Artists of Australia
Inspired by the colour and texture of the outdoors -
Inspired by the colour and texture of the outdoors -
One of the most interesting things about art is that it can take so many forms - these visits I am making allow me a 'behind the scenes' look at how these artists create the wide spectrum of their art. Deb is a freeform tapestry weaver – something I had never known about before I met Deb. I find it fascinating how someone can create landscapes in this way. Tucked away behind a wall - she lives in a beautiful Bali inspired corner of Ballina. This is where she creates stunning art pieces in this most tranquil of places. Deb and her husband Rowan created this haven from scratch and it really feels like you’re a million miles away from everything. A freeform tapestry weaver – or picture weaver – Deb works with yarns and fibres to create scenes that emerge as she weaves. She uses a wide variety of textures and types of fibres to create her pieces. The incredible colours create depth and movement in each piece. Each one can use more than 50 different yarns and wools – some of which are recycled from jumpers and blankets and some of which are new. It can take more than 2 months to complete a weaving and that is working around 30 hour week! Deb is also an Interior Designer, a Window Dresser and has also illustrated 2 children’s books. Does your garden influence your work – either in what you create or how it affects you? Totally – I sit at my dining room table night and day and weave - the wools that I choose for the weaving are in the trolley here - and I look out and it is so calming. I can sit here after a hectic day and relax, and then I can focus on weaving. I mainly create pieces focusing on the beach and waterfalls. I like to ride my bicycle to the beach, around the rivers and out to the wall as well as to Shelley beach. I take photos when I go camping and I use them too. I don’t tend to sketch my work first – I use a photo to work off and I see it in my head, and then I add details as I go. I have three looms of different sizes that I use. I don’t like to go too big as you have to really watch the tension in the middle. I have also been painting some water colour animals recently. (Pic of one in gallery below) I have a brush with only a couple of hairs to get all the detail – when I am stuck between work, I like to pick up some water colours and do a few of them for a change. I have a shed out the back where I store my wool – since I can’t mix colours like a painter I take hours to find the perfect colours I need for my works before I start. Do you have a favourite corner in your garden? I particularly like the front courtyard as it is what I look out onto all the time. Our inspiration for the house and garden was our trips to Bali. I used to design children’s clothes – my friend Sue and I decided to design together and having them made in Bali gave us a reason to go there regularly! We designed the prints for the material and they turned them into material using screen prints. Then they made up the clothes to our designs. We were in 45 shops in NSW and Queensland and a lot of markets. We did that for about 15 years until Sue moved up to Queensland. I continued alone for another 8 years and changed the label to Beach Kids. It was good fun and we do talk occasionally about starting it up again. What is your favourite plant or flower? I really like Crotons – my favourite one is the one with lots of yellow in yet. It is like a painting with all the patterns on it. I also love bromeliads – I find some are almost prehistoric. Colour in foliage means there is always this great colour - all year round. I find I enjoy colour, textures and patterns in my art and I also look to have it in my garden. I have been in this house for 11 years now. Rowan and I built it for our retirement - and it is an easy care garden for that reason. I love gardening and I now do it all myself and I find it really relaxing. Do you have a favourite garden? It would have to be this one as we designed it from scratch. My mum lived on a farm so was kept really busy with that. She always sewed and, because of the wool shop, also knitted and crocheted. My nana had a lovely garden in Lismore with roses in it – they did really well there. She was married to a schoolteacher and they would travel to all the little schools across the area where she would teach the kids sewing. I still have some of her beautiful dresses with crochet inlay all down the front. My husband Rowan's mum is the most amazing knitter and crocheter as well - and I still have lots of baby clothes she made. I have a jumper of Rowan's that I loved that I am now deconstructing and using the wool for a current weaving. How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? I love the ocean and the huge variety of shades of blues you find there which I'm sure is why I am drawn to that subject matter for my weavings. My creative process is actually quite slow and you need concentration and patience - in order to make a weaving it can take well over a month of 25 hours plus a week to finish one - so there is a lot of effort put into each piece. Combining and blending different textured and coloured fibres is a slow process and and can be very challenging but exciting too! Tell us about your career journey to date – did you always want to be an artist? I did art at high school and then I studied Interior Design. I went to Randwick Tafe which had school of design in it and after I finished, they moved the graphic art and Interior design into the Institute of Technology in town and turned it into a degree. My mum and dad owned a shop in Lismore – My Baby Shop - with children’s wear and baby stuff and lots of wool and yarn and I did their window dressing for years. I think since I was about 12 I was mixed up with wool. I started weaving when the kids were little then in 2010, I got into it more seriously when I busted my Achilles tendon and I thought what am I going to do while I can’t move around? I don’t actually consider myself an artist. The use of water colours I learnt when I was studying interior design way back - and I have kept it up a bit plus I like working with pencil. That course taught me all the fundamentals - but not weaving of course. My sister learnt it at school and brought home a loom one day and I liked what she did - so I always wanted to try that. I kept the loom when mom moved and then I self-taught myself how to do it. This way of weaving is quite unusual – it is mainly used by artists in America. With this free form picture weaving you create as you go – it is not just lines of weaving but actual pictures that are created in the process. Could you talk us through your creative process? I start with an image I really like and want to create from – it can be from anywhere as I am quite a visual person. Then I decide what size I want to make it. After that I go and decide on the yarns which is a long process. This can take from 3 hours up to 5 hours if the piece is going to have intricate foliage in them or tropical waters with lots of greens and blues. That