French impressionist artist Edgar Degas once said: “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
Art is something that comes in many media and styles, telling different stories or portraying various emotions.
It can be abstract or literal but no matter how it is presented, art it is something that provokes deep thoughts and discussions.
Now, some 189 years after the birth of Degas (most famous for his pastel paintings of ballerinas), his words still ring true today.
Also hailing from France, Beatrice Prost is a multimedia artist who enjoys the process of creation and pushes her techniques to extremes.
She captures the essence of life and topographies in a non-representational way through her art.
Her latest body of work depicts the diversity of life forms in the oceans – exactly what she wants us to see.
As artist in residence, Ms Prost will be one of many creatives from across the region who will be showcased at an historic event that has captured the hearts of art lovers for more than 40 years.
The Immanuel Arts Festival, from May 25 to 28, is a celebration of fine and contemporary art from established and emerging artists.
Now in its 42nd year, festival convener Lauren Nielsen says the festival is expecting to attract 200 artists, with close to 800 pieces of quality works and homewares on display and available for sale.
“The Immanuel Arts Festival is about supporting established and emerging local artists in the community,” she says.
“The event continues to grow each year.
“Last year, we attracted 2000 visitors through the door and sold $46,000 worth of art, directly supporting those artists who enter.
“This event gives artists an opportunity to display their work in a gallery setting – a chance that very few get to do.”
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The exhibition will include a selection of paintings, photography, mixed media, drawings, sculpture, wearable art, functional ceramics and a large variety of homewares in the artisan section.
“This year, we are excited to see the return of the wearable art category, with creations to feature in a fashion parade at opening night,” Ms Nielsen says.
“Wearable art is an area that continues to grow in popularity. Artists and designers can embrace their creative exploration and create pieces where anything goes.
“There is nothing too eccentric in the wearable art category.”
Ms Nielsen says the student art section also gives primary and secondary students from any school across the region the opportunity to showcase their creative flair.
“Not only do they feel a sense of pride by seeing their work on display in a gallery setting, but they also walk away feeling inspired by what they’re seeing from other artists,” she says.
“It’s fostering that love of visual art for future generations, which is so important.”
In 2023, the event will also support renowned Buderim artist Teresa Mundt as artist in focus, with her quirky artworks that are a stylised fusion of caricature and bold colour.
Joining Ms Prost as the second artist in residence is local wearable art designer Maggie Wretham, whose upcycling and care for the environment is reflected in the intricate details of her work.
The gallery will be open to the public across the four days. Ms Nielsen says the festival is an event for everyone.
“If you haven’t been before, I strongly encourage the community to come along and take a look,” she says.
“Even if you’re not looking for a painting, you’ll be surprised by the beautiful homewares available for sale, including pottery, timber work, jewellery, glass work and silk scarves.
“It really is a wonderful day out.”
Doors to the gallery will open from 9am to 5pm from May 25 to 27, and 9am to 2pm on May 28, at AJ Jericho Stadium, Immanuel Lutheran College, 126-142 Wises Road, Buderim.
Parking is available on site and there will be a cafe serving lunch, coffee and snacks throughout the festival. Entry is $5 for adults, with children free.
Opening night details
The opening night will take place on Thursday, May 25, from 6.30pm. The evening will include a fashion parade of this year’s wearable art entries, plus the announcement of the 2023 award winners. Tickets are $45 and include drinks and canapes. Visit immanuelartsfestival.com.au.
Did you know?
This year marks the 42nd anniversary of the Immanuel Arts Festival. Since 1981, the event has grown from a small gathering with a limited number of pieces to today’s festival that attracts nearly 300 emerging and established artists and more than 800 artworks across several genres, including painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media, wearable art, film and creative.
By the numbers
- In 1984, the event generated $4200 for the Parents and Friends Community of Immanuel Lutheran College.
- 300 paintings were on display and 46 sold at the 1990 event.
- Eddie de Vere opened the 11th Immanuel Arts Festival in 1991. Mr de Vere was instrumental in approving the rezoning that saw the college established on its
present site. - In 1998, Immanuel art teacher Gail Mackey won the PJ Burns Prize for Most Outstanding Work of the Exhibition for her painting Study in Pastel (After D Hamilton).
