Breaking a journey on the Midland Highway provides an opportunity to stretch legs, buy coffee and a snack or top up fuel. A visit to Gallery 81 in Campbell Town also provides a unique opportunity to meet a fortunate man. Luke Harvey is living his personal dream. Entering the gallery to get a coffee and peruse his art may just change your perspective on life. Any judgement that the writer is exaggerating is guaranteed to evaporate after stepping through the door.
On first impression, a visitor’s eyes will be drawn toward the floor to ceiling window at the end of a long, narrow room. On the left wall are mounted a collection of landscape oil paintings available for sale. The wall on the right is lined with 81 paintings that are not for sale. Each of these is framed in dark timber with a label of carefully worded text explaining the thoughts behind the art work. The perspective of both walls leads the eye to the window framing a peaceful rural scene of the Tasmanian midlands. If the visitor glances left, Luke will be found behind the counter to offer a welcome and a coffee or working at the easel supporting his latest creation.
By seeking out coffee or art, a visitor will enjoy the bonus of meeting someone content with life and their place in the world. I sensed it when I first walked in and my opinion hasn’t changed.
After teaching for 30 years, Luke Harvey and his wife searched for a suitable place in which creativity could flourish and where his art collection – 81 precious paintings – – could be shared with visitors. Tasmania beckoned. Various sites were inspected but felt to be not quite right.
So often, major life decisions are shaped by the smallest of events. While buying coffee in the main street of Campbell Town, a block of land across the road was noticed for sale. It wore the address of Number 81, and Harvey’s vision finally found a home.
Some of the works in the collection are framed in dark-stained Tasmanian oak to reflect the Heidelberg approach in Australian impressionist painting. Harvey was attracted to the framing of work by Arthur Streeton and decided to replicate the approach using local timber in his dedicated workshop. His paintings certainly reflect the Heidelberg style of the late 19th century.
Gallery 81 was built on the site to house Luke Harvey’s treasured 81 paintings and fulfil a dream. The gallery now allows him to pursue art on commission or just for the love of painting.
This is not a normal travel stop. The need for coffee simply provides an excuse to enter a world where contentment has been found. At first glance the words that support each of the paintings may have a semi-religious tone. That would be a superficial judgement. The words reflect a personal view of the chosen scene that demonstrates a deep connection with the landscape. The semi-religious tone is evidence of a spiritual perspective usually associated only with indigenous people.
I understand it because my mother’s family came from Austria where a mountain still carries the Klaunzer name. Generations of Klaunzers farmed the flanks of that mountain to support themselves while caring for the land. When my mother, Erna, reminisced about Austria, she always spoke of the mountains. Her hushed, intense tone and the look in her eyes were evidence of more than nostalgia. She showed a connection with the mountain landscape that involved more than childhood memories of the family house in Kufstein. Westerners are often viewed as exploiters of the land. They aren’t recognised as having an ability to connect and care for the landscape in such depth.
Luke Harvey’s interpretation of the world shown in his paintings is evidence that, like the Klaunzers, such connection is not only possible but more common than appreciated. I’ve witnessed the same connection displayed by those working on vast stations across the expanses of outback Australia. However, those who enjoy such connection don’t usually advertise it.
The art on display at Gallery 81 reflects the realism movement in capturing the landscape of Australia. Harvey’s eye for a suitable scene results in a painting that uses texture, colour and tone to capture the “sense” of a landscape.
Campbell Town may be a convenient break in a journey to other places but Gallery 81 could be a destination in itself. If time allows, conversation with Luke Harvey will lift the spirit. He is one of many who have settled in Tasmania to create a better life and enhance the lifestyle of our island state. A simple stop for coffee or fuel can become an opportunity to share his experience of fulfilling a dream.
If he can do it, we all can.