I spent some time with Andrew Gee, the federal member for Calare, at the Gulgong Show this year who has arranged for an artwork commission. With the cooler weather on the way I am looking forward to composing his piece.

Merilyn is excited and honoured to be featured in the “120 Years of Inspirational Women” book.

“This beautiful book is a series of snapshots of the lives of a mere handful of teachers, board members, sisters and students who were and are part of the rich tradition of Loreto Normanhurst. But I want you to spare a thought for the many whose lives are not recorded but who have done much for their families, workplaces and communities – some well-known, no doubt, to people here. And we must never forget those caught up in the messiness of humanity, who won’t be written up in any annals – their griefs, tragedies and failures are just as much part of the weft and warp of this school’s fabric.” – Libby Rogerson,  Deputy Chair of the Loreto Normanhurst School Council.

The book can be ordered here.

Merilyn’s piece ‘Keith’ has been selected for the 2017 ‘Outback Archives‘. The work depicts a local folk musician concentrating on his playing in one of the regular get togethers in Gulgong. The medium is Pastel on colour fix paper.

The pen and ink “Winner Distinguished Look” was awarded the first prize in the animal section at the Wellington Quota Art Exhibition. The horse depicted was purchased for just $1,000 and went on to win over $200,000 in prize money – quite a considerable return on investment for the local owner! This piece shows its winning run at the Randwick races in Sydney.

This year marked the 15th year of ‘Painters @ Mudgee’. We had 40 artists from across Australia join us this year and most exhibited in the show at the stables. Mudgee has a wide variety of scenes to paint – from farms and wineries, historic houses and magnificent trees – and the artists love the choices we have for them.

The Mid-Western Regional Council (MWRC) Senior Citizens Awards recognise outstanding contributions and achievements to the community by senior citizens of Mid-Western Regional Local Government Area. I was honoured to receive the Art award this year with for the “A day at the Gulgong Show” piece I did this year. I look forward to another eventful year.

Open to artists in the Orana and Outback Arts regions, the Outback Archies is considered to be Western New South Wales answer to the Archibald prize. Merilyn Burch-Carney’s portrait of Philip “Scrubby” Boyd will hang alongside 50 other finalists’ works in the exhibition opening in Coonamble from September 23.

The artwork was inspired from the regular jam sessions at the Gulgong’s Centennial Hotel, during which she likes to jot down sketches of the musicians. Some of the sketches have turned into portraits, one of which has been chosen as a finalist in the Outback Archies.

“I love to try to capture the essence of the subject so it is more then just a photo” Mrs Burch-Carney said.

The ‘Painters @ Mudgee’ brought landscape artists into the region for another week of painting in autumn. Some of the sites visited this year were old miners cottages at Beryl, some local wineries and the historic town of Hill End. The exhibition that followed was very successful with many local dignitaries attending and some local galleries purchasing some of the works.

Merilyn would like to thank everyone who came and made the event successful and she looks forward to another great week of painting in 2017.