ARTIST Betty McKay has partnered with the Porque team for their collection launch at The Federal Hotel on January 3.
Ms McKay said she is very proud to be a part of this local collaboration as well as encouraging rural and regional creativity.
“The more creativity that’s out there and the more people express their personal flair, the better off we all are,” Ms McKay said.
“Events like this give people permission to be creative or share what they’re doing creatively when they see others in the community doing it as well.
“In country towns, people champion each other more, so I think it’s going to be received and I’m excited for the boys and how it turns out.”
The pieces that Ms McKay is using in the collaboration are part of a larger body of work she has been working on in the last year.
“I’m in the process of creating my first proper body of work and have spent a lot of time studying art and working on my skills, and the Porque concept of ‘flair’ fits in with what I’m doing,” she said.
“The way we story-tell and express ourselves can be seen in the clothes we wear, so wearing art is a really interesting way to story-tell.
“All my pieces at the moment are equine-themed, they all have horses in them one way or another – they’re my main source of inspiration for the work.
“They’re more on the realism side of the coin but the way that I’m painting at the moment has had a bit more of an impressionistic mark making with expressive brush strokes and fun colour pallets.”
The works that Ms McKay is putting forward for Porque Collection III “Betty” will be included in a group solo exhibition in 2025.