can be exhausting as it is so important to get the right shades! I get my yarns from op shops and many other places, friends who do loom weavings and spinners have given me some – all stored in my shed out the back. There is such a variety and as I want to put texture in using all the different thicknesses. That is what gives the interest. Then I start usually from the bottom – but I can then move to other parts of the picture – with this weaving you have to end up in the middle. You have to compact the yarn, so push up the top and the bottom down, to have it looking good. I often let it sit for a couple of weeks and decide if it is finished or not. Little details I often put in right at the end as 90% of my weavings are seascapes or water scenes and they need small details. What has been your most crucial tool to grow your creative business? I would have to say getting accepted into a few galleries and shops. I have pieces at the Artisan Gallery in Ballina and at Art Aspects in Lismore as well as the Nexus Gallery in Bellingen. I do also have a website where people can contact me. I am starting on Instagram - but it is early days for me - all the social media involved can be so time consuming. What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started your art? Probably how to successfully learn about marketing – it is hard. You end up with a lot of pieces and you can’t stop making them, but it is important to sell them as well. I am part of a few art groups which is good I find. I am in BACCI (Ballina Arts and Crafts Centre Inc) and I am the exhibition coordinator for them. It all takes time and I know I should go and see more places outside of the area about putting my art out there – its on the to do list for next year! What’s been the best thing that has happened to you since you started? I think meeting lots of likeminded art people and it has really broadened my friendship group. Plus there is such a big sense of achievement each time you finish a piece and you are proud of it. What are your top tips for a great garden? They like a bit of seaweed fertiliser! Rowan planned the garden, but I have now put in more colour which I love. I do like to have sections of different textures and colours to give variety. We put that Balinese Sacred Bamboo in there to hide the telegraph pole and box they put in after we moved in here! Do you have any projects coming up you would like to talk about? I will be in the BACCI exhibition in the Gallery in Ballina which is coming up in January through to March 2021. Then there is the Open studios in November which is an important time of the year for me and I will have a lot of work on display this year - it is part of the Open Studio Trail on weekends of 28/29 November and 5/6 December – website info http://www.os-bbb.com/
0 Comments
Dellene Strong is a fascinating watercolour artist living and working in her home studio on 8 beautiful acres surrounded by rainforest near Alstonville. While she is now known mainly for her stunning watercolour paintings she is also an important teacher who has taught art to many students over the years – as well as working as a primary school teacher most of her working career and producing a number of teacher’s art resource books that have won national awards. It is not surprising that Del’s main focus in her art is honouring nature as she is surrounded by lovely gardens that she has created - as well as a host of different wildlife that are never far away. Her realistic approach to her painting is enhanced by her fascination of the play of light in nature. Another current interest is water and its movement and how light reacts differently through it. Does your garden influence your work – either in what you create or how it affects you? Well it is definitely an inspiration just to come out to the studio as it is surrounded by the beauty of nature and it encourages me to create. Initially I moved from one subject topic to the next. I have always loved water and have just finished a series on waves. I made a connection with this lovely surfer who captures 'moments' in the waves with a body camera – even under the water – and he allows me to use them to paint from. You don’t realise just how amazing these 'moments' are until you see the light on the water – I love light and the movement his photos capture. I also paint flowers – like these magnolias which I have been painting recently (see photo in gallery below). I take photos of them and then paint in the studio – I am not a fast painter and I build up layers, so I need to work in the studio. Every morning I walk out and look around - just last week was the finish of some of my tropical Rhododendrons and I particularly love them – the colours are fantastic and include salmon, cream and orange - and now I have a hot pink one! You come out each day and a new ‘gift’ is there that has opened for you that day – flowers are amazing. Since I stopped working 5 years ago, I have really thrown myself into my garden. I was a teacher and then wrote books for McMillan. They were designed for teachers to have everything ready that they might need for a class, even if a teacher had no artistic ability at all. They have been around for 10 years which is apparently a long time – they also won some awards. But McMillan have gone digital now with their teaching. Then I started the art school about 2009 and ran that for 5 years before I got ill and needed to stop as it was just too busy. Prior to that I was a 'teacher who did art' now I have a second chance and I am 'an artist who can teach'. I now feel I am doing what I should be doing and I really feel blessed. Do you have a favourite corner in your garden? I think it would be the area along the veranda where I look out over the tropical area that I have developed. I do have separate gardens around the house which I am making – for instance there is a wild-flower garden that I am now starting to make out the back. We are on 8 acres so there is a lot of room. We are on the edge of the Big Scrub remnant. I also have recently made some small ponds with water plants and fish – I don’t want a big pond, but I have had fun making them in these pots instead and learning about the plants and fish to use in them. We also have a chicken coop and will hopefully get a few chickens for it soon. What is your favourite plant or flower? That is so difficult as it changes with the season. I think in spring I particularly love the tropical Rhododendrons and I do adore the Clivea. A surprise this morning was a Lemon Clivea which I didn’t even know I had – the oranges are gorgeous but this lemon one was a lovely gift. I also found buds on the water lilies and a perfect little pink cosmos bloom. A friend gave me some Iris bulbs and a Day Lily and they are planted near each other and I do love them – the purple of the Iris is quite special. Cobalt blue is my favourite colour in paint. I do love colour - but in my tropical garden I have a lot of leaf colour and I love that it means there is interest all year round. Water has been tough here as we are on tank water and we have had a dry few