ceramic bowl
The Potter’s Slip
With jaunty slip of playful lip,
disarming and beguiling,
my potter’s hope through slidey slope
is set to get you smiling.
Max Merckenschlager
Echo the shape of a wheel
with your hands,
find their centre
Fill this with clay, allow
the wheel to turn, the
clay. Add water.
Create depth with
your thumbs, give it
some lip.
Find the shape of your
cupped hands, mirrored
between them. Offer this
to fire, to stone.
Amanda Joy
- Catherine White
160 x 90 silk paint on silk
Blue-Red Feelings
Mulberries on the tree for
my birthday. In your garden
we eat and play Armies –
bang bang! You’re dead!
We laugh as we fall down
juice stains on our shirts
We trace shapes in the clouds
the sun illuminating your face
Tash Adams
What Do You See?
What can you see … in the clouds?
I see lakes with bays, and clear blue streams
I see technicolour sheep, appear in my dreams
There are lush, green hills, and a magnificent scene
Of a cotton-wool bed, where young chicks convene
What do you see?
Julienne Juschke
- Ric Sullivan
60 x 90 acrylic on canvas
Yellow Water
Balloon me to the East Alligator River
Transport me over that vast yellow water
Let others have their Arno’s, Seine’s and Rheine’s
It is there in those Northern seasonal reeds
In the heartland of country
That we will be reminded
It is where and who we are
That makes our art
Christopher Konrad
Tadpoles
in here almost beyond belief
catch the flicker that darts
from your shadow
am i so impressive, imposing
to cause panic
in things so small, and so complete
Alistair Bain
- Delores Purdy
50 x 35 acrylic on paper
forest floor
continuity
and discontinuity
you want to live forever
worms will eat all of us
Mar Bucknell
Gathering forth
Towards the beat of the African drum
If only we could hear
Wrinkled elders as old as earth
Your ancient ways
Told and retold
On dusty trails
Tanya Jaw
- Liliana Cheldi
35 x 25 acrylic on canvas
Little Black Dog
My little black dog
barking at the yellow moon.
What can you see up there
little dog?
A slice of holey cheese
or maybe Neil Armstrong’s footprints.
Laurel Lamperd
Rhythm of waves shapes the land
where seeds dropped by seabirds
burst into life, fronds waving
in afternoon sea breezes.
Blue sky reflects blue sea,
white-topped waves beneath
white-bellied clouds.
All is peace here, tranquil,
until the school bell rings.
Andrew Burke
- Lindsay Stubbs
30 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Doodles and Dithers
Tinctures for turtles
trains at T junctions
tiptoe with big toes
doodles and dithers
green aeroplanes fly
jellies in the sky
catch me to teach me
rhyming and rhythms
Saz Campbell
A Distant View
Looking out I see a new world,
new horizons filled with unknown promise.
The familiar is secure, bound by fences
Out there danger waits; ready to unfurl
excitement, peril, adventure beyond control.
in the distance I see harmony;
hard won peace, tranquillity
a map of the future unravels and unfolds.
Life is full of chances some of which we choose.
If we stay behind the fence, how much will we lose?
Veronica Lake
- Michelle Storer
35 x 28 acrylic on canvas
they say it’s the way
water gathers into light
but beam to beam
we are joined
she caresses my tears
I caress her heart
We remember in rainbows
Stretching from her to me
Every colour dances from her smile
Every colour her gift to me
Deanne Leber
My mother lives in the rainbow
The rainbow lives in the sky
Not so I.
I am the green girl
asleep on the earth
awaiting with joy
my mothers calling
Dennis Greene
- Chris Curley
25 x 20 acrylic on canvas
Impressions
Sweeping sundrenched sands
verdant vegetation
rugged rocky outcrops
illusory impressions.
Meryl Manoy
The Continent Looks Up
It’s a short flight
between then and now
in this moment
the whole is shown
each rock and tree
and crop distinct
a perfect setting for
that rare blue gem
Liana Joy Christensen
- Jane Gribben
35 x 28 acrylic on canvas
colour my garden
sunflower yellow
salvia red
cornflower blue
placed one-by-one
delicate
glowing light
merging summer sun
Sally Clarke
I can see some of the garden outside,
as I peer through the glass brick wall.
The flowers moving like an ocean tide,
their coloured heads on stems so tall.
It’s not plain to see what each could be,
looking through shiny but fuzzy glass.
There’s yellow, red and some blue I see,
But it’s warm and helps the time to pass.
Sandra McAlpine
- Karen Smith
30 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Carin’
Well, she hasn’t got a photo
So I can’t tell you her age
Yet I know she signs her art
At the top left side of the page
It’s got earth right at the bottom
And a nice rainbow with no sky
With the west coast in the middle
It makes me sort of wonder why
Is she thinkin’ of our long coastline
Or an eagle soaring way up high?
John McBain
Quinten, Dean, Andrew, Brett,
Daniel, Nicholas, Adam, Josh,
Sam, Bradd, Jack, Shannon,
Mark and Mitchell,
all make up colours of my rainbow,
as they run, dodge and leap,
soar like their namesake in the sky.
