Helen Munro has pastels at hand in her studio overlooking the beach as the light fades.

The artist’s collection of colours includes the shades and hues that meet the eye looking at one of the East Coast’s attractions.

She’s inspired by the view outside the window. 

“I love to walk that beach. It just invites you.”

Mrs Munro describes the famous beauty of the bay, where she moved two years ago. 

“The colour of the sea against the orange rocks. The pure white of the sand which is just so very rare.”

Bright reds and golds light the sky in the morning, and the character of the water changes with the weather. 

“You see all the colours reflected on the ocean,” Mrs Munro said.

“There’s a painting everywhere you look.”

The pastels she uses are a good choice when painting the East Coast’s wonders. Versatile and vibrant, they can capture the orange lichen and light blue water that attracts artists to the area.

She’ll open her studio to visitors during the region’s upcoming arts festival, showing the work of its artists. 

In its open studio program, ‘Secret People, Secret Places’, the Bay of Fires Winter Arts Festival draws on the region’s creativity.

Organiser Heidi Howe said young artists had moved to the area for its lifestyle, and older people who rekindled their love for art had retired there. 

Artists were beginning to network and work together as the local art community thrived.

“We’re not known for it, but we’re beginning to get a name for it,” she said. 

The arts festival will expand for a fifth consecutive year since it started in 2012. It swells the population of St Helens and in 2015 brought 4451 people to the area, a 30 per cent increase compared to the year before. 

The festival put $660,000 into its economy, a boon adding to the $102m in yearly economic output the region’s tourism industry generates.  

Visitor numbers in the East Coast are already growing rapidly, at 12 per cent last year. As the sixth-most tourism dependent regional economy in Australia, the value of the festival is immense.

“As one retailer said, the festival has taken what was one of the quietest weekends in the year to one as busy or busier than our summer trade,” Ms Howe said. 

“It just brings that absolute life. It’s a real injection of funds for businesses at this quieter time of year.”

Break O’Day Council mayor Mick Tucker said the festival has grown from small to big thing

“It’s taken a couple of years to get going, but now it’s highly sought after, it’s highly recognised.”

The festival has drawn people to the region who might not otherwise visit.

It showcases the area to those who might think of moving there.​

A jazz event previously ran during the long weekend before finishing up. 

The festival as it exists now started when Ms Howe had an idea to hold an arts market together with the Bay of Fires arts prize.

She kept on thinking of ways to grow the event in the following years. It incorporated BOFA at the Beach in 2014 and the open studios debuted last year.

More people got involved with each event. 

“There’s so many volunteers who make it actually happen.”

The community has always welcomed the event, which is building momentum. 

“We’re finding they’re coming to us now to see how they can be involved.”

Organisers were looking at Party in the Paddock’s social media strategy to build the Bay of Fires Winter Arts Festival’s audience. 

The event has changed the mood of the area in winter. 

Its arts market, held on Sunday June 12 this year, gives locals a chance for a get-together. 

The festival has given exposure to local artists, and built their confidence. 

“It’s bringing people here to appreciate their art where they didn’t have that before.”

The event will foster young talent as part of its expansion this year, starting the Youth Art Prize exhibition.

Binalong Bay’s Tara Bursic will enter the competition.

“It’s really good to bring the community to come together and show what they’ve made,” she said.

The self-taught 13-year-old artist, living surrounded by bush, said she found her natural surroundings inspired her work. 

Tumbled glass miniature window and felt juggling ball workshops are adding to the programme for children. Open gardens and prize exhibitions happen across the long weekend. BOFA on the Beach’s movies screen at White Sands Estate.

Not far away, Mrs Munro prepares an exhibition room at her Binalong Bay home, ready to share her art with visitors. Every piece was a challenge, the artist said.

“You just get lost in a painting. Time just disappears.”

Night falls rapidly and the beach grows dark in the cool wind. 

The festival would be a tourism drawcard for the East Coast, she said. 

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for visitors to take a peek into the artist’s world.”

The Bay of Fires Winter Arts Festival will run between June 10-13.