By ALANA MITCHELSON
Local watercolour artists and close friends Priscilla Fenton and Judy Cohn are showcasing their wildlife and landscape works in the pair’s first joint exhibition, Art x Two.
Cohn’s detailed wildlife artworks complement Fenton’s colourful images of marine and beach scenes.
Fenton, of Highton, said she began her paintings while sitting outside and by taking in the view.
She then took a photo to capture the scene before the lighting and shadowing changes.
Barwon River, Point Lonsdale and Anglesea were especially inspiring locations for her realist impressionism style, she said.
“When I was young, my family would often go to Roadnight and I have a real connection with it.
“It was always nice and quiet. I have many special childhood memories from the time I spent there.
“I decided to paint the sun’s glow on the Roadnight cliff face. It’s so beautiful.”
Fenton undertook a group painting expedition in January to picturesque locations across Tasmania which resulted in 12 large paintings that had already sold, she said.
While she taught textiles as a secondary school art teacher for 25 years, Fenton said she only decided to learn how to paint watercolour after retiring.
It was only with some encouragement from her friend Cohn, who lives at Ceres, that she began exhibiting and selling works, which had once been purely a hobby.
Between the two of them, the women have claimed more than 10 awards including competitions at Geelong Show, Golden Plains, Anglesea Art Show, Werribee Art Show and Birregurra Art Show.
“We’re opposites,” Fenton said.
“Judy paints animals whereas I paint more scenic snapshots. I think that’s why we thought it would really work to hold an exhibition together.”
Cohn, a biology teacher, has a deep appreciation for the beauty of the natural world and its wildlife, with her works focusing especially on birdlife.
Their work will be on show until 10 January at South Geelong’s Little Creatures Brewery.
The exhibition is open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 10am to 5pm, Wednesday to Friday from 10am to 10pm and on the weekends from 8am to 10pm.
