Influenced by his love of Australiana, Jim has drawn a series of old houses and barns as well as classic bush settings in his latest exhibition.
“A lot of the architecture and scenes I’ve painted have been inspired by the areas near Freemans Reach, a town 65km north-west of Sydney bounded in the south by the Hawkesbury River,” he said.
“The area is rich in alluvial soil and used to be home to many orange groves that have now been replaced by turf farms and a few cows.
“It amazes me that when you go out there and check the historic housing, a lot of them are two-storey, barn-like and built from weatherboard despite sitting on so much land; it’s a wonder they didn’t build them larger and on one level but it must have been the style of the day.
“I suppose you could say my drawings examine the intersection between rural farmland and the bush; they will give you some insight into the different faces of Australia if you don’t get out of Sydney much.”
The Arts Centre gallery, 5 Olympic Parade, is open Tuesday to Friday, 11am-4pm, and free to the public.
