with Eve Lamb

Newstead artist Roger McKindley is known far and wide for his amazing Antares Iron Art Garden. Sprawling over a picturesque patch of riverside acreage, Antares contains the amazing sculptural creations of this  compulsively talented creative. Roger takes unloved, broken and discarded materials and transforms them into fantastic and quirky pieces of original art that captivate all who visit this special place. Antares Iron Art Garden  will soon open as part of the Newstead Open Studios art trail event held over March 7-10.  

Eve: This iron art garden of yours is pretty amazing. When did you start making it?  

Roger: Seventeen years ago.  

Eve: Can you tell me a bit about your creative process, how you go about creating  these unique sculptural pieces?  

Roger: When I find the materials it inspires me to think – ‘what can I do with  this?’ – I try and start the process the same day I’m taking it (the recycled materials) off the ute. It totally thrills me and once I get started on one thing something else  yells out ‘over here’ and it just takes off. I’ll still be working at night.

Eve: Some of these sculptures involve pretty hefty pieces of metal. It looks like a  fairly physical creative process.  

Roger: Yes. It can be. See that old boiler over there. I was carrying that on  the back of the ute and the police pulled me up and said ‘where’s the rope?’ and  I said…‘try to move it!’ (chuckles). See that propeller on it…that’s been on seven different things. Things have a life of their own.  

Eve: What are some of the materials that you use?  

Roger: Metal is my main one, but I’ll also use wood, stone, old glass, bricks.  Everything is recycled…I don’t like plastic. Some people donate materials. I’ll also  go out on little pilgrimages, searching. Most of the things I get are bent or broken so there’s an abundance of stuff everywhere.  

Eve: And you’re also very into art photography too aren’t you? I have seen some of  your photographs capturing some quite amazing fleeting scenes.  

Roger: Photography is my dream. Capturing moments. I put a lot of photos  up on Insta. I’ve had people beg me to hold an exhibition of my photos. I’m thinking about it.

Eve: How did you get into this practice of creating sculpture?  

Roger: In my 20s I lived at Golden Point at Chewton and I’d find things in  the bush. I was probably 27 when one day I found a lot of metal in the bush and  made my first metal sculpture and I haven’t stopped since. I’d make sculptures in  the bush and also on the beach as well and people would stop and say ‘that’s so  beautiful’. I love metal. I love shapes, and I love the abstract because you can read more than one thing into it.  

Eve: Can you tell me a bit about your working background?  

Roger: I started my gardening apprenticeship in the Castlemaine Botanical  Gardens. They were the best days of my life, although I didn’t know it at the time. They’d trust me and leave me to work in a part of the garden by myself and it  was just wonderful being trusted like that.

Then after I completed my gardening  apprenticeship I travelled up the east coast and met blokes making art and realised  ‘oh you can be a bloke and be into art as well’. That was in the 1980s.

I also went  to the Northern Territory but it was too hot for me there. I passed out twice in the heat. Now I still work in a couple of private gardens.  

Eve: Antares has featured on TV a couple of times hasn’t it?  

Roger: Yes. It’s been on ABC’s Gardening Australia and on Better Homes and  Gardens.  

Eve: And it’s about to be part of the Newstead Open Studios Art Trail long weekend in March.  

Roger: Yes. I’ve been involved in the Open Studios event for at least seven  years now. Karen Pierce and I were the two local studios who started it, and now all these amazing artists have come on board.

I also go in the Festival of Gardens  over the Melbourne Cup week. I’ve done that six times, and I’m also on Insta and  Facebook, and I open the garden up to people by appointment.  

Eve: How do you find having people visiting your art garden and roaming about?  

Roger: I enjoy sharing my art and lifestyle. I’m totally off-grid here. I have  different clubs visit – camera clubs, car clubs, garden clubs – and a lot of people  from overseas.

I’ve had all sorts of nationalities here. I love to hear the laughter  as they walk through. Some people are shocked…and I love seeing people come back.

Newstead Live is held in the town’s various venues  from January 24 to 27.  

The festival of music features The Troubadour live music venue & wine bar, concerts, sessions, blackboard  spots, workshops, Australia’s original trad disco and  pool party, good food, camping, spacious setting and no sound spill between venues.  

Newstead Live offers six performing stages in easy walking distance around Newstead and there are always impromptu performances and jams in the streets between venues and around the pub.  

There is a wide range of food and drinks from the Newstead traders as well as a selection of van options.

 And there are plenty of accommodation choices in the district, including two specialty campgrounds.  