years. It is not easy to garden with limited water - you have to find what grows without a lot of water.. Do you have a favourite garden? I have to say this is my favourite – we have been here long time now. It was literally just a paddock when we came here – you could see the Byron lighthouse when we first arrived. There was no road when we bought it. It took quite a while for us to gradually get things built and the garden evolved. When I was travelling to Jiggi every day to teach I really didn’t have the time to develop it like I have now. My mum was a gardener and taught me all the flower names and she loved Cottage gardens – she lived in Sydney. She took up art at 80 years old and I taught her over the phone – we only painted together a couple of times, but she did really well. She spent a year learning to draw and a little bit of the fundamentals then she did it all on her own. I have a memory of my mum and dad saying to me, when I was quite young, that they were off to art class!! But I can’t remember them going on with it – they never had the time to really get into it then. My mum’s mother was an artist too – she had sketch books with heaps of drawings which unfortunately are lost now. She was a milliner by trade - so she was very creative. Interestingly one of my son's, who works in computers, is now working for the Queensland Gallery. How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? I tend to be quite literal with how I paint so they end up quite realistic - but I do not intend them to be based only on realism as there are a lot of painterly effects in them. I have a 'precision' about me, and I like to emulate reality - but then I like to add in a colour or focus that somehow blurs the edges. I recently took a trip to the Central Coast and got inspired by the bush there. I did a whole series because the light inspired me there – our rainforests are quite dark, but these sandstone bush areas seemed to be so light that they really affected me. I know I will go back to them. (See some pics of this work in gallery below) There is a huge tree called the 'Grandmother' tree. My husband carried out a ceremony for us to introduce himself to the land - and part of the ceremony is that you hug the tree. The first day I 'met' the tree it really struck a chord in my heart and it felt like a living thing that I hugged. I sat down after hugging the tree and looked up and saw the sun that streamed through the branches and I took several photos of that which really affected me. When I was recovering from being ill, I loved the birds that came to the garden to visit me. As our forest changes around here, the birds change too. I also love feathers – a lot of people have brought me feathers. Tell us about your career journey to date – did you always want to be an artist? I studied art all through school and always had a love of art. My first memory of art was when I was seven and a teacher taught us how to draw a house and we drew the box shapes then he showed how with a little addition I could turn it into a 3 D shape and it just sparked my imagination – I wanted to make things jump off the page! When I left school, l I could have gone into art and would have loved it but the pressure to make a living meant I ended up studying to be a teacher. I was lucky enough to manage to keep art within my teaching. I was always involved in the performances I would make the backdrops and costumes etc. I always looked how I could bring art into all subjects to make them more interesting and more exciting for the kids. That was how I ended up creating the books. I feel now I am in the most exciting time of my life, because I am doing what I want, and it really is my 'purpose'. Now I just do some small one-day workshops. They help with my urge to teach and satisfies that side of me - but it also leaves me all the time to paint that I want and need. Could you talk us through your creative process? The images I paint are usually things that spark joy in me - and that is the gift of painting for yourself. It has to be nature for me – I can’t gel with painting manmade things. And water is always very special for me. I tend to do a lot of work before I even have a brush in my hand – you need to mathematically prepare the colours then you can get into your creative space after that. I am always looking for the light and I try to focus on a special spot where the light is and I focus on that. How will I create the light in that spot? I always want to keep the sparkle from the water colours in my paintings. Subconsciously the effect of what my son and husband do together, in regards to aboriginal works and history, influences me in tiny ways in the paintings. My husband is a ‘rock keeper’ and I have found I have ended up with markings on some of my rocks in paintings which I didn’t consciously mean to make but I find that they are there. What has been your most crucial tool to grow your creative business? I really was a self-taught water colour artist – it came to me really. In 2006 when writing the books I needed to do some art for myself and I just took to water colour. I had to learn about all the properties and things like how you don’t have to mix on the palette – you can actually mix on the paper. I am not very mathematical, but it really is something you have to learn to do before painting. I find self-marketing really challenging – I just want to paint. Open Studios is great for me – I like to tell people the story behind a painting and that part I really love. So that would be the most important thing. I do enter some competitions, but it is not a major thing – really it is part of instigating my efforts to make something for it. I did a small piece for the Lethbridge gallery and got in the last couple of years – it is always good to see what the other artists are doing. (Picture taken in studio - cupboard of little treasures) What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started your art? I think it is the discipline of getting into the studio every day to paint – for me gardening also has a strong pull on me. Some days I could paint all day but generally the morning is enough - then I go and garden. I also might go for walks. I do journal quite a bit too and it has been quite an important element of my creativity over the years. I might write and draw and include positive affirmations in it. What’s been the best thing that has happened to you since you started? I feel really blessed now, I am a new person – I was very frantic before - now I am calm. Sometimes being quite ill can actually be a gift as it allows you to transform and change your life after that. It can be the kick you need to get your life in order and to the place where you need to be. Do you have any advice you might give your younger self? That creativity is a lovely fundamental thing and it is a gift you will have forever – no matter how busy you get in life you will be able to turn to art – no matter what age you can always come back to it. I find it interesting when people ask if I do art therapy as I think all art is therapy!! I also find that often kids who are