My Flooded Heart (Lismore)

This painting and its three ‘sister’ paintings were created in the period following the devastating floods in Northern Rivers in early 2022. The painting of all four works happened in unison over several days, and focus on the four towns badly affected that hold significance to me. This one pays homage to Lismore, our town centre for 14 years while we lived at Serenity Hills to the north. At the time, I was teaching enameling at The Outpost in my friend Kylie’s jewellery studio and had stored all my enameling equipment, tools and materials in anticipation of a new semester. During the first flood, The Outpost was inundated by more than 3 metres of flood water that completely swamped the entire studio up to ceiling level. All my tools and equipment was affected.

After the loss and damage of the 2017 floods that affected many areas including Lismore, there was strong community action to support local businesses with a campaign ‘Re-start the Heart’. The title of these works reflects the damage done to so many peoples lives and livelihoods in 2022.

All works have been painted using oils over an acrylic under-painting that can be glimpsed in some works.