Invitation to view some nomad art

The things people do in Bushtrackers…ours is a mobile art studio. Some of you out there may be interested in what I call my nomad art, maybe the name isn’t original, but I’ve been at it for a long time.

My latest batch can be viewed online at www.carolmccormack.com.au/centred or if you happen to be in the area between 18 March and 17 April, the real thing will be exhibiting at the Roma on Bungil Gallery in Roma, Queensland’s Maranoa Regional centre. I live on a cattle property near Roma (about 150km is ‘near’ enough) and have been an artist for forty years or so. I’m proudly a product of Mervyn Moriarty’s Flying Art School formed to bring quality art tuition to the outback in the early 70s and still going strong. My first solo exhibition in 1986 was titled Landscapes on the Move, and I realise I haven’t changed the subject matter much since then, although I’ve tried a few other directions in between. A trip to the Kimberley with Clifton Pugh that year really got me going and a couple of solo exhibitions in Brisbane in the two years following exceeded my expectations. Since then the titles of my solo shows have included Journeys, More Journeys, Of this Land, Round and Around, and the current one is Centred - paintings from the Red Centre and other nomad journeys ---- get the drift?

I fit art and BT travels into a busy other life. These days I don’t get invited to muster or help with the yard work, even though it’s not so long since our last droving trip, the kind of travel that inevitably accompanies drought years. Currently my chief ‘other’ functions are being ‘Mopsy’ to seven grandchildren, neglecting a garden and helping with a project on the 269 bird species of our area which includes a book and almost-completed dvd complete with calls (this is also good information for travellers as many of ‘our’ birds are found all over Oz – see www.brigalowbirds.org ).

BT has revolutionised our travelling arrangements. Where we once unloaded and cleaned up after the horses, then rolled our swags out in the back of the truck, I now open the door, put the kettle on and roll out a canvas. Many of the paintings for Centred have been done in the moving tow vehicle to take advantage of great slices of inactivity (Teddy the Tour Organiser hogs the driving) and of course the great slices of beautiful scenery passing me by. I’ve become braver and instead of messing around on sketch pads I now tackle quite large canvases in the front of the 200 series Cruiser Wagon – a bump or three helps prevent preciousness, and any required detail can be added later. This year we head for the Kimberley, it will be my fourth trip and I can’t wait to see it again.
happy travels,
carol (mopsy)