ONE of life’s marvellous mysteries is the creation of beauty by an artist from an empty canvas.
Sunshine West painter Sidney R Powley puts it down to the muse.
“It’s that muse inside all of us,” he said, as he walked from picture to picture in the Foyer Gallery at the Hunt Club Community Arts Centre.
The Muse Speaks is the title of Mr Powley’s first exhibition, and it’s a title that deeply relates to all nine of his works on show.
The number of pieces on show reflects the place of the muse in Greek mythology – the nine goddesses who inspire poetry and art.
Mr Powley has held an interest in art since he started pencil sketching at the age of seven.
He never went to art school but learned more through his adult years by studying art books.
The works of Van Gogh, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec have proved particularly inspirational for Mr Powley, who says art has always played an important role in his life.
Admirers say his work jumps from the frame with an earthy wisdom and passion.
Works like Long Shanks, Pain and Pumpkin Man are evocative renderings of basic nudes.
“In our life, everybody’s got pain but also we’ve got light,” he said.
Mr Powley came to Australia from London in 1971 and settled in Sunshine West in 1974.
He and his wife will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in November.
They have six children and 23 grandchildren.
After retiring from work in 1988, due to illness, Mr Powley began to explore wood carving and sculpture.
He joined the Hunt Club in Deer Park, in 1990, where he continues to teach classes with fellow artist and tutor Robert Mangion.
Mr Powley said The Muse Speaks was the culmination of his lifetime journey with art.
And although he is excited by the exhibition, he is already planning to return to a blank canvas to see what happens when the Muse speaks once again.
Sidney R Powley’s The Muse Speaks will run in the Hunt Club Community Arts Centre, 775 Ballarat Rd, Deer Park, from 20 September to 13 October.
Earthy tone … Sidney R Powley with two of nine expressive pieces on display in the Hunt Club Community Arts Centre.
Picture: LENWILLIAMS.