Sue Clennell
- Richard Smither
26 x 20 acrylic on canvas
Imagination
What can I see,
A tall, green tree
Reaching out its arms to me.
What can I feel a sun, warm slope
I can lean against and breathe in hope.
The sun is blue, the sky is gold,
The grass is a sea, my mind can hold.
What can you see?
What can you feel?
I paint my joy and that is real!
J.R. McRae
The world seen
through a dog’s eye
may seem bland
without
rainbow colours
but love holds
all the hues
one could desire.
Gary Colombo De Piazzi
- Sammy Scopa
36 x 28 acrylic on canvas
When Eagles Fly
When the eagles fly,
like a flock of gold on blue,
the cheering crowd rises as a cresting wave,
breaking in a thunderous roar.
A winning goal as the siren screams!
Jacqui Merckenschlager
‘Flying High’
They make my day
Flying high
Kicking the ball
Best in the World…
They make my day
Flying high
If I could paint and drive my caravan
It would shine and fly like an Eagle ball…
The Eagles are cool bananas
Best in the World, making my day.
Julie Fearns-Pheasant
- Wayne Cooper
30 x 30 acrylic on canvas
take the fruit
from still life with fruit
eat, enjoy, squander, discard
bowl vine table and all
do what you will and
leave me with what is left
still life.
Christina Gammon
It could be van Gogh
a table set for two or three
those arms like nature blend
cherries, pears, banana too
so rich and ripe
as hunger calls
those arms lean forward
bend to welcome me
Rose van Son
- Wayne Cooper
25 x 20 acrylic on canvas
Friday Night
Friday night,
and seven jaffas
free of the box
meet up with
four grapes
off the bunch,
the possibilities
far beyond
frames of
land or sea
Kevin Gillam
Flowers
Outside my window
Flowers dance in the soft breeze
Touched by morning dew
Outside my window
Raindrops slide down the smooth glass
Flowers growing wet
Inside my window
Curtains dance in the soft breeze
Flowers in a vase
Deb Micallef
- Sammy Scopa
30 x 30 acrylic on canvas
it’s impossible not to see this oiled
engine for freedom on the open road
tearing through its limitations
like a rocket through an interstate border
searching out miles of blue and gold daylight
on its way away from here
but this caravan won’t forget to come to rest
at night beside the highway
protecting us from all sorts of weather
preparing for the new day’s flight
Nathan Hondros
Icon
The caravan is so still on the page
swiftly it passes me through all the blue green
green blue landscape camping yellow sun
shower days I can remember playing draughts
waiting for the rain to pass jumping in to swim
in deep water watching the whitebait run
kicking a footy climbing a tree cooking up
some damper writing a poem reading a book
taking a look at the country round about
blue green green blue
yet the caravan is so still on the page
Carol Millner
- Robyn Edwards
40 x 30 mixed media on canvas
We be three confident chicks
with midnight feathers ‘n legs like sticks
On cobbled land we strut ‘n frisk,
pose for the cameras, take a risk
We relish ‘n polish our personal flaws
in this stony zone where nothin’ grows
but we, dancin’ under radical skies
with tails a-wag ‘n comin’-at-ya eyes
Janet Jackson
we clan, we plan
we gather. we flock. we
feather. we pebble. we
crew. we glue. we are
few, but many. we
collect ourselves around
ourselves. our long necks
can see the future, where
we are still friends. we
clan, we plan, forever
.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
- Elinor Doddrell
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Frozen Fireworks
Your lovely coloured trees
are frozen fireworks .
Each branch crackles with life.
Peter Jeffery OAM
Mother Teresa
Reached out to the untouchables.
Blessed the humble fed the hungry
eased the dying.
Kindle three candles.
Celebrate a frail presence set alight
by love’s matchless passion.
Jan Napier
- Colette Deavin
60 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Rainbow in Reverse
when it rains
the sky bleeds colours
like a rainbow in reverse
like a waterfall paintbox
spilling colours to the floor
so in springtime
they surprise us
in the carnival of flowers
of the bush
Paula Jones
Queuing for an Audition
Dressed to impress
they wait in a line,
nervously hope
they remember their line,
their futures, you see,
are all on the line –
only one in the line will be chosen.
Val Neubecker
- Hugo Costa
60 x 30 acrylic on canvas
The weather man warns –
giant waves will crash
wild winds will blow
trees could come down
gutters overflow
but I don’t care
I’ll stay home
listen to music
and paint spring.
Liz Nicholls
Hugo’s hands in the paint
The paint on Hugo’s hands
spread rumours of giant red birds
blue lakes fed by rain and green
and broad leafed trees
to hide them all in
Amanda Joy
- Geoffrey Sykes
60 x 30 acrylic on canvas
A beautiful painting of sand and greenery
Is Geoff’s interpretation of scenery.
A helping hand is all he requires
To get the colours he desires.
A touch of blue between the green
Is the sky’s hue easily seen.
Roadways he did in shades of brown
With other colours portraying town.
There’s the footy field in a splodge of green.
Geoff paints of things where he has been.
Colleen O’Grady
Bright Sensation
I love weekends with family and friends,
for colourful conversation.
And to go to the footy with lots of fans,
and cheer with the whole Aussie nation.
