WEDNESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER     BROKEN HILL

Visiting the Pro Hart Gallery was on my must-do list.

Another Brushman of the Bush, many of his works were not to my taste, but there was no doubt they captured aspects of the Australian way of life. I was surprised to find that his gallery contained many works by other artists – really was his own private art collection.

There were lots of interesting memorabilia and quirky things the artist had created.

I was captivated by paintings that showed the natural environment, rather than the peopled one which was what I had previously associated with Pro Hart. Finished up buying an unframed print that depicted white water birds in a treed swamp area – predominantly blues and greens, with the contrast of the white birds. It had a haunting sort of quality that got to me. Also bought some cards.

From there, we went on to the gallery of Roxanne Minchin. Several years ago we had bought some inexpensive, small,  board mounted prints by her husband Eric, and her. Since then, Eric Minchin had died and she appeared to have developed much more of her own style. I really liked her newer works. We ended up buying a framed limited edition print – quite large – depicting an isolated old farm cottage, in summer. The searing heat was depicted by the dominant red and orange colours. It was very dramatic and bold.

We were definitely expending our earnings on lasting items!