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It's hard to define what makes a good landscape painting but, if you investigate the backstory, you might find the artist has a close connection with that place. In Belinda Street's October show at Straitjacket Artspace, 'Keep your feet on the ground and your thoughts at lofty heights', her bond with the alpine landscape was obvious, particularly with Mt Kosciuszko in NSW. Her repeated exploration of that mountain has led to exciting reimaginings in paint. A winner of one of Australia's most significant landscape painting prizes, the Paddington Art Prize, Belinda evokes a reverence for this natural environment through expressive mark making and dramatic use of colour. It was this body of work which we talked about in front of an audience as part of the Newcastle Art Gallery Society art program and which I'm bringing to you in this podcast episode. We also touched on Belinda's early career, the representational and the abstract in her work, juggling motherhood and an art practice, as well as many aspects of her process including colour preferences, how she sees work with fresh eyes and ways of achieving a flow state in the studio. The conversation was recorded at Newcastle City Hall on 5 October 2022.  Click 'play' beneath the above photo to hear the interview. You can also see my YouTube video here of Belinda at Straitjacket Artspace which we filmed the day before our talk. Upcoming shows Group show 'Darlings' at Curatorial & Co, Sydney, 30 November - 10 December 2022 Links Belinda Street's website Belinda Street on Instagram Exhibition at Straitjacket Artspace Toby Cedar https://youtu.be/5Lh5gM2GsSM 'Yellow Box Gully', 2019, oil on canvas, 100 x 150cm Winner 2019 Paddington Art Prize 'Organ Pipes 2', oil on board, 51 x 61cm 'Along the Organ Pipes Track 3', oil on canvas, 100 x 150cm 'Walking Kunanyi 2', oil on canvas, 40 x 40cm 'Renewal', acrylic on board, 40.6 x 30.5cm 'Parrots of Central Australia' (12 panels in total) this panel: Major Mitchells Cockatoo, acrylic on canvas 'Mr Toby Cedar', oil on canvas, 180 x 150cm