Solo exhibition – Charcoal trees in the Hanging Swamp
Who – Artist Ochre Lawson
What – Solo art exhibition ‘Charcoal trees and the hanging swamp’ – Landscape based expressive oil paintings
Where – Jennings Kerr Gallery – Shop 4, 74-76 Hoddle Street
Robertson, NSW 2577
When – 8th May – Opening reception Saturday 9th May 2pm-4pm.
Why – Support local high quality galleries/small business, Encourage cultural tourism, Support Australian artists, Buy landscape art based on our native environment, Things to do on the weekend, lovers of art and nature
For lovers of art and nature there’s a wonderful new exhibition of oil paintings opening at local Highlands gallery, ‘Jennings Kerr’, in Robertson opening 8-31st May. Sydney based painter of our wild Australian landscape, Ochre Lawson, is showing her vibrant paintings in a solo exhibition ‘Charcoal trees and the hanging swamp’ based on the Wollemi wilderness area in the Blue Mountains where the artist did an art residency in 2025 at the renowned Bilpin International Ground for Creative Initiative (BigCi).
This solo exhibition is her 4th at Jennings Kerr exploring ideas around trees and swamps and both their resilience and vulnerability to a warming planet. She captures the essence of this wild environment through earthy yet vibrant colour reminiscent of the wriggly gums, burnt out trees and oranges and pinks of the sandstone, sweeps of calligraphic paint ooze across the surface while subtle brush marks create textures applied layer over layer.
Ochre was able to walk straight into the bush from the BigCi studio to discover the landscape through sketches in charcoal and watercolour. What immediately struck her was the the rhythm and beauty of the burnt out trees – Wriggly gums, Angophoras, Stringy barks stepping through the steep sandstone landscape surrounded by ‘hanging swaps’ the life blood of our springs, creeks and rivers.
‘It was incredible these trees were still thriving even though some had almost been burnt through. Trees and swamps are our survival against climate change’ Ochre said ‘Growing up in country NSW, our property had a huge swamp area that had been cleared to make way for live stock, but now we realise how important these swamps are for our water security resilience.’
Ochre has been a finalist in many national art prizes including the Glover landscape prize, the NSW Parliament plein air art prize and the Kangaroo Valley art prize to mention a few and is in the major government art collection at Art Bank.
The exhibition opens from the 8-31st May, with the opening reception on Saturday 9th May from 2-4pm. All are welcome to the opening to see these paintings and share a beverage with the artist.