Just a few of this year’s artists include Ado Barker,  Alanna & Alicia, Belly Savalas, Bruce Watson & Caitlin French, Bush Gothic, Coral Reid, Dingo’s Breakfast,  Double Dole Stringband, Enda Kenny, Freya and Tom McGowan, Georgia Fields, Girl Friday & the Sepia Tones, Grim Fawker, Ian Bland, Jane Cameron, Karlo Arc, Keith McKenry, Kerryn Fields, LJ, Les Thomas, Maggie Rigby, Mal Webband Kylie Morrigan, Marilla  Homes, One Part Gin and Sage Roadknight.  

Link: www.newsteadlive.com  Words: Darren Lowe  

The community of Newstead is getting set to celebrate a big birthday milestone for its historic railway station with a free public event planned.

This Sun July 7 the Newstead Arts Hub that now occupies the town’s historic railway building will host a free community celebration acknowledging that it’s been 150 years since the railway arrived in the township.

Organisers are inviting everyone to get along at 2.30pm to join the community celebration at the former railway station.

There will be food, fellowship and a chance to indulge in the nostalgia of yesteryear, when the train service was such an invaluable part of the Newstead community.

They’re hoping many of those who attend will also bring stories, photos or any memorabilia relating to the railway in Newstead.

Beverages will be available to purchase and to help with planning, organisers are encouraging bookings to the free event with more information available from the Newstead Railway Arts Hub’s own website.

Mysterious Landscapes will be held at the Newstead Arts Hub over the weekends of March 2 & 3, 9 &10 & 11, 16 & 17 and 23 & 24 with the opening today, Sunday March 3.

This new exhibition features the work of three local artists and explores the mystic, the uncanny and the dark corners of the world.

Established artists Kaye Dixon, Margund Sallowsky and Jane Wells each create unique perspectives in their explorations inspired by their love of nature, mythology, and the inner worlds.

Today’s opening takes place from 2.30pm while there will also be an opprtunity to visit the Mysterious Landscapes exhibition on Sunday 17 March at 11am for a demonstration of the cyanotype process.

The upcoming demonstration will be free to attend and organisers say all are welcome to get along to gain insights into this creative printing process that uses a mixture of iron compounds, which when exposed to UV light and washed in water, oxidise to create Prussian Blue images.

With Eve Lamb

Sarah Koschak’s fascination with pottery began as a small child and never really left. For several decades, though, it was a passion that lay dormant as, in adulthood Koschak travelled the world, working as a photographer in some amazing places. These days the childhood fascination is made manifest as this talented local devotes herself to creating objects of beauty and functionality at her studio/gallery at Newstead.

Eve: Hi Sarah. Can you tell us a bit about your ceramics journey?

Sarah: I’ve had a connection with pottery since I was seven years old. I remember being at a craft fair and watching a potter throw pots on an old kick wheel. I was mesmerised. I can remember everything really clearly about that day. It’s just one of those pivotal moments that switches on a light.

I took classes in my early 20s, but as I was traveling and working as a photographer, it was hard to find the space and time to devote to pottery. It was only in my mid 40’s that I decided to dive in and learn the craft. In 2015 I began learning with potter Phil Elson in Castlemaine.

Eve: Sarah, I know that your prior working life as a photographer, working alongside your partner, nature sound recordist Andrew Skeoch, took you into some remarkable parts of the world. Do you think those experiences have now influenced your work as a ceramicist at all?

Sarah: I haven’t set out for it to do so consciously. I don’t think I aim to do that. We’d do these long field trips in Australia or around the world. Andrew would go off sound recording and I’d spend my time photographing. Photographing was more like a meditation. You just have to open up to where you are so you can really see.

Obviously nature was a big part of it because we were doing nature sound recordings in jungles, forests, ancient historical sites. I’m a fairly quiet, meditative person and my approach just follows through. Now I love creating beautiful shapes and glazes.

Eve: Yes, the glazes you achieve are very beautiful. Sophisticated colours. What are you aiming for with your glazes?

Sarah: I think elegance and timelessness are both in there. I’m not aiming for something that’s popping with bright colour or is in-your-face.  I make all my own glazes, and the work is fired in the shed attached to my studio. I have a two burner gas kiln.

Eve: Are there any particular ceramicists whose work you admire?

Sarah: I think the Japanese and Korean work. I really resonate with a lot of their glazes. A lot of the glazes I choose come from those traditions. But I try not to copy.  

Eve: I know you work using porcelain clay but do you also use any other types of clay as well?

Sarah: I only (wheel) throw in porcelain as my clay, but I do use other clay that I brush on to get another effects. Working with porcelain … it’s a bit of a diva!

Eve: Are you introducing anything new or making any changes to the way you work at the moment?

Sarah: I’m trying to work with bigger pieces.

Eve: This is a great little studio that you have here in Newstead. How long have you been here now?

Sarah: Coming up ten years here this year.

Eve: Are you currently preparing for any special events or exhibitions at the moment?

