Message in a Bottle

The Oxley 1824 Journal – a synopsis

Saturday 10th September 1824. Oxley entered Moreton Bay and headed for the old 1823 Camp at Pumice River on Bribie Island. There he had left a message in a bottle for Parsons – the remaining shipwrecked sailor from the Pamphlet encounter in the previous visit. The bottle was untouched.

Despairing that Parsons had been lost, he was surprised to see a large group of natives on the beach and amongst them a white man. Parsons was rescued!

Follow

Rod is an artist who works from his studio in Auchenflower, Brisbane. He has participated in Group and Solo exhibitions and early on in his career he was hung in the Archibald Prize 1978 Exhibition. Rod has won the Stanthorpe Art Festival Ceramics Prize and the Gatton Shire Art Award and he was heavily involved in the establishment of the Ipswich Art Gallery in the early 1980’s when he was the Head of Department Art at the Ipswich State High School. Rod became a State High School Principal and concentrated on developing Art Education Curriculum in Queensland. In more recent years he has developed gift and furniture designs for the Home and Decor Industry across Australia and has exhibited in numerous Trade Fairs in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Rod has travelled extensively. He works mostly with acrylics referencing a broad repertoire of experience and influences.
1978 Archibald Prize finalist
Solo Exhibitions:
June 2016 Graydon Gallery New Farm Brisbane "John Oxley - a man and his boat"
July 2017 Old Church Gallery Moore "Four Men Two Ox and a Dray"
August 2017 Graydon Gallery New Farm Brisbane "Explorer Triology - Oxley Cunningham and Logan"
June 2018 Graydon Gallery "Moreton Bay @ lowtide.net"
June 2019 I Graydon Gallery New Farm Brisbane "I Dreamed I saw St Augustine"
March 2021 RQAS Petrie Terrace Gallery "Life is Great in the Sunshine State"
November 2021 - the Series Matthew Flinders 1799 - interpreting his epic exploration and mapping of Moreton Bay in 1799
January 2024 Ongoing theme Postcards from Mudjimba Beach