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Australia

Mindful matchbox art helps Bundaberg’s Marlies Oakley process floods and COVID

Mindful matchbox art helps Bundaberg's Marlies Oakley process floods and COVID

A south-east Queensland artist has been hunting for matchboxes — but the only fire she is interested in lighting is a creative spark.

Sharks leaping into a waterspout, penguins mingling with nuns and a space shuttle gliding over the Sydney Opera House show some of the stories inside Marlies Oakley’s mind.

The German-born Bundaberg woman creates miniature stories inside matchboxes using a cut and paste collage technique, then joins the boxes together to create large voyeuristic artworks.

A woman leans against an artwork of empty matchboxes filled with collage stories.
Individual stories contained in the matchboxes symbolize disconnect and isolation.(ABC Wide Bay: Brad Marsellos)

“Every matchbox is different,” Ms Oakley said.

“They consist of a background, with a few other elements within the matchbox for a 3D format. All collage and hand cut.”

Ms Oakley began working with collage after her home and business were devastated by the 2013 Bundaberg floods.

Her early works involved cutting postage stamps to create large-scale portraits and the process helped calm her mind.

A portrait of Donald Trump created from postage stamps.
Ms Oakley’s early collage work involved portraits created from postage stamps.(Supplied: Marlies Oakley)

Working with matchboxes was triggered by a more recent stress — COVID-19 lockdowns.

“A couple of years ago, I got a big box of matches at the Tender Centre,” Ms Oakley said.

“I forgot about them, but then I opened them up during COVID lockdown and I thought, ‘Oh, what can I do with them?’ and I started to collage them.”

Each matchbox contains its own “weird” or “quirky” tiny tale and when linked they represent the common feelings of isolation and disconnection during lockdowns.

“They are all their own stories because during COVID we have all got sort of inside our own homes and cocoons and nobody went out,” she said.

Matchboxes filled with small pictures pasted inside.
Each matchbox has a background, with images pasted to form an individual story.(ABC Wide Bay: Brad Marsellos)

“We started to think inside our own box.

“I love them all, I just giggle when I see them.”

Matchboxes strike interest

The artworks have captured the attention of galleries, with Ms Oakley claiming several art prizes for her works including the prestigious Martin Hanson Memorial Art Award and ‘Highly Commended’ Lethbridge Gallery Small Art Award, two years in a row.

Her 2022 entry ‘Thinking Inside the Box (cubed)’ is 462 matchbox stories linked to form a cube.

The cube took Ms Oakley about a week to create, in a process she describes as a “memory game” where she surrounded herself with images she had cut.

Creating the stories is a mindful practice for Ms Oakley but it is cutting the small images from op-shop books and magazines that has been the most helpful in calming her mind.

A woman holds a large box that is an artwork featuring matchboxes with miniature collages.
Marlies Oakley with her cube telling 462 collage stories.(ABC Wide Bay: Brad Marsellos)

“For hours I’m just cutting things out,” Ms Oakley said.

“Even if I don’t glue in a day, every night, even in front of the telly, I’m cutting things out — it’s part of my life now.

“I had a holiday for three weeks and I didn’t do it and at the end I thought, ‘I need it, I miss it’. I go into my own little world and cut and glue.”

An expensive venture

Sourcing the matchboxes is one of the only downsides of Ms Oakley’s creations, with many shops no longer stocking them.

And they are not cheap.

“It’s quite expensive to find the old matchboxes,” Ms Oakley said.

“But I found a really good supply at a major hardware store — I don’t know if they use them for barbecues or whatever, but you can still find them.”

She removes the matches and places them into a large jar, which she may use in an artwork in the future.

Ms Oakley’s artwork ‘Thinking Inside the Box (cubed)’ is currently on display the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery as part of the HERE + now 2022 exhibition, which runs until November 13.

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Entertainment

Brazil police recover art masterpieces stolen in $139 million elderly con

Two women stand either side of Tarsila do Aarel's painting.

Brazilian police are seeking the arrest of six people accused of involvement in stealing 16 artworks, together valued at more than $190 million, with some recovered.

Police said in a statement that the group stole the works from an 82-year-old widow who had been married to an art collector and dealer.

