Gippsland in six colours Drouin artist Lois Brown's new exhibition: Page 6
Citizen
TWICE MONTHLY // FRIDAY 12 JUNE 2015
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'Creating a precedent'
Protesters outside the Warragul Commonwealth Bank branch last Friday. Photo: William PJ Kulich
Warragul & Baw Baw
How Newmason got its look. Page 3
Artist Helen Timbury discusses her lino prints with visitors at the Dyslexic Warriors exhibition opening
Understanding dyslexia through art Four local artists have shown how dyslexia affects them in an exhibition now on display at the West Gippsland Arts Centre in Warragul. Full story on Page 7
Headspace shake足up Local youth health service must find new lead agency, and the future of its Warragul centre is yet to be decided
Petition for better bus services Local campaigner asks Baw Baw residents to support 2010 plan for commuter bus service in the LGA. Details on Page 4
Coalition calls for more cops
Petition demands beefed up policing to combat domestic violence and ice, but is that the right response? Page 5
By William Kulich L Keening_Product THE LOCAL branch of youth me足 ntal health service headspace is looking for a new lead agency and will be without a receptionist from next month ahead of discussions on its future. The federal government's deci足 sion to turn the Gippsland Medicare Local into the Gippsland Primary Health Network has left headspace Morwell, which services the central and west Gippsland regions, looking for a new funding source. "The Gippsland Medicare Local will transition to the Gippsland Pri足 mary Health Network effective as at the beginning of the new financial year," GML primary health general manager Jodie Pitkin told the Story continues on Page 4
Off the rails
Last week WBBC broke the news Pakenham commuters would be banned from V/Line services. Read the reaction on Page 6
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Formerly The Warragul Citizen Edition number: 25
Editor, designer, owner: William PJ Kulich editor@warragulcitizen.com PO Box 1111 Warragul, VIC, 3820 The editor takes responsibility for political comment in this paper. Articles, graphics and photos without author credits are by the editor. Please support those who support WBBC
Pakenham line passengers booted from Gippsland’s V/Line trains The Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen broke this story online on 1 June. Stay up-to-date: subscribe to email updates from the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen: warragulcitizen.com/email GIPPSLAND line passengers have won the right to their seats after a state government review saw a number of Pakenham pick up/drop off options removed from timet ables. New V/Line timetables mark Pakenham as drop offonly for city bound services and pick uponly for Gippslandbound. People travelling from Gippsland to Pakenham and back will not be affected. Traralgon and Bairnsdale line services are frequently used by Metro customers, who pay significantly less for their seats on the faster V/Line services due to zoning pricing rules. Peak services are often overcrowded due to the presence of Pakenham passengers who could be on other services. The new timetables will come into effect on 21 June 2015. See the community response on Page 6 Report by William Kulich
Assistance sought in search for missing Drouin teenager
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WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN · 12 JUNE 2015
PUBLIC assistance has been sought to help locate missing Drouin teenager Reily Genardini. A Victoria Police spokesperson said the 15yearold was last seen at around 08:00 yesterday at her Victoria Street home. Police said Reily had not been seen since. The spokesperson said Reily was Caucasian with a medium build and blonde hair. A photo of Reily has been released by police. (Above.) She was last seen wearing black clothing and carrying a back pack. Victoria Police has requested that anyone who sees Reily call Triple Zero (000) immediately. For uptodate information on this story visit the Victoria Police Facebook page or head to warragulcitizen.com.
Car fire prompts CFA warning A CAR fire in Warragul last week has prompted the Warragul Fire Brigade to remind residents fires can start easily and unexpectedly. "A Holden Statesman caught fire while the owner was taking it for a drive, after having work done on the car," brigade captain Paul Tandberg said in a media release. A spokesperson for the brigade later told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen the incident "is a good reminder that fires can occur when you least expect them."
