Elephants can be orange
Nine-year-old Wauchope artist Jaxon Goodwin opened my eyes to a most important fact, which is: elephants can be orange. He did this when he delivered ‘Spirits of Colour’ for the JOY exhibition: one of 22 artworks by young local artists selected for our Christmas show.
There was lots to like about JOY, whichever way you looked at it. From the gallery’s perspective, it was an opportunity to support community. For most of the participants, it was the first-ever exhibition of their work, and their pride and joy in this was a gift in itself. Visitors and residents, parents and grandparents, siblings and peers loved it too.
Port Macquarie Mayor Adam Richards launched JOY and he was supported in this by Deputy Mayor Nik Lipovac. Their presence confirmed the messages embedded in the JOY exhibition.
You might know the phrase ‘success has many parents, failure has none’. There’s a great deal of truth in that.
Port Macquarie Mayor Adam Richards and Wauchope artist Jaxon Goodwin in front of Spirits of Colour.
The JOY exhibition was fortunate to have the support of Todd Bates from McGrath Real Estate, Kimberley Day from Car Lovers Express Car Wash, and the team from Wauchope Vets.
Gift vouchers donated by The Seed Art School, Canvas Momentz, and Alices’s Art Craft and Paper Supplies were awarded to participants in the most democratic way possible: by ballot.
Jane Whitfield from Drawn to Art kick-started this exhibition and helped spread the word. The final iteration of JOY was different to the one first proposed; nevertheless, Jane was convinced that art by under 15s was exhibition-worthy and she was absolutely right. Thank you, Jane.
There are plenty of ways joy can manifest, orange elephants being one of them. To that end, Luminance Gallery has bought Spirits of Colour and donated it to Port Macquarie Hastings Council.
Jaxon’s remarkable orange elephant is destined to be hung at PMHC, along with the artist’s statement, which reads: “I am an autistic artist and I painted this elephant because I love how strong and gentle elephants are. I used bright colours instead of grey because I see the world in my own way, full of patterns, feelings and colour. My elephant shows that being different is something to celebrate.”
