Dining with the stars

New faces will be popping up on the walls of Oxley’s Bar and Kitchen thanks to a rotating series of star-sign inspired watercolour portraits.

Waikawa painter Caroline Della Porta’s new series of portraits, “The 12”, will be rotated through the seven spots available on the walls of Oxley’s Picton restaurant.

Caroline says that the portraits are not of anyone, but an expression of her fascination with people’s portraits on magazine covers.

“I’m always either looking for projects to do or making up my own because I get bored otherwise. I’m fascinated with portraiture because people relate to faces, which is why we see them on magazine covers, with big hair and expressive colours.

“After completing about five of them, I wanted to build about the story behind them and decided to create a series based on astrological signs. Each piece now has a star sign, personality and name representing different ethnicities.”

Caroline started with Gloria – who has a pink afro and represents Virgo – and painted the pieces over a short period with iconic hairstyles and her backlog of references to become unique personalities.

The quick-drying watercolours meant Caroline aimed for expressive, spontaneous groundwork for each portrait, while later adding finer details and metallic flecks.
“I enjoy big brush strokes, but also getting into the details, and I think the process using watercolour paper and ink gives a lovely grain to the faces.”

Caroline hopes the pieces become a permanent fixture at Oxley’s.

“The setting is perfect, making the space feel full of people when it’s full or when it isn’t, and the staff really like them too.”

Oxley’s manager Amy Cragg says she loved the concept from the start and is incredibly impressed by the finished additions. “They make Oxley’s feel full of people and characters more than it already is and give the restaurant a warm feeling.”