Description / Inspiration

According to the artist: “Celebrating the 200 year anniversary of the discovery and settlement of Port Macquarie, I have created a hello Koala in the image of “the Father of our Nation”, Major-General Lachlan Macquarie.

Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB (31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British military officer and the fifth and longest serving, Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. He had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of Australia.

Historians say he changed New South Wales from a penal colony to a free settlement. This was very important in making the future of Australian society.

The style of dress being worn by this Hello Koalas sculpture is the Military dress Uniform, worn by high ranking Officers of the British Military. These were always, very grand with copious amounts of Gold Braiding, epaulets, buttons and medals.

The Colour Patch is for the 54th Battalion (Lachlan-Macquarie Regiment) of Purple and Aqua represents the purple of the Scottish thistle and the aqua Australian waters.

Macquarie celebrated his Scottish heritage by choosing a sword with a Scottish-type or half-basket hilt with a decorative thistle relief and the number of his new regiment engraved on the main knuckle-bow. Governor Macquarie’s sword is on show in the National Museum’s Landmarks Gallery in Canberra.

Macquarie’s hair style was his fashion statement and was common to the gentry of the Napoleonic era. His wife Elizabeth also wore a similar hair style.”

A collaboration between the National Museum of Australia and Macquarie Group Limited presents a permanent exhibition on the legacy of Governor Lachlan Macquarie. It highlights Governor Macquarie’s lasting contribution to social reform, exploration and urban development in Australia. On show 9am to 5pm weekdays at Macquarie Group Limited, 50 Martin Place (enter via Elizabeth Street), Sydney.

Artist Biography

Pauline Roods has lived in Port Macquarie since her early childhood, and has been painting for over 30 years.

Pauline attended private art classes and completed an art degree at NSW TAFE. Pauline is a Contemporary Realist Artist, preferring to work with Acrylic, Mixed Media and Watercolour.

Pauline was twice finalist in the NSW TAFE Fine/Arts Prize, an entrant in the Wynn Art Prize and invitational finalist in the “Salon De Refuse”.

Pauline has been published in the Australian Artist, Artist Palette and Acrylic Artists magazines. She was also a finalist in the top 50 artists for the 2016 Australian Contemporary Art Awards, People’s Choice winner for the Australian Lung Foundation, 2016 Just One Breath competition and NSW finalist in the Family Circle Painting/Craft Competition.

Her most recent works have been commissions, of her signature underwater style, Australian wildlife paintings, individual portraits and emotive war paintings.

Pauline has been commissioned as an artist for 7 Hello Koala Sculptures including Mack The Surf Life Saver, The Mayor of the Koala Republic, Forest, Woody, Shelly, Kenny Koala and Ranger Riley and his customised table on which he stands.

Every painting is individual, placing the viewer within that scene. Pauline’s original artworks are created to awaken the viewer’s imagination and stimulate their senses. Pauline’s paintings are highly sought after and hang in private, commercial and public collections in Australia and around the world.

Pauline has had 5 recent exhibitions in Italy, has numerous awards, and is a regular guest artist in various art publications. Pauline has been commissioned to paint 16 Hello Koalas Sculptures including her latest The Big Koala, Spirit of All Koalas at Guulabaa, Place of Koala, the new tourism and educational precinct in the Cowarra State Forest – an initiative of Forestry Corporation of NSW.

Pauline has also been commissioned to create the highly successful Hello Koalas Colouring Book, and a Hop for Hope Celebrity Kangaroo for the Alannah Madeline Foundation Celebrity Auction, in the Yarra Valley, Victoria in 2016.

Pauline has had exhibitions in Australia and Japan, with 2 exhibitions in Rome Italy in 2015, a further 2 exhibitions in February and March 2016 in Soriano, and a selected artist to represent Australia at the 2016 Italian/Australian Trade Fair in Assisi. Her works hang in collections both private and commercial, in Australia, Japan, Singapore, America, New Zealand, Fiji and now Italy.