The haul included museum-quality pieces from Brazilian masters Tarsila do Amaral and Emiliano Di Cavalcanti.

Police found more than 10 works underneath a bed and at the bottom of the pile was Sol Poente — a do Amaral painting of a brilliant-hued sunset.

“Wow! Look who’s here!” one officer said in a video recording as she removed bubble wrap from the work.

“Oh, little beauty. Glory!”

The theft was orchestrated by the widow’s daughter, according to the statement, which didn’t provide either of their names.

The daughter was among those arrested Wednesday, according to local media, which also showed images of a woman attempting to escape through a window as police arrived.

It’s alleged the paintings weren’t stolen in a heist, but rather through a bizarre con.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Brazil police recover stolen art masterpieces valued at $139 million

In January 2020, a self-proclaimed soothsayer approached the widow in the Copacabana neighborhood and informed her that her daughter was sick and soon to die, according to the police statement.

The widow, who holds mystical beliefs, was compelled to make bank transfers totaling 5 million reais ($1.38 million) over the course of two weeks for supposed spiritual treatment.

Her daughter, who allegedly encouraged the payments, proceeded to fire domestic employees so her accomplices could enter the residence unimpeded and remove the artworks.

It’s alleged that upon receiving threats from her daughter and the accomplices, the widow made additional bank transfers.

Three of the artworks, collectively worth more than 300 million reais ($82.9 million), were recovered in an art gallery in São Paulo.

The gallery’s owner told police he had purchased them directly from the widow’s daughter, and sold two others to the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires, according to the statement.

A press officer for the world-renowned museum said that its founder, Eduardo Costantini, purchased the works for his personal collection, and possible display at the museum in the future.

The museum identified the widow as Genevieve Boghici and said Costantini has maintained direct contact with her throughout the acquisition of the paintings and since

AP

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Australia

Thousands flock to Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair with millions made for local art industries

A group of women looks at paintings and pottery on display inside an art gallery.

Pottery, paintings and pandanus mats detailing stories from First Nations artists across the country have drawn large crowds at the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF).

A major event for art lovers around Australia, the fair is held every year at the Darwin Convention Center as a way for talented Indigenous artists to bring their unique pieces to one central location and share their stories with the public.

This year’s event is expected to bring in millions of dollars for the 78 art centers represented at the fair, delivering an economic boost to remote communities around the country.

Two women look through fabrics hung on racks inside an art gallery.
Hand-dyed fabrics from Anindilyakwa Arts. (ABC News: Peter Garnish)
A crowd of people walking through the aisle of an art gallery, with the words "Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair" on a sign above them.
DAAF attracted crowds over the weekend. (ABC News: Peter Garnish)

DAAF chair Franchesca Cubillo said arts and culture in remote regions were the “lifeblood of any community”.

“They are the place where opportunities flourish, be it textile design and fashion, or artists sharing the rich history of bark painting or western desert painting,” she said.

A smiling woman sitting and speaking into a microphone as an art fair takes place in the background.
Franchesca Cubillo is a Larrakia, Bardi, Wardaman and Yanuwa woman.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
A series of painted ceramic pots on display inside an art gallery.
Ceramics by Hermannsburg Potters — a crowd favourite.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)

But the fair was not just a chance to “share our culture as a gift to the nation”, Ms Cubillo said.

It also allowed artists to earn a wage.

Two people stand at a desk to pay for an artwork, as an art fair goes on in the background.
The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF) has seen $11 million in sales over the past five years.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
Three people looking at brightly colored traditional Aboriginal paintings hung on the walls of an art gallery.
Attendees admired the intricacy of desert styles.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)

“They’re able to secure an economic return, and that will allow that next generation of First Nations people to feel empowered — to actually start to think about, ‘What might a business look like, operating out of my community?'” she said.

“We’ve got remarkable artists working out of art centres, but what if we had a modeling agency operating out at Gapuwiyak, for those remarkable young men who were a part of our Country to Couture [fashion show]?”

