Artists of the Central Highlands

Acclaimed arts couple Julie McKenzie and Malcolm King have further enriched the Hepburn Shire’s rich arts scene after moving here from interstate last year. Julie is particularly renowned for her landscapes and Malcolm for his travel poster works. They are both widely collected and exhibited, and their studio has screenprinted works for some of the biggest names in Australian contemporary art.

Eve: When did you move to Newbury, from where, and what motivated the move?

Julie & Malcolm: We moved in January '22, basically to spend more time with our daughters in Melbourne and Ballarat.

Eve: What genre of art do each of you practice?

Julie: We both paint and Malcolm is also printmaker. I make landscape-inspired work and Malcolm is more eclectic, figurative and abstract - and mixed media.

Eve: Are you both full time professional artists?

Malcolm: We have been working as professional artists as long as we have been together - 40 years or so. Julie worked parttime in the music industry and community based services until 2002. Since then, until last year, we had been operating our own artist run gallery, Kingstudio, in Milton and then Maclean in New South Wales.

I have an extensive career facilitating community-based art and artists in schools programmes over several decades, and also teaching printmaking and graphic design for TAFE NSW.

Eve: As a couple, how do the two of you get along artistically speaking?

Julie: There is no rivalry, mostly collaboration. Our work is so different, although we now have separate studios. Malcolm is my best critic. Over the years we’ve worked on a lot of community-based arts projects together, or separately, in Sydney, regional NSW, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. These projects have included murals, mosaics, graffiti, textiles, theatre sets and music production. The latest collaboration was last year with a commission, painting a large honour board/mural at the Victorian Trades Hall - which got a bit feisty.

Eve: You each have your own studio at Newbury. Are they open to the public?

Malcolm: Yes. We’re at 538 Blackwood Road, Newbury and will open the studio on random weekends, the next being the King's Birthday weekend in June, or by appointment. People can contact us on 0415 836 194 or 0432 719 402.

Eve: What motivates and inspires each of you in your personal creative practice?

Julie: Waking up each day. Landscape. I love the diversity of the Australian landscape, from the tropical to the pastoral and everything in between. I like to think my work is like a record of landscapes that are rapidly being destroyed by over development and now the impacts of climate change.

Malcolm: The relentless busy-ness of the world and a low boredom threshold, provides a rich canvas both to draw from and on.

Eve: Can you tell me what have your (respective) arts world highlights been?

Julie. Meeting the people that buy my work, people from all over the world from different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. I’ve won a few prizes in exhibitions promoted by groups in all the places I’ve lived. Winning the Bentley Acquisitive was an unexpected highlight. Having the inaugural opening of the Milton ARTFest in NSW at our gallery was another.

with Eve Lamb

Malcolm: Over the years I’ve been exhibited twice in the Wynne Prize and have received Australia Council funding for numerous projects, and had works in national, state and regional collections. Our print studio has screen-printed for other artists including David Boyd, Charles Blackman, Wendy Sharpe, Adam Cullen, Ken Done and others…

Eve: Which artists, living or past, do you each most admire?

Julie: So many. Kandinsky. The Blaue Reiter group. My knees went to jelly when I saw my first Kandinsky at the Tate in London in 1980. Margaret Preston, Margaret Olley. Too many to name here.

Malcolm: The German expressionists, Kandinsky, Klee, Matisse, (particularly the cut-outs), many contemporary indigenous artists, Rover Thomas, Judy Watson. Ian Fairweather, William Kentridge, Reg Mombassa. The list could go on and on, so I’ll stop there.

Eve: Do you have any special arts events or projects coming up?

Julie: We’re both working on new works in paint and print, interpreting our new surroundings here in the hills. The Macedon Ranges, Central Victoria and the Goldfields provide a rich social, political and natural history to inspire and comprehend.

Malcolm: The open studios for the Kings Birthday from June 10 to 13, and throughout the rest of 2023.

