Bowral District Art Society Members Exhibition | 23 Jan - 7 Feb

Local Southern Highlands Artist Elizabeth Burton’s work is set to be featured in the latest Bowral District Art Society (BDAS) Members Exhibition at the Bowral Art Gallery.

One year on from the devastating bushfires across Australia, known as ‘Black Summer’, Ms Burton is exhibiting her abstract mixed media piece ‘The Rainmaker’ for the first time to commemorate the anniversary.

“I painted ‘The Rainmaker’ during the bushfires last year, when everyone was praying for a miracle of rain to bring the destruction and heartbreak for so many Australians to an end.

“Thankfully not long after it was finished, we did start to receive some rain and the fires were eventually put out.

According to the Climate Council of Australia, the Black Summer fires burned through 5.4 million hectares of New South Wales, with over 11,000 bush and grass fires across the state. 

The Climate Council estimates 800 million animals were killed and 2,439 homes were destroyed by the fires in New South Wales alone.

“Black Summer was such a scary time that nobody is likely to forget in a hurry and sadly some Southern Highlands locals lost a lot.

“We are so lucky to have a strong sense of community amongst our local villages, pitching in, donating to those in need, and making sure neighbours were safe when the fires changed direction and the highways were cut off.

“This artwork represents the relief provided by our firefighting heroes, kind local community members and eventually the rain that ended the blazes.”

You can see “The Rainmaker” amongst other BDAS members’ work at the Bowral Art Gallery from 23 January – 7 February 2021, open 10:00am – 4:00pm each day.

For more information about the exhibition, contact:

Bowral Art Gallery

Under the Bowral and District Art Society Inc.

Short Street

Bowral NSW

(02) 48614093

exhibitions@bdasgallery.com

www.bdasgallery.com