Linked to my life, a whole range of people,
to be wrapped in great celebration.
This artwork description applies to them all.
Each one is a Bright Sensation.
Julienne Juschke
- Eleana Bredemeyer
25 x 20 acrylic on canvas
The sign of We
I do carry you within me
At the least the potential you
Whether that be the colour yellow upon meeting blue
Or you the viewer of my wares
But this deep green is another invention
It manifests new worlds upon being aired and
Entering into me
It hails a whole new language
The sign of we
Christopher Konrad
Across the ink of squid and pippis we send our souls
The sea accepts us impartially , sometimes we are food
Sometimes we are pleasure takers
Sometimes we voyage to take for ourselves
But always somewhere the sun is setting on oceans
On squid ink and pippis down by the sea.
Virginia O’Keeffe
- Darren Towie
25 x 20 acrylic on canvas
Falling Apples
Running the race to beat the school bell’s tolling
in autumn chill days we jogged past apple trees
fogbound in a neighbour’s orchard. Newton’s apples
of gravity were no heavier than these beauties, hefty
red globules waiting to be unstemmed by rough schoolboy
tugging for a munched crisp lunch at the school’s first break.
Glen Phillips
Life is an apple tree
Ripe and ready for me
Shake it hard
Or
Wait for fruit to fall
Either way
I can gather
The deliciousness of it all
Tanya Jaw
- Kerene Smith
20 x 25 acrylic on canvas
A Touch of Flowers
A touch of flowers
gold and blue, they hum with love
deep within their hearts
A bouquet of gold and
blossoms blue
dabs of flowers
Just for you
Debra Ratcliffe
Sunflowers
Sunflowers dancing in the breeze
like Wordworth’s daffodils.
Strong colours beneath a hot sun
so different to the pale golden beauties
from that other chilly land.
Laurel Lamperd
- Dylan Haylett
40 x 50 mixed media on canvas
Wonderland
Out beyond the garden wall
where rabbits play and weeds grow tall,
there is a place I’ve never seen,
a place where all that grows is green
and fluffy clouds hang in the sky
but never rain – I wonder why,
Perhaps I’ll visit there some day
before I lose the will to play
and do those childish things once more
for that is what that place is for.
Peter Rondel
Sanctuary
In this quiet place,
Rocks and river water go tumbling to the sea.
Here is tranquillity, time to pause and listen,
time to see green things growing,
reaching up to golden sun.
In this quiet place,
The puff and drift of clouds caress blue skies
Here is serenity, time to dream and hope,
time to plan rainbow tomorrows.
In this quiet place, there is sanctuary.
Veronica Lake
- Stephen Dodd
35 x 45 mixed media on canvas
I write books on bark
prayers on leaves
poems on stems
and small affirmations
concealed in seeds
I plant for tomorrow
Deanne Leber
Tree of Life
Stretched from bare root fingers
a thick trunk paints a path
leaves whisper ‘autumn’s here’
and whistle pods sizzle wind seeds
filling the air with warm song.
This is my golden opportunity.
Paula Jones
- Elinor Doddrell
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Chariot Race
I watch two red horses
a green chariot with
two green wheels
and green driver
surge forward to
the finishing line.
Meryl Manoy
feel velvet green caress your skin
hear sizzling red tickle your ears
taste lemon yellow tart on your tongue
breathe in deep and smell the beauty
as you see my painting unfold
and know
this is my gift to you
Maureen Sexton
- Jeffrey Loh
30 x 40 acrylic on canvas
Myth Bird
I look through your fire window
and on the other side
all the possibilities in the world
I see sky the spirit behind this flame
the rising phoenix of you who opened that window
You who crafted these possibilities
and my heart-mind is created new
It is love that rises like the sky
like the mythical bird
like you
Christopher Konrad
Looking into the flames of the fire,
there is more than just wood in there.
The heat is spitting out fierce colours,
like nylon ribbons dancing in the air.
Sandra McAlpine
- Melissa Costanzo
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Sunrise
I sip my hot tea
While drinking in the sunrise
Through my poets’ eyes
No shepherd’s warning
Natures glorious dawning
To start my morning
Catherine Szathmary
Favourite Hat
I reckon it’s her very favourite one
The one for those fun creative times
If she was writing down some poetry
It’d have some really lovely rhymes
And as I’m looking into her canvas
I’m wondering what’s it saying to us?
There’s nothing that’s right or wrong
And nothing that’s good or bad, yet
If we think our Melissa isn’t happy
All of our country should feel sad
John McBain
- Melissa Costanzo
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Deep Purple
Frenetic, energetic,
pulsing on the crest of savage rage,
bruised and blue for me and you,
Purple pluck disciples on their stage.
Jacqui Merckenschlager
Creating
I love to mix the rich, deep tones
And make new colours of my own.
I love the way the colours blend!
Stroke, splash, and line
They weave and wend
And come together and combine
To make something unique
That’s mine!
J.R. McRae
- Colette Deavin
75 x 40 acrylic on canvas
After The Rain
After the rain
brown-skinned children
pattern the creekbed
with squelching toes
as a searing sun
steals the last puddle.
