Visual artists Helena Jackson-Lloyd and Rosie Lloyd-Giblett are on a mission to capture the essence of place.
The COVID lockdown restrictions affected their freedom to paint plein air (outdoors) and enjoy the natural environment. This resulted in a renewed understanding of how our green spaces and natural environment are important to health and wellbeing.
Love Note to the Landscape is a celebration of plein air artwork, created in three iconic Sunshine Coast locations – Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanical Gardens, Coolum’s First Bay and the Mooloolah Wetlands.
Through drawing and paint, these ‘love notes’ respond to the natural rhythms of the land and water that surround Helena and Rosie.
By treading lightly amongst the existing lay of the land, they are able to honour the natural habitat and harness its essence of place.
Photographer Yanni Van Zijil will document the artists’ process as they create the work on location.
We’ll share the ‘love notes’ and the creative process on this webpage and on our social media platforms from Saturday 18th – Thursday 23rd July.
Dear First (Second and Third Bays)
You are always there (for me).
Ruggedly beautiful.
Slowly revealing and concealing your secrets.
Shared and lost in the rhythms of time.
This is my love note to you…
The water is clear and the rocks are layered with ancient markings
Pandanus nestles on the shoreline
Through their bumpy branches I can see triangles
Spaces to view the sky
Like a window pane
Capturing the sky, the water and the occasional eagle
Dear Maroochy Wetland Sanctuary
Fiddler crabs, mud popping, salty leaves and flying buttresses,
Muddy mounds, knobbly knees, mangroves and cabbage palm groves.
I weave through you in awe…
Spellbound by your mysterious ways.
Spikes in the mud
Somewhere there is a crab
On the rivers’ edge there is soft grass to kneel
Look up, then down and around
So many lines
Thick and thin
Criss crossed
I leave a note in the tree
Thank you for helping us breath
Tall and proud you stand…
Supporting Life.
Breeze flowing through your canopy,
and in your crevices mossy burrows, snapping twigs,
… a tiny beetle scurries.
This is my love note to you.
Gums reach high
Grey, Tan and Black
Their skin sheds and lays a blanket for us to sit on
Spikey grass and smooth rocks hide the creatures
There is arch ways and window seats
I keep turning my lens
Capture this way and that
Shut my eyes
I can hear quiet whispers of nature and sky
Whilst documenting Rosie and Helena painting plein air I was torn between wishing it was me being the creator, but when I moved away from documenting them I too had my moment to paint pictures with the camera in hand. Photography is after all painting with light. I experimented with the textures and feelings on location just as the girls did, immersing myself in the surrounds, being in the moment. Salty sea breeze, or the hug of a forest scent, all is well with the world when I stop to bathe and breathe in our natural landscape and truly see the beauty, power and peace in its infinity.
This Homegrown project is supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund, a partnership between the Queensland Government and Sunshine Coast Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
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