PAULA Starrs is a born-and-bred Swan Hillian, something that can be seen reflected in her artwork.
Starrs’ upcoming exhibition Our Mallee… Our Home, which opens at the Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery on Friday night, highlights the uniqueness of the region through her Impressionistic-style paintings.
“I wanted to try and just remind everyone of the beauty and surroundings of our little town,” Starrs told The Guardian.
“We might not have huge tourist things here, but we do have a lot of beauty here.”
Drawing and painting is something Starrs enjoyed from a young age, and after selling her small business in 2021, she decided to pursue it full time.
“I think for everyone you ask COVID did something for them, and for me it just made me want to paint,” Starrs said.
“I just felt so comfortable doing that my whole life, and I really get a buzz when someone enjoys a painting or it makes them feel something.
“There is such a buzz when someone wants to purchase one of your paintings – it’s the ultimate compliment that you have sort of sparked something in someone so much that they want to have it.”
Starrs uses broad gestural brush strokes in her work, and likes to paint things like pubs, silos, and “little quirky gems”. Some of her work has been based on photographs of different parts of the region.
“Because I love photography, I don’t want my paintings to look like photos,” Starrs said.
“I’m a very impatient person, and I think my paintings reflect that because they are very busy – I like it to come alive really quick so I just paint very fast.”
Starrs will have 16 pieces in her exhibition, all painted on Australian canvases and framed in Australian timber. All the pieces are for sale.
Also being opened on Friday tonight is Marco Luccio’s Tales from the Greek, which is an artistic response to author John Hughes’ eight narrative adaptations of Greek myths and tragedies.
The exhibition features large canvasses, found objects, drypoints, etchings, charcoal drawings, collagraphs, ink, mixed media, pencil and monotypes. Iconic works from the gallery’s permanent collection as well as new works acquired in 2022 will also be on display.
The opening is at 6pm. The exhibitions will run until April 23.