drawn to art are looking for a safe place to lose themselves. My grandson is really into boy ‘stuff’ but he really loves and remembers all the fun art I might show him. I do try to encourage younger kids not to be too perfect in their drawings. What are your top tips for a great garden? I am always still learning – plants don’t need just water they really need a lot of decent feeding. I like to give them worm water and dynamic lifter regularly. Do you have any projects coming up you would like to talk about? Open studios is definitely the highlight of the year for me and I will have a lot of work on display this year - so it is part of the Open Studio Trail on weekends of 28/29 November and 5/6 December – website info http://www.os-bbb.com/ My work can also be seen at www.delstrong.com Angela lives on 5 beautiful acres in Newrybar that are also home to her Bingara gallery where you can see a range of her work. You can tell from where she lives how passionate she is about nature as well as the native animals and birds that feature strongly in her work. Her artwork is also part of her desire to heighten awareness amongst everyone, of the plight of wildlife around the world, and to assist in the rehabilitation of local wildlife. She travels often to gather material for her art and to do charity work in both Australia and Africa. In 2014 she walked with camels, along with her gorgeous Red-Heeler “Ruby”, for three months through the outback to raise funds for Swags for Homeless people. Keep an eye out for Ruby in the pics of the garden as she is never far from her side. Angela has also held Art Auctions to raise funds for orphanages around the world. Angela is a self-taught artist who works in pastels, watercolours, inks, graphite and polychromos pencils. She spent most of her working life as a Secondary Teacher until she was able to achieve her dream of becoming a full time Artist. Does your garden influence your work – either in what you create or how it affects you? Absolutely - my garden has changed with our plantings towards native flowering ones and this ties in with my work of native birds and mammals. We have put in Grevillea, Banksias and a number of fruit trees and I have noticed a massive increase in native birds. We get the small Blue Wrens all around one little section of the garden. We also get the Firetails, the Black Cockatoos; Brush Turkeys; Rosellas and little bandicoots. Along the fence line we get kangaroos and emus as our neighbour is Macadamia Castle Wildlife Park. Ours is certainly not an English or ordered suburban garden – we are embracing Natives to bring in bees and frogs etc. We have a little creek that runs through the garden – along the back. Having a large space you can really enjoy the large trees. We have been here three years and spent a lot of money to remove overgrown rubbish trees - we wanted to clear it to make room for the good trees. We have removed Camphors in some places – added Avocado trees and some fruit trees. There is also a Pomegranate, Fig, Blueberry, Davison plum, an Orange, a Banana and a Mulberry tree. My husband is also very proud of his veggie garden and we get so much to eat out of it. We moved here to have the gallery and to have space for our four children and ten grandchildren to enjoy with us. My husband’s vision was always a huge outoor kitchen which we have now next to the pool. We also have an Airbnb on the side which we lived in while rebuilding the house. My office is off the side of the gallery now. Do you have a favourite corner in your garden? It changes – probably this little section which attracts so much birdlife to it - or the area with the huge grevillea where we spent so much time getting the creepers out. Now they have taken off and attract all the lovely birds. I don’t tend to photograph them myself as it is so hard to get perfect pics but I have some very talented friends who have gifted them to me. I watch them and I see their nests and learn their habits. That is all part of it. What is your favourite plant or flower? My favourite is an Iris but I haven’t got any here – it was my wedding flower. But for plants I guess my Grevillea because of their colour and what they bring to the garden attracting birds and bees. My mum lived in Gelong and then the Gold Coast but wasn’t a huge gardener. My husband’s grandfather was an amazing gardener – apparently his vegetable garden was legendary. My parents weren’t artists, but my mum sewed, bottled and cooked and was amazing with maths. Mum always packed the car and she just had that spacial awareness, which is a skill too, I think. My dad sang and he played the guitar and worked so hard in many jobs - and he loved horses like I do. Do you have a favourite garden? One favourite garden was the one we used to go to at the Eastern beach in Geelong - which had a big park with rotundas and those magnificent huge palms with convoluted trunks. But this is my favourite garden. The kangaroos next door got out during a storm on New Year’s Day, and it took days for us to get them back – it is not easy to herd kangaroos!! We got them all back except three which took a while longer How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? I think you tend to put a little bit of yourself into everything. You put your own stamp onto something – everyone’s artwork should be instantly recognisable as it being one of theirs – if you are well developed in your art. It should have a particular look that should be recognisable as yours. I know my work is very detailed and I work with tiny pastel pencils or tiny paintbrushes because I want to get that exact details of the different colours of the iris or the shadow on the pupil or correct number of eyelashes or whiskers. I think that is representational of who I am – I am rather OCD as even my cds and dvds are in alphabatised – I can’t stand a mess! It reflects in my artwork I believe. When I garden, I am freer – I would much rather garden than do housework. Even though I must have a tidy house I would much rather garden. Its something about getting your hands dirty - my husband and I call it ‘earthing’ – you really feel as one with nature and it can produce food. I found it hard to do art during the start of Covid – there was this sense of ‘what’s the point’ but with gardening there was a reason to be outside and absorbing nature. I find that walking in all elements is the best place for me – anywhere! I just love the outside – I would love to be an explorer if I could have my life again. (See the beautiful Ruby in the pic above) Tell us about your career journey to date – did you always want to be an artist? I did art at school, but I hated my art teacher and she hated me. I was at school in Victoria and she was really against realism – she wanted a modern look and didn’t like what I did. It did take the wind out of my sails for quite a while. I did a double degree for Secondary Teaching after school and taught most of my working life. I liked teaching but the red tape was exhausting. I taught at Geelong Grammer school for a few years which I loved a lot. I moved to Queensland and really