Photo:William Kulich
Hospital review questioned THE STATE government will cond uct a comprehensive review to ide ntify health care needs in West Gipp sland but opponents believe the act ion could see patients turned away from West Gippsland Hospital. The state's health minister, Jill Hennessy, said during question time last month the future role and potential upgrades to the hospital will be considered against the services provided by Monash Health in Berwick and the Latrobe Regional Hospital. “An areabased strategic services plan will make recommendations on the scope of health services to be delivered in the short, medium and longer term by the West Gippsland Healthcare Group and neighbouring health providers to best meet emerging health care demands,” Ms Hennessy said. “The study will consider links between the Casey campus of Monash Health in Berwick, the Latrobe Regional Hospital in Traralgon and the West Gippsland Healthcare Group in Warragul.” Liberal member for Narracan Gary Blackwood has however questioned whether the Andrews government’s review will see a reduction in local services, forcing patients to visit other major hospitals over an hour away.
By Jack Lacy L jack_m_lacy “When this plan was announced, I voiced concerns about Labor using the study to divert patients away from the West Gippsland Hospital to avoid making significant investments to secure the future of the service in Warragul,” Mr Blackwood said in a media release. “Labor is positioning itself to undermine our local hospital in favour of neighbouring health providers who have already received funding to expand the services they provide.” Mr Blackwood said not providing funding to the West Gippsland Hospital for expansions would be detrimental to health outcomes in the Gippsland region. “Without a substantive investment in the West Gippsland Hospital, demand will quickly outpace delivery and the local communities will suffer as a result.” In a recent parliamentary sitting Ms Hennessey said the review would be completed by independent consultants early next year. Mr Blackwood said the review was being stalled and the public had a right to know the state government's intention. “A statement by the minister that
Victoria's health minister Jill Hennessy in Warragul while serving as shadow public transport minister prior to last year's election. Photo by William Kulich
the review will be completed in 2016 is not good enough and the community has the right to know today that this review will not be used to reduce or close local services delivered at Warragul Hospital,’ Mr Blackwood said. Local Labor MP Harriet Shing did not respond to multiple requests for comment prior to the publication of this article.
12 JUNE 2015 · WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN
· LOCAL NEWS & FEATURES · 3
'Creating a precedent' DESIGNING a new building is By William Kulich no easy task. Working without a L Keening_Product reference point is even harder. That was the challenge faced by the biggest issue. “There's not a lot of precedent for architect Peter McDonald when he was asked to design Warragul's a building like this in the town,” Mr Newmason development. The Baw McDonald said. “In particular the height of the Baw region has not seen a commercial CBD development of its building was something that was scale before, which has made the not normal in this township, so we Mason Street building – now not far didn't think we had to actually from completion – a reference point integrate at all in the sense that we didn't build on a precedent that was for future designs in the area. Speaking to the Warragul & Baw already existing. “There was nothing in the area Baw Citizen shortly after constr uction rebooted from a period of specifically that we could reference nonactivity last year, McDonald or what have you. So when it came said his brief was to “explore the to saying 'well, what's here that we can work with?' we agreed and potential of the site [and] how council agreed that really much floor area we could this is a unique building. achieve.” “It was creating a “The key to it was the precedent, as it were. basement car park,” he e r e Th hing We were really trying said. n o t ea to give the building a “The more floorsp s a w r a e distinctive look with ace you put on the h t n i d l u out creating somet more cars you need, o c w e n ce hing that was foreign so there's a balance... e r r e fe for the township of in how much floorsp Warragul.” ace you can build. But despite the revisi “If you're limited to ons, the design has remained ground floor car parking, there's a finite limit of floorspace. relatively similar to how it was But with the basement car park it originally envisioned by designers freed us up to build, or design, a and the Baw Baw Shire Council. “The initial design was pretty floor area greater than what was close to what we have now,” Mr needed.” Once finished, the Newmason McDonald said. “There was a Warragul town centre will feature two buildings – one four storeys high, the other two masterplan that was developed just – separated by a ramp to the before all of this [began] and it had underground car park. The design in it objectives of building to the of the site was revised several times street edge as much as possible, during the planning and building reinforcing the street edge, and process, the most notable revision introducing activity around the being the removal of one floor from street. “If you look at what we've done, the north building. But it was trying to find a look to we've maximised the building on suit the town and clients that was the street frontage with the car park
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Architect Peter McDonald at the Newmason site last year
under again, and there is a ground level car park around the back, but it is at the back of the site and it really is there to service the tenancies that are in the building. “You can access all the ground level tenancies from that ground level car park.” Changes were also made to the restaurant space on the ground floor. “The change really was just the way it appears from the street,” Mr McDonald said. “We went through a number of design changes there, or versions, before we settled on the final design. That was the main change.” The building has been designed specifically for the site and will be one of the largest structures McDonald has ever produced. “The design is modern and contemporary, and that was the driving factor here, but it was also to keep it, not simple, but to try not to have too many embellishments, as it
were,” McDonald said. “That was important also for the developer to have a building he could market without alienating lots of potential clients or tenants of the building, so it is a modern and, I think, simple building in that respect. The north tower will not return to its initial three story design. Asked if provision had been made to allow the construction of an extra floor on top of that building, Mr McDonald said no. “The developer... felt he'd reached the limit of the potential for the building with what he'd got with the two storeys and the four storey building on the south,” he said. The building will have a lasting impact on the face and design of Warragul, bringing a new form of residential living into the CBD in the form of apartments on top of the tallest building and taking a lead on multistorey development in the town.
