10/06/2026
Yesterday Pete and I drove to Barham NSW, on the Murray River to visit Gwen Clarke. Gwen was the naive art tutor at BACE, the adult community education centre back in the late 80s. She created the naive art group which met every Thursday after the classes stopped. Over the years the numbers have dwindled for a variety of reasons, but a stalwart group of five still meets weekly. In the early 90s Gwen moved to Barham to live with her new partner on his rice farm. She joined a group of local artists whose art was traditional. At 88 Gwen no longer paints. We shared many great memories of her time in East Gippsland.