Same But Different: A multi-media art show in Bello Coffs Coast Coffs Coast - popup ad Coffs Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - January 12, 2024 Artists Beth, Robyn and Noella, close friends with different styles, will exhibit together in Bellingen. THREE talented artists with three very different creative styles have forged a fruitful friendship that sees the trio exhibiting together. Noella Chelman, Beth Kelly and Robyn Lawrence’s upcoming show, entitled ‘Same But Different’ can be seen at the Nexus Community Gallery in the Old Butter Factory, Bellingen, opening on Sunday 14 January and running until Friday 9 February in the Main Gallery. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au “While we are of similar ages we have completely different artistic styles, hence the name of our exhibition, ‘Same But Different’,” Robyn told News Of The Area. Noella and Robyn live in the Coffs area and Beth, originally from country NSW and currently living in Tasmania, will be in Bello for the opening event on Sunday. The exhibition includes paintings, opal jewellery, hand-made books, unique pet rock art, original greeting cards plus art journals of the artists’ travels together. Beth cites her beautiful garden and surrounding areas as her biggest inspiration for the birds and florals she loves to paint. Covid lockdown unexpectedly found her in New Zealand for six months. She spent that time developing her quirky Australian animal greeting cards, which have found a delighted following. Watercolours and acrylics are her medium of choice, but Beth is equally at home with all mediums including collage and mixed media. Noella is described by fellow artists as a force of nature with a very original take on all things around her. Her love of the coast often weaves its way into her work. A mixed media artist, her art is a kaleidoscope of colour bursting with life and energy. Noella is also a self-taught silversmith. Working with boulder opal from the Winton area where she and her husband have an opal mine, she has worked her magic and developed a growing collection of original opal jewellery rings and pendants. Robyn has been an artist most of her life. Lettering, calligraphy and later a successful graphic design business has given her a well-rounded career. Coming back to her first love of painting she takes her audience through coastal and outback scenes of her travels around Australia. Her hand-made books and Dragon Alphabet greeting cards will also be showing at the exhibition. “The outback will feature in our exhibition as we share experiences of our recent outback travels,” she said. In 2022 the three friends undertook a travelling holiday in two small campervans. They set out towards the opal fields beyond Winton in South Western Queensland for the annual three-day Winton Opal Festival, where they displayed and sold Noella’s opal jewellery and Beth and Robyn’s unique greeting cards. They then travelled south to the opal fields of Opalton for three weeks fossicking before heading off to Yowah, closer to the QLD/NSW border, for the Yowah Opal Festival. The last stop was Lightning Ridge for a week and another opal festival. It has all been an influence on the artists’ work for their ‘Same But Different’ exhibition. By Andrea FERRARI Painting the pub in the middle of the road in a little town called Hebel, artists Robyn, Beth and Noella. Mixed Media artwork by Noella Chelman, entitled Who Me?