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4 · LOCAL NEWS & FEATURES ·
WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN · 12 JUNE 2015
Push for better Baw Baw bus timetable A WARRAGUL man has joined with By William Kulich the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen to L Keening_Product create a petition calling for better bus services in the region, vowing to railway station there was a need. keep pushing until the state govern "It's very important because ment makes improvements. we've got a bus service that runs Jim Chapman has been lobbying about three trips a day to the hos for service improvements for three pital and back from the hospital," he years, but is yet to have any success said. with his approaches to both Liberal "It's just not sufficient. Nowhere and Labor governments. near good enough. Warragul has a limited town bus "I live in a lifestyle village just service which runs between 09:15 down from the hospital. We've got and 14:45 on weekdays, while over 300 people there and a lot of Drouin is the largest settlement in them don't drive. regional Victoria without a town "They would use the bus service, service. and there's also a village in Drouin. A review conducted in 2010 by There's plenty of need. the Department of Transport "People right up Stodda recommended a swathe of rts Road have asked me improvements, inclu about the bus service ding commuter town and wanted a bus ser t not services for both War s vice, so it's not just the u j s ' It . t n ragul and Drouin. hospital side of Warr e i c i suff re near agul where we live, it's That review was she e lved and was not Nowh enough all over Warragul that responded to by the it's needed." good Brumby, Baillieu or An online survey Napthine governments. conducted in July last Mr Chapman told the year by the Warragul & Warragul & Baw Baw Baw Baw Citizen found 96 Citizen services in Baw Baw were per cent of 108 respondents thought particularly bad when compared to the present bus service provision in those in Latrobe City, which has a Baw Baw was "Poor" (20 per cent) regular town service. or "Abysmal" (76 per cent). "Back in 2010 when the review Mr Chapman said he had already was done we had a population of conducted a petition covering his around 14,000, which was far more village, signed by over 80 people than what Newborough (6,933) and who would use a bus service that [almost as much as Moe (15,292) stopped at the village. had," he said. "A petition online is what I'm Mr Chapman said he knew many looking for now, which would cover people from across the town who the whole of Warragul, Drouin and would use a full bus service, and the shire of Baw Baw. with a growing population and new "Everyone around us has a bus bus interchange at the Warragul service, just not us."
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Warragul & Baw Baw
has previously called for improvements to bus services and has joined with Mr Chapman to launch that online petition. You can sign the petition calling for the adoption of the 2010 recommend ations at goo.gl/NcebE2. Mr Chapman said recent mee tings with local state Labor MP Harriet Shing had gone well. "She's going to look into it," he said. "She's already spoken to the tran sport minister and it's just a matter of waiting to see what eventuates from it. "But I started this in 2012 and I'm going to keep going until it's achieved." "From the beginning I'd been told everything had been approved, even a bus stop outside of our villa ge, but it was to do with funding. "We had Labor before Liberal, then we had Liberal which did not hing and now we have Labor again, so through Harriet Shing I'm hop ing this time I can achieve some thing and get something done." You can read Ms Shing's resp onse in the article "Labor promises public transport plan", also on this page. Warragul Bus Lines general manager Philip Radford has also been lobbying for service improve ments. "Every second day someone’s ringing up about the town bus saying ‘well how do we get back?’ and we say ‘you can’t, you can catch a bus down the street and only have one option to come back," he told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen last July.
