Everything old is new again.

Mistral is an Australian brand that produced fans from 1968 onwards. This old fan reminds me of days past, of my grandmother on my mother's side and the duck egg blue she had on the walls. She was highly intelligent but lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere - her first house on the property had a dirt floor and tin walls and roof. They were always able to get shearers because she was such a good cook. The books on the table remind me of my grandfather on my father's side who I never met, as he owned the books on the table - Dostoyevsky and Royal Flush. He served in both world wars, We have a large watercolour painting of him aged about 40 in a greatcoat which is on a wall beside me as I write. The fish is made from recycled timber and oxidised tin from the dump. Everything old is new again.

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Susan Penfold is a self-taught artist, having reinvigorated her interest in 2016 when she undertook her first pastel course. In 2020 she held her first solo exhibition, won the Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival Jetty art prize and was highly-commended in the Katherine Art Show. She subsequently held solo exhibitions at Darwin Visual Arts, Dom’s Bar and Songlines Gallery, and is currently exhibited at Atelier Crafers. She moved from Darwin back to Adelaide in 2022.

Her practice is primarily pastel, but has been exploring sketching, digital, acrylic and oil painting techniques. She often paints people and animals and loves capturing the languid changes in colour of reflected light in fur and feathers. She is also captivated by the fall of light on the landscapes and streetscapes of Australia. Some of her current works have sustainability and nature related themes, part of her previous work career, and this is a subject matter that she intends to continue to pursue.