Max Merckenschlager
Present
A postcard of this moment
To bring these feelings home
I can start over in this moment
and walk beside
Your footprints in the sand
Tash Adams
- Denis Tomlinson
45 x 35 acrylic on canvas
Life Among Rubble
the long-horn mouths of the clouds
celebrate the raging refusal to lie down
in pastel or grey or spiked dry dearth
i remember the tulips, like this, slabbed
patterned, zephyr-caressed, in places
the work of human hands thought they’d made
a pleasant planting, not counting on
creation’s connection with soil that is soil
from the molecules of mountains and river-trammelled rock
the eye of life among rubble, hidden and exploding
Alistair Bain
Tumbleweed
across the sky circling cloud
a legacy of ochre blend
the road to your house
close again
and on the road wine will flow
and on the grass your toes
will carve a path again
Rose van Son
- Natasha Marchese
45 x 35 acrylic on canvas
Two Little Ducklings
We ducked off as the sun set,
Permission? – we had none,
We flapped around a muddy pool,
Such squishy-wishy fun.
We looked in both directions,
Surveillance should be double,
But, uh-oh, here come Mum and Dad,
I think we’re in big trouble.
Val Neubecker
Ice cream
In a bowl, in a cone
With a topping, on its own
Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, honey
Eat it quickly when it’s sunny
In a waffle cone, on a stick
Lots of toppings, take your pick
Milk shake, thick shake, as a drink
Take your pick, but make mine pink!
Deb Micallef
- Sue Mary Clark
45 x 35 acrylic on canvas
Dance, lady, dance,
flamenco red on
hot summer sands …
Red chilli peppers
in the blistering sun …
Paint sings as
your brushes swirl –
Dance, lady, dance!
Andrew Burke
dance
softly we have become round
we dance with suffis
inscribe circles lift weightless
spirals brush open
the secrets of the universe
dissolve in lemon
saffron vermillion gold
Carol Millner
- Darren Towie & Eleana Bredemeyer
Twin panel 35 x 45 acrylic on canvas
Fields of Gold Companions
Unfurl your wings this landscape invites
to soar across fields of gold
companions these trees our friends
these sweet these blessed living things
enveloped we are whole
twin souls with one another
this landscape of all and everything
invites us unfurl your wings
Saz Campbell
psychoanalysis
Rorschach showed me the world &
folded it in half. ‘what do you see?
’ he hmmmmmed. i replied ‘i see the
beauty of the lightness of being, the
ability to reach darkness’edge, to
find the space between & just be
instead.’ the correct answer is
never correct, just is
.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
- Shelley Marcolina
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
the day spring came
buds popped
bright explosions
in pastel rain
blossoms fell
bees hummed
honey hymns
blue sky arched
compliments of the sun
Coral Carter
When the redfish run in winter
fishermen feast and sing.
Women bury amulets
nurture rare golden roses
offer a tribute of blooms
to Poseidon each dawn.
Ask safe passage
for their sons.
Jan Napier
- Tyng Lim
40 x 20 acrylic on canvas
See how the birds fly
caught between heartbeat
and minute,
never once asking why
just glad to be in it
Dennis Greene
3
A treble, a triple,
A triptych, a trine,
A troika, a triplet,
All three times as fine.
A trio of plants
Smelling three times as sweet,
A triad of birds
Give a triplicate tweet.
Val Neubecker
- Natala Cook
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
today I saw a butterfly
hover
above soft sun warmed petals
it was a gentle moment
a moment of peace
Liz Nicholls
seeking colours for painting
like stringing colours for beads
subtle matching
blending, contrasting
shapes, sizes differ
dramatic effects
on the page or
worn for best
Sally Clarke
- Lana Davie
30 x 23 acrylic on canvas
A delicate wild rose of soft green,
Surrounded by a pinkish sheen
Of gentle outback background
And pretty leafy scene.
Lana’s work, a dedication
To her people of this nation,
A land that is mostly brown,
Lana’s work is of its creation.
Colleen O’Grady
I am a green camellia, not yet ripe,
and although I have no scent,
I am cousin to the rose,
pucker for her kisses.
Sue Clennell
- Rikki Trainor
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Coming home late on the train
Their heads together
Hands moving, fingers whispering
Beside a window in the yellow platform’s light
They huddle
Their names etched for all to see
Testament to their existence
Tag me she says.
Virginia O’Keeffe
Red birthday cake and black balloons
that pop amid the streamers
in the mad cap scramble
party laugh and music.
Licking my fingers
with cake smeared lips.
Gary Colombo De Piazzi
- Vivienne Sharp
32 x 33 mixed media on canvas
‘Autumn’
Squishing autumn leaves between my toes,
feet and fingers
Colours full, veined and vibrant
Like Vincent’s paint palette
Colours changing hue.
Squishing paint between my fingers
Colours mingle like molten tears
If Vincent was here
He’d join in to.
Julie Fearns-Pheasant
Music In A Café
Four nights I sought her
in one Paris café after another.
Guitars played, lights dimmed. After
dinner and dance the rest a blur.
Four nights I waited, eyes
always to the door where she
might appear with that smile
touching heart strings, stirring sighs.