Labor promises public transport plan LOCAL Labor MP Harriet Shing has said those looking for a better bus and rail services in Baw Baw will have a chance to say so soon. Responding to questions on bus service provision from the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen, Ms Shing said statewide consultation for the government's Regional Network Development Plan would give Gipp slanders a chance to argue for impr ovements. "The Andrews Labor Governme nt's ground breaking [plan] will provide Victoria’s first ever short, medium and longterm strategy for better public transport services in Gippsland and across regional Victoria," Ms Shing said. "It will move Victoria away from ad hoc service improvements and towards a more coordinated regio nal public transport network, where train and bus services are better integrated to quickly and safely get people to their destinations. "The plan will also consider infra
Sign online The Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen and Jim Chapman are calling on the state government to adopt the recommendations made in the 2010 Department of Transport review into Warragul and Drouin bus services You can sign online at goo.gl/NcebE2.
Headspace shakeup as federal changes end GML assistance ◄From Page 1
Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen.
"From the beginning of the following financial year, the funding requirements for that primary hea lth network determine that primary health networks can no longer fund organisations or act as lead agencies for organisations where there is a direct service provision relation ship. "So the GML board, which will transition to the Primary Health Network board, has made a decision that they will end their relationship with headspace as it currently stands as at the end of September this year, just to give us a little bit of leeway and to give headspace national office time to put out an expression of interest to find a new lead agency in the Gipps land region. "That expression of interest process is currently running and will close on 3 July." Staff have expressed concerns the Warragul centre would close, espec ially in light of the recent name cha nge from headspace Central West Gippsland to headspace Morwell. One staff member said the national office "refuses to specifically fund or acknowledge the Warragul heads pace site exists." Ms Pitkin said the name change was a branding issue and the catchment had not chang ed, however a spokesperson for the national headspace office said the future of the Queen Street centre was yet to be decided. "Funding for the Warragul site as
well as the provision of staff comes directly from the headspace grant that funds headspace Morwell," the spokesperson told the Warragul &
Baw Baw Citizen.
"Decisions about the future of Warragul will be the responsibility of the new lead agency in close collaboration and discussion with [the] headspace national office. "A decision was made by headspace in 2013 to change heads pace centre names nationally to ensure centres were named in acco rdance with the actual location of the centre the city or town they are situated in. This is to ensure young people know exactly where to access the headspace centre." With the changes in funding, a number of shortterm Gippsland headspace contracts will not be renewed and the Warragul centre will be without a receptionist from next month. "There is currently a receptionist position based there three days a week most of the time. That reception position won't exist at that site past the end of the financial year," Ms Pitkin confirmed. "Nearly all of the headspace staff were contracted until the end of the existing financial year. We've been able to negotiate to extend the vast majority of those contracts and have made a decision to end some of those defined short term contracts as of the end of the year. "We've ended the contracts as at the defined end date. The vast majority of staff have had their contracts extended until the end of
our relationship with headspace – until the end of September – and some of those staff haven't." Ms Pitkin said the site had, as a "satellite service," always been app ointment only. One staff member said the national headspace office was not doing enough to support centres in regional areas. The headspace nati onal spokesperson said the national office worked "in partnership with centres... to deliver services at the local level." A smooth transition to new hands will be the focus for the GML. "From our point of view, we're working more closely with heads pace national office than in the past and will continue to do that to make sure there is a successful transition," Ms Pitkin said. "There's a number of other not for profit organisations across Gip psland that would have suitable credentials to apply for, or to submit to become the auspice agency for headspace. "GML's primary goal is to make sure we are working with headspace national [and] local staff to make sure we continue to provide and... build our service commitment to yo ung people until the end of Setpem ber so the new lead agency comes in in what will be a smooth transition and the service level will continue." Asked what would happen if no new lead agency was found, Ms Pitkin said: "Then headspace national will negotiate with us or they will run the service directly."
structure upgrades, network extens ions and rolling stock. "Existing studies such as the Drouin and Warragul Bus Service Review will be considered in the development of the Plan, as will the views of Gippsland passengers who rely upon public transport and know firsthand the areas and services that desperately need impr ovement. "I have discussed residents' conc erns about bus services in Warragul and Drouin with the Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan, who is aware of the need to improve amenity in this area, and to make sure that residents get the services they need. "Community consultation on the plan is beginning in June with wor kshops to take place throughout Gippsland in the next couple of months. "I would encourage all public transport users in Gippsland to participate and share their views."
