BlueCross residents get creative for Nature of Things exhibition

They may have swapped the bohemian art studios for the comfort of living in an aged care home, but that doesn't mean these artists have put down their brushes or tools of the trade.

Accomplished artist and printmaker Peter Hook has taught at Australian universities and exhibited widely over the past 50 years, while National Gallery Art School alumnus Neville Pilven has held 20 solo exhibitions and has work is in many private collections around Australia.

Meanwhile former arts librarian Joyce McGrath has visited arts libraries around the world to look at their collections.

Now Mr Hook, Mr Pilven and Mrs McGrath are all BlueCross clients and have their artwork in an exhibition, featuring work by more than 10 BlueCross residents and home care clients.

Called The Nature of Things, the free exhibition is at BlueCross Cresthaven in Malvern East until March 20 and will feature more than 50 artworks, with some available to buy.

"There are so many different styles and mediums represented in this exhibition. Through their artworks, these artists are still looking, searching and celebrating the nature and beauty of things," said Mr Hook, who lives at BlueCross Box Hill.

"BlueCross has provided an environment for these artists to find their voice and for their creative expression to continue flourishing."

The images and materials of Mr Cook's artworks reflect the landscape, wildlife and personalities from his environment with reference to folk art tradition.

Eighty-year-old Mr Pilven, who lives at BlueCross Ivanhoe studied at the National Gallery Art School in Melbourne and drawing at the George Bell School.

In the mid-1960s, he travelled to England, Spain and Greece for several years of studying and painting. In 1972, he studied printmaking at Morley College, London, before returning to Melbourne. He was a finalist in the John McCaughey Invitation Art Prize, 1979, National Gallery of Victoria.

Mr Pilven has held 20 solo exhibitions, many with leading Melbourne galleries and has undertaken commissions for Myer, Telstra Australia and National Panasonic and his work is in many private collections around Australia.

Another artist taking part is Sri Lankan-born Victor Thevasagayam, a resident at BlueCross The Gables in Camberwell who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease when he was 50.

One of 10 talented siblings, he developed an interest in art at very young age, with a passion for sculpture and painting. Born in Sri Lanka in 1941 and then migrating to Australia i 1987 with his wife and three sons beacuse of escalation of the country's civil war, much of his work comes from his imagination and childhood memories.

He uses the artists' studio at The Gables to continue with his sketching, painting and copper sculpures.

"Victor is very proud to have his work exhibited," said his wife Remi. "He paints from memory and his recollection is perfect despite the physical disabilities brought by Parkinson's disease. I believe it's his passion for painting that has kept him going for the last 30 years since his diagnosis."

Portrait painter Joyce McGrath, 92, was the first arts librarian at the State Library of Victoria and received a Churchill Fellowship to travel to arts libraries around the world and investigate their collections.

Now a BlueCross Home Care client, Joyce spent years in hospital as a child with tuberculosis - and emerged with a lifelong love of colour and enormous passion and drive for the arts.

In 2002 she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia 'for service to the collection and preservation of historical documentation relating to art and music, particularly through the establishment of the Australian Art Archives'.

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