Judy Lawler is the featured artist at The Gallery in Mogo until June 18 and is a painter of land and seascapes. The subjects of which are local, numerous places that she has visited in her travels overseas and around her previous localities.
Judy doesn’t use a brush to create her pictures, she deftly wields her palette knife she can blend undiluted oil paint while retaining the richness of colour and feel of the medium.
She has a unique style of smoothing the paint that is sometimes hard to distinguish from the use of a brush. “Moving the paint around the canvas with a palette knife is such a joy” Judy says.
Visitors to The Gallery in Mogo can see that joy in one of her featured paintings, ‘Beach Fun at Berrara (Sussex Inlet) - it glows with light and colour in the manner that she captures a happy beach scene of families enjoying a day at a favourite old haunt of Judy and her family.
The exhibition includes some of Judy’s favourite Bay scenes - boats moored on the Clyde River, rolling hills and trees on the way to Araluen, a view of historic Braidwood, a semi-abstract acrylic and a small pastel of a day out at the cricket.
Judy was always keen to paint and joined art classes at her local YMCA when her youngest child started school and became very involved in the local Sutherland Shire art scene.
Judy and husband Bill eventually moved to the Braidwood area to run a large, beef cattle property. Bill had strong family connections to this area. Many holidays where enjoyed on the South Coast and Judy and Bill had always planned to retire down this way but, tragically, Bill died suddenly some 17 years ago, leaving Judy to keep the farm going.
She says, “At first I couldn’t bring myself to paint but once I started again, I put all my heart and soul into it and I found painting helped me get over the dreadful shock of losing Bill”
Judy came to live in the Bay in 2015 to be near her daughter and family and as a former music teacher, many people will recognise Judy as a hard-working member of Sing Australia, Batemans Bay.
Also at The Gallery is a range of products based on Judy’s artwork and created as part of a mentorship program for workers with special needs and with proceeds going to the Brunswick Sheltered Workshops.
The Gallery runs regular raffles supporting community groups with the prize being a donated painting or craft item, the current prize is Judy’s picture, ‘Boats Moored on the Clyde River’ and the beneficiary of this raffle is the Rural fire Service, Batemans Bay.
Judy says, “My philosophy is, you use what you do to help others”.
The Gallery is a co-operative venture of CABBI, a society open to local arts and crafts practitioners. People interested in finding out more about CABBI should drop in to The Gallery, Mogo or phone 02 4474 2243.
Above; Judy Lawler-'Beach Fun at Berrara-Sussex Inlet