Sarah: Yes. I will be part of the Newstead Open Studios Art trail event that is taking place over two consecutive weekends in March. March 9, 10 and 11 and over the next weekend, March 16 and 17 as well. I love it. I love working consistently towards a big event like this. The shelves will be just heaving with work. I might have 500 people come through the studio over the weekend. It’s a really nice social time for me because I usually spend most of my time here working away on my own.

Eve: What do you find most rewarding about your work and creative practice Sarah?

Sarah: The most rewarding is to have a form in mind that I want to make and then being able to execute it. It’s just very satisfying.  I think there is timelessness in certain forms that just endure and I love the fact that people will buy my work and it will get handed down. It takes a long time for a ball of clay to end up as a bowl or a cup. There’s a lot of heart and soul that goes into making ceramics.

With Eve Lamb

The artistic oeuvre of Newstead-based Carol de Graauw is impressively diverse. Jeweller, silversmith, ceramicist, sculptor, this mutli-talented local designs and creates jewellery using gold, silver, bronze, cloisonne enameling and resin. She is just as at home, however, working with clay to create functional and decorative pieces. De Graauw has described creativity as  “an escape pad” that “engages the heart, mind, soul and body in the act of making unique pieces”.

Eve: G’day Carol you are clearly a woman of many talents. Can you tell us a bit about the various different  genre and media that are part of your arts practice?

Carol: My main love is silversmithing but I also do painting and ceramics. I also do enamel work and I do work in resin as well – the colours are just gorgeous. Enameling is such an intricate artwork and requires more patience than usual.

Eve: Where is your home studio?

Carol: My home studio is in Newstead, and I’m part of the MANet Art Focus Maldon Artist Network gallery at 27 Main Street in  Maldon. I’ve just had my Balance solo exhibition here but some of my work will stay in the gallery. This little gallery has been here in Maldon for  12 months now and we’ve got a strong following.

Eve: What is it about silversmithing that makes it your main focus?

Carol: I love making wearable art. That’s how I see the jewelry that I make. Oftentimes people will have it as a sentimental keepsake. I was always fascinated by the 3D aspect of it. I love manipulating the metal, and I really like working with stone too, natural gemstones. I think gemstones are so beautiful. That’s a passion. I traveled to Sri Lanka last year and they have beautiful stones over there which I have been able to incorporate in my new collection of silversmithing work.

Eve: How did you come to art?

Carol: I’ve always had an interest in art. Mum was also an artist and there was always a strong emphasis on creativity. It was my favourite thing at school and then I went to art school as an adult for two years in Adelaide and three years in Melbourne. The course I did was with the Chisholm Institute at Frankston at that time. It was a Bachelor of Arts/Crafts and it incorporated ceramics, stained glass, silversmithing, painting and drawing. It was a fantastic course and in my third year I specialised in silversmithing.

Eve: What factors influence or inspire your work Carol?

Carol: I love Egyptian art and most forms of architecture, particularly 1920s art and architecture, art deco. I’ve been fortunate enough to have travelled extensively when I was younger, through Turkey and Europe and Egypt so I got to see so many great architectural works and art and it enriched my life and work.

Eve: Have you been able to make a living through your own creative practice, Carol, or have you had to work in any other areas as well?

Carol: I was a secondary school teacher for 28 years. I taught art and design, ceramics, metalwork and textiles at Castlemaine Secondary College and before that in the Dandenong Ranges where I lived for a lot of my life as well. I’ve been in this area for 20 years now, six years at Newstead, and I built my studio at home about three years ago.

Eve: Do you have any special events or exhibitions coming up?

Carol: Yes. I will be part of the Open Studios in Newstead in March over the long Labour Day weekend and also the following weekend of March 16 and 17. Newstead has its own arts trail. Castlemaine has open studios at the same time. There are about 15 participating studios in Newstead and more artists involved than that. My studio will be open and I will also have two guest artists exhibiting with me. It’s an amazing event.

Eve: What do you enjoy most about your working life as an artist, Carol?

Carol: That I step into my studio and the day seems full of possibility. I just get excited about all the different things I can do. It’s my meditation.

The Newstead Arts Hub’s inaugural artists market will be held on Sunday, December 10 from 10am to 4pm – in and around the historic Newstead Railway Station and garden.

The artists market will have more than 25 stalls inside the Hub, scattered along the old railway platform and in the garden. It’s a chance to meet the artists as well as make a purchase or two.

A special feature is the inclusion of some favourite visual artists who have exhibited at the Newstead Arts Hub recently: Milton Moss, Marcus Hotblack, Prue McAdam, Bridget Farmer, John Smith, Sean Kenan, Chrisanne Blennerhassett, and the print-making foursome from the recent The Shape of Blue exhibition – Malini Lewis, Janet Neilson, Penny Peckham & Anne-Maree Taylor. Add to that list local
art stars Mary Caspar and Carol Porter.

