OPENING EVENT
SATURDAY 22ND MARCH 2025
5pm to 7pm

Gallery 1 DALLAS LESLEY
Gallery 2 HELENA McCONOCHIE

Dallas Lesley and Helena McConochie are artists with a deeply felt connection with the natural world. Both of their paintings feature botanical elements, with Helena’s macro view of the perfect details of flowers and Dallas’ expressionist style of botanical coastal environments. They have worked together sponsoring the Cancer Council Posh Auction Ball for many years, and their shared passion has bought them together for this exhibition “Coastal Botanical Paradise”.

Dallas has twice been a finalist in the Sulman Prize, and her works have been exhibited in the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prize Exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW.  Creating from her studios in Sydney and Noosa, Dallas’ paintings are exhibited, selected and collected nationally and internationally, and she has been a finalist in many major art prizes. Her representation and exhibitions have include galleries in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, the Sunshine Coast, Fiji, the US and Hong Kong.

 “Surrounded by nature as I walk on the winding tracks around the tropical bays and coves, I paint what I see in the ocean, plant life and birds of the coastal zones. The shoreline and the shapes in nature inform my work as I look for patterns in each piece. The flow of the ocean’s currents, the bold curves of the rocks, the curling and spiky leaves, the sensual, sculpted tree trunks make a landscape of patterns that these sights create, and the sounds of the ocean beyond the trees and the birds high above, are part of my vibrant coastal expressionism. The time of day, location and light, and the lush vegetation under the tree canopy, creates a palette of bold colours, and embraces vivid patterning that’s full of energy. In other paintings, the calming bays of crystal waters with free flowing elements evoke softer hues and mark making. ”

Helena has annual exhibitions in Sydney, Canberra and international galleries in the US at Manhattan Beach and Memphis, and in Quebec, Canada. She produces many commissions annually. With three acres of rural garden and a passion for macro photography, she designs and creates each image which she paints. Helena has four daughters and her paintings are all titled with girls’ names, a sublimely feminine reflection of her art.

Helena’s ambition is to show the viewer that a flower is more than just a flower. Margaret Olley said “Flowers can be appreciated by the viewer as just a flower, or can be explored deeper – almost as a landscape”. Helena places water drops on all of her paintings to encourage people to conserve water. Helena’s work is recognisable by the colours and the large scale slightly cropped flowers. The large scale draws the viewer in and allows them to become engrossed in shape, form and fine textures. “Flowers bloom in almost every colour of the spectrum and appeal not only to the visual sense, but to the olfactory as well”. Using a limited palette of just white and three prime colours allows Helena to explore the beautiful world of creativity, with each colour on her palette unique.