Blue Mountains Artfest.
A vibrant weekend of creativity & community at Wentworth Falls.
Blue Mountains Artfest is an annual community art festival held every November at Wentworth Falls Public School.
The weekend brings together an exhibition of original artworks available for sale, a makers market, hands-on creative workshops, live performances, and plenty for kids.
Run entirely by volunteers from the school’s P&C Association since 1983, Artfest raises funds for the students of Wentworth Falls Public School.
Celebrating Local Creativity Community Artists Makers Musicians
HIGHLIGHTS
Mark the calendar — Artfest returns for its 43rd year!
ART EXHIBITION
At the beating creative heart of Artfest is an exhibition of original artworks available for purchase.
What is Artfest?
One of the region’s longest-running arts events, Blue Mountains Artfest is an annual fundraiser for Wentworth Falls Public School.
Showcasing local artists and makers, the weekend event is a not for profit initiative of the school’s P&C Association. All proceeds directly support students through the acquisition of educational resources and improvements to their learning environment.
Established in 1983 as the Wentworth Falls Public School Queen’s Birthday Weekend Art Exhibition, the event was the brainchild of visionary art teachers.
It has maintained a focus on local artists and cultivating creative paths for generations of Wentworth Falls primary students.
ELISE MCDONALD
Elise McDonald is a contemporary artist and mother of three. She is recognised for her vibrant and striking colour schemes that bring to life landscapes, flowers and still lifes.
As a resident of the Blue Mountains, landscapes are a prominent theme in her work. She captures the dynamic movement and flow of her subjects, infusing them with life and emotion.
Her art journey began in childhood with ceramics and continued through school into mixed media. After graduating high school, she moved away from art altogether. After almost 20 years, some friends invited her to a community art painting class, which rekindled her passion for the medium. Painting has become her sole focus and the lens of her life’s observations.
Growing up in the Blue Mountains, she was accustomed to the incredible views and bush surrounding her. Now, as an adult, she is rediscovering the beauty of the Blue Mountains and giving them the colour and drama they deserve. Her process includes experiencing her subjects and landscapes firsthand and taking her own images as reference for her paintings to truly portray the emotions she felt while at the site. It is a joy to take her family along while capturing these images, allowing her kids to experience and develop their own connections with the mountains.
She uses modern limited colour palettes and acrylic on canvas to bring joy and movement to her pieces. She particularly enjoys highlighting winding valleys and melting cliff lines, which imbue her art with a sense of life and motion. Her modern interpretation of landscapes uses lines, flow and colour to emphasise the scenery while exploring the limits of detail and creating endless pockets for the viewer’s eye to explore.
All her artwork is hand framed in one-off frames using recycled reclaimed timbers crafted by her husband, which connects them back to the land.
From the feed...