Glen Phillips
- Lisa Bernic
30 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Toasting Toes
Wood crackling, amber flames,
sparking blue
white light
waves of warmth for
toasting toes
Debra Ratcliffe
building in layers
art as life
feel then layer
smooth over
then leave
awaiting the next
step back to see
with paint between my toes
Christina Gammon
- Kathy Adair
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
circles
amidst a
flurry of
fire and doubt
and fret and
envy and ice
and angst and
despair and
uncadence,
hope cuts circles
Kevin Gillam
Plating up
She knows the ways of herbs and spices,
cutting cheese in nice thin slices;
chopping onions ‘till she cries –
a touch of love in all she fries
Her symphony in treble clef
she is to me, a master chef.
In candle light, a glass of wine
‘tis kitchen magic when we dine.
Peter Rondel
- Graham McNally
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
this is out on the periphery
of red dirt rising into morning
of the memory of a concluded journey
in the branches we watch morning approach
foliage protects us from the soil’s fire
could we be up so high we can see?
then the sternness of a eucalypt
all the heat of midday
Nathan Hondros
Aussie Icon
I am a foreigner within this blue-green refuge
from summer hillsides veiled blue-grey
as eucalyptus scents the air
and screaming forest giants tumble,
timber sacrificed for instant jobs.
We’re sliced from our neighbours of generations
by superhighways as insidious as Israeli walls.
Isolated, inbred, threatened with extinction.
Jacqui Merckenschlager
- Lisa Bernic
30 x 30 acrylic on canvas
my feet are a mirror
image of each other
opposite and
the same
my toes swish through
the paint leaving waves
of joy on my face
I look in the mirror
and see you smiling
Maureen Sexton
at my feet,
a sunlit sea-garden of warm wet translucence
tight and branched corals and long shifting fronds
dark eel places and cray places
happy anemones and quick fish
this is a snapshot of my habitat,
a corner of my complexity,
a mirror of my mystery
if there are any sharks,
they are a long way from here
Janet Jackson
- Lisa Bernic
50 x 60 acrylic on canvas
Toes
Thank you toes for allowing me
to express my creativity.
Paint in my toes gives me pleasure
pursuing art at my leisure.
It may take weeks to achieve
a result of which I’m pleased.
Thank you toes for no complaint
to dip in squishy squashy paint.
My five digit signature plain to see
this art work was created by ME – LISA BERNIC
Meryl Manoy
Lisa, believe it or not
I see a face here beautifully patterned
With spots, dashes, multi-colors,
As natives readying themselves for corroboree.
Everyday we have the same old features,
Eyes, nose, lips, teeth and even wiggling ears,
But here all has been made fresh and new,
Mysterious like tigers rippling through bamboo,
As sweet as hundreds and thousands.
Peter Jeffery OAM
- Ken Reedy
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Spark!
It only takes one spark
to ignite the blank page,
and one spark
to burn the words
to paper ash,
and let the letters fly
like birds
like birds
like birds.
Paula Jones
Bird on a branch
Tawny Frogmouth Owl
Silent observer of truth
God’s feathered angel
Catherine Szathmary
- Terry Cousins
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Carnival
Hear the circus lady sing,
clutching goose beneath her wing,
feathers plucked for this and that –
one is in the cricket’s hat!
Leaping flames on charcoal’s glow;
after Sunday’s final show
friends will gather for a feast:
cricket, showmen, bird and beast.
Max Merckenschlager
Colour Explosion
A wet plush green
eddies at the edges
bubbling gold & red like
light through rain on
a windscreen, the way
it splashes & trembles
then is quiet
Amanda Joy
- Peter Iland
40 x 40 acrylic on canvas
Warm from the oven
buns, pies and
a hot-cross bun,
now, where’s that
cup of tea?
Maureen Sexton
It’s A Hot Cross Bun, Of Course
It’s not a horse … of course.
It’s a bun, of course.
And it’s HOT, with a cross above.
And it’s NOT for a horse,
Of course, of course.
It’s for me with some tea …
which I love. Of course.
Julienne Juschke
- Anthony Pedrochi
45 x 25 acrylic on canvas
Hurdy-gurdy, hurdy-gurdy,
Spin like a spinning top.
Topsy-turvy, topsy-turvy,
Hair like a washing mop.
Seaweed flowing, seaweed waving
Like a sun-filled barley crop.
Andrew Burke
Chiaroscuro
It is the afternoon breeze that wings these hues
lifts, swirls and eddies them onto this canvas
shifts my attention between striation of red, yellow and blue
as fingers swift with intention sweep across my view
I am caught in crossfire of colour
I am unfashionable in this moment of chiaroscuro
I am carried beyond the legislation of my reason
Christopher Konrad
- Harry Wheeler
45 x 35 acrylic on canvas
The Wise Ones
The Wise One said, what say you of love?
I showed Him my art
and He bowed down to me
He said He saw many beautiful colours
and a big heart
I said, what say You of love?
