The first show I went to was in Switzerland with my dear friend Catherine Nelson Pollard. We browsed, chose pieces and placed our art in our shopping trolley and took it to the till. It still graces the walls of my house and I love it. The Affordable Art show started last year in Brisbane and I enjoyed it very much so I went back for more this year. Art becomes more accessible, a reminder of how much we need it, and how it is the cornerstone of so much else in our lives especially in moments of hardship or when facing challenges. Art becomes the avenue and the answer, the ticket to leaving all your cares behind as you apply that hundredth dot. The creative element in humans lives on and deserves every encouragement. And in this case it is quite an achievement. Every pompom is hand made and put together in this art form by the very colourful creator !
Martine Vanderspuy’s work is sea centred and she works a lot with resin. She is inspired by the ocean, its power, beauty and tranquility. She helps raise funds for mitochondria disease. Her son Toms suffers from it.
Tetyana Khytko captured the calm in this young girl cradling her apples. She is a Ukrainian graduate of the Kyiv Institure of Arts. She migrated to NZ in 2000 and she has participated in many exhibitions there and in Australia.
What was a little different this year was the number of artists who were creating or working on some art work in the show. Two Aboriginal artists, Brad Turner and Nathan Falk who both demonstrated their work. Dots…galore.
Birds are always a favourite and I watched Caitlin Lever an Australian artist and muralist creating the intricate detail of each feather.
Loved Ailish’s gentle back lit series of four – a fusion of cultures here?
There were also some quirky bits which I was drawn to. This snorkel man and the image of the diver “Breaking the Surface”
Ulan Murray and Rachel Burns Blue Umbra of copper cables and steel one of the few sculptures in the show.
And just a little push for anyone out there hesitating – Lyndon Keene was a journalist most of this life and then 20 years ago he started painting and he has done some lovely abstract art – never too late to give it a go!
Mezze Moments 
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