A woven turtle sculpture on a table, as an art fair goes on in the background.
A woven turtle sculpture from Erub Arts.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
A woman taps her card on a card reader held by another woman, in front of black walls hung with Aboriginal art works.
Art fairs provide much-needed economic opportunities in remote communities.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)

Knowledge shared between cultures and generations

For Karen Rogers, an artist from Ngukurr Arts Centre, the fair was also a chance to pass down skills to family.

“We’ve got my son at the moment, just teaching him how to do lino printing, printing on material,” she said.

“He’s been doing a good job, like framing canvas. I reckon art centers can offer a lot of things for young people, career pathways.”

A smiling woman standing in front of a series of brightly colored artworks displayed on a dark wall, inside a gallery.
Karen Rogers, an artist from Ngukurr Arts.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)
A woman scans her card on a card reader held by another woman in front of Pandanus mats hanging on a wall.
Pandanus mats from East Arnhem Land.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)

Ms Rogers said it was fascinating learning about other Indigenous cultures through art, and finding common links.

“This one from Torres Strait, I was really interested because I speak Kriol and they speak different Kriol,” she said.

“They’ve got a dictionary. It was amazing seeing it, because they speak a little bit different to our way of speaking. It was inspiring.”

Two men in traditional Torres Strait Islander costume dance inside an art gallery, before a crowd.
The Abai Sagulau Buai Dance Team from Badu Island in the Torres Strait performing at the fair. (ABC News: Peter Garnish)
pandanus jewelry
Pandanus jewelery is always popular with visitors.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)

Diversity on display

From the tropics to the desert, each art center brought its own languages, styles and practices to the floor of the convention centre.

Lex Namponan, from Wik and Kugu Arts Centre, said his father was a major source of inspiration.

“We [saw] our dad when we were 14, 15 doing sculptures and bark painting and everything,” he said.

A man in a plaid shirt sitting down in front of a series of brightly colored paintings and sculptures on display in a gallery.
Lex Namponan, a sculptor with Wik and Kugu Arts. (ABC News: Peter Garnish)

“As we were growing [up] … it gave us the idea for what we’re doing, and now we’re here, traveling around with all our colleagues.

“I’ve got a big show coming up from this moment, back to home, going out country collecting timbers – milky pine, clays, white clay, red clay – from the ground.”

The art fair runs until 4pm today.

A series of sculptures in the shape of dingoes lined up on the floor of an art gallery, in front of paintings displayed on walls.
Lex Namponan’s dingo sculptures.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)

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Categories
Australia

Cathy Gray wins Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize people’s choice award

Cathy Gray wins Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize people's choice award

South Australian artist Cathy Gray hopes highlighting the plight of disappearing native plants will empower Australians to do more to protect them.

Her piece Endangered has won The People’s Choice Dr Wendy Wickes Memoriam Prize as a part of the South Australian Museum’s Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize.

It was also highly commended by judges for its depiction of the fragile relationship between the arts and the natural world.

Ms Gray’s illustration captured 756 of Australia’s 758 critically endangered and endangered species.

She said while she didn’t win the major prize, it was great that it resonated with people who saw the drawing up close.

red haired woman sitting down drawing with a pen in her left hand
Ms Gray says she was humbled by the recognition.(Supplied)

“It’s a bit surreal and just such an honour,” Ms Gray said.

“I think for my work especially, it’s very hard to see online and in a photo, but when you go in and you see it in person, just to have that connection and for it to resonate with people, it’s really important.

“We actually have more foreign species now in Australia then we do native.”

close up shot of mandala with a small list of words
Ms Gray says some of the plants featured in her drawing haven’t been seen for 20 years.(Supplied)

She said the loss of Australia’s endangered species was happening right in front of people.

“It’s the plants we may have in our neighborhoods and because of that I believe unlike some environmental issues, people may be empowered to make a difference,” Ms Gray said.

She said she spent more than 400 hours researching and producing the detailed pen-inked mandala.

long list of name of endangered and critically endangered native plants species written in black
Ms Gray says two plants were missing because she couldn’t find any photos of them. (Supplied)

She said the most challenging aspect of the piece was researching all the different species and trying to find good photos of each one.

“I actually put it out there on Facebook, and people started to tag botanists they knew and people working in botanical gardens, and those botanists contacted their connections that they had around Australia,” she said.

“They all came together for me, it was a huge challenge for everybody to try and get these last 35 plants.