Staff have expressed concerns on a number of issues at headspace Morwell, including one person suggesting waiting lists of 10 weeks. That number is incorrect, according to Ms Pitkin. "Waiting lists vary between programs. There's none that are up to 10 weeks," she said. "The waiting lists depend on the service and their priorities accor ding to need. Someone with higher need will be prioritised over someb ody with lower needs." Intake model review The GML will be reviewing the intake model of headspace Morwell in coming weeks. Earlier this week it was expected new intakes would be put on hold from next week while the review was conducted, but it was later decided to keep intake open during the review period. The review will seek to improve the present model, "which can't operate effectively ongoing" accor ding to Ms Pitkin. "I expect that that intake model will be reviewed and implemented in the next couple of weeks. "This is in order to review the model to ensure the most effective service is being provided to the young people who need it." A partial intake closure occurred last week. "We stopped taking some intakes over the counter last week but we haven't formally closed intake," Ms Pitkin said prior to the confirmation the intake would remain open.
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12 JUNE 2015 · WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN
· LOCAL NEWS & FEATURES · 5
Coalition calls for cops, but is that the answer?
ORE M N E EV ONLINE! Discover past articles, comments, breaking news, extended photo galleries and discussion on the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen's mobilefriendly website! Simply head to warragulcitizen.com
Shadow police minister Edward O'Donohue speaking to media outside the Warragul Police Station last week
STATE shadow police minister Edward O'Donohue joined Nar racan Liberal MP Gary Blackw ood in Warragul last week to launch a petition calling for more cops in Gippsland. The pair argued issues of abuse of the drug "ice" and domestic viole nce were stretching police resources and the Labor government was not training enough police. Asked by the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen how many additional police the coalition would like to see, Mr O'Donohue said that would be up to the police commissioner. "The deployment of additional police at individual stations is a matter for the police commissioner, but during our four years in gove rnment we funded and the police academy deployed 1,900 additional police," he said. "The Police Association prior to the election called for an additional 1,880 during this four years of government. The Labor government has funded just 15,00, which will be deployed to Geelong and the Bellarine." Mr O'Donohue said local police needed the resources. "As the shadow police minister, and also a member for the Eastern Victoria region, I'm talking to police all the time and what I'm hearing is they're under pressure from the challenges of ice and family violence and they need additional resources to deal with that and the population increase that places such as Warr agul and Drouin are experiencing." The issue of population pressures is not disputed the region has seen massive growth over the past decade. Also rising rapidly are arrests for drug usage and reports of domestic violence. In a blog on the Victoria Police website, nowformer police chief commissioner Ken Lay argued cult ural change for issues of domestic violence was key to fixing the issue and research by the federal Parlia mentary Library found medical
By William Kulich L Keening_Product
violence, the government's issued its ice action plan, there's bipartisan support for the need to address assistance is more effective than these issues." police action in tackling ice. A report by the federal governm "Substanceabuse treatment pro ent's Australian Institute of vides a greater return on governm Criminology has argued police ent investment than does incarcera involvement could be effective in tion," the researches said. preventing repeat offences, but it Asked whether calling for "may also reflect proactive beh preventative measures would be aviour on the part of victims to more effective than petitioning for remove the risk of further violence. extra cops, Mr O'Donohue "The primary reason to said there was need for improve the response of multiple approaches. police to family violence Subst "A multifaceted to decrease the ance isfrequency abuse approach is required and severity treatm and the Royal of violence e p n r o t vides Commission into gr experienced by e a ater re Family Violence will victims and to ensure invest turn on their safety," the tease out many of ment those issues," he said. report said. "In government we "Many domestic and funded 12 community family violence incidents based projects to tackle the are likely to be perpetrated by scourge of family violence and to the same offender and/or reduce violence against women and experienced by the same victim children, one here in Gippsland. and/or occur at the same address. "Funding for those projects "That is, it is