He showed me His many beautiful colours
and His big heart
I bowed down to Him
at Heaven’s gate
Saz Campbell
Heated frenzy
Streamers paint the sky
As the gun goes off
Over tracks
Fanning the runners’ fire
Tanya Jaw
- Graham Hoffman
45 x 35 acrylic on canvas
Flying Yellow Man
Yellow surreal man
flying above the pansy patch
How I wish I were you
seeing what you see
from my fixed place
down here.
Laurel Lamperd
June winter morning
street lights blur in grey – no birds
sunrise goes unsung
Coral Carter
- Millie D’Rozario
45 x 35 acrylic on canvas
You Are Invited
Balloons hold parties and invite all their mates:
the sweeties, the smarties, the spoons and the plates
They head to the beaches and have lots of fun
without all their teachers they play in the sun
Although they are tired out (all parties must end
) the smarties and sweeties will always be friends
Liana Joy Christensen
Kaleidoscope
The world spins,
pulsing with light,
full of whirling energy.
Vibrant colours swirl into patterns,
spinning red, twirling through blue to green,
bursting into yellow.
The whirligig of time explodes into new stars
Our vision is changed;
we see with clarity
everything is brighter now.
Veronica Lake
- Harry Wheeler
35 x 45 acrylic on canvas
I spelt names
like Sturt’s Desert Pea
with my fingers
turned them
hand over palm
Long before I knew their shape
words bloomed bouquets
I examined their spaces
pressed them onto pages
and dreamt the difference
Deanne Leber
seniority
in the colours I choose
strong reds, black, vivid green
like the Sturt desert pea
sleeping-in on winter mornings
I dream these colours
look for them
from bus and train windows
place them with care
in my painting
Sally Clarke
- Terry Ashton
40 x 50 acrylic on canvas
Ghosts and Ghouls
A coal black night
inviting ghouls and spectres
to cavort.
Ghostly white figures
float above
a winged hound,
BEWARE – VAMPIRES.
Meryl Manoy
I send you a white night mare,
with a dressing of roses.
My proof that the dark need
hold no terror,
when wrapped with love.
Sue Clennell
- Jenny Travers
40 x 50 acrylic on canvas
A thousand lights
explode behind my eyes
to shatter the black.
Each bright spark
a dream, each flash
a hope, each streak
a star to wish upon.
Gary Colombo De Piazzi
It’s such a chilly and frosty night,
but should stay much too cold to rain.
The tree is dripping crystals of white,
against black sky in the window frame.
Sandra McAlpine
- Terri Haynes
45 x 35 acrylic on canvas
‘Scribble Pigeon Walking’
On the worker day pavement people step and stride…
…going over and over where others have been.
So busy, so bustled, so bothered…
…if we painted diamonds on their soles and showed
them who had been there before them; would they care?
No matter; the street pigeons trace steps at day’s end…
Squawking and scribble walking over sole echoes
that are discarded by pavement people.
Julie Fearns-Pheasant
Can you hear me laughing
When I am bubbly bathing
Can you sense me in the ocean
Enjoying that swimming notion
As you look at books upon a shelf
Can you see where I find myself
Can you feel special things and places
Within our shared air, water and dirt
I hope you really enjoy my artwork
You know I practiced on my shirt !
John McBain
- Terry Ashton
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
life comes at me
propelled
like wet paintballs
reverberating,
colours blurred
i take each one on
with a joyous holler
Christina Gammon
Let’s Dance!
A splash of green, a dash of red ,
Can you guess just what the colours said?
“Please paint us together, we want to play!”
That’s always what the colours say!
They beam from the palette, they cling to the brush,
They sweep and they splash, they leap and they gush!
A splash of red, a dash of green,
Aren’t these the dancingest colours you’ve seen!
J.R. McRae
- Terry Ashton
45 x 35 acrylic on canvas
guilt
a kind of badge,
kind of burden,
a number scrawled
in ink on the
back of your hand.
a kind of stain on
the hours, a kind of
ball of torn wool,
black rain unfalling
Kevin Gillam
Confrontation
“Get out of my yard,”
the rooster squwarks,
beating his wings
in a devilish dance
but the black dog barks
a deep down bark,
turns inside-out
with laughter.
Jacqui Merckenschlager
- Graham Hoffman
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
something is hiding in this one
behind the swathing paint
there is nothing tentative here
we are embraced by force
locked into canvas dimensions
I search out this obscurity with him
but nothing in me prefers an answer
to the question he proffers
in the brush strokes, posed in
the undressing of white space
Nathan Hondros
Musical Feast
So fast you write to me
and I reply in gentle breaths
your voice I hear as amethyst
soothes like drummer on the wind
your notes pearl or even bronze
spurt rosy red between the lines
the moment slides and just in time
I catch your words and music rocks
Rose van Son
- Adrian Chadwick
60 x 45 acrylic on canvas
Filtering the Senses
Soft, silky, calming plumes
Early morning rose
Sun-warmed skin; banana custard
Sand between my toes
Peaceful; leafy sprigs of mint; freshly cut lawn
Joyful frog band
Sweet, feathery lavender; velvety sage
Royal, lilac dreamland
Deb Micallef
This isn’t for looking at
but someone is watching. Someone is always
watching. This is my sound / my dance / my joy / breathing
pine needles and old rain / with old bass rain my blood / dark
electric berry stains and bright lemony squirts / this is my pink
tint of spiders singing / my nightwings
ruffling in the violin wind / I spiral
and slide and curl and sway and nod / alone
in my difficult deep dance bliss
Janet Jackson
- Jodie Bateman
30 x 90 mixed media on canvas
Dolly
Just look at you!
