Phil Henshall’s Help! will be raffled to raise funds for the woodlands campaign. By Catherine Watson
SOME years ago Phil Henshall stopped his car as an echidna slowly crossed the Bass Highway in front of him. Half a dozen vehicles stopped behind him as the tiny vulnerable creature made it safely to the bush on the other side.
That brush with nature was the inspiration for his new painting Help! which will be raffled this month to support the campaign to end sand mining in the Western Port Woodlands.
SOME years ago Phil Henshall stopped his car as an echidna slowly crossed the Bass Highway in front of him. Half a dozen vehicles stopped behind him as the tiny vulnerable creature made it safely to the bush on the other side.
That brush with nature was the inspiration for his new painting Help! which will be raffled this month to support the campaign to end sand mining in the Western Port Woodlands.
In some ways, the Rokeby artist might seem an unlikely campaigner for this particular cause. For most of his working life he has been a construction contractor specialising in concrete reinforcement.
While sand is essential in modern construction, he says there is no place in 2023 for mining in rare coastal woodland. “Enough damage has been done already,” he says.
While sand is essential in modern construction, he says there is no place in 2023 for mining in rare coastal woodland. “Enough damage has been done already,” he says.
 Help! is on display at ArtSpace until Friday, May 19. Raffle tickets are $5. You can buy tickets at ArtSpace or online at savewesternportwoodlands.org. | Phil Henshall’s works are held in many collections and he has exhibited widely in Melbourne and Gippsland galleries, including ArtSpace Wonthaggi. Over many years, he has perfected a technique he calls Aspectivism, combining different spatial and temporal perspectives in the same scene, as in Help! He says he wanted to depict the vulnerability of nature, exemplified by the grass trees and echidna, when competing with human-caused impacts such as lumbering sand trucks. The raffle will be drawn at The Gurdies Winery on Saturday, May 20, and the winner will be notified. All proceeds of the raffle will go towards the Save Western Port Woodlands campaign. |