Fiddle Icons on show in Townsville.

Nicole Murray is holding her first solo exhibition in her home town, Townsville, North Queensland.

"I have been painting portraits of musicians for over a decade, and this latest series is specifically about fiddle players. I have interviewed the players on video, and used stills from the video as references to make paintings which use symbolism and the visual language of traditional icon painting. The works are in oils and 23K gold leaf on board.

I showed these works in June at the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention in Derry, Northern Ireland, and they have just arrived back in the country! I am continuing to expand the collection and plan to show it at a major Brisbane venue next year. Because of this, the originals are not for sale. I have had the most beautiful archival quality prints on paper created from them, which will be available to buy at the show, and some gorgeous postcard sets as well."

FIDDLE ICONS at Sweatshop Gallery opens at 4pm on Saturday 1 September. Please come along! The show runs until September 30.

To celebrate the show, Cloudstreet is doing a special house concert performance from 2pm on Sunday 2 September, with a special guest, the subject of one of the paintings, the award-winning Scottish-style fiddle player, Emma Nixon. To book, please call Sophie on 0421 763 396.