Village Voice News - Community - Banding together for art's sake

Just as Nancy and Frank Sinatra once paired up to create a popular hit, Drummoyne locals Eliza Cooper and her father John have banded together in the name of art.

The father and daughter team recently exhibited at Angela Jayne cafe in Drummoyne, which features new works by local artists each month.

Angela, the cafe's owner, said the work of the Coopers had been extremely popular.

Angela said 10-year-old Eliza's fairies paintings held their own against her father's landscapes and interiors in pastels and inks, selling nearly all her artwork and receiving commissions for more.

"I was absolutely thrilled with how well she did. It was exciting to see that people saw the beauty in her drawings," John said.

John, who studied art at high school and university, now works in the IT industry.

He said having children rekindled his love of art, and even taught him a few things along the way.

"As a child you don't really see the fences. You don't really recognise the boundaries you think you are supposed to adhere to," John said.

"You do what you want rather then what you think you should want," he said.

"I want to try and see things more like a child does."

As for Eliza, who has also shown her work at the Royal Easter Show, she is busy broadening her creative pursuits.

Although she is still working on her 'feather fairies', which nearly sold out at her last exhibition, she is also in the process of turning her brother into a superhero.

"I'm making him a Spiderman costume and I have made my sister a grey dress," Eliza said.