Arts Connect Inc. are back at Mary Cairncross, and although I haven’t seen all their exhibitions, this has to take the cake for being quirky, creative and slightly vulnerable due to Covid. The exhibition is called Meet the Cool Locals – and not just cool in a trendy sort of sense, but ‘cool’ as our subject matter was the cold blooded reptiles and amphibians that inhabit the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve.

The exhibition actually went for two weeks from 30th July till the 15th August – but along comes another Covid lockdown in South-east Queensland, so no one saw the exhibition for the first week. But, that is how life is at the moment. The second week meant masked stewards and less tourists than normal. But, it really is a lovely exhibition even if a short one.

I spent a pleasant day on duty with Beatrice Prost and have her to thank for the above photo of me and my painting.

I think there are 21 artists exhibiting both a wide range of 2D and 3D works. Here are some pictures of the exhibition in the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve Gallery.

It was, however, the details of the exhibition that took my interest. Apologies for some blurry photos – and these are the best of my close-ups! The range of 2D and 3D artworks were intriguing. The frogs, lizards and snakes of the reserve had really caught everyones interest.

I had three works – one painting (which I had very much enjoyed doing) and two cyanotypes. The cyanotypes were made for the “Pay and Go” section. This was a new idea as sales tend to be lost at Mary Cairncross if buyers (particularly tourists) need to leave the area before the end of the exhibition, so works under $100 were free to go as soon as sold and my gecko was one of them. James Frames, Maleny, had also donated a ‘most popular with the public’ prize and most visitors enjoyed having a good look around and picking out a favourite.