All lace ‘n flowers,
those eyes
your smile…
And I’ll bet that’s your first maxi.
You’ve even got a daisy in your hair
as big as your head!
Carol Millner
The Floral Doll
Jodie, a doll with daisies, day’s eyes,
Tall and slender, with the sun
Hovering as a flower over her head.
Long lines of dress,
Colours streaming like patterned water,
Silk on silk,
or fronds of a multi-colored weeping willow.
Peter Jeffery OAM
- Jennifer Hyde
25 x 20 mixed media on canvas
Geraldton Cake
When layering a cake
with sweet, sandy icing
it is always tastier
to decorate with sunshine,
glitter stars, flowers and love
so that each bite
is a taste of
the good life.
Paula Jones
geraldton
drive north of here, dear, to where
sand drives wide the dust & dunes
. my heart is where my home is, &
home is up there. the shapes tell me
what to paint, & i paint a collage
glittering the canvas
.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
- Jennifer Hyde
30 x 60 acrylic on canvas
Crane your head
to see over the fence
Where the grass is golden
the sun behind you
lighting up your dreamy
story, warming your skin
the water held in it
drawing all
into music
Amanda Joy
Thinking of life
I paint the chair yellow,
Thinking of joy,
I paint the cushion red.
The journey home
is a blue ribbon
Dennis Greene
The Mailman
Waiting at the mailbox
for the postman
I hear his whistle down the street
and the bark of the neighbour’s little dog
when he races to the closed gate
to welcome him.
The postman blows his whistle
and pops a red parcel into my box.
Laurel Lamperd
- Jodie Bateman
35 x 45 mixed media on canvas
Ah hah, he grins,
a collection,
what a selection!
who needs a bone
when you have
such confection?
on reflection,
it’s perfection.
Val Neubecker
Inspiration
Sometimes I work at a power shop, or just hang out with friends
Sometimes we watch some footy games, or jump right in a pool
Sometimes I play with my friend’s dog, who has a great big grin
Sometimes I feel inspired, and jump on my painting stool
One day I felt inspired, by this dog who wears hearts on his sleeve
To capture the joy he gives, with my collage and painting tools
So here you have it, I’ve finished. I do hope my friend is quite pleased
And to his dog, my model, I say “Rubin, I think you’re cool!”
Julienne Juschke
- John Pearson
30×60 acrylic on canvas
I am a water tank.
Look deep into me.
You will see treasure
more precious than gold.
Liz Nicholls
Water Tank
H2O in any other language
I see signs, signs of future speak
we look for places to unearth the stuff, to seed our clouds
We look to contain it
and here the perfect vehicle, this yellow tank
This secret glyph you have sent to me unwittingly
as if from the future where you saw deserts
through your perfect circle
As if you know something I do not
Christopher Konrad
- Douglas Hard
45 x 45 acrylic on canvas
A smiling face holds a picture
Of a dancing dog carrying lettuce
And a carrot. Rascal in tincture,
With a blue hat to set us
On a journey of salad and carrot cake.
Douglas has painted joy in his picture
Of his Mum’s dog. Photos he’ll take,
And flying adds to his daily tincture.
Such a painting we enjoy,
Where Douglas applies his daily employ.
Colleen O’Grady
Sunday in the park
I didn’t want the stick
Until you had it.
Tanya Jaw
- Raymond Hill
40 x 40 acrylic on canvas
Healing
yellow floats by
sunny, warm, lifts my spirits
red all around me
gives me courage, strength
black grounds me
‘til firmly back on my feet
balancing green
gets the blood flowing
and cool blue
seals my peace of mind
Maureen Sexton
Oxford Street Friday night
Homegoers heads averted against
Rain spattered the windscreen
Wipers wash away the neons
But they return blurred and melded to
A palette of horns tyres brakes streetlights
Cars carry them onward
Sliding and dancing into the void.
Virginia O’Keeffe
- Katie Bassett
40 x 30 acrylic on canvas
Strewn Carnations
I’ll make you a happy room,
a room where your laughter
of happiness might exceed mine,
where love could live ever after:
it’d be a wide room, white-washed,
with white tiles wall-to-wall
but, most of all, the pink carnations
(my whirlwind gift card) say it all.
Glen Phillips
Let There Be Pink Roses
Let there be roses blushing pink,
reflecting your heart’s desire.
Let there be hope, flitting across life
like pale tinted apple blossom.
Let pink petals be all that is sweet and young,
making the world a better place.
Let pink herald a new dawn,
bringing laughter and delight,
lifting hearts up into joy.
Let there always be pink roses.
Veronica Lake
- Sean Roche
40 x 75 acrylic on canvas
As the band plays
Stars sink into lights
Shining from the grand bow
Rippling the water
Each note builds constellations
We look at and gasp
Titanic! Indestructible!
Titanic!
