Fractals fascinate Chloe Hargraves.
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Her eye is drawn to patterns in nature, the fractals revealing a creative order which gifts beauty to the smallest of organism or the most magestic tree.
It could be the branching of a fern, the web of a spider, a petal in bloom, the curve of an ocean wave, or the pattern on a seashell ... Chloe sees, is inspired and now, is acting to reveal the beauty of patterns in scale on the wall of Townhead Wholesale Fruit and Vegetables in Muldoon Street, Taree.
It is her workplace for six days of the week and she is part of a team who prepare and sell nature's harvest. Daily the shop stands will fill and then empty of food that is beautiful in form and colour, and Chloe says she felt the appearance of the store "needed something to bring it to life".
"I just offered to put something on the wall," Chloe says. The go-ahead was given by owners Graham and Lola Loughnan, and so a few months ago she bravely began by drawing her first white line on the large warehouse wall. It was a bold step, but with each shift and a little bit of work here and there, the wall is being transformed. The style is zentangle method and Chloe describes the process as "really relaxing".
It just flows ... there's no stencil involved, I basically just start somewhere and just draw off it and connect it to the next thing, from one corner to the other.
- Chloe Hargraves
Paint flows from her Poscar pen and Chloe says mistakes are part of the process, it's not a source of stress, just an opportunity for creativity.
"When I make a mistake I usually just change that shape into something else, bring a line off it to make it look like it was meant to happen."
The scale of the artwork is a first for Chloe, and so too is the need for her to climb a 10-foot or three metre ladder to reach the highest parts of the wall. The 18-year-old former Taree Christian College student says she did create a large zentangle for her year 10 major work, has created numerous small artworks, and is excited and thankful for the opportunity to challenge herself with the wall.
“It’s something I am proud to be able to do.”