Just Look Up!

I was invited to do an Artist’s Residency at NERAM in July 2022 followed by a solo exhibition.
This is a collection of my observations looking up, around the towns and countryside of this beautiful region.

 

“Suzy King is an established painter who is drawn to the oft unnoticed delights and beauty of what lies above the everyday sightlines of the built environment. King urges us to raise our gaze and take in the architectural facades, the juxtaposition of blue skies and rooflines, the patina of history revealed in layers of peeling paint. The works in Just look Up! were created from the residency King undertook at NERAM and are a warm, appreciative view of surprising elements from around the New England”   — NERAM

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Suzy King
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  • Just look Up! Installation
  • We’ve Seen ‘em All - oil. Framed 43 x 63cm. The Royal Hotel opened in 1871 when breeding of thoroughbred racehorses began in this area as gradually Scone became the 'Horse Capital of Australia'. Stories of the Scone Cup, race horses gone good and bad, winners and losers, their colourful lives and characters have all ventured through this great pub where "We’ve seen ‘em all"! 🔴 SOLD
  • Greenhouse Effect - oil. Framed 43 x 63cm. Looking unoccupied and derelict, this green weatherboard cottage at Willow Tree has intrigued me since I began exploring the New England. It's never changed. A 1968 Triumph 2000 sits in the garage where it’s gathering dust and chicken feathers as the house slowly decays and returns into the earth under harsh New England winters. 🔴 SOLD
  • Thank Heavens for the Blue - oil. Framed 43 x 43cm. William Palmer was brought from Nundle in 1860 to make bricks and build the extensions to the slab homestead at Saumarez. On a visit to Armidale, Palmer’s wagon became bogged and at his feet he found a dark clay as he dug the wagon out. He soon acquired some 60 acres of land and established himself as a successful brick-maker. His unique product, the Armidale Blue Brick, has created the distinctive character of major public and private buildings for which Armidale is renowned. 🔴 SOLD
  • Second to None - oil. Framed 43 x 43cm. After a few renames & relocations, Armidale’s Tattersall’s Hotel was reborn in 1889. The Beardy Street frontage was increased with the addition of a new wing and large cast iron balconies (at the time the only ones in Australia). Further additions were completed in 1893 making Tattersalls "second to none in the north". 🔴 SOLD
  • Dress Circle - oil. Framed 43 x 43cm. The Gala Charity opening on 27 July 1938 saw the screening of two movies, "Stolen Heaven" and "A Bride for Henry". The magnificent Civic Theatre was a fine ornament to the district in the Art Deco style, state of the art, modern and amongst the first cinemas in the state to have full air-conditioning, much needed in a hot Scone summer! Available from the Moree Gallery.
  • Imperial Majesty - oil. Framed 33 x 43cm. Equidistant from Sydney and Brisbane, Armidale developed into a jewel of the New England region. A centrepiece is a highly ornamented building featuring extravagant parapets decorated with Grecian urns and pediments on arches. No expense was spared from the returns from the nearby Hillgrove gold rush in the 1870s to build the majestic Imperial Hotel. 🔴 SOLD
  • Entitled - oil. Framed 43 x 43cm. The handsome Land Titles Office in Armidale contained meticulously arranged alphabetical listings of all the sheep and cattle stations in NSW with over 2,000 sheep or 500 cattle, or both combined. Each listing had the name of the station or holding, name of the owner or holder, postal address and lastly, the number of stock. The list has been carefully checked and revised from Directory returns with the books of the Stock Department to ensure correctness... and all hand written! 🔴 SOLD
  • Corrugated - oil. Framed 43 x 43cm. The Chaff Shed next to McCrossin’s Mill at Uralla was built as cheaply as possible in the days when the times were tough. Enter the new material, corrugated iron! Galvanised corrugated iron (a revelation at the time) first arrived in Australia in the 1850s. It was easily and swiftly applied, light, compact, inexpensive, fireproof and immune from insect attack. It was sometimes known as "White Man’s Bark". Perfect! 🔴 SOLD
