20 January 2022
Warilla man Kevin Burke will be holding an exhibition of his artwork inspired by the COVID lockdown at the Shellharbour Club on 5 February. All proceeds from “Art Without Barriers: Hosted by Kevin Burke” art sales will go to Life Without Barriers aged care clients and the BaptistCare school breakfast program.
Kevin, aged 65, lives with disability and began painting as a way to pass the time during COVID lockdown in 2020 – because he couldn’t do his usual activities and there was no football to watch on TV.
Taking inspiration from his twin brother and with the support of his disability support workers at Life Without Barriers, Kevin’s painting has now morphed from something that was merely to pass the time into a full time passion and also a way that he can help people less fortunate than himself.
Kevin says the decision to sell his works in order to benefit others came from an awareness of the negative impacts that covid was having on his community, and he wanted to help. “I felt sorry for old people... So, I wanted to have an exhibition to raise money for them,” he said.
Kevin will have over 50 paintings on display that will also be for sale. He uses a bright colour palette to create paintings on canvas using acrylic paints as well as glitter and pencils. Kevin takes inspiration from his local surrounds of Warilla and his subjects include animals, the sea, houses, to more abstract work. “[I get inspiration from] animals, my house, the sea, going fishing,” Kevin said.
“I love it... It makes me feel very good,” Kevin said. “I want to help everyone. I hope everyone else does the same thing (donate money).”
“I hope lots of people come to the exhibition,” he added.
“Kevin and Friends” opens at 11am on Saturday 5 February at the Shellharbour Club.
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