Country Style

a letter from the editor

Did you do a double take of our cover this month? I know I did when I first saw this image of artist Jennifer Riddle’s powerful work in her Red Hill studio on the Mornington Peninsula. From a paddock edged with a hedgerow near her home, like the one in this painting, to the pristine wilderness of Tasmania, Jennifer’s works celebrate the Australian landscape. And what extraordinary lengths she will go to create these pictures, sometimes walking for seven days through the bush. “You can only go in when nature allows you to and painting in such an environment is a challenge,” Jennifer says. “We spend a lot of time out on the dark tannin-stained water with a local guide, so sketching time is limited. I try to absorb as…

in this issue...

BRIGID ARNOTT As well as capturing artist Colleen Southwell’s garden near Orange (page 68), Brigid also shot artist Rowen Matthews’s home on page 54 and Dog Tales on page 110. “I’ve had many attempts at growing a vegie garden with a 50/50 success rate,” Brigid admits. “I’ve tried neat and tidy rows, but the birds and insects soon work out which row is the tastiest . This year, I’m going for a permaculture style, which looks like a haphazard overgrown mess.” Based at Macmasters Beach on the NSW Central Coast, Brigid initially worked as an advertising art director before switching to freelance photography. “Mongolia in winter” is top of her photography bucket list but she also loves trekking across Australia meeting country people and, more often than not, their pets. “It’s always…

your page

THE LUCKY COUNTRY I have spent the last week reading the past eight years or so of Country Style magazines I have enjoyed, before passing them on to a friend as we regularly share our favourite magazines. Reading through so many wonderful articles about properties across Australia, all of which illustrate how much love and hard work have gone into building special homes, gardens and businesses, it has been so sad to see that so many of them are in areas badly affected by the fires in Victoria and NSW over the past couple of months. It is at times of hardship like this, seeing so many people assisting, that I am reminded how lucky we are to live in such a wonderful country. Michele Baker, Moyarra, Victoria LOOKING BACK Unlike many of your readers, I…

breathing space

WHY MURRURUNDI? Well, it was my wife Nellie Dawes’ great-great-great-grandfather’s home. Bobadil House, built in 1842 and named after the family property, was a sandstone drawcard. Plus, my dad was from nearby Scone and, after growing up in Narrandera in the Riverina, I had always intended to return to a small country town reminiscent of my childhood. Murrurundi works because it is four hours’ drive from Sydney. It’s not a dormitory suburb; you cannot commute but with a daily train service to Sydney’s Central Station I can come and go while using my laptop. I moved to town on a holiday-house basis some 15 years ago. Murrurundi is now where I choose to live. The small community is very active and engaged; what the town has done for drought-struck farmers should be…

creative force

PLANTS AND FLOWERS are at the heart of artist Anna Placidi’s life and work. From the moment she steps out for her daily morning walk, and throughout the day, she is always alert to the natural, wondrous ephemera around her. In fact, it’s rare for this Ballarat-based painter to venture outside without returning home clutching a new find: a sprig of eucalyptus leaves, a few delicate wildflowers or a bunch of flowers from her own garden or a neighbour’s place. And with it, the urge to paint. “We have a creek behind our house — the Yarrowee Creek. I walk the dog there every morning,” says the 51-year-old. “That always gets me in the mood. If I find some gum flowers or a beautiful leaf, that’s a bonus. It goes from there.…

march

NSW The Country Interior, March 7th–29th This exhibition, a collaboration with Country Style, is a painterly survey of the contemporary country house. At the opening, on March 14 between 1pm and 5pm, enjoy a complimentary glass of bubbly and hear from editor-in-chief Victoria Carey. View work by Australian painters Anna Placidi (see page 18), Michelle Ball (see page 34), Denise Faulkner (see page 40), Esther Eckley (see page 44), Elizabeth Barnett, Jane Aliendi, Brooke Dalton, Louise Frith, Jo White, Andrea Huelin, Anh Nguyen Stacey McCall, Christine Webb, Lucila Zentner, Melanie Vugich, Stef Tarasov, Laura White, Kate Summers, and Sue Tesoriero. Free. Friday to Sunday 10am–5pm. Michael Reid Murrurundi, corner of Boyd and Mayne streets, Murrurundi, (02) 6546 6767, michaelreidmurrurundi.com.au Scone Literary Festival, March 13th–15th This three-day festival caters for all ages, with…