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    Saturday: 10am – 1pm
    Markets Sundays: 8:30am – 12:30pm
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    149 Beardy St Mall
    Armidale NSW

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    New England Artist Retreat 2023

    Two Styx Cabins

    Two Styx is located on Point Lookout Rd. approx. 80K’s from Armidale on Waterfall Way. 

    The weekend brought together a small group of like minded people to explore and experience the natural flora and fauna close to the New England National Park with is stunning views and walks.

    Traversing the property is the Little Styx Creek, a magical place of bubbling falls, boulders and fallen tree trunks festooned with lichen and mosses where frogs croak and bird’s flit.

    An exhibition ‘Forest, Farmland & Fog‘ was held at the Armidale Art Gallery in early 2024 by five of the attending artists.

    Our Artist Retreat by Maria Hitchcock OAM

    Many of us
    have a very personal idea
    of an ‘Artists Retreat’
    Some regard it as a time to get away
    to be creative
    without the distractions of home
     
    Others think of this captive time
    as ‘time out’
    a retreat from the cares and woes
    of everyday life
    no phones, no TV, no internet,
    no YouTube or TikTok or instagram
    a time to heal the spirits
    as only an immersion in nature can do
    And thus it was…
     
    We came together to this place of tranquillity
    beside the National Park
    A place of dripping wetness
    dominated by majestic gums,
    a gurgling stream,
    sedges, grasses and grazing cattle.
     
    And drip it did
    dripping fog,
    dripping drizzle
    which became heavier and heavier…
    Enveloping us in a womb
    Of creativity and friendship
     
    Some of us drew and painted
    getting into an artistic mental zone
    that drowned out
    the laughter and conversation around us
    some walked among the trees
    photographing,
    taking in deep breaths of inspiration for later
    others basked in the warmth that only a wood fire can achieve
    playing board games and cards…
    where did that childhood go?
     
    We shared
    a motley collection of foods, wine and spirits
    a motley collection of stories,
    a motley collection of opinions
    our own life stories…
     
    And so here we are
    Our Artists Retreat

    On the wall

    Armidale Art Gallery