Art and culinary delights

This May, the internationally celebrated artist Ian Mastin brings his still life collection to fine art gallery ‘Art on Yabba’, at 116 Yabba Road in Imbil.

It’s a major coup for the new gallery opened by Mary Vallaey Artslink and managed by its president, Heinke Butt.

Self-taught, Mastin has an international following and is influenced by the Dutch and Flemish Masters of the 17th century. Critics have said his paintings are so realistic, you’ll feel like you can almost pick them up.

The Mastin exhibition opens on May 5 and runs to the end of the month. The opening event An Epicurean Delight features as part of the Mary Valley GourMay food festival and promises art, food and opera at the Wild Vine Café, Imbil.

Well-known actor and opera singer Lincoln Scott will perform and the audience can enjoy a menu of Italian culinary delights. Bookings $80pp on Eventbrite: bit.ly/3YRYlhN

The GourMay Mary Valley festival is a celebration of farmers, producers and creators from the Mary Valley country. The event runs from April 30 and concludes with a gala dinner on June 3.

You can enjoy farm tours, open days, dinners and much more. Festival Day is free on May 6, and will be held in Imbil, where you can wander the food stalls, watch cooking demonstrations and sample what’s on offer from different vendors.

For Ms Butt, it’s proof that Mary Valley Artslink is fulfilling its mission to build art and culture, alongside good food, in the region.

In addition to the GourMay food festival, you can enjoy Poetry and Song on Sunday April 16, 8am-10am, with local bush poet Ian Mackay reciting his witty original work alongside Mary Valley practitioners Jennie Hawkes Wright and Jack Wright reading a selection of their works.

Guests can read a favourite piece by themselves or someone else. And between the lines, an acapella choir will add a backdrop to the hearty breakfast available at Wild Vine Café. It will be a morning of humour, lyricism, storytelling and life stories.

For more details visit GourMay Mary Valley 2023, or Mary Valley Artslink on Facebook.