LifestyleArtsArtists refocus due to Covid after retirement

Artists refocus due to Covid after retirement

Refocus artist Mick Brennan Vivien Hillocks Annette Tyson
Vivien Hillocks and Mick Brennan (pictured) will be part of the upcoming Childers Art Space art exhibition Refocus, with local artist Annette Tyson.

Three local artists will collaborate and share their life in retirement at the upcoming Refocus exhibition to be held at Childers Arts Space.

Annette Tyson, Mick Brennan and Vivien Hillocks are three “60-somethings” who all retired in 2020.

Eagerly anticipating a more relaxed lifestyle, with plenty of travel and the chance to spend time painting while touring after retirement, the trio didn’t realise how the world would change drastically as COVID-19 spread globally.

Refocus is an exhibition about refocusing on what happened for these artists as the world learned to live with an infectious disease.

Mick said he was pleasantly surprised by the changes that occurred to a number of local artists during the regulated periods of COVID-19.

Changes included where each artist found their inspiration, how they engaged with the artistic community and ultimately the changes in their attitudes, which they said were all refocused as time went on.

“The three of us found ourselves working together over the COVID-19 period and we all refocused in a way,” Mick said.

“I have always done landscapes in oils, but now with a refocus, as I moved away from my traditional oils.

“Both Annette and Viv work with watercolour and I found myself influenced from them and I started to play with it.

“As I refocused, I branched off to mixed media and collage.”

Refocus artist Mick Brennan Vivien Hillocks Annette Tyson
Annette Tyson's artwork will feature at CHARTS in the Refocus exhibition.

Mick said during the two years of living life through a pandemic a lot of adjustments took place around the world and the country, and local artists looked to their own backyards for inspiration.

“That’s the surprising thing, I think, we became inspired by what could be found here,” Mick said.

“We explored different opportunities and each of us has grown in the art we do now.”

Refocuses will be the first exhibition for Vivien who has always dabbled in art and in particularly, photography.

“I found that I have branched out to landscape in local areas,” Vivien said.

“Playing with shapes and discovering what I can achieve was my refocus.

“I am very excited and kind of bemused by it all.”

The Refocus exhibition will be held at Childers Arts Space at 72 Churchill Street, Childers, from 10 February to 6 April.

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