By Brendan Rees
When Neloo Kreltszheim was introduced to the pencil at an art course, she fell in love with it instantly.
Now, the Casey artist has launched her first book ‘The Humble Pencil’ with the hope other artists will consider the “value of pencil art.”
It was launched at the opening of her retrospective of pencil works at the SECAN Gallery at Akoonah Park in Berwick on Saturday 4 May.
Her book contains her humble creations of portraiture, wild life, flora, fauna and landscapes in graphite pencil, colour pencil and pastel pencil produced across almost 30 years of work.
She said, sadly, pencil art had been “neglected” in favour of other traditional materials including water colour and oils.
“I am amazed to see the standard of pencil drawings and the beauty it creates,” she said.
Born in Sri Lanka, Neloo qualified as an architect after immigrating to Melbourne in 1973.
While her children were at school she decided to take a step back from architecture and returned to tertiary study art – her first love.
She then worked as a graphic artist for the Leader Newspaper Group before starting her own private art classes for children and adults in Dandenong in 1990.
The ‘Palette and Paintbrush School of Art’ was one of the first art schools established in the South East, and following its success, she expanded her classes to the Casey, Knox and Monash municipalities.
“The ‘rhythmic dance’ of black and white on a drawing and the different shades or ‘tones’ of grey bring magic to a drawing and capture the eyes of the art lover at a single glance.,” she said.
Anyone wishing to purchase a copy of the book can place an order at Neloo’s Retrospective at the SECAN Gallery, Gate 6 Akoonah Park, Cardinia Street, Berwick.
The exhibition is open between 12pm and 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays this month. It closes on 26 May.
