Time for local love

This year, Maroondah shire celebrated their 30th Mayoral Art Exhibition. And it has been my pleasure and honour to have two of my works showing in this wonderfully diverse and masterfully curated exhibition, including over 200 works from 139 artists.

The theme for 2025, and 30th Mayoral Art Exhibition is "Time"

My works entered were quite obvious choices, pyrography works of a cuckoo clock and an old banged up typewriter. Less obvious were the true and very nostalgic reasons behind my selected works.

The cuckoo clock, though needs no background story, no reason to be entered other than it keeps the time. But has a story anyway. My father in law, who ran out of time on this earth before I met my partner, had a cuckoo clock business in the making. I feel very connected to this man, a kindred spirit, as I collect travel clocks, use his art supplies and am surrounded by mementoes collected my likeminded, big nostalgic hearted partner. As more time passes, I am more and more convinced that he had a hand in connecting my partner and I. Another story for another time.

The chosen medium for this work was pyrography. A process that takes time, control and precision, much like the reference clock itself. I whittled away at the acorns and leaf pendulum on my father in laws birthday, another mark of time, which happened to be the day before the piece was due to be delivered... so ironically, almost ran out of time.

The typewriter piece also as has an origin story that begins with my father in law. As it was his typewriter, that sits in our study, that first inspired my nostalgic series of works. It was his typewriter that mirrored my own obsession of nostalgic items that triggers wonderful memories. These items made to last the test of time are as beautiful as they are reliable. I hold a special love for typewriters in particular. The mechanics of them, the sound of them, the words poured in and out of them by much cleverer people than me, all speak to my nostalgic heart.... that and they are hard and when thing are a little too hard to think about creating as an artwork, they are the most appealing to me.

The 30th Annual Mayoral Art Exhibition raises funds in support of the Bone Marrow Donor Institute and is supported by Maroondah City Council and Community Bank Ringwood East and Croydon.

Artist have been encouraged to respond to past, present, future and the passage of time.

We celebrate the contribution that founding partner Bone Marrow Donor Institute (now part of Fight Cancer) and thousands of exhibiting artists have made over three decades in advancing medical research. The vital collective contribution to cancer patients through this work is also, ultimately, time.

This is an acquisitive exhibition and the Mayor of Maroondah and Community Bank Ringwood East and Croydon will announce the chosen works at the exhibition launch. The Mayoral Acquisition will become part of the Maroondah City Art Collection.

30th Mayoral Art Exhibition runs till the 8th November 2025. Open weekdays from 9am to 5pm at Maroondah Federation Estate, Ringwood Victoria.