Photo caption: Curators Sandy Dunstan, Christine Kenyon, Ann Seery, Kay Lester, Carmel McCormack (aka Ladder Girl), and tutor Carol Owens

Peruse U3A’s park portraiture

Colourful characters have filled the New Farm Library thanks to an exhibition of creative portraiture from the University of the Third Age (U3A).

Portraiture tutor Carol Owens said: “We reckon that it’s just like having an early Christmas on the day of installing the exhibition.

“We never know what portraits will be delivered by our pencillers and painters. It’s a feast for the eyes as we lay out the unwrapped offerings provided by many of the 27 class members.

“We get so excited – and then there’s the debate and decisions of what goes where on the walls and cabinets.”

U3A offers a creative portraiture class in New Farm Park as part of their mission to provide a wide range of intellectually stimulating activities for retirees (or those who are re-purposing, as they like to say).

This energetic group is currently exhibiting their portraits in the library until November 27, featuring portraits that experiment with various skill sets, techniques and media drawn from both live models and reference photos.

Carmel McCormack (nicknamed Ladder Girl) and her assistant Kay Lester are the seasoned curators who have the added skills of being agile and able to mount the ladder to hang the art.

The other curators filled up glass cabinets with examples of the portraits completed from the class’s portraiture exercises.