February Exhibition: “Regeneration” by Deb Morrison
Regeneration
Late 2019/20 gave us catastrophic fires after years of drought and the greater Blue Mts National Park has been decimated. This was followed by heavy rain and a Pandemic. There has been so much distress and devastation for us humans and our beautiful wildlife and the Natural environment. Luckily the areas closer to townships have been mostly unaffected by fire and the welcome rains ended the drought.
Work life was totally interrupted for a couple of months and we weren’t meant to go out and socialise due to the Pandemic. So each morning I set off to amble about with my camera to observe what was happening in the local bush- mostly around Lawson but also in Wentworth Falls and Blackheath. What was meant to be a short walk would often turn into 3 hours alone wandering about. The time went so quickly and I saw birds and plants I had not previously noticed. This sense of awe is very therapeutic when you’re feeling low. Observing the thirsty plants become green and lush is also therapeutic. Brown mosses turning emerald green, ferns sprouting and wildflowers popping up everywhere.
I also ran into other local people out ambling and have formed some new (socially distanced) friendships from this time. These kindred spirits were also out and about on the local tracks. These ramblings and my observations have inspired some of the works in the exhibition while others are pure escapism for me- from the woes of the daily news on the radio. Using photos from previous holidays in Northern Australia I painted the places we could only dream of visiting. I have also painted some whimsical works to cheer myself up informed by the birds and creatures I’ve met on my walks.
Regenerated is how I would like the world to become. It is how I would like the bush to regrow. It is a wish for hope and regrowth for our collective futures-humans, beasts, birds and plants.
Artist Bio 2021
Lawson (Blue Mountains) based painter and textile artist, Deb Morrison, has been exploring the natural environment in her artworks for many years. She has been painting seriously since 2014. Her first solo exhibition was in 2018 at Atelier at Lyttletons and proved to be quite successful. Prior to this she has exhibited in groups – with “Blue Mountains Felters” at Braemar Gallery and Palmhouse exhibitions with “ATASDA” group. She also has a felted artwork included in the book “worldwide Colours of Felt” and has written an article for “Felt” Magazine.
Painting has now become her favoured method of expression. The immediacy of applying rich colours straight onto the canvas is exciting and spontaneous. Deb uses fluid acrylics and high flow (ink -like) acrylics in her works plus various mediums to enable layering. She enjoys painting on canvas, linen, board and clayboard-where the details are scratched out to reveal the white background.
Whilst Deb spends less time making felted works at present she does enjoy the slow repetitive hand stitching that is used to embellish a piece as it is quite calming and meditative.