“Every single plant that is drawn on here might not be around if we don’t make changes, or [we] don’t do something to help these plants.”

close up of mandala with black and white drawing
The piece will be on display at the National Archives in Canberra.(Supplied)

The drawing will be on display in the National Archives in Canberra until November.

The People’s Choice Dr Wendy Wickes Memoriam Prize recognizes the significance of the public vote, a unique feature of the award, providing visitors with the opportunity to decide on the piece they think most reflects the spirit of the Waterhouse.

The competition is open to artists from around Australia.

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Categories
Australia

Parramatta photography captures booming, culturally rich city after severe COVID lockdowns

Play Video. Duration: 1 minute 22 seconds

After months of being locked down and singled out as a coronavirus danger zone, Western Sydney is facing the difficult challenge of bouncing back.

Workers required permits to leave their local area, the community had nightly 9pm curfews, defense personnel were on the streets helping enforce restrictions, and a targeted police operation roamed the areas known as the LGAs of concern.

Despite four months of tough restrictions, the community’s spirit was not broken, and people returned enthusiastically to public spaces in droves.

Photographer Cherine Fahd discovered this as she embarked on her photography project at the end of the 107-day lockdown.

“I wasn’t sure whether people would want to participate, whether they’d want to come onto the stage that we created and take photographs with me. And it was incredible,” Fahd said.

A man in a blue jumpsuit with flares and mask poses outside a football stadium, a woman in red t-shirt holds sun reflector.
One of the multiple photo shoots was held outside Western Sydney Stadium.(Supplied: Cherine Fahd)

“People were really enthusiastic to be part of something creative.”

Setting up photo booths in Parramatta’s public spaces such as Centenary Square and outside Western Sydney Stadium before an Eels game, Fahd captured a cross-section of the community after shooting for more than eight months.

Photographs from Being Together: Parramatta Yearbook (2021–2022) from the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Parramatta Artists’ Studios are on display in Parramatta’s Centenary Square.

Like a high school yearbook, locals are invited to find themselves in the public artwork.

Parramatta is one of Sydney’s most diverse neighbourhoods. Fahd said the cultural richness that shone in her work de ella came naturally to the project.

A wall of photos and collages in a public square with deep blue skies.
MCA curator Pedro de Almeida says the work puts art outside the typical gallery environment.(Supplied: Cherine Fahd)

“It’s just the people that came and went on the days that we were shooting,” she said.

“Parramatta is diverse, it always has been.”

MCA curator Pedro de Almeida said works like Fahd’s were able to put community front and center outside the typical gallery environment that art usually resided in.

“Fahd has brought her humor and empathy to this year’s project Being Together: Parramatta Years and engaged with Parramatta’s diverse communities,” Mr de Almeida said.

“The result is a special kind of public yearbook that recognizes many of the individuals that shape Parramatta’s identity and celebrates the connections shared between them.”

A time capsule of a changing city

Pounding jackhammers, whirring drills, and reversing trucks make up the soundscape of Parramatta’s center as the area is being transformed into a concrete jungle metropolis.

Construction workers pose for a photograph on a work site.
Fahd says her aim was to foreground the people against the rapid development of the city.(Supplied: Cherine Fahd)

Major infrastructure projects, such as the Parramatta Square project and Sydney Metro, promise to rival the Sydney CBD and represent the rapid development of the city.

Fahd sought to capture this change in the project, which included a photo shoot on the construction site of 5 Parramatta Square, where the new council chambers will be housed.

“One of my aims as an artist was to foreground the people against that backdrop of development,” she said.

“I think we get lost in the excitement of architecture and building and the people can get lost in that.”

Lord Mayor of Parramatta City Council Donna Davis said the artwork did a great job of capturing this moment in time for the city.

“This artwork is a wonderful representation of our city and its people at a significant moment in time — not only in terms of the pandemic but also with respect to the physical transformation of the CBD,” Ms Davis said.

A woman in red t-shirt and two men pose at an outdoor photo shoot. One man has head leaning on the other guy's shoulder.
Fahd says she was not expecting participants to be so willing to take part.(Supplied: Cherine Fahd)

Beginning of lifelong project

Parramatta Yearbook is likely the beginning of a lifelong project for Fahd, who says she would like to take the concept further afield to other places where a strong sense of community binds people together, particularly through hardship.

