A love of poppies inspired Bacchus Marsh artist Lois Outjers to create a series of paintings that will be on show to mark this year’s Anzac Day centenary.
One of Ms Outjers’ paintings has been obtained by the Bacchus Marsh Great War Centenary committee. It’s on loan from Moorabool council and will be displayed alongside the John McCrae poem In Flanders Fields.
The display will also include a series of photographs and information about the significance of poppies and the author of the poem, who was a Canadian physician and lieutenant colonel.
Committee president Damien Strangio said it was an important way to highlight the relevance of poppies in the lead-up to Anzac Day.
He said the display would feature at the Lerderderg library and other places around Bacchus Marsh. A print of another of Ms Outjers’ paintings, called Flanders Fields, will also be displayed, while the original will be on show at Sunbury Memorial Hall on Anzac Day itself.
Ms Outjers said she was thrilled to be part of the Anzac centenary.
“We lost so many lives in a field where poppies bloomed … they stand for remembrance and we should never forget,” she said.
Ms Outjers said commemorating the 100th anniversary of Anzac made her feel very emotional.
