Graeme Compton artist of the month for November

Narrabri Art & Craft Society’s Artist of the Month for November is famed local artist Graeme Compton with an exhibition titled ‘A Taste for Dragons’.

There will be a special event held at Art & Craft’s monthly Verandah Saturday, to be held on Saturday, November 18 including a book signing with Mr Compton.

“The Narrabri Art and Craft Society kindly invited me to be their guest artist for the month of November,” said Graeme.

“It’s wonderful for two reasons: first of all, to be able to share the gallery space with some of my good friends from the Creative Friends group, whose work is hanging here.

“The second reason this is great fun is that it’s an opportunity to give everyone a taste of what’s in store for my 2024 exhibition, which will be called ‘Dragons and Other Beasties’.

“I’ve loved dragons and mythological creatures since I was a kid.

“I think, once you’ve read a bit of Norse, Greek, Egyptian and Oriental mythology, and followed that up with a good dose of Tolkien, Le Guin and other fantasy writers, you have really begun to feed your imagination.

“And I’ve always had an insatiable appetite for pictures – comics books, classical art, the work of masters, illustrations – any sort of picture, but especially those which tell a story.

“Creating fantasy scenes is a natural activity in my mind.

“Snatching one of those scenes and putting it on paper is both a challenge and a joy.

“The small sample of dragons on display for November shows dragon designs which I have spent years developing.

“Many artists want to create something original, I feel – it’s part of the purpose, the reason, for taking the image out of our heads and translating it to canvas – wanting to give everyone something new, something never seen before.

“I truly hope everyone who ventures in to view the paintings in the gallery enjoy being taken to a different world for that brief moment.

“I hope that they walk away with their imagination blazing like a dragon’s breath.”