General News
15 April, 2025
A splash of colour in Dunolly
Locals may have noticed some new colours among Dunolly’s power poles, an example of Ross ‘Cuzz’ Currie’s roadside art-works which expand to trees, bins, and stumps.
Locals and visitors alike might recognise the colourful artworks wrapping around poles between Dunolly and Bet Bet Bridge.
Delighting many, the Wedderburn artist didn’t realise the impact his work was having until The Welcome Record got in touch last year.
“I don’t pick what I’m going to do, it picks me,” he said.
Mr Currie has been doing roadside art for 15 years — mainly on stumps that speak to him.
From a tree with lips, another with eyes, and snapshots of the animal kingdom from various dogs to a landshark. It’s the natural shapes that catch Mr Currie’s eye.
“I use what’s there,” he said.
But the Dunolly pole series uses an unfamiliar medium for Mr Currie — spray paint.
Using the cans to create his work was inspired by three artists who created murals in Wedderburn — an initiative Mr Currie said he spearheaded.
“It demystified the whole thing,” he said.
Despite the success of the pole series in Dunolly, however, he admits he’s got a long way to go.
“If I can get tips off someone I’ll bloody ask them,” he said.
Mr Currie’s process for the pole series starts with taping the important information before applying primer.
He’ll then use stencils and spray cans to create the now familiar artworks — finished with a protective lacquer.
“There’s so much wind out there, [the paint] goes everywhere,” he said.
While the wind is one challenge, the next for the local series is the limited number of poles.
Not that it’s stopping Mr Currie, who planned to end the series in October last year but came back for more.
“I just thought ‘oh, why not’. I just couldn’t help myself,” he said.
More recently he’s taken to painting bins for businesses and people across the region.
“It really pumps them,” he said.
These paintings, similar to his other roadside works, capture nature and the Australian landscape.
“People are really loving the bins now. They’re really starting to take off,” he said.
Maryborough, too, might see some poles of its own. Although Mr Currie has been debating this for a year now.
