Three Bde’s brush with art

Peter Lawson, who spent time on the high range with 3 Bde, captures the APCs in oil. Proceeds of the sale of the works will go to Legacy.Photo by Peter Lawson

By Pte Shannon Joyce

AN EXHIBITION featuring 20 portraits and sketches of 3 Bde units at work, both at High Range and around Lavarack Barracks, has been opened to a warm reception at Towsnville RSL.

Local artist Peter Lawson went bush with the brigade to capture various elements on canvas over a couple of days, and was amazed at the assistance and speed at which his movements throughout the range were coordinated.

He said that access to his portrait references and scenes couldn’t have come together without Maj Brendan Cox and his section of pallet-bearing, cable-lugging and wet-canvas carrying helpers.

“The hospitality we were shown by the Army and the personnel was unbelievable,” Mr Lawson commented.

“I couldn’t help noticing the high-morale and clean-witted young fellows who my wife and I encountered at a lot of the units.”

One of the paintings portrayed in Mr Lawson’s work is four APCs bursting out of the bush, and being swallowed up by their own dust.

“It was a lively scene to be looking at, so I put it down pretty swiftly with a palette knife in oil-colour onto canvas,” he explained.

“I caught that by finely detailing the painting and giving it good depth and perspective.

“At one particular time on a line of artillery, the crews on the guns had a certain stillness about them before the firing started, so that’s how I portrayed it in the painting.

“Each painting has been treated with different moods, and the way I saw the ambience of the scene at the time.”

Mr Lawson and his wife were out at High Range only a month before the exhibition was to begin; and were gratified at the people’s responses and feedback on the opening day.

“There were a lot of late nights and early mornings preparing the works,” he said.

“But the people involved in the units that I portrayed loved the paintings – that made the whole experience that much better.”

Profits from the sales of the paintings will go to Legacy, but Mr Lawson didn’t structure the exhibition to make money.

“I believe these paintings belong to the units, and we wanted to make it absolutely affordable to them,” he explained.

Supporting units such as 5 Avn Regt and the Air Force’s No 38 Sdn, are also featured in the exhibition.

“I painted for them a hot refuel, black hawks sitting on the tarmac, engines running, being refuelled,” he said.

Other events Mr Lawson captured included Caribous landing supplies, live-firing at night, mortars, soldiers on sentry duty and engineers building bridges.

Mr Lawson is keen for further projects, and said he would not turn down an opportunity to work with Defence again.

Items in the exhibition are still available for purchase, and Mr Lawson can be contacted in his studio on (07) 4758 1915.