An e-mail enquiry that arrived "out of the blue" has resulted in a unique collaborative venture between the professional artists of Port Douglas and Stompin' on Spiders, a blues/acoustic rock trio from Malvern, England.

Port Douglas Artists is a group of professional artists from Port Douglas, formed in 2011. The group had working studios and galleries in the Reef Marina, Port Douglas and each year they involve themselves in a community art related activity.

With the 21st Port Douglas Carnivale starting in mid-May, the e-mail enquiry from Stompin' on Spiders was timely. 

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The UK based outfit were looking for a source of artwork for a video release of their newly recorded song, called "In Paradise", and the Port Douglas Artists collective, seemed to be a good place to start.

"In Paradise" recalls the experiences of a visitor to Port Douglas who becomes immersed in delights of tropical living. 

The song tells of an early morning walk on Four Mile Beach followed by window shopping in the morning sunshine; a lazy lunch on the beach and an afternoon at the marina with the day climaxing with a tropical sunset and meeting-up with friends for dinner at a local fish restaurant.

Jill Booth, who is the co-ordinator of the Port Douglas artists collective, rallied her colleagues to find images that would fit the vivid lyrics of 'In Paradise' in a meaningful way.  

Oil and water-colour paintings, complemented by a selection of photographs were collated together and then integrated with the Stompin' on Spiders music track using the technical wizardry of Dale Priem from Radio Port Douglas.

The five minute video includes paintings of fish, flowers and beach by Terry Johnson, local landscape oil paintings by Tania Heben, boat paintings by Mary Ann Runciman and autobiographical acrylic paintings by Yoshiko Kirby. Printmaker Anna Curtis, provided delightful images of food and flowers of the tropics, Linda Jackson and Jill Booth provided insights into aspects of the rainforest and reef, and Louise Collier's underwater view of the reef with Low Isles in the distance speaks volumes about living and working on Low Isles, just an hour's sail from Port Douglas.

The 'In Paradise' video has been timed to coincide with and enhance Port Douglas Village Carnivale 2015. Gazza Tee, who, with Noor Ali and Becky Davis, wrote the song, will be visiting Port Douglas for Carnivale 2015 and will be performing the song at a Thursday Musos Night at The Central Hotel.

The video of "In Paradise" can be found here.

More information about professional artists in Port Douglas and the Cairns region can be found here.