Among the most beautiful lyrics in Don McLean’s song about Vincent van Gogh are those that refer to “pain-lined faces” being “soothed under the artist’s loving hand.”
Key points:
- The Spirit of SA Collection showcases people, places and objects with strong ties to SA
- The works will be auctioned to raise $100,000 to support children with cancer
- At the forefront is artist Mark Lobert, who volunteered his time to produce 42 works in about 30 weeks.
Something of that tender spirit is reflected in Mark Lobert’s studio in Port Adelaide, where, for a few months now, an impressive act of artistic altruism has been brewing.
“Hopefully we’ve made SA proud because we’re so proud of this collection,” Lobert said in describing the project.
Painting is a laborious business, but these portraits and landscapes are about alleviating pain, specifically the pain of very sick children.
Collectively, the 42 canvases will comprise the Spirit of SA exhibition, depicting prominent faces, places and icons from South Australia.
Starting Monday, they will be on display at Adelaide’s Westpac House and auctioned online to raise at least $100,000 for the Childhood Cancer Association (CCA), to support children battling the disease.
Topics include rock legend Jimmy Barnes, actress Theresa Palmer, Hills Hoist, Kangaroo Island’s Remarkable Rocks, chef Maggie Beer and pop singer Guy Sebastian.
There’s also ABC’s Collinswood Building, AFLW star Chelsea Randall and former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
“As a woman in politics, and in general, she’s an amazing person,” Lobert said of Gillard.
“The painting that has been done of Barnesy is related to the Largs Pier Hotel.
“That image would have to be one of my favorites.”
The project has evolved collaboratively: fellow artist Phil Hodgson has worked closely with Lobert, and it is testament to their commitment to the cause that they have both volunteered their time.
Each has brought different and complementary skills.
Hodgson’s talents include the ability to capture the features of a human face, while Lobert has focused on non-human subjects as well as color schemes and other touches.
42 paintings in 30 weeks
In person, Lobert can look a bit like a canvas: his arms are impressively inked and his paint-smeared shirt looks like a palette for mixing colors.
His studio is the artist’s den.
It’s overflowing with brushes, paint cans, blank canvases, and work-in-progress, and its floor is so thickly covered with pigment splatters that it looks like an example of Jackson Pollock’s abstract expressionism.
But the paintings themselves suggest other suitably eclectic influences.
A box of Farmers Union Iced Coffee, a packet of FruChocs and a selection of frog cakes evoke Andy Warhol’s soup cans, while the blues and yellows of an image of the Adelaide skyline recall van Gogh’s Starry Night.
“I love color, I always try to chase color, I need to have color around me,” Lobert said.
Despite that passion, he admits that producing 42 major works in about 30 weeks has been a challenge.
But when he admitted: “I’m not going to lie, it’s been very stressful,” he spoke with the smile of someone who knows the finish line is in sight.
“They have taken a long time,” he said.
“Originally, we were going to start with around 14, then it went to 20, and 25 went to 30, then it blossomed to 38 and shot up to 42.”
‘The fight of his life’
The driving force behind the project has been CCA media identity and ambassador Mark Soderstrom.
“I thought, we have to be thankful for where we live, what can we do to raise $70,000 to $100,000?” he said.
“What if we try to put the best part of South Australia on display and then auction it off for childhood cancer?
“They need something like $1.3 million a year to run and provide their services, so if we could make a dent in that, that would be very brilliant.”
Soderstrom admits he’s not “artsy” himself, but he’s impressed by the power of art not only to raise funds but also to provide respite.
Through CCA, he struck up a friendship with Lobert.
Their work has brought them into contact with some heartbreaking stories.
Soderstrom recalled the case of Jaxon, “an incredibly brave little boy” who was receiving hospice care at Women and Children’s Hospital.
“He was in the fight of his life and his parents called him Iron Man because he was so strong,” Soderstrom said.
Soderstrom asked Lobert to paint a picture of the superhero for Jaxon, to hang over her hospital bed.
“Every time he woke up, with whatever time he had left, all he could see was Iron Man.”
Relieving the burden of children like Jaxon is at the heart of the Spirit of SA.
“Our father passed away from cancer,” Lobert said.
“So every time I hear of [fundraiser] that has to do with cancer, it will always be a ‘yes’.
“I love being able to give.”