The picnic display in Wendy’s cafe’s front window in Balaklava, which was created by Wakefield Regional Council mayor Rodney Reid has been swapped over after several months.
For the next season, the window will now be decorated with art created by the Balaklava Art Group, who comprise six local women who meet in the gallery on the first Tuesday each month.
Group member Valerie Vietch said the group was unique in the fact they do not have set themes for each meeting, instead they just bring something they’re working on at the time.
“We might share a new technique or method for painting we’ve been practicing, and then all of the attendees leave feeling like they’ve learned something new which is always good,” she said.
“We love having new members as well, and they don’t necessarily have to already know how to paint as they can pick that up along the way … it’s more for the social aspect anyway.”
Fellow group member Vicki Johnson said she endeavored to try something different each time she attended the group’s meetings and it challenged her.
“I mix things up between different mediums, types of paints, or pictures – whatever takes my fancy – and then I try it out,” she said.
“This time I drew a cat in a handbag using pen and ink work, which I had never done before.”
‘It took a lot longer and was quite tedious but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.”
Dot Evans echoed a similar sentiment, revealing she used watercolour for her artwork on display, which depicted a lily.
“I had a few botched attempts, but that’s the beauty of this, there’s no pressure here, if you make a mistake, you can just throw it out and try again,” she said.
“There’s a lot of freedom in this group and that’s why I love it and recommend others to join.”
