Mary Morris had always seen her dog as her “best friend” and so she was devastated when it died two years ago.
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But out of that tragedy emerged a creative force that had been hidden inside Ms Morris for years.
The Queenstown artist is now hosting her first solo art exhibition as part of The Unconformity festival.
“I’m very, very excited and honoured to be part of The Unconformity. It’s an amazing event,” she said.
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Ms Morris described herself as an “accidental artist”, or what the art world calls a naïve artist.
“A naïve artist is an artist that has no formal training,” she said.
“We often paint our environment … and we’re renowned for using really bright colours that would often clash on the colour wheel.”
Ms Morris’ artwork captures iconic West Coast landscapes and destinations including Queenstown’s gravel footy oval, Hamers Hotel at Strahan and local waterfalls.
“Most of what I paint is about this area: the West Coast, the people who live in it, the activities that take place here,” Mr Morris said.
Her solo debut comes after her artwork was exhibited on the international stage as part of the annual Art Naif Festiwal in Poland.
Ms Morris became involved in Art Naif after she shared her artwork on a Facebook page for Australian naïve artists.
She was the only Tasmanian featured in the 2018 festival but she’s not planning to move overseas any time soon.
Ms Morris said she fell in love with Queenstown as soon as she moved there four years ago.
She arrived to look at properties on a bitter May morning and was amazed by the sight of mist drifting over the mountain ranges.
It’s like nowhere else on earth.
- Mary Morris
“It’s so wild and so rugged and it had this forlorn, melancholy kind of feel about it and I fell in love with it instantly,” she said.
Ms Morris is one of dozens of artists, musicians, dancers, filmmakers and performers involved in this year’s The Unconformity.
The festival will be held around Queenstown between October 19 to 21.
For more information visit www.theunconformity.com.au