Paintings of the shearing shed at “Charlotte Plains”, Cunnamulla, in South East Queensland, by Christine Porter created in 2024 after a visit on-site March 2023. Paintings from this series were exhibited at the 2024 Downlands Art Show, where Christine was that year’s feature artist. Work from this series was also included in the article about Christine in the December 2024 issue of RMWilliams’ OUTback magazine.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The paintings pay homage to the resilience of this iconic shed and all the other shearing sheds across our wide brown land. It recognises the families that have worked in them, and cared for them, for generation. For Christine it it a chance to remember her first ever shearing shed painting that was of this shed, in 1984, and to celebrate the journey from governess to artist, and all the sheds, and paintings, in between.
In 1984 Christine Porter was governessing on a property outside Charters Towers, a town 1.5 hours west of Townsville in Far North Queensland. And by “outside of” that means 2 hours south towards Clermont. And by “in 1984” that means in the time before the internet or satellite phones. There was no mains electricity and the children learnt school via “School of the Air”. That’s why Christine was there – to support the children’s education.
Not yet a shearing shed artist, but making art never-the-less, a chance query from her boss would set Christine’s art practice in an unexpected, career-long direction.“Would you paint the shearing shed at “Charlotte Plains”, where I grew up?” Robyn Russell had asked.
“Charlotte Plains” is at the other end of Queensland – near Cunnamulla in the far south west of the state. It’s a popular, award winning, tourist stop now, famous for it’s artesian bore bathing. There’s guided tours and events, and in the station museum, that first shearing shed painting, by the now renowned painter of shearing sheds, Christine Porter, is on display.
Over the years many of Christine’s friends had visited “Charlotte Plains”, reporting back news of the Russell family, and the property. It had been a long term plan to re-visit there so, in early 2023, Christine set out on a road trip that would take her through Goondiwindi, to Surat, St George, to “Charlotte Plains”. After time there she would travel on to Garah, Moree and Uralla. Thousands of km, and a lot of fun. It was astonishing experience, made all the more special by the time spent drawing and painting what she saw.
Seeing those very early works in the station museum was a little overwhelming Christine explained: “It was like all the hundreds and thousands of paintings in the intervening years had ceased to exist- suddenly it was just me and the small painting of the shed, and memories of me with my learner-painter plates on. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then (a lot of dust in the sheepyards? A lot of watercolour onto the pages? Mix me a metaphor bartender, and make it colourful!). There is no way I could have imagined the implications of that small request, the result of me completing it, or how it would feel forty years later, looking back“.
The Charlotte Plains Sketchbook is a suite of blank greeting cards chosen from the drawings Christine made during her visit. The same format as her other Rural Card series, these are printed onto cream stock, and are from black and white pen drawings rather than paintings.
TO PURCHASE CARDS
At present the cards are available only from the Bore Hut at Charlotte Plains, though Christine has a few at her studio/gallery in Lismore.
Contact Charlotte Plains directly to purchase any of this series.
By August 2024 the project was completed. The planned May exhibition at the shed at Cunnamulla was decided against – early that year it had been wet, and the thought of putting on a show and being stranded on the wrong side of a flooded river was too disconcerting. So we met in Toowoomba and had a sneaky glass of prosecco to launch this project that was forty years in the making.
I can guarantee that whenever you are looking at this site, there will be parts of it that are not up to date. Sales, exhibitions, rehanging: life, the universe, anything that impacts on a life well-ordered (well intentioned at least) means I might not have immediately upated this page.
The filters on the two following galleries serve as an indication of a paintings’ availability. Contact us directly to find out the price, availability or framed state of any painting.
Variously sized paintings, all watercolour on Saunders smooth paper, the smallest 10x11cm, through to full sheet (74×54) and larger (up to 80cm long. The work is presented matted, ready to frame, wrapped in cellophane. Some mats are sample mats and may need to be replaced at framing stage. A few are framed, though can be unframed easily.
Click on individual image below to see larger file, or start the slideshow.
Sort gallery by clicking the arrow beside “ALL” to see sorting options including if a work is still available.
NOTE: As the artist is also webmaster, sometimes the website isn’t always completely up-to-date, it’s best to contact Christine directly to find out the most accurate info about price, framed state, or availability.
PRICING
$250 to $5000 depending on the size of the artwork, and its framed state. Contact Christine directly for availability, prices and other details
Small work, 19×14.5cm, painted bleed and archivally shadow mounted.
Matted, ready to frame, outside measurement 29.5x32cm, and wrapped in polypropelene bag.
Some work may be framed as shown below, but can be easily dismantled from the frame.
Many projects include a separate body of work that tells a slightly different story. The “Charlotte Plains” project was huge, and Christine noticed that with the breadth of the landscape it was too much to see in one go. She realised that she could only look at one small thing at a time – and the collection of those small things, those snippets, made it easier to portray this vast site.
They are presented differently than traditionally too: with the artwork being taken all the way to the bleed edge of the paper – almost as if it was torn from a larger view of the place. It was a challenge for Christine to worl this way rather than depend on the mat to contain the image later. but the small format of 19×14.5cm made it fun to push the medium somewhat.
Click on any image below to see larger file, or start the slideshow.
Sort gallery by clicking the arrow beside “ALL” to see sorting options including if a work is still available – though this may not be up-to-date so the best option for more information is to contact Christine directly.
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