  • Even Bushrangers Need a Break - oil. Framed 33 x 43cm. Captain Thunderbolt (Frederick W Ward) never shot anybody but wrought havoc across the New England and as far west as Bourke dramatically holding up stagecoaches and banks. Clearly he was a very busy man! The Thunderbolt Cafe in Walcha celebrates his legend, although Thunderbolt was not a visitor to this town. 🔴 SOLD
  • Connected - oil. Framed 33 x 43cm. Square shapes and straight lines of these buildings in Glen Innes contrast against a soft blue sky. But then I noticed those curly cables looking like they are holding it all together! 🔴 SOLD
  • Like Hollywood Boulevard - oil. Framed 33 x 43cm. Scone's new "Theatre of the Stars" was the talk of the town in July 1938 when 'The Scone Advocate' reported:- "The new Civic Theatre opened last evening in a blaze of splendour and colour, imposing and resplendent to a degree, an ornament to the district, of which it will also remain one of the architectural features for many years to come". Today it’s beautifully restored and SO Hollywood with that tree! 🔴 SOLD
  • And then came the Bank - oil. Framed 33 x 43cm. Way back, small farmers didn't have bank accounts but relied on the stores to get credit for the goods they bought. Then things got busy as time passed, so when the railway came through Glen Innes in 1884, the Bank came too. Often the most prominent and ornate building, this one looks onto those lovely lamps. Available from the Moree Gallery.
  • Pastoral Symphony - oil. Framed 33 x 43cm. In its heyday, Armidale’s Pastoral Chambers featured a magnificent foyer, generous reception area with a cedar staircase, marble fireplaces, wide verandas – and some painstakingly hand sculpted wheat husks over the entrance. Beethoven composed the Pastoral Symphony (I don’t think he ever came to Armidale) to express emotions of the joy of being in the country. But you can see the harmony! 🔵 RESERVED
  • Arts & Parkes - oil. Framed 33 x 43cm. When Sir Henry Parkes delivered his first Federation speech to the nation at the Tenterfield School of Arts in 1889 – the Hall was overflowing as the locals flocked to hear about the greatest constitutional change in the history of Australia – but to me it’s about the rooflines against the sky. 🔴 SOLD
  • The Sheep's Back - gouache on board. 15x15cm (float framed 28 x 28cm) For a century the wool industry gave Australia one of the highest living standards in the world, the economy rode high on wealth from primary exports - riding on the sheep's back. Golden Fleece Petrol grew from the great wealth that Australia derived from wool in those heady days. In Greek Mythology - the Golden Fleece was the fleece of the golden winged ram held in Colchis, a land rich with gold, iron, timber and honey, and the object of desire for Jason... 🔴 SOLD
  • "A Game Changer" Gouache, 15x15cm (float framed 28 x 28cm) Once farmers realized the benefits that could be had in tractor-driven farming, popularity soared. There was no need for cumbersome manual labour when a simple machine like a tractor could do the job for you. It was a game changer!
  • 'Burgers 'n Chips - gouache on board. 15x15cm (float framed 28 x 28cm) Old style cafes with neon lit signs. They offered coffee and tea, hamburgers, bacon & eggs or a steak sandwich with white toast, served on oval white plates are a becoming a rare sight on an Aussie road trip!
  • Fortune Cookies & Chopsticks - gouache on board. 15x15cm (float framed 28 x 28cm) In the gold rush days, Chinese restaurants popped up in almost every town. These new places featured unfamiliar things like fried rice, honey prawns, fortune cookies and chopsticks. 🔴 SOLD
  • The Emmaville Panther - gouache on board. 15x15cm (float framed 28 x 28cm) In February 1959 a “large jet black animal about the size of a collie dog” was spotted on the Emmaville Road. Other sighting were of "a big black animal like a panther" near Tenterfield, Guyra, Keera and Bunzilla. Fact, fiction or legend... the mystery continues!
  • Fred's Emporium - gouache on board. 15x15cm (float framed 28 x 28cm) In 1920, this striking building was purchased by local retailer Fred Trickett to create Uralla's main emporium. His son, Edward (Ned) was first Australian to be recognised as a world champion (in any sport) as a rower. This is the country of the Aniwan People and "Uralla" means ceremonial meeting place, so it's quite fitting that Trickett's now houses a great cafe!