found myself there. I dabbled with art over the years and produced one or two pieces a year. I won the Southern Cross School People’s choice award when they had the Art Show. I really got serious after my dad passed away and I had a little money and I bought a little studio out at Delwood about 7 years ago. I thought it was now or never and then I worked towards my first solo exhibition at Ballina Gallery. The exhibition was called 'Avian Criminals and Other Fine Friends' and from then I just kept going. (Pic is view from Angela's studio window) Could you talk us through your creative process? I have recently discovered art journaling after going on a course with Zom Osbourne. I have started journaling because I didn’t think I was being 'free' enough in my visions of my art and I loved Zom’s work with dogs and ravens. When I did my solo exhibition, I got inspired from walking with my dog Ruby – these visions came into my head of what I wanted to paint and that worked well. Now with my pastels I am doing more of what I want to – I will decide on a type of bird I want to use and I will find a photo. But I want to go more towards the energy in my head and make the bird fit into that. I have also just started oil painting. I feel that I am looking for a new theme to really jump into. I am part of pastel and wild life artist groups that is all about realism and I was accepted twice for the Holmes Acquisitive Art Prize for Excellence in Realistic Australian Bird Art Competition which is the equivalent of the Archibald for Australian bird artists. It is one that has to be totally realistic with no manmade structures in the artwork. Sometimes it is like I have two wolves inside me at the moment - one totally wanting realism and the other wanting to explore other ways of painting. What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started your art? This happened yesterday – I had finished working on a bird and called it up on the computer to check the colour of the leaves as the photo was a little blurry. When I looked at it on the computer the colour I had used was total wrong – it was a green parrot and I had used yellow, blues and reds instead so I had to go back and go over it with green. So always check your source. But there are hundreds of lessons – perspective; drawing accurately; how to do spheres; light sources and shadows; shapes of eyes and pupils; even things like reflection – don’t use a photo with a flash as you get a double highlight in the pupil rather than the single from daylight. Where do you stop? If the materials you use aren't quality don’t expect a good result or your work to be archival! What’s been the best thing that has happened to you since you started? In terms of recognition it would be being part of the Holmes Realistic Bird Art competition in 2019 and 2017. You submit work and hundreds enter and only 30-40 are selected. I have one I have been working on for this year but the competition did not happen this year. I was also asked to judge the Bentley competition one year which was great. Do you have any advice you might give your younger self? Start earlier, read more and practise, practise, practise. Have confidence in yourself and just go for it. Don’t allow yourself to be influenced by negativity from other people. Even my dad said he wished he had never stopped me from practising art after school. What are your top tips for a great garden? Plan – I think the biggest mistake people make is to over plant and not allow for the size of what will grow. I think people don’t allow the right trees or plants to shine. That Jacaranda down the bottom of the garden is magnificent when it blooms. Our trees are a beautiful contrast of colours and shapes – the fruit trees are planted in front so as not to encroach on the park grass area and still get the sun in front of the large trees. Do you have any projects coming up you would like to talk about? I would love to do a book about 'Ruby with the Camels' from my trip and I think that would be a great project to work on. I am planning an exhibition here next year in my Gallery. I am part of the Open Studio Trail on weekends of 28/29 November and 5/6 December – website info http://www.os-bbb.com/ Angela's work can be seen below or at her website www.bingaragallery.com.au and you can follow her on Instagram at bingaragallery. Contact her direct to purchase her work or to visit her gallery. Narelle Bretherton finds inspiration in the everyday. Her small and intimate realist paintings, painted on plywood, document place and time. These lovely paintings capture the small, often unnoticed moments and places that colour our lives. Her recent work captures the essence of her coastal town of Lennox Head and the nostalgic feel of a simpler time...documenting the last of the beach shacks, buildings, landscapes and caravans around her home. Narelle Bretherton finds inspiration in the everyday. She also paints lovely little watercolour pieces capturing the beauty and simplicity of everyday items. Does your garden influence your work – either in what you create or how it affects you? Yes definitely - I think having a green space is very important for me – always being connected to the garden or beach makes me feel good and helps me to create. I paint a lot of small watercolours which I find relaxing – separate to my main art – and it is about appreciating small things. I often sit at the gallery and I will paint while I'm there from pieces brought from my or Christine's garden. My mum wasn’t an artist but she sewed and made all our clothes. That started me off and inspired me. I was headstrong and knew exactly what I wanted in clothes. I found I was able to design and make patterns and mom would then make them up for me as she was a beautiful sewer. My sister, mum and I had a market stall and we would make up clothes as well as soft toys and sell them there. My sister would do the delicate hand embroidering on the faces – they all live in Melbourne. I took art at school all the way through - as well as sewing and graphic design. I ended up going to Tafe, but I had my young son at the time and it was just too hard. Eventually I got a portfolio together and I was able to go to art school at Victorian College of the Arts. Over that time I also had a pottery market stall and worked in a hobby ceramic store teaching people to paint on ceramics and I also created a wholesale range which I loved. I always seem to have worn a lot of hats and it can be exhausting. I found that I needed to stop and think what I wanted to do – I needed to take some time off to concentrate on my art. Do you have a favourite corner in your garden? The corner with our table and chairs which are beside the fire-pit, I think. We spend a lot of time out here – even toasting marshmallows in winter. I also have a door out of my studio as well as a window - and it is great to look out at the garden from there so that is definitely another favourite spot. What is your favourite plant or flower? I have always liked succulents and have them in the house and they are easy. I am not the greenest thumb! I also love