PAINTING AROUND THE MURRAY PART TWO
Backwaters of the Murray- sketch by Val Johnson
23 October 2023.
To those who may have seen my first blog about painting the Murray, well here is part two. This time I set out to discover the upper Murray region, from Tintaldra, to Corowa. An artist friend and I, stayed in the local caravan park at Tintaldra for three days. The river was not as wide here as in Mildura and the landscape totally different. Green Hills, soft blue skies. An absolutely Picture box landscape, I would say. During those first three days we spent time exploring the many places along the river that were accessible to us, We visited and painted at Clarkes Reserve, Neils Bend, and one morning went to view the Murray from Fallon’s Lookout but couldn’t see anything as a wall of fog hid any view that might have been there, so we popped up to khancobin for a snack. Tintaldra is a very small place with a pub, and a post office/ tea room, shop combination. Our accommodation was basic to say the least, not even one star, so we ate at the Pub where the meals were huge, and the friendly locals made up for the dilapidated old cabin. The countryside around us was just so beautiful. Green and lush and a landscape painters paradise. There was so much green that one had to tone it down with a bit of red in the green paint. The weather was perfect for painting, so we made the most of it.
On the fourth day we headed off along the river towards Hume Village, painting and sketching along the way. We visited Walwa and Jingellic, tiny places but just so friendly it was a pleasure to have been there. Our accommodation went up a notch at Hume Village. A very nice overnight in a lovely holiday place overlooking the Dam. I was really looking forward to our next two days. A cabin on the river at Brimin a property en route to Yarrawonga. We had time to just paint at this lovely secluded, well-kept this time, cabin with a river view. So relaxing. We did quite a few paintings there despite nearly stepping on a snake!
Tearing ourselves away from this serene spot, we decided to give Yarrawonga a miss as it didn’t have a feeling for us despite the Mulawa Dam being there. We were spoilt by that wonderful place on the Murray river. Onward to Corowa, arriving to spend our last two nights in lovely accommodation, from which we explored the painting areas around the river. Then it was back to Canberra with lots of reference from a wonderful journey out in the beautiful landscape of the upper reaches of the Murray River.
As I write this I sit surrounded by paintings in progress for my upcoming exhibition in Canberra on the 28th February. EEK- not long to go now!