With almost 300 people visiting the exhibition on Saturday, there was a really good vibe in the RSL Memorial Hall. And plenty of the visitors were in the mood to purchase the artworks. The ladies from the Hospital Auxiliary happily served morning and afternoon tea, and light lunches to quite a few of the visitors.

St Laurence Anglican Church also had a great turnout, with many people visiting the Artists at Work in the Youth Centre, the Frost Fair and the Concert in the Church.

Chris the bus driver had a lovely day, cruising round the various venues, taking people all around town, including up to the Shed of Knowledge from St Laurence Church, the Nandewar Museum, the Fuller Gallery, The Barraba Pantry, The Playhouse Hotel and back to the RSL Memorial Hall.

The weather was beautiful, if cold, but what else can we expect for Frost Over Barraba! All in all, a great day!

Many thanks to all the volunteers involved at all the venues.

Today at the Art Exhibition, we had around 80 people visit throughout the day, and we also saw around 60 school children, who really enjoyed the many works.

At the Youth Centre, the Artists at Work were well received by the visiting school children, and the Youth Exhibition was appreciated by all who attended.

The Playhouse Hotel, the Barraba Pantry and the Fuller Gallery were all open with their exhibitions, and had some very appreciative visitors.

Morning and afternoon teas were available at many venues, some also had light lunches.

All in all a quite day, but we are expecting more people throughout the town tomorrow.

See you then!

Well, inspite of quite a few of us worrying that maybe no one was going to turn up, we had over 120 people at Preview Night!

Kevin Anderson, our local State member of parliament, opened the Festival, and spoke in glowing terms about the wonderful community spirit in Barraba.

With over 450 entries, the judges certainly had their work cut out for them, and it took them most of the day to make their final decisions, but eventually, the winners were chosen.

Julia Griffin, our painting judge, was not able to stay for the announcement of the major prize, so Margaret Harris was left to announce that Jennifer Korteland had won the New England Mutual Aquisitive Prize of $2000 for her drawing "Tarriaro Tree Scene".

The pottery judge Irene Esteves was very impressed with the quality of the works she had to judge, and it took her a long time to come to her final decision for the major prize. Frederick Edwards was overwhelmed to learn that his bust of Geronimo had been given the Best Work of Pottery.

The Best Work of Photography was won by Christopher Burgess with "Outback Shack". The photography judge, Simon Scott, was very taken with the beautiful colours and fine composition of the piece.

The Packing Room Prize was awarded to Janette Hvistendahl with her piece "Rocky Creek at Clifton", which sold within minutes of the announcement.

Quite a few more pieces sold on Preview Night, and many more will sell over the weekend.

Many thanks to Whyworry Wines for their beautiful red and white wines served on the night, and to Country Coffee House for the canapes.

To the Frost

After many days of work from a team of people the main exhibition for Frost is hung. The exhibition is looking fabulous. The judges have made a careful assessment of the works today and decided on the prize-winners. Some winners will be announced tonight. The catering and wine teams are getting ready to go for tonight's opening. The Youth Centre at St Laurence's has been decked out with the youth artworks and looks stunning. Tomorrow eight artists move into the space as well. They will demonstrate how they create their work. Groups from both Barraba's primary schools are coming over to have a look. The members of the Claypan have also mounted an exhibition of their artworks, quilts and handcrafts. They also are showing some fine paintings of Rupert Richardson, an acclaimed painter. Morning teas, lunches and afternoon teas will be available for modest prices at all these venues provided by a variety of local charity groups. There is another exhibition at the Pantry (corned Alice and Queen Streets) put on by local art collective MOB. It's an interesting show.

The last few days have been frantic for volunteers. Trips have been made to the Frost depots in Tamworth, Gunnedah and Armidale to collect artworks. All but one large work fitted into the truck at Armidale, can you believe it? But don't worry another volunteer headed back up the highway to collect it. All in all there is about 450 artworks entered this year. Volunteers have been in the RSL Memorial Hall all week. First off the works are meticulously unpacked and the packing materials carefully saved and labelled for later returning the works to their owners. Secondly everything has been catalogued. Last of all the painting and photographs are being hung and the pottery displayed.