likely that a expires in the coming 12 months. substantial proportion of domestic "The Coalition prior to the and family violence incidents election had a suite of policies to involve repeat offenders, victims respond to the issue of ice. The and locations. government has in recent months "This suggests that placing an released its Ice Action Plan. intervention focus on repeat offen "There's bipartisan support to ders and locations may have a tackle the scourge of ice in our greater impact in reducing incidents communities and we would support than treating all incidents in the anything that helps to tackle that same manner." issue. Mr O'Donohue said that while "We had a number of initiatives support agencies needed to be prior to the election, one for comm funded, "police need to be resourced unityled responses that provided to respond." up to $100,000 funding to indi "Responding to those issues can vidual communities." be very timeintensive," he said. When asked if the Coalition "The Police Association in their should have invested more in submission to the Royal Commi preventative measures while in ssion talk about the number of government, Mr O'Donohue said: hours it takes to respond to a family "The coalition did put additional violence callout." funding into those but I suppose Anyone needing help with family we're looking to the future and the violence issues can free call 1800 Royal Commission into Family RESPECT (1800 737 732) or visit Violence will identify a number of 1800respect.org.au for phone or shortfalls in the area of family online counselling.
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Marriage equality group asks Broadbent to change CONSTITUENTS of the McMillan electorate who support same sex marriage have started a campaign to encourage Liberal MP Russell Broa dbent to vote for equality. A vote on allowing same sex marriage may reach the federal parliament in coming months, and several MPs have recently changed
their stance on the issue to support a change in the law. Gippsland National MP Darren Chester this week said he would vote for marriage equality if given the chance, but Mr Broadbent has not revoked his previous stated position of opposition. Labor McMillan candidate Chris
Buckingham has said he would sup port a same sex marriage bill. A Facebook page, McMillan Residents For Marriage Equality, and a petition have been started to encourage Mr Broadbent to change his stance. You can find both via Facebook: facebook.com/McMillanForEq uality
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6 · COMMENT ·
WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN · 12 JUNE 2015
E R O M N E V E ! E N I ONL Discover past articles, comments, breaking news, extended photo galleries and discussion on the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen's mobilefriendly website! Simply head to warragulcitizen.com
Room to commute of respondents said they agreed or largely agreed with the changes. Just 201 votes, or 22 per cent, thought the changes were a bad idea. With a large number of people from Pakenham responding on Facebook, it is assumed most of those no votes are from the people who will no longer be able to board the services. The article also prompted the most comments an article published by WBBC has ever had. Many commenters questioned how the policy would be enforced,
ART & RECREATION ·
Citizen.
"You stop at the side of the road or you go up to Dargo specifically to get mist and trees and autumn colours and things like that. "It's really fun, you find new places all the time and it's really interesting to see the sun on objects, [unlike] in Drouin." Lois does not mean to disparage West Gippsland she also paints locally. "It's just Dargo I've been to a few times and have seen the place with mist, and the Dargo pub with mist is just fantastic," she said. "That whole valley is covered in mist and then it rises, and it's really fascinating to see that. "Not only is it painting, you actu ally get to see some beautiful things. "But it's not only Dargo, because I do it everywhere. Noojee, Tooro ngo Falls, fantastic subjects, and they're everywhere.
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WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN · 12 JUNE 2015
Gippsland in six colours
LOIS Brown does not see a need to leave Gippsland to paint just hours from her Drouin home is the snow Mount Baw Baw, the sea around Wilsons Promontory and the captivating mists of Dargo. She paints full time and travels a lot to find inspiration for her work, but one place in particular has stood out. "You find places in Gippsland," she told the Warragul & Baw Baw
given there is no simple way to stop exciy Pakenham line passengers from boarding a regional service. Others said the rule was unfair given everyone pays for their ticket. That is technically correct, but ignores the enormous difference between a standard Zone 1 + 2 fare and a Zone 1 + 2 fare for those going beyond Zone 2. You can read the responses, vote in the poll and make your own comments at warragulcitizen.com and on Facebook by searching for "The Warragul Citizen".
