5 Lands Walk – Art in the Open

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MAIA FUNG
27/06/2016

The 5 lands walk is an annual event where people of the Central Coast come together to walk the 10km track from Copacabana to Terrigal Beach with the intent to bring people to people and people to place. A popular event for the CEntral Coast with over 12,000 participants

This day-long festival celebrates the 5 lands of the Darkinjung Country and the spectacle of our coastline. There are many activities, entertainment and every year up to 40 top Australian artists set themselves up along the coastline to paint en plein air. It’s a great opportunity for visitors to see the artists work and have a chat to them about their art.

kasey close up — Working en plein air can be difficult at times. The beaming midday sun, combined with the wind and salt spray created challenges for Kasey at this viewpoint. Nevertheless, the artwork came together with detail.

Kasey Sealey was one of those artists on Terrigal Beach enjoying the view north to Wamberal. “What attracts me to the Terrigal landscape and this picture, are the highlights hitting the rock face and the translucent shadows”. Working with oil paints on board, Kasey completed two detailed artworks on the day.

Sally West set her easel to face the Terrigal Haven view and with her distinct style of thick applications of oil paints she made three artworks on the day. The changing of light and shadows pushed her to work fast.

close up painting board — Dianne Gerlach’s palette shows the colour of the beautiful sunny day at Terrigal

Dianne Gerlach focused on the iconic Terrigal Rockpool. Her work was admired by many passerby’s.

Dianne explains that “…you’ve got to be careful not to overdo it the artwork…” Dianne enjoyed the full light of the day and welcomed the conversations about her process with onlookers – “There are three things to art, the artwork, the artist and the viewer”.

Did you see our big red friend Matisse? One of Gillie and Marc’s Lost Dog Sculptures went out for a jaunt amongst the 5 Lands walkers. He certainly did enjoy himself meeting lots of furry new friends.

matisse and friends — Matisse was very popular at the Terrigal SLRC

matisse and the crowds — Gillie & Marc’s Lost Dog Sculpture “Matisse” at Terrigal Beach

To end the day, all the artists came together with their completed paintings to celebrate. Crowne Plaza Terrigal hosted a mini exhibition which welcomed artists to show each other their art, critique, and discuss their plein air experience.

In conversation with Sally West she told me she was “racing against the wind” for most of the morning and there was high tide waters splashing her at one stage. Then with with others telling me they had been finding a lot of sand in their paint gear!!

cp drinks — The artist Party hosted by crowne Plaza Terrigal

After a full day in the sun and wind painting a well deserved glass of wine was enjoyed by the artists while they viewed the mini exhibition. Then they each voted for their favourite artwork. The Artist’s Choice Award for 2016 went to Willemena Villari, congratulations again!

So there ends another year of the 5 Lands Walk Art in the Open Air but, you can visit the exhibition when it moves to the Crowne Plaza Terrigal in November. Subscribe to the KAB Gallery newsletter and we will notify you when its open for viewing. All artworks will be available for purchase too (both at the exhibition and online at KABGallery.com.au)