roses of all types the old fashioned ones and also lavender - probably because I remember them from living in Victoria. I do love natives now and I would love to have a gum tree if I could - plus grevilleas of course. Do you have a favourite garden? I certainly loved my mum’s and my grandmother’s due to the great memories I have from growing up there. I have always enjoyed being in the bush and camping near the lakes inland in Victoria. I lived in the Mornington peninsula for 15 years. I do love being around gum trees. Now we have frangipani here of course – they felt so exotic when we first arrived - bare at this time of year of course but they cast beautiful shadows. My mum had lovely gardens – she lives in Melbourne and her garden backs onto a golf course. She has always propagated lots of her plants from other gardens and the result is quite lovely. In our childhood garden she had a fernery – in fact my grandmother had one too! They lived in Bendigo and my grandmother had a spectacular fernery there. It was like a greenhouse and it was full of maiden hair ferns etc and I remember my mum also had a huge flowering gum in the middle of the garden. I really loved that gum! How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? It is definitely part of who I am, and I can’t not make something. I didn’t paint for about 6 years when kids were little - but I sewed and baked and did kids craft - so always been making some form of art. I had my first market stall was when I was 12. If I am not making art, then I might be arranging things on a table in the house – but now I am painting almost all of the time. I don’t journal all the time, but I plan and paint things in my mind before I start. I take pictures in my mind and know how it will look even before I start. I also paint ‘plein air’ and take photos to use for the houses that I paint. I do enjoy life drawing too – I really love the challenge of that. Tell us about your career journey to date – did you always want to be an artist? I never quite managed to make it work for me as a full-time job, but I have always done art as part of my life and I have done other creative jobs and it is part of what I do. I could almost make a living now from my art - but it is hard to find time to make enough art pieces – I still wear a lot of hats so it is a balance. Could you talk us through your creative process? Well for instance my house paintings are about documenting place and time – I like to save memories of things that might be lost. I love the nostalgic feel of these older places – the emotional connection I feel towards saving memories of great homes I might see. I might see a house I drive past – sometimes it is the colour or the shadow falling across a building. They are not always pretty but the light and the shapes that I see make them beautiful to me. If I think the house might be lost or taken down then I might think it is important to paint. I take photos and then I paint onto plywood – I like the wood showing through a little. I use acrylics mainly now as they are easier and less toxic to paint with than oils. I paint traditionally with a tonal underpainting and then I have fun with the colours afterwards painting them in. What has been your most crucial tool to grow your creative business? Being part of the Collective in Lennox – I have been there 5 or 6 years now and that has been very important for me. I needed to get back into it. I and entered the 'Smalls' competition when I got here and I won it - which was fun - and a little time after that they asked if I would like to join them. Now I am quite active in the group and I help curate a lot of the shows – I love being part of that. I see that as creative too What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started your art? I think it is to just keep going – to work every day to believe in yourself. It is something I think all artists find hard and it never goes away- it is a constant challenge. I constantly have to overcome the self doubt and ‘imposter’ syndrome. It is really hard to put your art out there – self-promotion is very challenging and its not much fun to feel you're being judged. Being part of the group certainly helps me a lot and I think is the best thing possible for my art development. Do you have any advice you might give your younger self? Just keep painting – just keep doing it. You will doubt yourself but just keep going! What are your top tips for a great garden? I am a 'make the best of what you have got' person – and as I rent I bring that to my gardens. I have never created one from scratch. I find that I work with what I have and work to improve it and make it my own space – adding things to it. It is, of course, important to find out what grows in the area and what grows in each space. It is harder when you rent but I do what I can – gardening is therapy and you want it to feel like home. Do you have any projects coming up you would like to talk about? I am part of the Open Studio Trail on weekends of 28/29 November and 5/6 December – website info http://www.os-bbb.com/ with Christine Reid this year - which I am excited about. Plus of course I am part of the Lennox Art Collective in the main street of Lennox Head where I always have some art on display. You can see my work there, or on my Instagram which is narellebrethertonart. I am always happy to discuss commissions or sale of my works. Caroline is a contemporary printmaker and painter living on a few beautiful acres in Federal. Here she creates her works that also combine drawing and sewing as well as found objects. Her beautiful work focuses on the numerous small things in life that many other people might not notice, but Caroline celebrates them through her work. Many of the flowers, seeds, pods etc from her garden can be seen in her works. Caroline and her husband Mark are great travellers too and this reflects in a number of her series. I particularly love her Silk Road series and have a couple of her prints of these small objects. Does your garden influence your work – either in what you create or how it affects you? Yes, a lot of my work is directly taken from things in my garden. When I first started etching, I would use flowers from my garden and draw them then etch from the drawings. This evolved over time, but I still find it interesting. I love native flowers banksias and grevilleas and I still am trying to etch a bottlebrush, but it is hard. I paint, etch and draw in pastels and I also collage. Collage is mainly created out of my etchings that are left over – I hate throwing things out so I repurpose my work and collage it into a series. I might test colours and I reuse them in collage. I also make books and screens etc from old prints I don’t use. Do you have a favourite corner in your garden? Probably several - I have one lovely little garden section I like but the brush turkeys seem to have wrecked so much of our gardens recently. I also made this little Elsie Cheshire memorial frog pond – I made it after my mom died. We used to laugh and say we would put in a swimming pool with my inheritance but it’s in a perfect spot – I put her old table and chairs there which are falling to pieces, but I go and sit there and watch the beautiful reflections in the water. Mum would come down and help me in the old veggie garden near there - so I sit there and think of mum. There are Bromeliads and Clivea in that garden and some ginger as it is a shady spot. What is your favourite plant or flower? I love all plants – I am totally amazed by flowers when you look closely at them. I do love grevilleas though and am about to replant a big area down near the entrance where I will plant a whole lot of tube stock soon after we get some rain. Things grow so well here that I can’t put in things that grow too tall – things grow almost too well here. I have had a tree that was meant to be 2m grow to 5m! Do you have a favourite garden? Mum had a beautiful garden she had a fantastic rose garden in Glen Innes. As she was English, she had many roses and English plants. Of course, it was cold there, so they worked – she had an acre and she was a great gardener. My dad was an artist, but he worked hard and only took it up again as he got older. He liked to paint with oils and created mainly landscapes. He was a painter and decorator, so he was so busy till he retired. He really had no opportunity to develop his skills as he went to war and then to a prison of war camp; and then worked hard to support us 6 kids. How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? When I do the collages that is a direct result of me not wanting to waste anything – I wasn’t interested in collage, but I hate waste, so I got into in once I had my own studio. My art is influenced by my travels, but I also want to create art about travel as everything I see is interesting. Mark and I have great curiosity and love looking at everything- we honestly love all museums and I can find something of interest in any museum. I think artists as a whole tend to have a lot of curiosity. We did a long-planned trip along the Silk road from which I did a series of etchings about artefacts and small things of interest on the trip. I want other people to share my interest and hope that they realise that might miss things if they don’t look at the little things. Tell us about your career journey to date – did you always want to be an artist? I didn’t actually study art at school as I went to a small country school which didn’t offer it. Since I couldn’t do it I did geology instead. There were so few choices in year 11 and 12 as it was a small in Glen Innes. I never finished as I just wasn’t interested in school - however I am still fascinated by geology! When I met my husband Mark we moved with my brother to Sydney. He encouraged me to go to study art at East Sydney Tech and they agreed to give me a place to study Fine Art. I loved that course and specialised in screen printing as I found I was always drawn to colour – I didn’t do etching then as it was too ‘one coloured’ for me. I quickly realised I couldn’t live off being an artist, despite selling quite a lot, and just didn’t have the confidence . Then we moved up to the Northern Rivers and we went travelling for about 9 months overseas down through Africa which really started my love of travelling. (Picture is of Caroline's beautiful art workshop) Could you talk us through your creative process? I have some ideas that I might have journaled – a series or a combination of etching ideas that I want to put together – either from around me or from my travels. For instance, it starts with the idea but quickly it then comes together in my head as to how I want the whole series to look. For instance, the Silk Road latest series – while travelling I was fascinated by all the amazing small artefacts, so I started then looking for what I wanted pictures of - things I wanted to etch for the series. When I get home, I then draw them up into proportion and then I need to get plates cut. Sometimes my ideas are dictated by what size plates I have left over. I have a lot of the copper plates I use stored in the studio. I end up with many photos and drawings which I pull together into the series I want to work on. Then I start the etching - which I love the most actually. I am missing it – I love the whole process, but it is quite an expensive process. I want to do smaller stuff now – maybe two together. I also want to carry on with the pattern ideas I have been following. From my travels I have found I love the patterns and shapes I see on tiles on floors, walls, carvings even wallpaper etc. For example, I am interested in all the English patterns I saw – I went to around 73 national trust houses and they really are amazing. Of course, I also got to go around the gardens at these houses which were just beautiful. I would love to do it all again – it took us 8 months to go around the UK to see them all. This was 10 years ago just after I broke my back. When planning an etching with a pattern I like to include small things like stones or butterflies or flowers – these are the important things that make up our lives . I like the idea that small things make up patterns and interesting shapes. The act of making is gathering ideas through looking and travelling. So many things I think I might use later so I store it up for another time. I have a journal that I put all my bits and pieces into. I might have an idea – even at 3 am I get up and write it in my journal. My journal is full of bits of paper with ideas on. I might go back every now and again and use them What has been your most crucial tool to grow your creative business? I think when I started going to Bangalow Market, I gained confidence. I had so much just stored up and it was great to show it off. I also think maybe going in competitions – I managed to win a few. At the markets when people come and talk to you about your art, buy it and come back and tell you about it on the wall it is just a great experience. What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started your art? I think it is how difficult it is to find the confidence to get your work out there. I have confidence in my work as I do it for me - not just to meet a market need. I do it because it is about me. I knew the Silk road ones would be likely to sell slowly but I really wanted to do them for myself. So, I think the lesson is to ensure that you keep doing what you want for yourself What’s been the best thing that has happened to you since you started? The people that I have met through art – all the people who are in our group at the market for instance. I never had much to do with other artists or joining in, but I am getting more confidence. It is great meeting all the people who come in to look at my art and chatting to artists in the group. I love hearing people’s travel stories and my art seems to spark those stories. Do you have any advice you might give your younger self? If you want to do art when you are young, then maybe consider doing interior design or dress design which I was interested in. I think I could have made a career out of that, and would have done well, but I went with fine art which is hard to make money from. I used