By William Kulich L Keening_Product
"I actually haven't painted a lot in the centre of Australia or Alice Springs or somewhere because I have so much I can do down here. "I can get to the Prom, which is the coast, then I can go up to the snow, then I can go up to Dargo – within two hours you've actually got some really good subjects." Despite that wide variety of places, the watercolour artist who started painting in the medium 30 years ago does not need any more than six colours. Blended, of course. "It's usually about six colours, depending on the subject," she said. "For Gippsland landscapes I can work with six colours, but if it's a new subject that requires a different mix of colours I have others to use as well. "But you can usually get a good range of greens or mauves or oranges just with those colours." Twentyfive years ago Lois started painting fulltime, leaving teaching art at secondary schools. "I did teach secondary school for 18 years, but then I found I was thinking more about my painting and I decided it would be better if I just cut down to three days and the I left," she said. "But I still teach private classes with adults. I do like the teaching side still.
"I'm still alive [as a full time artist] and it's been 25 years I've been painting full time. Lois has a new exhibition on at the Town & Country Gallery in Yarragon called The Colours of Gippsland. With no particular theme in mind, it is simply what Lois likes to paint. "This is just subjects I like, and that's what I paint," she said. "I actually paint watercolours because I like it." Although not intentional, there is a lot of disaster in this exhibition. From landslides to other natural disasters, several works feature cha nged landscapes. "Every now and again I need to refresh myself or I get a real buzz from seeing students work because they can teach me things even though they're not tutors," she said. "But if you find a subject that is really fascinating, like the light on the side of a tree trunk or something new [such as] the landslide down at the Prom, that was after the massive flood in 2011 I think. "That was amazing because that subject reminded me a lot of Arthur Streeton's work so I actually refer back to other watercolourists for influence." As part of the exhibition, Lois conducted a live painting demons tration last weekend. Attracting a strong crowd, she went through the
process of watercolour painting while a room of people looked on. For a teacher it was nothing new, but she still finds painting in front of a crowd difficult. "You do have to really concentrate on what you're doing, and a couple of times I wasn't and put paint where I shouldn't have," she said. "When I'm painting on my own I find I can get a better result because I am focussed on what I am doing and not focussed on the people around me, it's a bit like trying to block them out. "I talk while I'm painting because it stops people from asking me questions and as soon as I'm asked a question I have to stop the brain and think about it." But the demonstration did have its perks. "There's a really big buzz that you can get when people learn," she
Lois Brown demonstrating watercolour painting last weekend
THERE has been an enormous response to the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen's story that Pakenham to city commuters will no longer be able to catch Gippsland line trains from later this month, which was published online on Monday of last week. You can find the full story on Page 2. WBBC ran an online poll along side the article, which received the most votes a poll run by this paper has ever had. Of 929 voters, 728 or 78 per cent
said. "Some people I know were really quite fascinated with what was hap pening and that was really nice to see, their interest." The Colours of Gippsland will be on display until the end of the month. In paraphernalia for the event, Lois said she considered herself something of a record keeper. "I consider myself to be a witness to the present and as an artist I like to record facts but also rearrange and interpret the scene to create interesting and engaging images," she said. "I like to tackle subjects that present problems of technique that I have not faced in previous works and after [30 years] I am still touch ed by the spontaneous, exciting and frustrating qualities of the waterco lour medium."
