Artists combine for Whanganui Heritage Month celebrations

Whanganui artists Pauline Allomes (left) and Julz Coffey are holding a combined exhibition at Allomes' Barrack St cottage during Whanganui Heritage Month. Photo / Bevan Conley

In the Course of Time is a combined exhibition of works by Whanganui artists Pauline Allomes and Julz Coffey.

They may have vastly different styles but both describe themselves as environmental artists and both deal with the effects of time.

"Julz's works reflect on the past while mine are concerned with our impact on the future," said Allomes.

"I asked Julz to join me for this heritage month exhibition as we are both concerned with heritage in our work."

While Allomes expresses her love and concern for the environment with her distinctive painted and inked canvasses, Coffey creates a range of paintings and mixed media works incorporating an astonishing range of recycled and found objects.

Old dump sites, car parks, footpaths and second-hand shops provide Coffey with rich sources of abandoned and pre-loved objects that she fashions into delightful dioramas and quirky little characters with stories to tell.

Allomes' paintings and drawings of native bush scenes have earned her awards and commissions from customers who ask her to capture their own small slices of paradise.

And her signature pen and ink works using a technique called micography contain environmental messages.

A large painting of Manukau Harbour with a flowering pohutukawa tree in the foreground will be offered for silent auction and the proceeds will be donated to Bushy Park Trust.

Scenes of Bushy Park Sanctuary feature in the Course of Time exhibition.

"People are welcome to buy them but with the understanding that they will be held for an exhibition I'm having at the Bushy Park Homestead in November," Allomes said.

The artist completed the renovation of her heritage cottage last year and welcomes visitors to the studio and gallery in her front rooms.

In the Course of Time: 4 Barrack St, Whanganui. Open Saturday, August 24 and Sunday, August 25 from 10am until 4.30pm. For further dates in August and September see whanganuiheritagemonth or call 021 0223 8837 to view by appointment.