By Melanie Barnes
Local resident Allis Hamilton is a semi-finalist for the 2022 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize with her painting ‘Where the Old Horse Wanders on the Crest of the Hill’.
The Mail caught up with Allis to talk about her life and work. Allis feels at her best when she is in nature. She paints, writes music and poetry, and creates visual art.
Allis fell in love with the area 20 years ago on her way to pick apples and remembers turning off the highway and driving along the forest-lined road into Chewton which instantly resonated with her love of nature. At the time Allis didn’t know she would end up living in the area.
‘Where the old horse wanders on the crest of the hill’, is a self-portrait with an old
horse friend of Allis’.
“I love that Castlemaine is a town nestled among forests with abundant waterways scattered within and around her. I love the moss, the wildflowers, the multitude of native creatures that I am blessed to share my days alongside, like sugar gliders, powerful owls, choughs,” Allis said.
Spending time overseas, her first trip to the UK with her grandmother who was 87 at the time “was a dream trip” Allis said.
“The waters, moss, the poetic culture of the UK – the lands of most of my ancestors I find utterly inspirational. Ireland, Scotland, and England – the old Celtic cultures hold poetry and the arts in high esteem. It felt so good for me to be in a place that has respect for these things, for creativity,” Allis said.
During her travels exploring her creative side in England, she spent time playing music and participating in a poetry residential. Being a poet in Australia, Allis finds people are cynical but has found in older cultures, creativity has always been considered a vital part of life, enriching the community and that continues. She is appalled to see the arts being removed from school curriculums.
“Music, if you learn to play it, is a friend for life: an outlet for emotions, a form of expression, a way to channel energy in a very constructive manner. A way to create beauty. I feel that the imagination, the creative realm is a vital component of life. We are creative beings. To me, creativity is a fundamental aspect of life.
