Hanging Rock III

From childhood, Hanging Rock has been a powerful source of inspiration for me. I have happy memories of watching the film Picnic at Hanging Rock on a rare outing with my grandmother. Many years later, this memory triggered me to visit Hanging Rock. Not content to settle for  a day trip, I camped there solo for a week to paint in the 80s and in hindsight, I am so grateful for that experience. It brought back the feelings of wonderment first felt in my early childhood days crawling around the bush. We emigrated to Australia in the 60s and my first home here was located in the pristine bush, which to this day is where I feel the most peace. Last year I revisited Hanging Rock for the first time since my camp out, on a photo field trip for the VAS Regional Victorian Visions Exhibition, as it is no longer possible to use the old camping grounds. This year, the VAS 9x5 Exhibition 2023 is a wonderful opportunity to paint this wondrous place for only the third time now, from my original source photos from 2022. I mounted canvas onto the 9x5 boards supplied by VAS and applied my signature style mixed media border pattern, which makes use of texture medium, paint, metallic foils and semi precious stones, in this instance peridot and amethyst. This painting of Hanging Rock III is another view mid way up the rock, and my aim was to give an impression of the up the iconic stairs to one of the unusual massive rock formations on the way to the summit. With respect to the traditional land owners, I would like to acknowledge our First Nations People, who regard Hanging Rock, or Ngannelong as a sacred place.