“For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven” Ecclesiastes 3.

Every painting in this series tells a story. The central metaphor is the rhyme between nature and life. There is a time to live and a time to die. But there is persistence in the face of trial, and hope of renewal is present in the worst of times.

In the two years since my last show I have seen the love of my life, Venetia, recover from what was thought to be a life to be lived out in a wheelchair to one where she is walking and very fit. It has been extraordinary – her doctors and physiotherapists are stunned.

Reflecting that, these pictures range from the moody, but hopeful, to the outrageously joyous. Roger Beale AO

Roger Beale is one of Canberra’s better known artists with numerous solo and group shows since 1984. He is classically trained (teachers include the late Betty and Roy Churcher, Melville Haysom, John Molvig and the faculty of the Florence School of Art) and paints in a realist style in the European tradition.

All welcome to the opening 2pm Saturday 21 September and Artist Talk 12 noon Sunday 22 September.

The artworks will be available on the website from 10am Friday 20 September or come in for a preview.