Local Birds Feature in Tea Gardens River Mural Myall Coast Myall Coast by News Of The Area - Modern Media - October 18, 2023 Lisa Beatty and Jeanette Hart fill in details on the iconic Myall River pelicans. ARTISTS from the Myall River Art Walk Group, in collaboration with the Tea Gardens Aboriginal Reference Group, have begun breathing life into the latest mural along Marine Drive, Tea Gardens. After the eight bland white walls of the toilet blocks across from the Tea Gardens Police Station were revamped with the custom blue undercoat and background, broad strokes have graduated to details painstakingly rendered by the valiant volunteer artists. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au Under a strong, spring sunshine beating down with the weight of impending summer, Jeanette Hart, Chez Rands and Lisa Beatty began filling in the vibrant representations of local flora and fauna, including Tea Gardens’ iconic pelicans and banksias. “The River Art Walk Group and the Tea Gardens Aboriginal Reference Group have come together to represent local flora and fauna on the riverfront in this beautification project,” Ms Hart told NOTA. “Locals are passing by, commenting how they love the artistic additions to the area – so many positive comments.” The venerable volunteers have donated their time and energy to beautifying the town’s renowned riverfront, persisting with their labour of love, even as swarms of flies descended from nowhere. Nearby, corellas screeched, perhaps in recognition of the genesis of the visage of their cousin, the Black Cockatoo, which has been outlined and filled in by its designer and artist, Worimi artist Claire McLennan. Ms Rands has become intimately acquainted with the aesthetics of pelicans’ eyes, and poured soul and life into them across several walls of the mural. “This is very different to painting on paper, so we’ve used blown up photos of their eyes for reference,” Ms Rands said, although any passerby could easily become lost in those pelicans’ eyes. In all, eight walls are to be done, and it will take a long time – featuring other undeniably local birds, such as the yellow-tailed black cockatoos, and banksia plants. In what is truly becoming a living experiment, professional-level artistic techniques are employed, most of which were learnt practically and along the way. By Thomas O’KEEFE Clare McLellan’s Black Cockatoo was outlined on the southern exterior feature wall. Lisa Beatty stencils in the first leaves of the banksia bush. You could get lost in the pelicans’ eyes, as detailed by Chez Rands. A long way to go, but the first riverside wall is underway. Worimi artist Clare McLellan fills in the Black Cockatoo feature. The Black Cockatoo takes distinct form, but there is more to come.
