May I share Lee Blacker-Noble

Here's some of my work for Western Riverina Arts, where I am helping to raise the profile of local artists.


Leeton-based artist Lee Blacker-Noble will hold a retrospective at The Roxy Gallery from 26 September to 4 October.

This exhibition will present works from a career that spans nearly 60 years.

"You'll see a difference in styles because I've been painting so long," said Mrs Black-Noble.

Her mother introduced her to painting in 1955. "She gave me a set of oil paints because she thought I was running around too much after the birth of my child."

In 1956 Lee Noble-Blacker started a painting group in Leeton and an early work watercolour of The Roxy Theatre will feature. "In it you can see the window where the exhibition will take place, which is a nice link across time."


Works from her final year studies at Southern Cross University will be included, as well as designs for her first commission. "I was funded to paint a mural of the history of Casino for the Australian bicentenary in 1988 that is still in the main street today,” she said.

It is worth mentioning that Lee Blacker-Noble's experience in murals includes the history of the region presented on the walls of the bar room at the Historic Hydro Inn.

Her time in Casino from 1974 to 1991 included set designs for musical productions and she also directed three musicals.

"Half of me is music," explains Mrs Blacker-Noble and she sang for many years in the Lismore and Casino choral societies as well as the Murrumbidgee choral group.

A self-described "Tolkien tragic," she has included characters from the Lord of the Rings stories in many of her paintings. Her garden also features on many recent canvasses and, at times, her yard serves as a setting for imaginings of scenes from Tolkien's works.


Since returning to Leeton in 1991 to be closer to her grandchildren, Mrs Blacker-Noble has focused on landscapes and foregone the requirements on oil painting. "I've gone back to my first love, watercolours."

The retrospective is a chance to see the scope and breadth of this artist's career through many mediums and styles, from abstract to expressive to realistic representations.

Lee Blacker-Noble is a polymath and, while painting will be central, she will also share her poetry, etchings, prints, ceramic and felt-based works. 
A number of her artworks will also be available for sale.