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| Lesa Hepburn, Working in my journal under a work in progress on the Gunyah shore |
"Fossicking for fungi, drawing with pigments from eucalypt
resin and sitting each evening with a warm glowing fire and reviewing my images
of the day. These are some of the deep impressions left with me after my residency
at Gunyah. I got back into making simple marks on my papers, bringing a supply
of my handmade cotton rag paper and experimenting with found pigments and
implements.
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| Lesa Hepburn, Black ink and tree pigment drawing on cotton rag paper. Gunyah 2016 |
Over the two weeks, Gunyah, North Arm Cove and Port Stephens
gradually unfolded all their offerings as I became more aware of feathers,
flowers, fibres and fishing. I investigated “a line in the water” from the
jetty, on the shore and from our little Heron dinghy as we sailed from North
Arm Cove towards Lemon Tree Passage. We watched dolphins in the evening, small
stingrays at the beach and wallabies in the Gunyah Garden. Some mild fishing success brought us face to
face with unusual creatures.
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| Lesa Hepburn, A line in the water - Heros Bay, 2016 |
I spent much time each day and evening continuing my string making (video) and taking full advantage of the varied lights, textures and colours of gunyah and surrounds. Seeing my string sculpture in different ways each day has been most fulfilling.
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| Lesa Hepburn, Conversation in progress, Gunyah 2016 |
I made new papers, new string works and combined these in and around some of my favourite trees including the casuarinas on the Gunyah shoreline, where I also took time just to sit and absorb the surrounds and record some of these feelings in my journals.
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| Lesa Hepburn, New works in progress, Gunyah 2016 |
I have returned home with new visions, new techniques and materials and a refreshed appreciation of the natural environment and our interactions both at Gunyah and at home in Scarborough. I had time to refine my works and to become more precise with some of the ideas and forms that have been on my mind for a long while."
