Promoting the landscape & biodiversity values of Australia's Green Cauldron
Note: Links to pdf's and other pages are in darker brown text
Note: Links to pdf's and other pages are in darker brown text
Local Artists Launch Tourism Initiative
Artists based in the Caldera Art Gallery, Murwillumbah Visitors Centre, are using their creative endeavours to encourage visitors and residents to explore the places that have inspired their work. Paintings and photographs depicting the caldera's magnificent landscapes and significant variety of wildlife are on show not only at the gallery itself but now also on a new website Caldera Wildscapes.
"This website will be constantly evolving with new artworks/artists, videos, field-trip adventures, exhibitions, participation opportunities, blogs and a gift ideas store. We are most excited about the PhotoTrails initiative which feature interactive maps, images and descriptions of a number of self driving routes around the region," said Caldera Wildscapes founder, Andy Reimanis.
The most recent PhotoTrail uploaded to the website is the River Flats Circuit. To date three have been completed, with another seven currently being researched and to be added during late 2016 and early 2017.
Artists based in the Caldera Art Gallery, Murwillumbah Visitors Centre, are using their creative endeavours to encourage visitors and residents to explore the places that have inspired their work. Paintings and photographs depicting the caldera's magnificent landscapes and significant variety of wildlife are on show not only at the gallery itself but now also on a new website Caldera Wildscapes.
"This website will be constantly evolving with new artworks/artists, videos, field-trip adventures, exhibitions, participation opportunities, blogs and a gift ideas store. We are most excited about the PhotoTrails initiative which feature interactive maps, images and descriptions of a number of self driving routes around the region," said Caldera Wildscapes founder, Andy Reimanis.
The most recent PhotoTrail uploaded to the website is the River Flats Circuit. To date three have been completed, with another seven currently being researched and to be added during late 2016 and early 2017.
TSC Scenic Landscape Strategy
Tweed Shire Council is currently producing a Scenic Landscape Strategy in order to identify the landscapes' scenic values and implement measures to manage and protect them, particularly in the context of vulnerability to development pressure. Council is inviting people to share their stories and photographs about scenic locations in the Tweed that are important to them. Go to What’s My Scene – Share you scenic landscape to upload images and stories to help develop the strategy.
Tweed Shire's landscapes tell a rich and complex story of the region's evolution, its volcanic history, ecology, cultural and economic diversity. Those landscapes include the southern hemisphere’s largest extinct shield volcano, five World Heritage-listed National Parks containing ancient Gondwana rainforests and dramatic mountain ranges and 37km of white sandy beaches and rocky headlands.
Nestled between them are 12 rural villages, coastal creeks, mangrove estuaries, the Tweed River and its vast rich alluvial floodplain, covered by sugar cane. This diversity of landscape characteristics makes the Tweed Valley a popular tourist destination, as well as an increasingly sought after place to live and work. Image below: Mt Doughboy & Mt Jerusalem NP
Tyalgum Music Festival Collaboration
As part of the Tyalgum Music Festival’s Sunday Closing Gala, the Lunaire Collective will perform “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Russian composer Mussorgsky, in collaboration with Caldera Art. This world-famous piece of music depicts an imaginary tour of an art collection. Mussorgsky based his music on drawings and watercolours by Viktor Hartmann, an artist friend of his, produced during the painter's travels, and the individual movements have wonderfully evocative titles such as “The Great Gate of Kiev”, “The Old Castle” and “The Ballet of Chicks in their Shells”.
For this special Festival performance, Lunaire has invited the talented artists of the Caldera Art Gallery to create artworks, inspired by Mussorgsky's music and their titles. These paintings will be hung in the Tyalgum Hall during the entire festival weekend but with a special background projection of the works during the Sunday performance. Along with these themed works, Caldera Art will again hang additional natural environment inspired works, particularly by Pumpenbil artist Jeff Gant.
Kingscliff Osprey Nest Drama
Work is now complete to repair and reinstall a nesting platform for an Osprey breeding pair at Cudgen Creek, after the artificial cradle collapsed on 4 August during strong winds. Tweed Shire Council sourced an extra high cherry picker and crane to reattach the structure to a tower at Kingscliff. Council had been notified a few months previously that the pole holding the cradle was on a noticeable lean but was unable to undertake repairs at the time because the nest already contained Eastern Osprey eggs, which would have been endangered by any work. It will implement a program of inspection and maintenance of any ageing structures throughout the Tweed.
Twenty years ago there were only 2 breeding pairs in the Tweed due to the absence of suitable naturally occurring nesting sites (tall dead trees with no foliage), but with the construction of artificial structures (an initiative of NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, Essential Energy, and Tweed Bird Observers) there are now 22 known breeding sites in the Tweed, which include 21 constructed structures. A remarkably successful recovery program. Eastern Ospreys are still listed as Vulnerable in NSW and are being monitored by volunteers of Birdlife Northern Rivers who welcome new members to assist.
Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize
The winners of the 2016 Waterhouse have been announced. This Natural Science Art Prize commemorates the birth of the South Australian Museum’s first curator, Frederick George Waterhouse. The biennial prize is an opportunity for artists to investigate the world around them, and present their perspectives on natural science. It encourages artists to make a statement about the scientific issues facing our planet, and offers a valuable platform for them to contribute to the environmental debate. Over the years the competition has become a much loved fixture on the arts calendar, allowing artists and audiences to explore natural science through a range of creative outlets.
Artist of the month - Jeff Gant
Jeff (Caldera Art Gallery resident artist - Mondays and Tuesdays) was appointed as guest judge for the recent Murwillumbah Rotary Art Prize 2016. With over 100 entries to consider, this popular community art exhibition left Jeff with ponderous decisions regarding prize selections.
Jeff's own painting career is 'bearing fruit' with several recent sales, especially a newly completed painting of the riverboat Spirit of Wollumbin'
(cropped image below) being promptly purchased by the captain of the vessel. The recently launched 'Spirit' is the first riverboat since the 1930's to ferry passengers up the Tweed River to Murwillumbah. This traditional huon pine ferry is owned and operated by Mount Warning Tours.
Jeff conducts art classes at the CAG, Mondays and Tuesdays and has several of his artworks on exhibition there. Enquiries to The Squinting Artist.
Stop Press: Jeff is organising a cruise on the 'Spirit' for artists - great value at $49 for a 4 hour river cruise. Sat 24th Sept 2 - 6pm
World Heritage Rainforest Centre (WHRC)
The Murwillumbah Visitors Centre and Caldera Art Gallery are housed within the building known as the World Heritage Rainforest Centre. Visitors to the centre can now appreciate the diversity of rainforest trees that were planted around the building during the 1980's and 90's with the publication of a brochure/map listing the species names and their locality. This project was an initiative of Caldera Wildscapes with voluntary input involving extensive research by Helen Manning and Andy Reimanis with assistance from Tweed Shire Council's NRM botanists Greg Newland, John Turnbull and Mike Healy.
Card Sharks
Greg Newland is also an accomplished zoological illustrator, specialising in marine creatures. Being a regular entrant in Caldera Art exhibitions, the CAG printed a series of Art Cards depicting his remarkably detailed and accurate watercolours of shark and ray species found within our waters.
Recently, a young lad was 'taken' by Greg Newland's shark art cards on display in the Caldera Art Gallery. His mum purchased a couple of the cards for him, and he was absolutely CHUFFED as the image portrays! Onya Lauren and Van - who perhaps might become an icthyologist (google it) in a few years. Greg's response to this story..."priceless!"
Tweed Landcare
Tweed Landcare Inc. (TLI) supports people caring for our unique environment and natural resources through practical community projects. Their monthly newsletter makes for interesting reading. Committed volunteers and landowners in the local Landcare network are working to protect and rehabilitate this precious landscape. There are a number of on-ground projects with which TLI is working throughout the Tweed Valley, either as a sponsor organisation for individuals and groups, a project partner or as the applicant. If you would like to become involved with any of these contact [email protected]
The Tweed Valley has an incredibly rich flora and fauna, with more species of fish, birds, amphibians and mammals than Kakadu. The region has many threatened fauna species, and Australia's highest concentration of threatened plants. Image below: Bimbadeen Landcare Group
Birds in Backyards
In order to help increase awareness of our native birds, readers are invited to forward a photo of a bird seen in their 'backyard' (or frontyard) along with an accompanying sentence or two describing 'what, why and where' (approximate locality) the photo was taken. We will upload on the CW website along with some interesting facts about the species.
Additionally, Birdlife Australia has an excellent Birds in backyards website along with a useful bird identification page.
To get the ball rolling, Simon of North Tumbulgum forwarded this splendid image of a Tawny Frogmouth: "On guard duty at the front gate, sitting on my old plough sculpture......is he magnificent, or what"? said Simon. Although nocturnal, frogmouths are not related to owls but are more closely allied to ground dwelling nightjars. During the day they cryptically roost on tree branches with eyes closed and often necks outstretched. The closely related Marbled Frogmouth is very rare and confined to the rainforests of Australia's Green Cauldron. |
Sue from Myocum forwarded her photo of a 'mystery bird' (right) and described it as: "Smaller than a Noisy Miner, somewhat shorter bill and more sedate in feeding behaviour". We have have a fairly good idea of which species it is. Hint: immature birds are often more cryptically coloured than adult birds, especially the males. Your ID suggestions to [email protected] Answer published in next e-news |
Caldera Wildscapes Quiz
A fascinating part of exploring the rural roads of the Tweed region is discovering new viewing places of landforms we get used to seeing from our usual main driving routes. Within each CW e-news, a 'mystery' photo of an unusual view of a natural feature taken from the side of a public road, will be included.
A prize is offered (a signed copy of the Tweed Book by editor Andy Reimanis) for the first reader correctly answering 3 questions: 1. Where is the general location of the landscape depicted. 2. What is the name of the highest peak. 3 From which public road was the photo taken.
Answers to [email protected]. Here is this month's mystery Wildscape (answers in the next CW e-news):