Following the hike up Mt Jerusalem in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, I ended up in a small town called Sheffield. With no real agenda for the day and no idea what this town has to offer, I got up and did my usual routine in the morning. The plan was to stop by the Visitor Information Center as soon as it opens. I was surprisingly up early despite the long, tiring, and physically demanding few days I've had both in Cradle and Walls of Jerusalem. I arrived at the car park way too early and noticed impressive murals on display.
Sheffield, dubbed as 'Town of Murals', holds an annual mural art competition that brings artists from all over the nation and the world. The paint-off which is conducted in Mural Park lasts for a week where nine finalists interprets a themed poem for the major prize. These dedicated artists aim to bring the region's history to life, and tell the stories of early pioneers. A true picture from the past.
THE 2017 POEM
"Through the Eyes of a Child"
by Karen Beattie
The world is a playground
wonderful and wild.
What would you see
through the eyes of a child.
THE WINNERS
Each of the nine winning pieces had accompanying short descriptions/concepts by the artists that I included underneath each photos. Please enjoy :)
#1 NEVER FORGET by Tom Cosic & Eve Soemardi
#2 LOLLIPOP LAND by Josh Foley
#3 WONDERFUL AND WILD by Marc & Debbie Spijkerbosch
#4 CHILD'S HORIZON by Nikolay Dimitrov & Daniel Dubarov
Highly Commended
#5 IMAGINE by Gren Freeman
#6 JUST WAITING FOR YOU by Julian Bale
#7 SELFIE by Lindsay Gardam
#8 WHEN I GROW UP by John Eathorne & Leanne Tamas
Visitor's Choice Award
#9 MAKE-BELIEVE by Annette Matthews
Judge's Choice Award
FAVORITES, THOUGHTS, ASPIRATIONS
I loved each one of them but my favorite would have to be the 'Lollipop Land by Josh Foley' for its vibrant colors. Lindsay Gardham's piece 'Selfie' spoke a lot to me as well.
Our world today is not the same as I remember growing up in a small village in a province in the Philippines. We are more connected than ever before. The big, big world I once knew is 'smaller' than ever. Everything is now easily accessible in this digital world we live in. We share more with friends and family in various forms of social media.
I document anything and everything with more technologies (i.e. smartphone, DSLR, GoPro, etc) than I can handle. Which raises the question, 'Do we really need all these techy stuff in our lives?'. Sure it's nice to capture a moment and have memories to last a lifetime. But in our efforts to snap everything, are we missing out on the real experience? How many photos is too many? I am guilty of snapping one too many photos all the time. Which is why this 2018 I aspire to only capture moments that speak to me. To focus more on quality and less on quantity. To shift my love for photography as a hobby to possibly becoming a professional photographer.
Living a nomadic life full of adventures for the past four years, this seems to be a suitable path to take. An idea thrown in by family and friends that I have been avoiding all those years as I don't want my passion to turn into a job. But I think I am ready to give it a try. I want to grow as a photographer and want to learn more about photography this coming year which is why I plan to invest more on it. I am long overdue for a camera upgrade and looking into buying a full-frame mirrorless instead of the traditional DSLR. Anyone here works with mirrorless? Which brand do you use? Or do you prefer DSLR more? Why? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the comments below.
BACK ON THE MURALS
The Mural Park has more to it than the nine finalists. With still plenty of time to kill, I walked around and checked out every single one of them before the flock of tourist buses arrived. Sharing with you just a few of my favorites :)
The town was also decorated in murals, like the ones below.
A fruit & veg store
Tasmanian Wilderness, Cradle Mountain
Tasmanian Tiger
Sheffield
Forth Falls, 1990
A RELAXING DAY?
After spending a bit of time going around town, I walked back to the Visitor Information Center and spoke with one of the staffs. At this point, I was quite content with having an easy day at the Mural Park. Then I learned there are a few hikes not far from town. I was particularly interested in tackling the summit of Mt Roland. So, did I rest and drove out to the northwest as originally planned? Or did I stick around and ascend Mt Roland? Find out on my next post!
As always, thank you guys so much for reading my stories. I hope you enjoyed reading this one as much as the first four I've written about this road trip. In case you missed them, I included the links below:
Tasmania Road Trip: Launceston and Cataract Gorge
Tasmania Road Trip: Hansons Peak
Tasmania Road Trip: Cradle Mountain Summit Via Marions Lookout Link Track
Tasmania Road Trip: Walls of Jerusalem National Park
xx
jh3n
#untalented
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Wow that's cool. How was the hike up Mt Jerusalem ? I am traveling in tassie at the moment !
It was amazing! A lot less touristy than Cradle. Do visit if you get the chance but spend at least a night at Wild Dog Creek Campsite and explore the other peaks and lakes :) How long are u in Tassie?
Sheffield seems like a cool town to visit! I just looked it up on the map and it seems that I passed the nearby town of Railton on my bicycle trip through Tassie. Apparently all the towns in this area are somehow special, in Railton they had many sculptures made out of trimmed boxwood!
It sure is, the murals were a pleasant surprise. And Sheffield is a perfect base when exploring the nearby Mt Roland Conservation Area :) I just looked up Railton on the map and I just missed it as I drove northwest from Sheffield and went counter clockwise around Tassie until I got back to Launceston.
I will check it out when I return to Tassie in some years :)
This post has received a 3.83 % upvote from @aksdwi thanks to: @jh3n.