Signed with a crown

Another of our future Waterbrook Bowral Residents is the enormously talented Maria Kroon, who lives here in the Southern Highlands. Born and educated in the Netherlands, Miel, as she is better known, started her career as a pre-school teacher. But art was never far from her mind, and her creativity with the little children encouraged her to pursue her studies in art.

During 30 years in Australia and 10 years back in the Netherlands, Miel painted and studied with many professional artists, including Alvaro Castsgnet, Helen Cottle, Lucy & Barry McCann, Charles Sluga and many more. As such, she has developed a great variety of themes and styles as well as the ability to create using many mediums. Miel has exhibited many times in the Wollondilly Shire, Macarthur region and, of course, the Southern Highlands. Many people who visit her showings can’t believe the same artist is responsible for all the works, so diverse are the styles. Miel always signs her surname on her artwork as a crown, which is what “Kroon” means in Dutch.

Once a year, Miel and a friend go to her home in Sydney to paint – “We put tarps throughout the entire living space of the apartment, we get up in the morning, paint, have lunch, paint, have dinner, paint and then go to bed. We do this everyday for the week, and we absolutely love it” says Miel.

As in previous years, Miel will participating in the very popular Southern Highlands Art Trail, which will be held over the weekends of 7^th-8^th and 14^th-15^th November 2020.

Wondering what it is really like to live at a Waterbrook?

We asked past Waterbrook Greenwich Resident Rosalind Beavis or “Buzz” as she prefers to be known, about her experience.

For seven years, Buzz was a Resident of Waterbrook Greenwich, before relocating to the Southern Highlands three years ago to be closer to family.
“Resident drinks on Friday evening was a wonderful way to meet neighbours, and because it was weekly it was a great way to stay in touch with the community” says Buzz, who regularly returns to visit her friends at Greenwich.

“My other favourite things included art classes, the weekly discussion group, exercise and aqua aerobics classes, the book and film clubs and the monthly health matter talks. I also enjoyed the travel talks, and even went on one of the trips, a cruise, with fellow Residents, an amazing opportunity that I would never have had otherwise.”

“The restaurant at Waterbrook was of a very high standard, delicious menus for lunch and dinner or a great place to catch up with Residents or family for a coffee.  There were also special celebration events, like Melbourne Cup lunch Christmas, Easter and Valentine’s Day, always beautifully themed by the staff,
I will always remember these occasions.”

When Buzz heard the news that Waterbrook had acquired a site in Bowral, she was overjoyed, and contacted Joanna and Liane to let them know that she would be a future Resident. “Amongst other things, I have missed the 24-hour Concierge, it was so wonderful to know there is someone there to call, especially at night. The maintenance team were incredible, if I had trouble with a window or hanging a picture, the team were always there, such a wonderful service, one I would appreciate now in my own home.”

If you have any questions about the 5 star service that Waterbrook is synonymous with, and which will be a very big part of living at our Bowral Lifestyle Resort, Buzz would be pleased to chat about her experience to any new Resident. Contact Lizzie if you would like to meet Buzz and have a chat.

Through the photographer’s lens

“I have been a photographer for most of my life. In that time, I have always worked from an intuitive perspective rather that from an intellectual one.”

Ashley Mackevicius discovered photography at the age of 15 while still in high school. With a darkroom set up in the laundry and a hunger to experiment and learn, this newfound ‘hobby’ soon overtook more mundane pursuits such as homework.

In 1975 he enrolled at Prahran College of Arts majoring in photography, where he studied under icons of Australian photography such as Athol Shmith, Paul Cox and John Cato.

Needing to make a living Ashley Mackevicius turned his skills to commercial photography where a career spanning 40 years blossomed. Gaining numerous awards including ‘Australian Photographer of the Year’ his commercial work ran in parallel to his artistic work. “My aim is to challenge the viewer to see beyond the object as a ‘thing-in-itself’ through the  manipulation of scale and the abstraction of recognisable forms.”

Ashley recently spent a day photographing inside and out of the old school buildings at our Waterbrook Bowral site. The results are an array of tonal emotions that are atmospheric, melancholy and invite contemplation of the past lives of the buildings and the people that inhabited them.

The images are available as large, framed prints (as seen above) or as a collection in a hard-cover book of which we have a copy of at the display residence.

Ashley has a permanent gallery and studio at the SHAC in Robertson and it is well worth the visit!  Please contact Lizzie at Waterbrook if you are interested in viewing or ordering the book.  hello@waterbrook.com.au