Fahd brought up the example of Lismore, which was hit by catastrophic flooding earlier this year.

“You could take it regionally, you could take it overseas, take it into other states and capture various communities,” she said.

“Each community will bring something of themselves and something that’s unique.”

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Categories
Entertainment

Samuel Johnson portrait wins Archibald Prize People’s Choice Award

A man in a beige suit smiles next to a large painting of actor Samuel Johnson holding a black and white photo

Artist Jeremy Eden has won the Archibald Prize People’s Choice Award with a portrait of actor Samuel Johnson.

A record 35,268 gallery-goers voted in the 2022 award, the most since the prize was first offered in 1988.

After receiving the award at the Art Gallery of NSW, Eden said he was ecstatic to have won the popular vote in his second consecutive year as an Archibald finalist.

“It’s been life-changing… I just hope I can grow with it and be one of those people that’s here every year,” he said.

Being a finalist has alone meant more commissions, and he hopes Wednesday’s win will lead to gallery representation.

“I went from being an emerging artist with nothing to back me up, to people somewhat knowing who I am, which is lovely.”

The Sydney-based artist first met Johnson in 2021 while the actor was recovering from a near-fatal car accident.

He was in a neck brace when they first spoke on a video call, and the pair bonded over their shared experience of losing close family members to cancer.

Eden’s mother died from the illness in 2008, while Johnson founded the cancer charity Love Your Sister with his sibling Connie before she died in 2017.

The winning portrait depicts Johnson holding a photo of Eden’s mother Annette, after the actor encouraged Eden to include his personal story in the portrait too.

Samuel Johnson Archi portrait 2
The portrait shows Johnson holding a black-and-white photo of the artist’s mother.(AAP: Bianca De Marchi)

The painter flew to Melbourne for a live sitting with Johnson, then worked six hours a day for 10 weeks to finish the portrait.

“The people have spoken and they loved Jeremy the most,” Johnson said in a statement.

“He is an extraordinary storyteller, has a huge heart and he deserves this acknowledgment so fully.”

Love your Sister has a substantial public following and has raised more than $15 million for cancer research.

The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes are on show at the gallery until August 28, and the Archibald finalists will tour regional Victoria and NSW until July 2023.

AAP

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Categories
Australia

Spirit of SA art exhibition showcases state’s people, places and icons to support children with cancer

Spirit of SA art exhibition showcases state's people, places and icons to support children with cancer

Among the lovelier lyrics in Don McLean’s song about Vincent van Gogh are those that refer to “faces lined in pain” being “soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand.”

Something of that tender spirit is reflected at Mark Lobert’s Port Adelaide studio, where, for the past few months, an impressive act of artistic altruism has been taking shape.

“Hopefully we’ve done SA proud because we’re very proud of this collection,” Lobert said when describing the project.

Painting is a paintaking business, but these portraits and landscapes are about alleviating pain — specifically, the pain of very sick children.

Collectively, the 42 canvases will comprise the Spirit of SA exhibition, and they depict prominent South Australian faces, places and icons.

A painting of the Granite Island to Victor Harbor horse-drawn tram.
The Granite Island horse-drawn tram is popular with tourists at Victor Harbor.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)

From Monday, they will be on display at Adelaide’s Westpac House, and will be auctioned online to raise at least $100,000 for the Childhood Cancer Association (CCA), to support children battling the illness.

Subjects include rock legend Jimmy Barnes, actress Theresa Palmer, the Hills Hoist, Kangaroo Island’s Remarkable Rocks, chef Maggie Beer, and pop singer Guy Sebastian.

There are also the ABC’s Collinswood building, AFLW star Chelsea Randall and former prime minister Julia Gillard.

A portrait of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Born in the UK, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard moved to Adelaide at a young age.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)

“As a female in politics, and in general, she’s an amazing person,” Lobert said of Gillard.

“The painting that has been done by Barnesy is linked in with the Largs Pier Hotel.

