Rosslyn Bosnar, 76, has received the Golden Plains Shire Senior Citizen of the Year community award for her work in providing a safe art space in Bannockburn. She speaks with Jena Carr about what got her into art and how important it is in promoting social inclusion and positive health.
Bannockburn’s Rosslyn Bosnar started having health issues 24 years ago when she was diagnosed with bowel cancer.
The 76-year-old has since joined the Bannockburn and District Art Group to share the importance of art in promoting positive health and reducing social isolation.
“With recuperation going on, I thought, ‘I can’t sit in a chair all day watching telly’, and so I found a local art group that had just started up,” she said.
“I had retired because I was a hairdresser and doing mobile hairdressing, and I didn’t have the strength or the positivity to go back to working full time.
“I found out over the years that there are many older people who are now by themselves, and with our group we have a common connection and there’s always smiles and laughs.”
Rosslyn said she loved working with watercolour paints as it was one of the most challenging mediums for her to work with.
“When you’re creating something, you’re working with the other side of your brain,” she said.
“Art releases you from all that self-awareness where you’re having trouble with different things, and it’s that couple of hours that you’re not worried about anything.
“I have a little bit of a tremor, and when I first started with watercolours, I couldn’t even sign my name, but after about 10 minutes of painting, I find the tremor goes away completely.
“It’s nice to see somebody smiling and laughing, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t paint anything, you can just have a cup of coffee, a piece of cake and a chat, that’s what it’s all about.
“We all work together, which is lovely, and there’s not anybody that’s difficult to get on with, and I think deep-down people enjoy connectivity.”
On Tuesday, January 23, Rosslyn was named the Golden Plains Shire Council Senior Citizen of the Year during its 2023 Community Awards.
“I was really surprised to be nominated and I only found out on January 11 that I had been nominated,” she said.
“There’s a lot of people within the Shire that do good deeds, and it’s always nice to have some sort of thank you.
“The Shire is very supportive in everything we do, and I think it’s lovely that we have these awards, and the youth award is really good.
“You got to get the young people involved in the community because it gives them a sense of ownership and when you have a sense of ownership, you don’t destroy things.”
Meredith’s Maddy McColl received the Community Impact Award, followed by Smythesdale’s Lin Hocking-Turnbull as Citizen of the Year and Cape Clear’s Caitlin Cadby as Young Citizen of the Year.
Mayor Brett Cunningham said the awards encouraged and acknowledged the efforts of individuals and community groups in the Golden Plains Shire.
“On behalf of council and the community, we extend our heartfelt appreciation,” he said.
“(Thank you) for the winners and nominees for this year’s awards and everything you do to help make Golden Plains a wonderful place to live.
“Thanks also to those community members who put time into submitting the fantastic nominations for this year’s awards, and to everyone who joined us to celebrate the Community Awards event.”
