General News
6 August, 2026
Exhibition chance to etch out solo show
MOIRA Moody says making art is about “what you feel as you are creating something”.
MOIRA Moody says making art is about “what you feel as you are creating something”.
Her favourite work is not the one that might be considered her best, but it is the one that, emotionally, is the most meaningful.
“In 2021, I lost my partner Nick Mayhew,” the Wedderburn resident says. He was a Londoner who grew up in the middle of the punk movement,” Moira said.
“For Christmas one year, I managed to produce a print of the face of Joe Strummer, lead singer of The Clash which was one of his favourite bands.
“I remember him saying it was the best present he had ever received. My print possibly does not have that much artistic merit, but it is a favourite because when I look at it, Nick is right there.”
Moira is busy making etchings, monoprints, colographs, woodcuts, collages, drawing and Tunisian crochet, preparing for her exhibition at the Coach House Museum and Gallery in Wedderburn as part of the Loddon Valley Arts Trail, 2-4 October.
Her discovery of the work of Australian artist Margaret Preston during a stint of study at Canterbury College in Kent first got her seriously into printmaking, and she followed up on her return home by doing classes.
But it was a different kind of inspiration that set her on the path towards her solo show at the Coach House.
“At the moment, my ideas are centred around recovering from breast cancer,” Moira says.
“The idea of having an exhibition in the first place was to give myself something to work towards after all the treatments I had last year, with no time or inclination to do anything creative.”
The importance of the camaraderie at the Coach House as well as the support of the community is underlined by Moira, who first came to Wedderburn in 1985 to work at the high School, then returned from overseas to live there in 2021.
“It was at the end of that year that I lost Nick, and the support from locals was truly overwhelming,” she says.
“I found this again at the end of 2024 which was when I got my breast cancer diagnosis. I just found myself surrounded by so much kindness.”
She describes the countryside around Wedderburn, the “melding of farmland and classic gum tree vistas” as inspiring.
Moira volunteers on Wednesday mornings at Coach House, serving Margaret Bentley’s prized scones as well as what she calls their “signature toasted sandwiches”.
“You can have any flavour of sandwich as long as it is ham, cheese and tomato or a variation thereof!”
She calls this much-admired museum and gallery a “hidden gem”. “This a great opportunity for local artists and makers who may not be able to get their art into more mainstream galleries,” Moira says.
“It is also a bit of a social hub, an important place where older or more vulnerable citizens in particular, know they can get an affordable meal and a chat with other locals and visitors.”
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