Melody's art a new feature for Cafe Aglio e Olio

For quite possibly the first time in its history, the walls of the Parkes Hotel are adorned with thriving, colourful works of art. Cafe Aglio e Olio has become a gallery restaurant after owners Cathy and Vic have partnered with Forbes artist Melody Ruhrmund to add a little more atmosphere to the former pub. It's an ongoing art exhibition and features a range of Melody's water colour, acrylic and oil paintings, as well as some mixed media art. She has cards, books and rag dolls too. "We wanted to change the feeling of the pub, add some atmosphere," Melody said. "Cathy and Vic are very supportive of my art, they approached me with the idea. "We realised there was a whole thing missing. "We thought a few of my big pictures would do it," she laughed. "But no, we were soon clearing my cellar out with all my artworks, it's got me working on a lot of pictures I wouldn't have finished. "New things are added all the time, it's always changing... It has worked very well for us." The public is welcome to browse her collection during the restaurant's business hours, which is every evening after 5pm except Tuesdays and 11am-3pm Thursday to Saturday. Or call the restaurant on 6862 2229 to see if someone is around. If you see something you like, it is available for purchase too. Melody's work also features a canvas of a woman made from fabric pieces. "I won the Waste to Art competition with that one in Forbes and I won the regional one too a few years ago," she said. Melody is hoping to bring a whole new vibe to the location in the new year with plans of running workshops for children and adults, and an occasional 'paint and sip' class, which is all the rage right now. "I've never really been one kind of artist," she said. "But I've always been creative." Melody said she's been doing art for most of her life but painting seriously since she was 30. She's originally from South Africa and has been living in Australia for 50 years, 14 of those spent in Forbes and before that, in Queensland. "I got sick of the green hills of Queensland, I came down here and saw the blue skies and open paddocks and decided this is it," Melody said. "To understand real landscape you really need to live in it." She also does a lot of work in Forbes and she's extremely looking forward to starting up a puppet theatre there in the new year too. Melody will be doing some chalk art on the outside wall of the Parkes Hotel for the Parkes Elvis Festival so be sure to head down and check it out from January 8 to 12.

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