12 JUNE 2015 · WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN
· ARTS & RECREATION · 7
Works by Rachel Green and Helen Timbury on display at the exhibition
Understanding dyslexia through art FOR artist Rachel Green, life became easier after a dyslexia diagnosis. The Thorpdale resident is one of four artists who have put together an exhibition, Dyslexic Warriors, which is now on display at the West Gippsland Arts Centre. Rachel and exhibition organiser Russell Lilford both suffer from the learning disability, while Trish Naus and Drouin artist Helen Timbury have experienced the dyslexia of people they know. "The type of dyslexia that I've got is quite slight but it's like a visual dyslexia with colours," Rachel told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen. "I have to have coloured sheets over things when I read to be able to absorb the information. It means I have to read things again and again and again to understand what the information is. "It makes you have a really good memory of things, like you get to rely on your memory a lot more and I think with art, and because of the colour thing, it's a spacial thing. "Everybody in my family is dyslexic, my brothers are severely dyslexic and my father [is too], and my elder brother left school when really young, was always told he wouldn't ever achieve anything in life, and now he's one of the IT guys at a university. "He actually is in a position where he is teaching people university degrees, he's selftaught doing Microsoft courses on the internet, and he said with comp uters he almost feels them spatially, and that's how I think. "I have more of a maths brain than a literature brain, and that's sort of what I'm trying to say with my artwork – it's a very physical problem, and because our language is left to right. "Language is really a human construct and in a lot of cultures
By William Kulich L Keening_Product language is pictorial, like in Asian written script, like Thai script is almost musical in its structure. "What I was trying to say with the pieces I put in the exhibition was that animals don't have written language but they do alright and you're labelled as stupid or not clever enough or not good enough because you don't read fast enough... when it's just something made up by western society." Rachel's works also call on outdated medical and mental theory and her challenges of growing up with dyslexia. "The work I've put in, the four new pieces, two of the heads [featured in the works] I got from a really old Victorian book and they're of [phrenology] and the written text I've glued on there is from a book I always tried to read as a kid called What Katie Did Next, which was sort of an adventure thing for girls," she said. "A lot of the text that I've chosen to stick on there is about self esteem, hiding [and] acting like a clown." The exhibition name inspired Helen Timbury to produce a work called the Dyslexic Warrior. It depicts a woman proudly standing, stick and shield in hand, on top of a mountain of books. "Russell Lilford came up with the phrase to highlight the everyday struggle of those with dyslexia," Helen said. "I loved the words and wanted to create an image to show that read ing can be the enemy, or something to be conquered for some people, like my daughter. "She loves books but reading and writing can be frustrating. I started drawing and found I wanted to create a strong female figure that
could be inspirational to girls who perhaps have problems with rea ding and low self esteem. "The figure is a mixture of me and my daughters. Wanting to keep the work optimistic I added Wonder Woman pants and used uplifting colours." Helen said her family had faced some challenges with dealing with dyslexia. "I've learned to take a step back and look at the big picture," she said. "Standard academic eduction is not the answer for everyone; people learn in many different ways. For Helen, the form and shape of writing has always been an inspiration. She has in the past printed on old book pages, but not for works on dyslexia. "I print on old book pages for aesthetic reasons and also because I love printed pages and typography," she said. "The tone of the velvety yellowed paper seems to enrich the image. "Also I love old fonts because I am a graphic designer and was trained just before computers. I have a drawer full of Letraset in my studio." Helen said she hoped the exhibition would start a conv ersation. "Many people are aware of the spelling problems dyslexics have, for example the fun Tshirt slogan: "Dyslexics Untie!" Jokes aside, less is known about the way dyslexic people process information," she said. "In short, their brains are wired differently and they see the world in a very visual way. "Labelled as a learning disability, it is now perceived by many as a blessing which affords them a unique outlook to the world at large. "There have been a number of truly great people to back this up
'Rose Coloured Spectacles' by Helen Timbury
throughout history Leonardo DaVinci, Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso to name a few. "However, our education system is based on words, books and lectures and this has shaped our whole idea about intelligence. "It's no accident that many of those living with Dyslexia have amazing strengths in areas of design, creativity, athletic ability and social skills." Rachel said she hoped that visitors to the exhibition would not only learn more about dyslexia, but also consider being tested
themselves. "If people just question if they are dyslexic, if it is taking them longer to complete work... or they're studying and they can't remember things [that would be good,]" she said. "Maybe they'll question 'maybe I'm dyslexic' and get tested, because it made my life a lot easier when I found out what was wrong. "Then also you've got the opportunity to ask for help and discuss it with your family rather than just being blamed that you're lazy or you can't do things."
8 路 ARTS & RECREATION 路
WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN 路 12 JUNE 2015
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