The Newstead Arts Hub is a community/artist run creative space. It is committed to creating opportunities for the communities to enjoy, share and get hands on creatively. And it is committed to supporting local artists.

During the first year of Covid, Newstead Arts Hub initiated an online artists market as a way of supporting local artists whose chance to share and sell their art had been so suddenly shut down
– as had the Arts Hub. Now, the market is going live for the first time.

A Biggest Morning Tea will be held at Plaistow Homestead at Joyces Creek, near Newstead, tomorrow, Thursday, May 25 from 10am to 12.30pm. The event is hosted there by Lilian and Peter Skilbeck.
“Whenever people gather almost inevitably a discussion will occur about one’s health and of course that will include cancer in one of its many forms,” Peter said.
“In Victoria there is a fabulous organisation, Cancer Council Victoria, which provides a diverse range of services to support anyone currently diagnosed with cancer of any form and their families.
“Cancer Council Victoria have an online and telephone nurse support and
advisory service, provide wigs and some financial support, organise respite holidays,
are proactive in providing lifestyle recommendations to promote healthier, longer
disease-free lives but also provide extensive funding for research into causes and
treatments for cancer in its many forms.
“All of these services are provided free thanks to fundraising by the community.
Cancer Council Victoria receives no government funding for its programs.”
Lilian said for the past 25 years the community had attended a Biggest Morning
Tea at Plaistow Homestead with every cent raised going directly to the organisation.
“After such a wet late summer and autumn the gardens at Plaistow are looking
lush (and so are the weeds) so come with family and friends to enjoy some fellowship
and great music, spend some cash on the stalls all while you enjoy an endless cup of
coffee or tea and scones fresh from the oven.” Entry by donation.
Plaistow Homestead is at 324 Rodborough Road, Joyces Creek, about 7km from Newstead. Follow the flags from the intersection of the Pyrenees Highway and Rodborough Road to the venue.
Volunteers to help on the day would be appreciated – email Lilian and Peter at
plaistow@bigpond.com or call 0419 884 710

with Darren Lowe

Newstead Arts Hub and Newstead Live will present two events in June featuring Australian singer-songwriter, Fred Smith.
On Friday, June 2, Fred Smith and band will present his new show, Sparrows of Kabul at the Newstead Community Centre from 7pm.
Then on Saturday, June 3, from 10am to noon, Fred will hold a songwriting workshop for young aspiring songwriters and musicians in year 9 upwards with a maximum of 20 participants.
Newstead Live is also calling for youth volunteers who are interested in gaining
experience in live performance management. Volunteers must be 15 years or older.
Details are available from Kelly Skinner at nedkelski@yahoo.com.au or 0448 234 758.
Links: https://events.humanitix.com/sparrows-of-kabul or
https://events.humanitix.com/songwriting-workshop-with-fred-smith
Gig Guide
Daylesford Hotel, Daylesford
Thursday, May 11, 6pm – Bud Wilkins
Friday, May 12, 6pm – Mijo Biscan
Sunday, May 14, 6pm – Adrian Deakin (residency)
Thursday, May 18, 6pm – Oceanique
Saturday, May 20, 6pm – Beth Winter Trio
Sunday, May 21, 6pm – Adrian Deakin (residency)
Odessa at Leavers, Creswick
Auld Alliance – Saturday, May 27
Dave Graney and Clare Moore – Saturday, June 3

Newstead is a dynamic centre for artists of all stripes and once again the little town that punches above its weight when it comes to creativity is inviting people to visit its studios and exhibition spaces over three weekends.

This year 18 artists, including Roger McKindley, pictured, are involved in the trail,
showing their work across 14 locations.

The Newstead Arts Hub will be showing ‘It’s a Small World’ sculpture prize.

The Newstead Open Studios Art Trail began in 2015 and since then thousands of people have
made their way around the ever-expanding map.

It is a great chance to see first-hand the inner workings of an artist’s studio and pick their brains
about the how, what and why of their creative process.
This year the line-up includes printmakers, jewellers, painters, potters, fibre artists, photographers and sculptors.

For an overview of individual artist’s work the artistically curious can go to www.newsteadopenstudios.org while those who visit six studios in person can enter the draw for a door prize comprised of work
donated by participating artists.

The prize is drawn April 15.

The Central Goldfields town of Newstead is 10 minutes from Castlemaine. The
trail is on March 25-26, April 1-2 and April 8-9, 11am to 5pm. Look out for the red
flags around town.

Further information is available from Belinda Prest on 0490 865 626.
Links: www. newsteadopenstudios.org
Facebook: Newstead Open Studios
Instagram: @newstead_open_studios