Denise Creates Series Of Etches For Hilltops Off The Beaten Track Art Trail

After spending ten years building a mudbrick house, Denise Scholz-Wulfing has lived in the Hilltops region for a year.

“We moved from Sydney to escape the rat race, for a more peaceful lifestyle and to have a bit of space around us,” Ms Sholz-Wulfing said.

“Visitors to our house here say, “Aren’t your neighbours close?” (the nearest one is 300 metres away) in Sydney I could reach out the window and touch them.”

Ms Scholz-Wulfing has been drawing and painting her whole life.

She attended art school in the 1980s in Sydney where she majored in drawing.

“Drawing is the basis for everything I do,” she said.

“The satisfaction of adding a line to a piece of paper then another and another, building up the image creating shape and tone and then finally finishing off a piece of work is profound.

“I draw anything, although since moving to the country landscape, trees and birds have featured, as well as local history and stories.”

Etching was a natural progression for the skilled artist, building up an image using a line and tone etched into a metal plate to create an image with detail and high contrast with the added benefit of being able to produce multiple images from one plate.

“I do like art that tells some sort of story, it doesn’t have to be obvious but it does have to resonate with me,” Ms Scholz-Wulfling said.

“The series of etchings I have created for the Hilltops Off the Beaten Track Art Trail is based on the dresses in the Hume Collection at the Boorowa Museum.

“It was not only the beauty of the dresses that appeals but the tragedy of the story behind them.

They were worn by Ethel Hume, the niece of the explorer Hamilton Hume who died very young soon after the birth of her first child, as many women did in those days. “The Hume family kept these dresses in beautiful condition and donated them to the Boorowa and District Historical Society and Museum. “Drawing for me not only describes the world around me but also tells stories. “Drawing doesn’t have to be realistic, anyone can draw and how you draw is a reflection of how you see the world.”

Ms Scholz-Wulfing said The Hilltops Off the Beaten Track Art Trail allows everyone to see how creative people interpret the world around them, see different places and spaces in the region and also gives those involved a sense of belonging to an artistic community.

“Making art by its very nature is a solitary activity and can be isolating,” she said.

“By becoming involved in the Art Trail and meeting key people in the artistic community and through their continual and very generous support I feel happy in my new Hilltops community.

“I would like to thank in particular Therese Crowe at Murringo Barracks, Heather Ruhl from the Young Society of Artists and Southern Tablelands Arts for the grant which enabled the framing of the etchings in the Art Trail exhibition.”

Ms Scholz-Wulfing’s series of etchings will be on display at the Boorowa Museum Print Studio from 10 am to 3 pm on Saturday, March 16 and 23 as part of The Hilltops Off the Beaten Track Arts Trail.

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