THE members of the Port Stephens Community Arts Centre (PSCAC) firmly believe that art is about sharing joy.

The centre’s current exhibitions, on display until 12 December, are themed around travel and Christmas crafts.

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“We all have the travel bug,” Meryl Miller of PSCAC told News Of The Area.

“This exhibition is an immersive and captivating art exhibition that explores the theme of travel through a diverse range of artistic expressions.

“The variety of art works makes this an exciting exhibition to visit.”

The community is encouraged to visit the Christmas crafts on display, celebrating the spirit of the season through a wide array of handcrafted creations.

“The gallery is filled with inexpensive gifts, making it the ideal place to start your Christmas shopping.

“While visiting make sure you purchase a ticket for our Legendary Christmas Hamper Raffle – there are multiple cheerful hampers lovingly put together by our groups of artisans,” she said.

PSCAC is trying something different to provide their many artists with more exposure, resulting in the sharing of a featured artist and potter for each exhibition.

This month Gill Ward and Heidi Harber are sharing the Featured Potter display with Jo Barwick and Jan Bevan sharing the Featured Artists spot.

Jo Barwick grew up in Tasmania in what today would be deemed a large family of six siblings.

Jo moved to the mainland when she married John.

They settled in Canberra until they made the move to beautiful Nelson Bay as their retirement destination.

Jo and John bought a caravan and travelled about six months per year for a time, visiting beautiful destinations such as Port Douglas, Airlie Beach, and anywhere else along the east coast with excellent fishing spots, great walking spots and quality eateries.

Some of the superb scenery along the way has inspired Jo when painting landscapes.

Jo joined PSCAC and found absolute joy in embarking on her journey with painting, enjoying trying different mediums, techniques and new and varied subjects.

Jo is excited to put this collection of her works together for this display and has enjoyed the process immensely.

The second Feature Artist for the month is Jan Bevan, who was born in Sydney but moved to Papua New Guinea (PNG) as an eight-month-old baby with her mother to join her father who worked as a patrol officer there after the war.

She lived there for nine years and was sent to Sydney to complete her education as a boarder at Pymble Ladies College as there were no European schools at that time in PNG.

After completing school, Jan went to Teachers College and returned to PNG to begin her career.

Jan married shortly after and had a family.

Jan then returned to the Northern Beaches in Sydney and completed a BA and MA at Sydney University, graduating in Social Sciences to teach in the high school.

Jan has lived overseas in both the USA and Tahiti for a few years.

Upon retiring Jan’s family moved to a farm in Mudgee where she developed a love for the rural landscape.

Here there were groups of artists who welcomed and included her in various aspects of painting and art.

Jan spent many winters travelling internationally and began trying to paint the quaint towns and villages she came across.

This love of travelling inspired many of her creations.

After moving to Medowie five years ago and meeting a couple of lovely local artists, Jan decided to join the Port Stephens Community Arts Centre at Nelson Bay.

Through her membership of this group of talented artists Jan has gained more experience, developing her individual style in watercolour.

There are artworks by a myriad of members of PSCAC on display at the gallery, which is located at Cultural Close Nelson Bay and is open daily.

By Marian SAMPSON