- 2001 saw the 20th anniversary of the festival. As well as new dates in May, there were extended opening hours and Sunday musical entertainment with an outdoor concert featuring The Ten Tenors.
- By 2010, the festival had more than 1000 artworks on display.
- In 2012, the open wearable art category was included for the first time, while in 2013 film was added to the student categories.
- Celebrating 40 years in 2021, the event had a record sales year with more $50,000 worth of artworks sold.
A deep dive on art with Beatrice Prost
Listening to classical music in her Noosa hinterland studio, Beatrice Prost is a geophysicist-turned-artist who shares her love of the earth, ocean and abstract topographies through multimedia art. She has won several local art prizes, and exhibits in solo shows and regional galleries. As an artist in residence at the 2023 Immanuel Arts Fest, Ms Prost hopes to take audiences on a journey through her original, bold, contemporary and immersive installations.
Born in France and working as a geophysicist, what led you to a career in art on the Sunshine Coast? Following my posting as a geophysicist working in an international oil company, my family and I moved to Western Australia 25 years ago. From there, we crossed Australia, home-schooling our children. We literally fell in love with the eastern coast of Queensland and established ourselves in Noosa. By then I had the tremendous chance to be able to change my career. Taking a hands-on TAFE ceramics course allowed me to swap my analytical engineer side into the creative pursuit I always wanted to follow. The rest is history.
How would you describe your art style? I started my creative journey with ceramics. Despite kiln gods being nice to me with the results, one day I realised that I could try to reproduce some of my favourite effects such as transparent and translucent alkaline blues and opaque metallic textures using mixed media on canvas. Mostly self-taught, I have since then developed my style by empirical findings and harnessing interactions between my favourite media. I am very inspired by contemporary abstract artists.
What inspires your art? I want my art to connect the onlooker to the part of magic I feel exists in the world. I read recently that “all the depth of the arts is an invitation to know more of depths in ourselves”. My paintings are not representational and take form from memories of strong emotions felt in nature. I paint the energy of nature. I am inspired by the organic forces, the mineral, the Earth forces in time and space. My recent body of works is focusing on the underwater world of corals. I am painting the process of life creation, building blocks and life accretion. I want my paintings and hand-carved artworks to be calming. Looking at the organic patterns repetition, recorded as the repetition of thousands of mark makings, is like listening to music or poetry. You cannot make total sense unless you lose yourself in the painting and mentally dance between the whole and the details.
When you paint, do you have a process or ritual? I go every day to my studio, which is adjacent to my home. It is like a drug. I am totally addicted to hours of presence and action in this special place. I normally have different works in progress at different stages. I work mostly flat, either on the floor or on a large table, as I use mostly liquid media. Depending on where I am in the phase of the work, it can be physically demanding and fast or, on the contrary, extremely meditative and slow. During the creative fast phase, I listen to classical music in loops. I am a fan of Saint-Saens piano concertos, for example. When I reach the phase of ‘slow art’, as I call it, I listen to radio series or audio books.
Do you have a favourite piece you have done in the past? I have basically fallen in love with every piece of art I decide to show out of my studio. There are some pieces which are different, as they initiate the change of direction of my works. Those will not be shown. They are the beginning of a series which I will then relentlessly explore until one day the fork bifurcates again with an accident or a detail. Then the creative process starts again, thanks to those particular works. Those are maybe my favourite for this reason. Sometimes I look back to a work I’ve done a couple of years ago and I am astonished by it. Did I really do this? Was it me? Where did this come from? It is an evolution and my creativity has moved out to another path. Not stronger or better, just different enough to keep feeding my relentless need to create.
What do you love most about being part of the Immanuel Arts Fest? I am thankful for having had the opportunity to participate in many Immanuel Arts Festivals. I have participated almost every year for a decade. I love sharing and showing my creations. It is always an exciting moment to enter in resonance with at least one person in the crowd. This large, well-organised art festival gives a unique, invaluable exposure to any local creator. It is easy to enter, affordable and well curated. I like the fact it is open to a multitude of art categories from sculptures to wearable art to photography, to name a few. I am thrilled and so much looking forward to being one of the artists in residence during the 2023 festival.
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