MARGARET HADFIELD
#lestweforget@Wimbie Beach
Acrylic on canvas
151 x 121cm
My interest in military history was sparked after a 6-day visit to the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey 2004. After winning the inaugural Gallipoli Art Prize in 2006 my passion in exploring imagery to express ideas continues to this day. Paint is the medium for my exploration into history and its impact today. I have more than 25 paintings in the ‘Gallipoli Series’.
I had heard about the South Coast community near Batemans Bay NSW, commemorating ANZAC dawn at Wimbie Beach. My friends showed me images of a solo piper in the semi darkness with candles in glass jars spread along the shore. This event had been going since 2022. The beach was chosen for its likeness and feeling of Anzac Cove.
The dawn services around Australia and New Zealand are a real and emotive way the community remember those souls who lost their lives and experienced an involvement in war. We are reminded of the landing boats at Gallipoli shoreline and connect with the heroic people who took part in this and other campaigns.
Everyone has a mobile phone today, for filming and sharing. I have included people with phones seeing the todays dawn with the piper, when I have painted the dark sea as seen in memory of the landing.
The lovely little beach and the community involvement is such a wonderful image that it really represented to me the true meaning of ‘Lest We Forget’.