Deanne Leber
The Titanic
The Titanic sailed into
a sea of ice
sturdily chugging
everyone snuggling against
weather that wasn’t so nice
the engines full thrust
forced ice to bust
forging a way through
for the passage of Titanic Two
Debra Ratcliffe
- Mathew Froud
60 x 90 acrylic on canvas
Etna
She strikes the night with tongues of flame
as all about her shakes
while man may pray to ancient Gods
when old Mount Etna wakes.
She reaches high into the night,
her fingers heaven bound
and spreads her evil silent cloak
of ash upon the ground.
Peter Rondel
Pulling Strings
A most exciting thing
is dancing puppets on a string
controlling every move by hand
a joy you wouldn’t understand
unless you’re the one in control
to make them twist or rock-n-roll.
A blur of red across a black stage
describes Mathew’s art upon this page.
Meryl Manoy
- Ruth Marpole
30 x 40 acrylic on canvas
What happened to my bubble scarf?
I’m sure I hung it on the chair.
Is someone playing tricks on me?
I cannot find it anywhere.
With lots of colours varied and bold,
It wraps and wraps around.
Keeping out the wind and cold,
goodness, look what I just found!
Sandra McAlpine
Jellybean Jingles
give me a palette of rainbow hues
and watch my paint-box swamp your blues
with jellybean jingles, an opal’s gleam,
my floral flock in a songbird stream,
ribbons of laughter, bright and gay;
let me flood your mood of grey!
Max Merckenschlager
- Janelle McMahon
30 x 40 acrylic on canvas
red silk curtains vibrate
as music waltzes through the room
notes drift up the walls
find homes in the ceiling
speakers expand
as the piece gains tempo
and I shiver with
the sound
Maureen Sexton
Opportunities for Gladness
When I look at it all finished
I know it was once nothing
Until she kindly helped me
As I made it into something
If you are wondering what it is
Its was a lovely day I once had
If it helps you feel a bit happier
Then it has helped me be so glad
John McBain
- Gynetta Panaia
90 x 60 acrylic on canvas
Gaia
Ancient grand mother giver of life
ascend with the rising sun
enchanting Goddess of Gaia Earth
paint me a palette of gossamer lights
Many faces has she to magnetise me
her magic and mirth to inspire
alluring enabling my gift of the arts
empowering to my greatest heights
Saz Campbell
For Love of Sun and Sea
I love the surf,
I love the sea,
The way waves beckon
‘Come with me!’
I’ve painted the sun,
I’ve painted the sea
In the many moods
They speak to me.
J.R. McRae
- Adam Bosich
60 x 45 acrylic on canvas
Football Game
Arena of mud,
Sweat, tears and blood…
Go the Whites
Keep up the fight!
Go the Blues
You must not lose!
Until the final siren sounds;
Until the players leave the grounds;
Until the victory song is sung;
The battle’s on for old and young!
Catherine Szathmary
after rain
we wait for green
push through green
plush green
soothe my eyes green
after rain
we celebrate green
conjure razzle colours
Coral Carter
- Raymond Thomas
60 x 45 acrylic on canvas
In Praise of the Microscope
The pond water on my slide was clear
until stained like medieval glass
and illuminated to the power of ten
it burst into diversity magnifying
the glory of all life forms
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
for histology
Liana Joy Christensen
Spring Garden
Ponded frogs where tadpoles cling,
life rehearsed in burst of Spring.
Autumn’s dross and Winter’s gloom
swept aside by floral bloom.
Max Merckenschlager
- Tony Santoro
30 x 40 acrylic on canvas
Crepuscular
The sun sinks low
in hollow gold
light caught in nets of glory.
Dennis Greene
Sorrento Sunset
Limoncello yellow sun smiling back at me
Refractions like blood orange chiffon
as she dips into the sea. A knowing
wink and then she’s gone
“Buona Sera Cara Mia. A Domani.”
Tash Adams
(Italian translation: Good Evening My Dear. ‘Til Tomorrow)
- Tony Santoro
30 x 40 acrylic on canvas
Slave Ship
Sea deep she sleeps
darksome past pillowed in silt.
The great current clanks
slathers of shackles yet unslipped
jostles skulls ribs tibias.
Lashes Africa’s lost
into a timpani lament.
Jan Napier
Nets
here: a nest of nets
knuckled into shape
hurled into ocean or lake
tossed back, revealed
as foam folds into foam
revealed on wet sand
sun-dried and asking
tell my story, imagine a life
fish my strands and feel
the catch of every kind
Alistair Bain
- Jane Griben
45 x 45 mosaic
The Sum of the Parts
Something is broken
no need to cry
an artist can mend it
Something is broken
still you can smile
an artist can make it
Something is broken
watch art unfurl
Something is pictured
sweet Daisy girl
Liana Joy Christensen
Creation
Lightning split the firmament on the fourth day.
What terrific beauty seen with one eye.
Darkness to morning and the day was complete.
Pieces assembled created a whole,
a world of which fiends and angels sing.
Oedipus, what horror haunted his mind!
But that story assembled created a whole,
the artwork of the Greek Tragedy, a psychological theory
from a collection of separate lines.
Today a canine from fractured tiles.
Jake Dennis