The Red Dirt – An exhibition by Kaye Partridge and Jodie Geach

A new exhibition by two local artists – Kaye Partridge and her daughter Jodie Geach – brings the desert landscapes of the Red Centre to the green hills of Central West. 

In the early 1960s, newly qualified registered nurse and midwife, Kaye Geach (now Partridge) set off on an adventure around Australia. Landing in Alice Springs, she heard over the ‘bush telegraph’ that nurses were desperately wanted at a community called Papunya, some 250 kilometres northwest of Alice.

She swiftly landed a job and spent the next several years working at the hospital, surrounded by the red dirt in Papunya, right in the middle of a 15-year drought.

Eventually she returned to Sydney, settled down and started a family, but the red dirt stayed in her veins. Her kids grew up with stories of that wonderful place – the people, the scenery, and always ‘The Red Dirt’. Jodie attended Julian Ashton Art school in the Rocks for a few years during her 20s and dabbled in the world of cartooning, but life got in the way as it inevitably does.

About six years ago, Jodie rediscovered an interest in drawing and one Tuesday night she toddled along to the social painting group at the Orange Art Society with her mum, still a very active member. Painting wasn’t something Jodie had done before, but after spending more time with her artistic mother, it quickly became a hobby, and she has hardly missed a Tuesday night since. In fact, Jodie is now vice president of the society!

Kaye has actively sketched and painted for 50-odd years and sold more works than she can count. She’s constantly trying new things – as well as having a chronic addiction to sketchbooks (with several sketches usually in progress at any given time).

Sixty years after she first landed in the Alice – during the week of her 81st birthday – two of Kaye’s now-adult kids booked her a trip back there, and a private tour to visit Papunya. So much had changed, but the scenery was the same – so was ‘The Red Dirt’. Right then, Kaye and Jodie decided to do an exhibition of paintings inspired by their trip. 

This exhibition captures the rugged vibrance of what the duo experienced in the Red Centre.

The Red Dirt – An exhibition by Kaye Partridge and Jodie Geach, will officially open on Sunday, June 11, at 3pm. The exhibition, located in the Orange Art Society gallery (entry from the Woolworths carpark), will then run until July 8. If the flags are out, you’re welcome to walk right in.