Kristine Ballard
Clean Sweep
 
oil on canvas 64 x 64cm
 
There is magic in the Cooks River. Every time I visit my heart is refreshed from nature’s resilience to survive in our smoky city. We leave far too much of a heavy footprint on this place, the waterways are still polluted with plastic and grease. I have the greatest admiration for the local heroes giving our river a ‘Clean Sweep’. In their leisure time they choose to paddle across the water in their canoes and kayaks scooping out the rubbish and cleaning up our river. This piece was created for them. A rubbish free river. A fragmented scene that began with clean colour. A green hue was added to ‘taint’ the water, and symbolise sludge. The last layers of yellow and white are indicative of the effect positive action can make. It is sure to bring back the brightness and help make our river shine and thrive again.