Your Page: Readers’ emails and letters

A FIRST-TIME READER OF COUNTRY STYLE IS INSPIRED BY THE ART ISSUE TO PAINT A PORTRAIT OF HER FATHER, WHILE ANOTHER READER PRAISES AN INCREASE IN DIVERSITY OF STORIES.

THE GOOD COUNTRY

For many years I have subscribed to Country Style magazine. I can actually remember the first time I read the magazine in a doctor’s waiting room – such a pleasant thing to do before my consultation.

Over the years, I have copied styles of décor and also visited many places that have been featured. Country Style is an opportunity to take oneself to wonderful places without having to travel there. This month’s edition took me to Richmond Hill, Tasmania. The photography was superb and

I was engrossed in the beauty of the gardens.

We are so lucky to live in our wonderful country, and have the opportunity to visit some really fantastic places. I have travelled and lived in many countries all over the world, but my heart always comes back to Australia, and so I would never want to live anywhere else. Jenny Jones, Tea Gardens, NSW

ARTIST’S VIEW

I totally love your magazine. It is extremely restful and a great escape from the many worries of the world. I particularly loved The Art Issue – it is one of the few ways to catch up on what other artists are doing.

I am a watercolour artist and I am totally jealous of the two readers that won those fabulous Winsor & Newton sets!

Lyndal Findlay, West Tamworth, NSW

NEW CHAPTER

It had been the end of a tumultuous week culminating in the life-changing decision to retire from the workforce. The previous few years had been emotionally tiring as three family members (including my husband) had been admitted to nursing homes because of dementia. I battled on at work, but at 69 I admitted I was tired.

The decision was made. Would

I be lonely? What would I do? My girlfriend had come over for a cuppa and left me some magazines. I picked up the first one and it was Country Style, and I was transfixed for two hours. So many articles and ideas, and I have a cottage that needs some loving. I’ve been inspired. I will be very busy indeed. Meanwhile, I look forward to the next issue. Thank you so much. Jillian Beames, Dernancourt, SA

GOOD NEWS

Country Style you are doing an amazing job and thank you for introducing some much-needed diversity!

I am really enjoying reading about the creative people, entrepreneurs and eco-farmers that we have living in the Australian bush.

Your magazine is helping readers reconnect with regional areas. For many years New South Wales and Queensland have (unfortunately) been the face of industrial farming, mining and questionable politicians, and I think it’s fantastic that Country Style is bringing focus back to what is good about the bush.

Amanda Bentley, Orange, NSW

A DAUGHTER’S LOVE

I bought my first ever copy of Country Style this March, 2021, and felt very connected to The Art Issue. Being a practising artist for 25-plus years, I am driven and inspired by fellow artists’ battles to make it in today’s

society. I adore being part of this enriching art community. It can be so amazing and rewarding when a person connects with your painting and purchases it. It’s a bit like raising a child who then leaves home after you have nurtured and found happiness in them (along with the frustrations and struggles).

It is quite rare that magazines focus on our community and I immediately bought the edition, not only as a diversion from worrying about my parents (my father’s Alzheimer’s is progressing) in lockdown in the UK, but to hear of other artists’ love of their practice … and to enthuse my own.

This edition has inspired me to create a portrait of my father, as a healing process for myself and a shift in my practice away from Barrier Reef landscape paintings. This will be a challenge and my homage to my father.

Lisa Ashcroft, Townsville, Qld

Photography @abbie_melle Styling Jodie Gibbons @belljarinteriors On the cover of our annual Art Issue, we visited NSW’S Southern Highlands and met Kate Vella. Her paintings – and many more – were on display at our art exhibition, The Australian Country Table, at Michael Reid Murrurundi. We also explored the studios of Vanessa Stockard, Lucila Zentner, Natasha Soonchild and Lydia Cambareri of The Two Throwers. Painter Kezz Brett let us in on her style secrets, and we took a road trip around the art galleries of the beautiful Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

Photography @brigidarnottphotography After stumbling upon an old train carriage for sale on ebay, potter Lydia Cambareri of @the.two.throwers couldn’t stop thinking about it. “I pondered it and became obsessed basically,” she says. Today, the converted carriage is her pottery studio.

Photography @brigidarnottphotography Lucila Zentner was just one of the 20 artists that were part of Country Style’s The Australian Country Table sellout exhibition at Michael Reid Murrurundi in March. Plans are already underway for next year’s exhibition, which will be our third.