Town and Country Painters
Lyn Church in collaboration with Nancy Leatham and others, over drinks one night at the Glenmaggie Summer Art Camp in 1994, discussed the possibilities of a small annual tutorial group with Colin Johnson as our mentor. The first artists’ camp took place in Licola that same year of 1994.
The Town and Country Painters came about by inviting women from Melbourne and environs and rural Victoria to join the group. Founding members were Lyn Church, Nancy Leatham(d) Maizie Lillicrapp(d) Marg Lacey, Maureen Loughran (MSWPS Member), Heather Livingstone(d), Edna Gooding (d) Myra Edgebook, Sue Hanson, Vivian Sterndale(d). Ngaere Donald (MSWPS Member) joined the group the following year after the tragic death of revered artist and friend Maizie Lillicrapp.
The idea was to paint, walk, talk, eat, and drink art. At that time none of us were grandmothers and as we grew older, became grandmothers, members departed, others were invited to replace them. They were Antoinette Reardon (d) Carolyn Corr, Chris Avard Britton, June Barnett (d) and Cynthia Boyle (MSWPS Member).
After five years of being a tutored group, after a few days painting at Licola and Gough’s Bay the artists decided to spread their wings and fly further a field for a longer time away. Many of us had to drive many hours to reach these locations and needed time to ‘get your eye in’ to explore the rhythm and movement of the landscape and the untold variety of flora and fauna, waiting around every corner. Finding accommodation for ten women proved a problem at times, especially when the numbers swelled when we invited other artists to join us.
As we grew older our accommodation became more salubrious from the first years in the Licola Bunkhouse. In Licola we invited the scarce number of locals for an impromptu art show and surprise for our mentor Colin Johnson on his arrival. We also held another exhibition at Fernleigh Cottages Goughs Bay beside Lake Eildon. An article in the local newspaper sadly failed to impress as it was an almost non-event.
We had evening critiques about what we had painted during the day. Our choice of media and composition all involved different subject matter and application involving uniqueness of expression, and the subtlety of simplification. Many aspects about composition, colour usage, technical risks, and emotional reaction, never forgetting the mantra of ‘contrast is your friend’ and knowing when to stop.
In 1997 we suffered another tragic loss with founding member Nancy Leatham. Nancy was a beautiful vibrant lady whose presence was sadly missed. June Barnett along with her husband John Dudley, were members of the prestigious Twenty Melbourne Painters, joined our group with friend Chris Avard Britton, both from Emerald. Not only was June an exceptional painter but a writer of poems too and she encouraged us to write our memories of each location we visited, starting our Artists Book of Memories. At Howqua we were privileged to welcome Cynthia Boyle as a teacher of drawing and design into our group. Lyn Church had relocated to Qld and never let tyranny of distance stop her attending paint-outs.
We employed a cook for the first few years but as the years progressed, we shared our culinary prowess in the kitchen as well as on canvas. Happy hour provided hilarious joy and laughter as we shared events of the day, such as Lyn saying to a galah ‘c’mon the pies’ and it replied, ‘what’s your problem’. Our last get together was n Metung during 2019 due to Covid 19.
This retrospective exhibition is to bring us all together, celebrating 27 years of painting out together, showing how we have evolved and remember our revered past members. Hopefully it won’t be long before we are all painting together again enjoying the enduring friendships forged over the past decades of painting together. The Town and Country Painters invite you to view and walk with us to our different locations and enjoy them as much as we enjoyed painting them.
The exhibition ‘Paintout!’ held at AGRA Galleries, opened on Sunday October 23 2022.
