ALAN Newbery has been working as a remote area nurse for more than 16 years.
But it wasn’t until he was working in Western Australia in 2009 that he was overcome with the urge to paint.
He felt the need to capture something on canvas and portray how his surroundings affected him.
After swapping a first aid kit for scraps of canvas at the local arts centre, the creative flood gates in Newbery’s mind opened up.
“As time went on it became obvious that my work moved towards the juxtaposition of nature and the man-made, the clash of cultures and my own search for meaning,” he said.
Surrounded and inspired by the work of many well-known indigenous artists, particularly the Papunya Tula artists of the Western Desert, Newbery said their influence on his work could not be denied.
Newbery will exhibit his works alongside his daughter, Jessica Dib-Newbery, at NANA Gallery in an exhibition called The Other Side of The Rock for the next few weeks.
Like her father, teacher and artist Jessica Dib-Newbery has spent a considerable amount of time working and living in remote communities.
Captivated by the extensive spaces and big skies, Dib-Newbery works with clay, water colours and acrylics, as well as dabbling in photography.
She said she was drawn to the land’s beauty, gradually translating these impressions into art works.
