Jill Orr

The spirit of this exhibition came from travelling to Portugal and Morocco late last year. I stayed with my first cousin Tom ANNEAR ( my primo) in Almada across the river from Lisbon, Portugal. He introduced me to all his local friends as his “Prima”which seemed to me to be very impressive. We were immediate friends after a 40 year gap. We wandered the old Roman paths ,challenging each other to make more art and for him to organise a exhibition in Lisbon .

I travelled on to Morocco and was pulled open like a rubber glove ,exposed to the magnificent colours ,the landscapes and the generous people .I was amazed at their care for each other. It was the magnitude of the Sahara that overwhelmed me. The enormous silence ,the heat that enveloped me and the breathtaking beauty of the sunrises.

I think that vast desert spirit convinced me to work a larger scale than I had for years and to push my body through the paintings with an energy I hadn’t felt since I was much younger. I wanted to respond spontaneously to whatever arose from my travel. Perhaps more than anything the confidence I gained through travel invested itself in the confidence of my physical strength and well being.

I have to say my work was influenced by the Judy Watson and Helen Johnson exhibition “The Red Thread of History, Loose Ends “ A truly poignant show I saw at Lake Macquarie Art Gallery last year and the William Kentridge opera “Sibyl “which ran through me like a lightening bolt.

My Primo Tom died in April. He’d have been very proud to know I called this show after our time together.In memory of our wonderful friendship.

This work was all created with the music left to me by my late husband, Peter Read. He tried through our 45 years together to teach me about Jazz. Now I work to his music ,as though he’s in the studio with me again. I am so grateful to him for leaving such a chunk of himself behind. For all the new things I’m learning.

I taught art for 30 years at the Newcastle Art School .I learnt so much from students as we pushed the exchange of practices and ideas.Such an exciting way to teach, constant challenges to my equilibrium.

My first professional exhibition was in Accra Ghana in 1975 and I have exhibited ever since. My work is held in many different private and public collections for which I am grateful. Glad to have been making pictures and telling stories for such a long time.