A wedge-tailed eagle soared across the sky in front of me. High above South Hobart it rose and fell, twisted and turned, a silhouette against the backdrop of kununyi/Mt Wellington, which was bathed in soft sunlight in the first week of winter.
My focus should have been on the “wedgie” – the fourth largest eagle in the world – but on this occasion I was bowled over by the mountain itself. The day previously it had hidden behind low cloud.
Kunanyi is a mountain of many moods, of many faces, and witnessing its majesty on a single day, or at a precise moment, does not tell its story.
Photography or pen and pencil, paintbrush and palette, might freeze it in time but the mountain pulses with life by the minute, forever changing in colour and texture.
I was looking at the mountain through the eyes of an artist because by coincidence that very day I had been invited to Drawn to the Mountain, an exhibition and book launch by Nola Parsons in which the artist has portrayed the mountain at different times of the day, the year, and in all weathers.
Setting out to illustrate the mountain, Nola Parsons soon realised a single painting would lack nuance, would be too one-dimensional. She determined the mountain needed a series of sketches and paintings, a time-line, to capture its subtlety, the play of light on its surface, its kaleidoscope of colours painted by the changing weather, and changing seasons.
As Nola puts it, whatever the weather, the mountain defies description. Sunny, bright and breezy one day. Sullen and sinister on another. That’s if the mountain shows its face at all, choosing instead to hide behind a veil of mist and cloud.
Nola – the widow of a much-loved and respected Mercury journalist Guy Parsons – brings the mountain to life in this collection of pen-and-ink and watercolour paintings. As the pages of her book are turned, a passing parade of contrast and colour is presented, as if the reader is looking at kunanyi from a window over time, or walking its tracks.
The mountain represents more than a mere slab of dolerite, sandstone and mudstone thrusting 1271 metres into the sky. The familiar backdrop to the city, a part of its fabric, the peak also stands guard over Hobartians, shielding them from hostile, icy winds blowing from Antarctica.
The forests, woodland and alpine environments also provide food and shelter for an incredibly diverse range of native plants and animals, some found nowhere else on earth. There are more than 60 bird species there, including the endemic black currawong, or mountain jays, whose trumpet-like call is the signature tune of the high country.
Nola clearly lives in the grip of the mountain, held by its spell, and she shares its magic through her art.
Drawn to the Mountain is at Wild Island gallery until June 30.