Image: Eve Lamb

Ranges Ag

That’s not a ficus...this is a ficus!

Hi Glen,

I’ve just been reading your article in The Local regarding indoor plants in winter. Our ficus has been slowly taking over the corner of our lounge room.

I’m loath to trim it but seek your advice on the best way of keeping it under control.

Kind regards, Wendy

Hi Wendy,

Thanks for the question. The fiddle-leaf ficus really should be called the finicky ficus - quite often difficult to get started but if placed into the right environment once they get going they’re almost bullet proof.

I’m glad you had the foresight to attach that (rather boastful) photo, because it enables me to give you a more detailed answer, which is yes, you can keep it under control and remove those mammoth arching branches.

As we are now entering the wintry season, and almost all growth slows to a stop, within reason you can really get going on the tidy-up. But it should be done in stages and with sharp secateurs, cutting just above a healthy stem, leaf or bud.

For starters take off the three or four long branches back to top of the cluster of leaves. That should be enough for the plant to take.

After a few weeks you might like to shorten the rest of them, perhaps even completely removing any spindly stems to encourage the rest. And generally tidy it up. I don’t need to tell you anything else, you are obviously already doing everything right.

Evergreen bulbous plants

Generally when gardeners think of bulbs, it’s probably daffodils or tulips and all the others with an annual resting period.

However there are a great number of bulbous plants with the advantage that, being evergreen, their foliage is a permanent feature in the garden. No long months of bare spaces.

The most common and most widely known of these, of course, is the ubiquitous agapanthus in all of its forms and colours, from the stately A. Praecox, with its tall, slender-stemmed crown of white or blue flowers, down to the dainty variegatedleaved miniatures. Widely known as African lily, agapanthus proudly grace many an Australian country front fence, including our own, and thrive with little or no attention.

An interesting and worthwhile evergreen is arthropodium cirratum, the New Zealand Rock Lily. This bulb produces arching sprays of attractive little flowers above slender, evergreen foliage. It will grow quite happily in full sun in cool climates, but needs semi-shade in warmer areas.

An excellent evergreen which can be grown as a pot specimen is clivia miniata, (left photo), which produces 50-60cm stems, topped by large balls of vibrant orange, trumpet-shaped blooms. Clivia comes in many forms and colours, all hardy and thriving in shady conditions.

Extremely hardy and exceptionally free flowering is tulbaghia violacea (centre photo). Its narrow foliage is quite neat and it quickly forms a reasonable-sized clump. Small heads of lilac flowers are borne on 30cm over a period of many months. They will tolerate a wide range of soil conditions and grow well in full sun or partial shade.

Dietes is a group producing luxuriant strap-like foliage. D. Bicolor (right photo) have 5cm lemon-yellow, iris-like flowers with three distinct brown and orange spots in the centre of each flower. Growing to a metre in height they are adaptable to easily grow in sun or shade.

Got a gardening query? Email glenzgarden@gmail.com

Message From The Mayor

The major outcomes from the Council meeting held on 16 May were:

• The introduction of a cat curfew from 1 July 2023, whereby cats must be securely contained within the owner’s property between sunset and sunrise. A cat curfew is a key action in Council’s Domestic Animal Management Plan, which was informed by strong community feedback. The dusk until dawn curfew is a good further step as Council moves towards the 24hour containment of cats by 2025. And a reminder - all cats over three months of age must be microchipped and registered. Further details on enforcement measures can be found at www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/cats

• The introduction of an Affordable Access to Council Facilities Policy to replace the old fee waiver policy. The new arrangements will make it easier for community groups to access Council facilities free of charge and will reduce the administrative burden on Council staff.

• A new 21-year lease will be entered into for the Creswick Transfer Station.

• Councillors received and noted the financial reports for the nine-month period to 31 March 2023. The Special Council Meeting scheduled for 23 May will consider the release of the 2023/24 draft budget for public consultation. Council remains in a delicate and challenging financial position which must continue to be prudently managed if community needs are to be met and longer-term viability enhanced. We encourage community members to review the draft budget and provide feedback at https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au. The final budget for 2023/24 is due to be adopted at a Special Council Meeting on 27 June.

