March 16, 2022
A chance meeting at the Wondai Garden Expo last year has led to an unusual exhibition this month at the Wondai Regional Art Gallery.
Members of Brisbane’s Art In Bark group are exhibiting a range of bark paintings in the Front Gallery.
When most people think “bark art”, they picture the magnificent paintings on bark done by Indigenous artists.
But there is another type of bark art, ie. paintings actually made from bark. In this second form, artists use bark taken from paperbark (melaleuca) trees to create decorative pieces.
When Wondai Gallery curator Elaine Madill saw the Art In Bark’s works at last year’s Wondai Garden Expo, she was so impressed she invited them to exhibit at the gallery to help bring their work to the attention of the region’s wider art community.
At the opening of the March exhibition, Art In Bark president David Leisemann and his wife Roslyn were very happy to share their knowledge about bark art.
Roslyn has been making bark paintings since 1973.
David explained the group’s members use paperbark trees because several layers of bark can be removed without causing the tree any damage. The wide range of colours in the bark also makes it very useful to execute a wide variety of works.
The group runs regular classes in Brisbane to teach their techniques to aspiring bark artists, and exhibit at gardening expos and other venues to raise awareness about bark art.
The group also works to preserve and protect melaleuca trees, and have partnered with Griffith University to create a scholarship that will help support a rural or regional student studying for a Bachelor Of Visual Art at the Queensland College Of Art.
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The Wondai Gallery is also hosting an exhibition of textile art this month, “The Road Untravelled”, created by the South Burnett’s Tangled Threads group.
Tangled Threads is a co-operative of more than a dozen textile artists who meet regularly at The Quilter’s Rest near Kingaroy to pursue their individual art projects, swap ideas and learn new techniques.
The group have been holding regular exhibitions at the Kingaroy and Wondai Regional Art Galleries for more than a decade, and their current exhibition at Wondai provides an insight into their latest works, which cover a wide variety of themes and styles.
Works by the group’s members fill the Main and Rear Gallery.
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During March and April the Wondai Regional Art Gallery is also hosting the annual “Kids On Tour” art workshops from Brisbane’s Gallery Of Modern Art (GOMA).
Elaine told the opening night audience Wondai Regional Art Gallery has had a strong relationship with GOMA ever since it opened in 2006, and is proud to be one of the few regional galleries to host GOMA’s touring children’s art workshops.
GOMA provides all the materials required to run the workshops, and the Gallery provides the space to run them.
Many local children – and their parents – now look forward to the Kids On Tour workshops because they provide a fun and absorbing introduction into the arts that changes from one year to the next.
Details about Kids On Tour workshops can be found on the Gallery’s Facebook page
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- “Bark Inspirations” and “The Road Untravelled” will remain on display at the Wondai Regional Art Gallery in Haly Street, Wondai from 10:00am to 3:00pm daily until Saturday, March 26. Admission is free.
