It’s been a long while since I’ve posted about the river. It’s not that I haven’t been out.  I’ve been up and down the same stretch of Berowra Creek – from my favourite haunts Bujwa Bay to the vine-hung eucalypts at Crosslands – often over the last two years, thankful that this marvellous estuary is at the end of my street.

But paddling the same waters again and again, walking the same trails that loop above and around and down to the river, there’s rarely been something new and remarkable to tell a story about (and in the endless covid work-crunch almost never time to sit down and tell any kind of story to my satisfaction).  ‘

But sometimes, it’s not the new that’s remarkable. Paddling the stretch of river, walking the same firetrails to the same lookouts again and again, sharpens your eyes to small changes in the light or the tide, the movement of mist or ripples or birds in flight.

What do you see when you step into the same river, time after time after time?

The sun advances and retreats with the fog.

The big rains come, shifting the sandbars.  One day you see kids playing in the shallows, another day, in the same spot, fishermen casting.

A haunted boat, swaying gently, appears at a mooring

My pictures from these outings deceive me.  Is that the same bay in another season, or perhaps a different line of mangroves in the same early light?

The landscape blurs: sandstone into treescape, mist into bird.

During lockdowns, borders closed, the still river became our local art gallery.

And now lockdown is over, and my pictures of the river are in a real gallery!

They’re on show at The Cottage, a community art space at Brooklyn.  It’s all thanks to the wonderful Ana Rubio at Hornsby Council, who remembered my last exhibition at Hornsby’s Wallarobba Art and Cultural Centre in 2020 and asked me to display my photos as part of a six council public consultation process on Dyarubbin/The Hawkesbury.  A big part of the consultation is a Celebration of Deerubbin from 10-3 on Saturday June 18, with stalls and kids’ activities right by The Cottage.

My exhibition “River Returning” is on throughout June – you can come and see it between 10 and 3 on weekends.  I’ll be there much of the time and it would be great to see you!

The prints in this post are all on sale.  They’re giclee art printed on Canson rag, and you can find a pricelist below.

River returning pricelist

• Eucalypt awakening,     84 x 56.6 cm, $400
• Cormorants and their shadows   53.23 x 35.9 cm, $180
• Spiderweb morning, 53.23 x 42 cm, $230
• Shack on the water 54.24 x 42 cm, $230
• River Mondrian  59.4 x 39.6 cm, $250
• Sun fishing  28 x 42 cm, $120
• Naa Badu walkers 28.94 x 18 cm, $60
• Mangrove nursery 28.52 x 18 cm, $60
• Naa Badu boaties  27.7 x 18 cm, $60
• Mangrove island  28.19 x 18 cm, $60
• Fishing boat figures 29.72 x 42 cm, $120
• Heron on Hawkesbury sandstone  54 x 42 cm, $230
• Three hills  38.82 x 42 cm,$140
• Bundled boat  42 x 52.38cm, $230
• Silver eyed boat  42 x 63 cm, $250
• Blue boat 34.92 x 52.38, $180
• Salt marsh and sun 59.4 x 39.04 cm, $230
• Joe Crafts Bay abstract  42 x 28 cm, $120
• Shadow trees 42 x 28 cm, $120
• High contrast bridge 53.23 x 32.67 cm,$180
• A cormorant claims Berowra Creek 84 x 56.07 cm, $400
• The rower 53.23 x 35.34 cm, $180

If you like a particular image but would prefer it in a different size, do let me know – I can easily get smaller or larger versions printed. Just tell me the size you prefer.

Other prints, from my previous exhibitions on Dangar Island and the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre in Hornsby, are also available. Check out the “Art and the River” link at the bottom of this page.  You can also follow me on Insta: my handle is mccnmatt.

To order, please email me on nicole.matthews@mq.edu.au and I can pop your print in the post!

Post about my previous exhibition, Dawn on Deerubbin

Art and the river