Perhaps the most pleasing development in the past month has been the decision by Geographic Names Victoria to gazette the renaming of Jim Crow Creek to Yarni Barramal Yaluk. Council worked closely with the community and project partners Mount Alexander Shire Council, North Central Catchment Management Authority and DJAARA, to campaign for the renaming of the creek over many years. The term Jim Crow has its origins in racial segregation and anti-black racism, and is therefore unacceptable. Larni Barramal Yaluk, which means ‘Home or habitat of the Emu Creek’, reconnects the landscape with Dja Dja Wurrung culture and language. This change ties in with Council’s ongoing reconciliation and recognition work and is further evidence that well-constructed input from the community can lead to constructive change.

Community events - The past month has featured a number of prominent community events – including the iconic Trentham Spudfest, the Bullarto Tractor Pull and the Anderson’s Mill Heritage Weekend in Smeaton – each of which was a credit to the organisers and many volunteers, and proudly sponsored by Council. And a large audience was in attendance to celebrate IDAHOBIT Day (International Day Against LGBTIQA+ Discrimination) on 17 May in recognition of Council’s support for diversity and inclusion. Planning – watch out for Community Conversation events across the Shire. These consultation sessions are a significant opportunity to help shape revised planning regulations. Come along and have your say on matters such as the preservation of town character, urban design, protection of the environment and heritage assets, transport and housing.

Cr Brian Hood, Mayor

Council Plan Focus Areas

Have A Say On Town Future

Council has launched the next stage of our strategic planning project, Future Hepburn. We are looking to our community to help develop structure plans for:

• Clunes

• Creswick

• Daylesford and Hepburn Springs

• Glenlyon

• Trentham

Structure plans will guide future growth and appropriate development to 2050. They aim to protect what we value, improve liveability and empower our community to thrive.

We invite you to get involved!

• Complete a survey via Participate Hepburn at https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/future-hepburn or pick up a survey from a library or Council hub.

• Come along to a Community Conversation and chat with our planners, Councillors and staff from right across the organisation.

Community Conversations will be held:

Daylesford – Monday 29 May, 4pm to 6pm at Victoria Park Pavilion

Hepburn Springs – Tuesday 30 May, 4pm to 6pm at Hepburn Springs Reserve

Trentham (incl. Listening Post) – Wednesday 31 May, 4pm to 6pm at Trentham Sportsground Reserve Pavilion

Clunes – Thursday 1 June, 4pm to 6pm at Clunes Town Hall

Creswick – Wednesday 7 June, 4pm to 6pm at Doug Lindsay Reserve Glenlyon – Thursday 8 June, 4pm to 6pm at Glenlyon Town Hall. Find out more about Future Hepburn and town structure plans at https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/future-hepburn

Draft Budget Out Soon

Council will hold a Special Meeting on Tuesday 23 May from 3:30pm to consider the release of the 2023/24 draft budget. Once released, the draft budget will be open for community feedback.

You will be able to view the draft budget via Participate Hepburn at https:// participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au or at libraries and Council hubs.

Submissions may be made via Participate Hepburn, with hardcopy feedback forms available at libraries and Council hubs They must be received by Council by 5pm on Thursday 8 June. Council will consider the budget at a Special Council Meeting to be held on Tuesday 27 June at The Warehouse - Clunes. Council meetings are livestreamed via Facebook at www.facebook.com/hepburncouncil

Join Our Team

Are you looking for a career move or a job closer to home? We are recruiting new staff across a number of roles. We offer attractive and flexible working arrangements.

Stay up-to-date with the latest job opportunities and apply at www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/jobs

The Council Plan 2021-2025 describes how Council will strive towards our vision, where to focus efforts, and how to measure progress. Each Focus Area has a series of priority statements, with actions against each item.