Karen Barnes
Living in Paradise

This is my perception of island life through the eyes of a woman.

Tasmania has many issues in politics, society and economics, in common with her sister states on that huge island – continent to our north.

Early settlers referred to the heart shaped island of Van Dieman’s Land as a ‘country’. Now more happily named Tasmania, that separate place, spacious, with diverse landscape and equable climate keeps this image alive.

This island is notably beautiful, with mountains for strength and protection, productive land, wilderness, rivers, lakes and an abundance of flora and fauna.

Its population centres are large enough to provide all our needs without big city stress.

All this makes the island a lure for travellers and haven for family life. For this artist, its man made structures, its peoples and great natural beauty provide enough points of reference and artistic inspiration for several lifetimes.

My sculpture is expressive and figurative and made from natural materials – clay, oxides and beeswax polish, fired to a temperature of 1120.

We know that nothing in this life is perfect, but through this woman’s eyes, island life in Tasmania is like ‘living in paradise’.