Man from Snowy River Festival was such a great time.  Honestly, such a family friendly, interesting and fun festival!  A day or two before it began, we did get some icy winds blowing in from the snowfields in both NSW and VIC, so 1 degree was hard for us queenslanders to take!  BUT, once the festival got underway, we were blessed with gorgeous, warm, sunny days. We are always so encouraged by hearing people's amazement at watching Don complete a painting, and adults and kids all wore a smile after seeing the oil paintings Don did while they watched.   We sold wearable art this time, too.....T-Shirts ......and we so pleased with the feedback.  Next stop, PRIMEX Field Days, Casino.

What does one really write in a blog?  I'm supposed to use SEO words that draw people to it, but, hard as I try, that doesn't seem to work.  I am supposed to use words like PAINT....which apparently draws 1,830,000 hits in searches.  Who knew?  While ARTIST only appears in 246,000 web searches.  OIL PAINTING appears in only 110,000 searches, so I don't know if it's my lack of perfect words, but more the subject of fabulous and intriguing oil paintings by a brilliant artist like Don, just aren't the subject of anyone's searches.
​Anyway, I've given it a shot....if you read this, please let me know. (LOL)  Otherwise, we're heading of to Corryong for the MFSR Festival April 11-14.   Maybe if you read this AND attend, I'll give you a prize?

I am so not great at remembering to check in here.  Ooops.  We've just come back from a very humid but fun Tamworth Country Music Festival.  I think there were more people around and the atmosphere this year was fabulous.  The return of the parade on the last Saturday was a people pleaser, and the variety of music and artists was impressive.  It's still 10 days of a lot of noise, as we are privileged to hear the music from Fan Zone, as well as many buskers up and down the street. We realised we've been going to the festival around 27 years!  Almost locals!  Don did beautiful paintings on a couple of cow skulls... very unusual canvasses....and then we've brought home a huge bull skull, who was precious to the family who asked Don to do a painting on his head.   Also, someone brought in their guitar for Don to do a painting on.  He just loves creating unique art pieces! 
Next up is Man from Snowy River Festival in April down in Corryong, Victoria, just south of the Snowy Mountains.  We are so looking forward to this, because last year we didn't make it, due to a close family member with health issues.  Hopefully I'll remember to check in after that one.
​If anyone actually reads this, would you be kind enought to let me know, please?  Thanks heaps!

So, 2023 held a few surprises, and kept us insanely busy, so I forgot all about the BLOG.  I now have a little more time to think of these things, so we'll see how I go at keeping this going.  This year, we went to Tamworth Country Music, Aggrow at Emerald, Gympie Muster, Henty Field Days and Deni Ute Muster.  The best part of travelling up and down the East Coast is getting to meet people.  Other stall holders who we see at various events, and new and return customers, who just love to have a yarn with Don.  (I often say, chatting is Don's other God given talent!)  I'll pop a couple of photos here, and if anyone actually reads these blogs, you can let me know if there are subjects you'd like me to cover, moving forward.

Outback Australian Art on the road again.  Gold Coast to Carnarvon Gorge then on to Emerald.  Plenty of inspiration for Don's oil paintings along the way.  Magnificent sunsets and quirky little outback houses and buildings, barns, shearing shed, fences and windmills.  Australia is such a beautiful country!  The weather at Aggrow was fabulous this year...none of the rain from last year... and we were happy to see many regulars back to say hello and watch Don painting.  

After Covid kept us all at home for a while, it was so great to get Outback Australian Art back on the road in 2022!  The Man from Snowy River Festival (in April) at Corryong in Victoria was the perfect re-entry, with delighted audiences being able see Don produce his one-of-a-kind oil paintings while they watched, once again.  I just loved watching people's faces light up when they saw an outback scene come to life before their eyes!  There was some rain, but the crowds were prepared and there were gumboots and Drizabones helping them enjoy all the festival had to offer. I think the most popular "canvas" this festival were cross-cut saws, but my favourite story was a couple who had been saving for a large framed painting for a few years, and were finally able to buy one at Man from Snowy River.  The best part was seeing their faces when they saw the finished painting, which included a personal touch of their surname on a milk can letterbox.
Tamworth Country Music Festival was postponed from January to April in 2022, so Don went from Corryong straight to Tamworth. I wasn't able to go with him this time, but thanks to some regular Tamworth locals who've become friends, he wasn't alone.
Next stop....Emerald Ag grow June 23rd- 25th.