TRENTHAM TO DAYLESFORD ART TRAIL
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Ali Webb @houseofwebb
ncourage your inner art critic this winter and explore the creative community that resides between Trentham and Daylesford. This magnificent collective of artists is recognised internationally, but instead of being surrounded by highrise buildings and cityscape structures they are nestled quietly within the picturesque landscape of central Victoria from which they draw daily inspiration. From Royal Family commissions to parties filled with the sounds of Patti Smith and Leonard Cohen, these locally based artists know a thing or two about the adventurous art world. Pack a picnic and take a day to discover the artistic plains of the Daylesford region through the eyes of these five contemporary artists and their idiosyncratic studio spaces.
Dianne Longley grew up on a sheep farm in Central West NSW, which is where her sense of adventure and inquisitive love of nature began. Her curiosity continued throughout university in the late seventies, where she enjoyed classes in techniques and processes, morning coffee discussions about art, politics and literature and a weekend party or two with Patti Smith and Leonard Cohen playing in the background live! Dianne opened Agave Print Studio in Trentham in 2014, offering printmaking facilities for artists as well as accommodation for residencies. It’s not just the fabulous studio space that will make you forget the city,
Daylesford Macedon Life | 20
the sweet bird calls in the magic garden and the curious kangaroos in sight of the studio will make you want to stay on and create your own work of art. Freshly back from his first Sydney solo exhibition, Phillip Edwards has always been inspired by nature. While a watercolour specialist now, Edwards has made conceptual art and sculptures and now finds creative energy in landscape. Obsessed with natural beauty, his love affair began with snow-capped Mt Buffalo with scattered granite outcrops and button grass bogs. His new paintings document the fogs of the ‘golden hour’, sunrise in the Wombat State Forest.
Drawn to Bullarto almost four years ago, Edwards lives the true tree change dream, complete with wombats in his backyard. He is planning a trip to the Western Arthurs in Tasmania, where he intends to create mountains of bodies of work! After being commissioned by the Danish Royal Family, Andrew O'Brien rose to international fame to create an artwork for their last Royal Tour in 2013. The commission generated huge interest across the globe, and Andrew’s work went on to grace the covers of magazines and the walls of sets in television shows.
