It’s been a long time between exhibitions for artist Jenny Prabhu. The 77-year-old Hoppers Crossing resident unveiled a mix of local landscapes and portraits of loved ones over the weekend for Happy Faces, Lovely Places, her first exhibition in almost 40 years.
The oil-on-canvas paintings include images of Cobbledicks Ford in Werribee, a sleeping person on the banks of the Werribee River, and portraits of her granddaughters, husband Gerald and friends. India-born and raised Ms Prabhu started painting water colours as a child, encouraged by her artist father who was living in Australia at the time.
She brought some of her pieces to show him on a visit in 1976 and a family friend organised a solo exhibition.
The former finance journalist moved to Hoppers Crossing from India in 1985 and spent 20 years running a subscription-only sharemarket newsletter with her husband before retiring in December last year.
“I was still painting when I came to Australia but when we started working for ourselves, the time went to work, work, work and I stopped painting,” she said. “I started again the minute I stopped working.”
Ms Prabhu said she had been a bit nervous about exhibiting again but was keen to enter art competitions and take part in more exhibitions now she has time on her hands.
Happy Faces, Lovely Places will be on display at Wyndham Vale Community Learning Centre until October 1.