It will be another very long day today, so if anyone has some time to help out, or even come down and make the crew some cups of tea, you will be warmly welcomed. the Hall is one the corner of Queen and Savoy streets, diagonally opposite the pool. But the main thing is, the exhibition is looking really terrific. There is a high standard of work. Hope you make it along to tomorrow night's opening or come along on Friday, Saturday or Sunday and see.

Next weekend the Inverell Male Choir are visiting Barraba to give a concert. The concert is part of the Frost Over Barraba festival and will be held in St Laurence's Anglican Church. The church is on the corner of Maud and Gotha streets, only a stone's throw from the other Frost exhibitions. Starting at 1.30pm on Saturday 30 June entry to the concert is by donation...large, small or tiny...it's your choice. St Laurence's famous organ will also feature. The church is a historic building so dress warmly.

Also happening at St Laurence's on Saturday is the Frost Fair (more detais below) and the Artists At Work in the nearby Youth Centre.

During Frost on Saturday a shuttle bus will be running. So there's a simple option for visiting multiple venues for those who don't want to walk. For those happy to walk the venues are no more than 5 minutes from each other.

Frost Fair gets under way on Saturday 30 June just after nine o’clock when the frost has gone! This family event in the grounds of St. Laurence’s church has always been part of the Arts Festival. The Barraba Band sets an upbeat festive mood and there will be children’s items throughout the morning. The Kids' Korner with lots of fun activities , as well as the jumping castle, is always a popular place for the children. There will be the usual myriad of stalls... bric-a-brac, plants, books, clothing, handmade and of course great home cooking. You need to be early to claim one of the famous sponges. Food stalls are very popular too with a choice of morning tea soup and the late morning/lunchtime BBQ.  A Vintage and Collectibles Stall will have some surprising finds for everyone.

The Saturday afternoon concert at 1.30pm will conclude the Frost Fair and will feature the Inverell Male Choir with their varied bill of loved melodies and humour. The Thomas Jones Organ will also feature at the concert.

Many thanks to Annie and Don, who ended up having to do two trips to Tamworth to get all the works from the depots!

And Margaret has collected the works from Gunnedah, too.

Darcy and Ian are on their way to Armidale to collect the works from our depot there, and when they return, we will really begin to see the scale of this event.

Of course, we are expecting a large number of entries to arrive on Monday, too.

All in all, it looks like it is going to be another great showcase of New England talent.

Only one week to go, and Preview night will be upon us! Preview Night will be held on Thursday 28th June, from 6.30pm, at the Barraba RSL Memorial Hall, cnr Queen and Savoy Streets, Barraba. Winners are announced at 7pm. Whyworry Wines and canapes will be served throughout the event.

It is anticipated that around 500 pieces of artwork will be on display as part of the Frost Over Barraba Art Exhibition.

We have Kevin Anderson MP opening the Festival, and Mayor Col Murray and a number of other Councillors will also be in attendance. Mrs Lyn Windsor is coming to represent Tony, and Sandra McMahon, Director of the Tamworth Regional Gallery. In addition, many of the Guest Artists will be in attendance and two of the Judges will be available to chat with.

Preview Night marks the opening of The Frost Over Barraba Arts Festival, which includes a number of Art Exhibitions around Barraba, an Exhibition of the Namoi CMA Photo Competition, Artists at Work and a Youth Art Exhibition at The Frost Fair and Museum Exhibitions.

This beautiful glossy magazine, showcasing the very best of New England, has a double page spread on Frost Over Barraba in the new winter edition.

Pages 96 and 97 include photos of three beautiful paintings from Julia Griffin, our Painting Judge, and two photos from Frost Over Barraba 2011.

Even though there is only a small article, the wonderful pictures really help to promote our event.

Many thanks to New England Country LIving for supporting us.