A SHED WITH ATTITUDE

East Loddon Woolshed, Serpentine.

Vincent Casey, Jeremy Forbes, Chloe Neath, Andre Sardone, Paul Turbitt, Amanda Western

Take the road out of Serpentine, turn down Longs Road, and there, almost like a mirage in the landscape, you’ll see the mighty East Loddon Woolshed. Constructed in 1871 from 100,000s of bricks handmade on the property by a father and son, this Vahland-designed ambitious building still functions as a shearing shed, but offers, too, a fabulous venue for weddings and events. So, for the very first time, Arts Trail heads to the Shed with Attitude. Sculptures that make a statement. Paintings that are direct responses to the unique vernacular of Australian buildings. Works of art that capture the eerie beauty and elusive meaning of places in the landscape. You can book a midday tour with owners Anthony and Emily, and the Bears Lagoon Serpentine Football Netball Club will be there around lunchtime each day for food and drink options. If you want to see how art transforms a space, and how a space welcomes art with surprising results, then make a date with the Shed with Attitude. Memories are made of this.

Vincent Casey is a painter and designer based in Newstead, Central Victoria. Originally from Ireland, he draws parallels between the rugged landscapes of rural Victoria and the west of Ireland, translating those environments into spare, atmospheric oil paintings. His work explores the visual rhythm of land — paddocks, roadside ruins, fences, scrub and stone — observing how human traces sit quietly within natural settings. There’s a deliberate slowness in his process, informed by his background in design and a deep connection to place.

Jeremy Forbes is the founder of HALT – Hope Assistance Local Tradies – a mental health and suicide prevention charity. Based in Castlemaine, he is an artist with an interest in nostalgia, boardgames and colour, as well as sheds, which inspire his “shedism” series of paintings.

Chloe Neath is a visual artist based in Newstead, Victoria, known for her evocative, large-scale charcoal portraits. Working primarily on thick brown paper, her drawings are intricately detailed and often incorporate gold, or silver leaf to heighten their impact. Chloe’s practice explores the intensity and vulnerability of the human face, capturing emotion with precision and depth. She has exhibited widely, including two major solo exhibitions in Bendigo. In a collaboration with The Laudanum Project, Chloe created over thirty drawings for The Baby Farmer, a haunting multidisciplinary production that toured across Victoria and Adelaide as an illustrated book, gallery exhibition, and theatrical performance.

Andre Sardone: Living in the Mandurang Valley in Central Victoria and nestled in the inspiring landscape of the Australian bush, Andre creates unique sculptures from a variety of materials, including steel, copper, brass, stainless steel, and local hardwoods. His work is influenced by the natural environment where he lives, with his works displaying an organic aesthetic and his recent explorations involve the learning of innovative techniques for joining and manipulating metals, as well as expanding his knowledge of machining on lathes and milling machines.

Paul Turbitt: To visit Paul Turbitt’s studio home in Strangways, you enter a place that has surprises wherever you look. He collects, sorts, and creates with all manner of discarded things, tools, wood, stones, metal and fibres. His sculptures allow the eye to follow a graceful curve, to enjoy a pattern that is organic and precise. You can see the strength of the slow careful process behind each work, which nevertheless leaves room for both experiment and the pleasure of the unexpected. Paul’s original and beautiful work is particularly striking when installed in interesting spaces so the Woolshed provides a magnificent backdrop for his sculptures.

Amanda Western is a Ballarat-based artist working primarily in linocut and installation. Her practice explores the relationship between people and place, shaped by years spent living in remote parts of Australia and working in disaster recovery. Amanda's work is grounded in slowness and attention. Each piece is carved by hand and layered with memory, loss and environmental regeneration. Her recent installations combine printmaking with salvaged and natural materials to create immersive experiences that invite quiet reflection.