The Mount Isa Blast is set to blast off next month and it will be a smorgasbord of musical and artistic talents both on stage and behind the scenes.
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Take for instance talented local artist Ozlem Yeni.
The Turkish-born Ms Yeni has lived in Mount Isa since 2016 and Blast organisers were keen to get her involved in the three-day festival at Buchanan Park.
Ms Yeni said organisers had no specific brief in mind for her but came along to her studio one day to check out her work.
"I was working on my exhibition at the time (which starts next month) and they saw my paintings and loved it," Ms Yeni said.
"They said, are you able to make something similar for our background, and I said, of course."
So Ms Yeni got to work and came up with a small painting which will be transformed into a huge canvas that will be on display at the Rodeo arena.
"They are putting a stage in front of it, and my painting will be on the background of the design," she said.
"The ground will be red like the Earth colours, so I wanted to have something opposite which is green."
Ms Yeni said the painting also had brown tree roots through it which were symbolic of the region's famous copper deposits.
"This is all nature in the background," she said.
"The white represents a clear sky, we have green, we have earth colours, we always have nature around us.
"It is like earth dancing!"
When on display at the Blast it will be 50m long.
"There will be a door in the middle of it where people will come and go inside of the painting," Ms Yeni said.
The ground will be red like the Earth colours, so I wanted to have something opposite which is green
- Ozlem Yeni
The Queensland Music Festival Mount Isa Blast runs over three nights from July 25-27.
It features William Barton, Mount Isa's own world class didgeridoo player, a mass miners' choir and the famous dancing bobcats, among many other highlights at the Kalkadoon Rodeo Arena.
Entry is free but you must reserve tickets via www.qmf.org.au/festival-schedule-2019/The-Mount-Isa-Blast
An exhibition of Ozlem Yeni's painting and sculptures entitled "Earthpeople" will also be on display at the Mount Isa Regional Art Gallery at Outback at Isa opening from July 5 and running to August 30.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