A portrait of Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes with the Largs Pier Hotel.
Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes with the Largs Pier Hotel.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)

“That image would have to be one of my favourites.”

The project has evolved collaboratively — fellow artist Phil Hodgson has worked closely with Lobert, and it is testament to their commitment to the cause that both have volunteered their time.

Each has brought different and complementary skills.

Hodgson’s talents include the ability to capture the lineaments of a human face, while Lobert has focused on non-human subjects, as well as color schemes and other touches.

42 paintings in 30 weeks

In person, Lobert can look a little like a canvas himself—his arms are impressively inked, and his paint-stained shirt resembles a palette for mixing colors.

His studio is every bit the artist’s den.

Adelaide artist Mark Lobert stands in front of paintings.
Lobert’s shirt, like the floor of his studio, is suitably stained with paint.(ABC Radio Adelaide: Daniel Keane)

It is brimming with brushes, paint pots, blank canvases, and works in progress, and its floor is so densely covered with splashes of pigment that it resembles an example of Jackson Pollock’s abstract expressionism.

But the paintings themselves suggest other suitably eclectic influences.

A carton of Farmers Union Iced Coffee, a packet of FruChocs and a selection of frog cakes evoke Andy Warhol’s soup cans, while the blues and yellows of an image of Adelaide’s skyline bring to mind van Gogh’s Starry Night.

A painting of a packet of FruChos.
An Andy Warhol-esque painting of a packet of FruChocs.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)

“I kind of love colour, I’m always trying to chase color — I need to have color all around me,” Lobert said.

Despite that passion, he admits the production of 42 sizeable works in about 30 weeks has been a challenge.

A painting of Kangaroo Island's Remarkable Rocks.
Kangaroo Island’s Remarkable Rocks were among Hodgson and Lobert’s subjects.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)

But when he admitted, “I won’t lie — it’s been very stressful”, he spoke with the smile of someone who knows the finish line is in sight.

“They have taken a lot of time,” he said.

“Originally, we were going to start off with about 14 — then it went to 20, and 25 went to 30, then it bloomed out to 38 and shot out to 42.”

A painting of a Hills Hoist clothes line.
The Hills Hoist clothes line was produced in South Australia.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)

‘The fight of his life’

The driving force behind the project has been media identity and CCA ambassador Mark Soderstrom.

Media identity and former SANFL footballer Mark Soderstrom.
By auctioning the paintings, Soderstrom hopes to raise $100,000.(ABC Radio Adelaide: Daniel Keane)

“I thought, we’ve got to be grateful for where we live, what can we do to raise $70,000 to $100,000?” he said.

“What if we try and showcase the best part of South Australia, and then auction them off for Childhood Cancer?

“They need something like $1.3 million a year to function and provide their services, so if we could put a dent in that, it’d be bloody brilliant.”

A painting of tuna fish.
Chosen subjects also included Port Lincoln’s tuna industry.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)

Soderstrom admits he is not “arty” himself — but he is impressed by the power of art not only to raise funds but to provide respite.

Through CCA, he struck up a friendship with Lobert.

Their work has put them in contact with some harrowing stories.

A portrait of AFLW star Chelsea Randall.
Three-time AFLW premiership player and two-time premiership co-captain Chelsea Randall.(Supplied: Phil Hodgson and Mark Lobert)

Soderstrom recalled the case of Jaxon, “an unbelievably brave little boy” who was undergoing palliative care at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

“He was in the fight of his life, and his parents called him Iron Man because he was so strong,” Soderstrom said.

Soderstrom asked Lobert to paint a picture of the superhero for Jaxon, to go over his hospital bed.

“Every time he woke up, with the time he had left, all he could see was Iron Man.”

Easing the burden on children like Jaxon is at the heart of the Spirit of SA.

“Our father passed away with cancer,” Lobert said.

“So whenever I hear of any [fundraiser] that’s to do with cancer, it’s always going to be a ‘yes’.

“I love to be able to give.”

Adelaide artists Leandra McKay and Mark Lobert at Lobert's Port Adelaide studio.
Assistant Leandra McKay and artist Mark Lobert at Lobert’s studio, where he has been working on a painting of CCA mascot Elliot.(ABC Radio Adelaide: Daniel Keane)

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