June 2, 2016
The faces of Nanango – or at least, 100 well-known faces of Nanango – went on public display for the first time on Thursday night.
The small portraits of local identities were created by Gary Wilson over a period of about three months.
Gary, who was born in New Zealand, said he began painting about 35 years ago by accident.
One day he was playing pool in a hotel with a friend, and after the game he drew a chalk caricature of his opponent on the hotel’s blackboard.
Another acquaintance who was a professional artist saw him do it, and suggested Gary drop around his studio one day to see how “real” artworks were put together.
Gary took up the offer, soon found he could use paints, and began selling his own paintings of local landscapes to tourists.
In 1982 Gary emigrated from New Zealand to Redcliffe, where he met and married “the love of my life” and moved to Nanango in 1994.
These days the former brickie and welder is learning guitar at The Shed – Nanango’s default performing arts centre – and his “Faces Of Nanango” project came out of discussions with other Shed regulars.
Gary said he painted most of the portraits from photos, and each one took him about two hours to create.
“Some days I might do three or four of them,” he said.
“I enjoy it.”
And to judge by the comments of invited guests who packed The Shed at Thursday night’s opening, so do most people.
Gary’s portraits drew many positive comments and guests had fun seeing how many they could identify.
All 100 portraits are now on sale for $15 each. Gary intends to donate a portion of each sale to The Shed as a fundraiser to assist the popular community arts venue.
Guests at Thursday night’s opening were also treated to a performance by the Nanango Acapella Group, which practices at The Shed every Thursday night.
The singing group was formed last year and now boasts about 15 regular members, as well as others who join in as time permits.
On Thursday night the group demonstrated their versatility with five songs, which ranged from acapella standards to African American spirituals.
Shed founder Jane Erkens also showed off The Shed’s new wood heater, which had its first official firing on Thursday night and kept everyone comfortably warm against the winter chill.
The heater was purchased with a grant from the South Burnett Regional Council’s RADF fund to help the venue operate year-round.
“We have musicians and artists performing or practising here every week, but it’s been hard to do that in winter when everyone is freezing,” Jane said.
“So Council’s assistance with this has been just terrific.”
Jane also paid tribute to Kingaroy builder David Pratt, a Shed regular who volunteered to install the heater as part of a recent working bee.
“He did a brilliant job and the heater fired up without a hitch the moment we tried it out,” Jane said.
The Shed is located in Little Drayton Street, Nanango (immediately next to Scott Car Park) and is open every Thursday night from 5:30pm for guitar lessons and Nanango Acapella Group practice sessions; and every Friday night from 7:30pm for local musicians to bring their instruments and jam in a relaxed and informal setting, as well as anyone who enjoys music to come along, listen and chat.
The Shed is also a regular venue for arts functions. In the last few years these have included music CD launches, poetry readings and book launches.
More information about The Shed can be obtained by phoning Jane on 0400-631-677.
Thanks for your excellent coverage of my art show on Thursday. Both Jane and I appreciate the work you put in. Yours… Gary
Well done Dad, you look so good. Love you, Cindy. Nice fire.
Well done Gaz, keep up the great work, you certainly keep yourself busy.