to draw dresses etc and probably should have gone that direction. My parents didn’t really push me to do anything in particular – I think they thought I would just get married and have kids. What are your top tips for a great garden? You have to be creative with it - just put in what you want and pull it out if it doesn’t work. I came here with nothing on the land and I made heaps of mistakes – don’t put big trees in!! Our trees went crazy on this soil and grew way too big. I started with a plan - and of course we have macadamia trees in an orchard as well. My theme is probably native garden Do you have any projects coming up you would like to talk about? I am part of the Open Studio Trail on weekends of 28/29 November and 5/6 December – website info http://www.os-bbb.com/ and people can see my work on my website https://www.carolinemckayart.com and contact me if they would like to purchase anything. I am happy to send my prints anywhere in Australia or overseas. John Walters is now a weaver and sculptor - but as I found out when chatting to him this is only the current phase of a wonderful life of creativity . Locals to northern NSW might be familiar with his lovely work weaving baskets and animals - also creating pieces from garden materials including palm fronds and flower stalks. Increasingly you would also know him for his lifelike wire sculptures of Australian wildlife – many of which have been displayed in Sculpture shows as well as having been commissioned for homes all over the country. I had a fabulous visit with John and seeing so much of his art in the garden really inspired me to get going to look at putting more of my work into my garden – hope this story also inspires you to put more than just flowers into your garden! Does your garden influence your work – either in what you create or how it affects you? I use materials from the garden all the time - some of which I have even planted some specifically for that purpose like the Cordyline australis and the dragon plant which has great red parts on the leaf. I also planted Bangalow palms and I also gather bits from the street. I know where things are and I can go there to gather them if I need to - but I have lots of things stored as things fall at different times. Do you have a favourite corner in your garden? No special corner – I like to put art in the garden I call it my ‘gnomes’ – most of my artwork is now for outside – definitely the wirework. I also have clay items in the garden that I used to make – I still have a kiln. I did art at Tafe - I wasn’t allowed to do it at school as it didn’t fall into my 'academic' line . I was doing science and maths and English and art didn’t fit into it. I think I was seen to be an academic – but I did become an apprenticeship chef when I left school. I found creativity in that and I always painted and made things. I worked as a chef for 30 years till I moved to Mullumbimby. I was part of the cooking competitions at trade fairs – they used to have them Interstate, so I was competing with the Brisbane team. They would send teams to Melbourne once a year. Teams would make items like a hot kitchen; seafood platter, buffet platter etc and a centrepiece and I was responsible for the 'Centrepiece' for Queensland. Then they would pick an Australian team to compete in Germany every 4 years. I made them using special margarine and icing sugar or a salt dough. You make them in advance and could take three months to make. I made a display of aboriginal art for one of the German competitions. (See pic) I would also make old Queenslander houses out of the sugar. I took one of these to Melbourne and it got smashed on the way down – we had to display it as it was, and they thought I was using the Cyclone Tracy that had hit as inspiration. What is your favourite plant or flower? I don't have a particular one but I love native plants - like Grevillea and Callistemon which bring both the birds and the bees. My mum and dad were dairy farmers, so they worked hard to keep the farm looking good. My mum is a highly skilled crafts person producing beautiful knitting and crochet. In those days you had to be good at that type of thing. Dad was good at making things and fixing things – and now he still works in their garden at age 95. How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? I call it the 'Repetition of nothing' – I am mainly busy with my wirework these days and it is all repetitive so I can sit and relax and listen to music and can it pick up or put it down at any time. I am just bending bits of wire at the moment or working with weaving of palm fronds or flower stalks and I can just pick them up and just keep on going. I found when I painted I needed at least 10 hours to get into it. Tell us about your career journey to date – did you always want to be an artist? When I retired and moved from Townsville to Mullumbimby I decided to go to Tafe and get back into my art. I did an Advanced Diploma of Ceramics and then I went to University and did Bachelor of Visual Arts. When you work you don’t have a lot of time but now I can do art all day if I want to. In hindsight it would have been great to just create art - and I think I could have made a living out of it - but my parents didn’t think it was a good idea. We tend to listen to our parents. When I left school I didn't know wha tot do and becoming a Chef seemed like a good idea. Could you talk us through your creative process? I think I always have at least a couple of ideas that grow in my head and, when I get the chance, then I make them. I see things in my head - for instance I want to make a couple of fighting kangaroos that are life size. I think they would be good for an outdoor exhibition. It will be interesting to work out the balance etc which will be quite hard. I have a couple of large pieces in the garage at the moment and I want to make a wombat with a koala on its back. It will be a piece about the awful recent bushfires – many wombats survived by going underground in the fires whereas the koalas went up the trees and died. I try and make things that are relevant to me and our area. What has been your most crucial tool to grow your creative business? I think participating in community activities like the markets and exhibitions like Art in the Park. I am also part of PAN Practicing Artists Network . I don’t tend to go outside of the area - I don’t show in Brisbane or Sydney as it is just too hard to get there. (I don't drive). Creating art is fun for me and I don’t want to turn it into hard work. What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started your art? It is definitely not to be too precious about what you make. For example the Queenslander house I made out of icing sugar for the centrepiece that was going to an Australian competition in Melbourne - that got smashed on the way down. This taught me not to be precious – it took 3 months to make. We just had to use it as it was but luckily they thought it was a house hit by cyclone Tracy. What’s been the best thing that has happened to you since you started? The people you meet – it is so nice to meet those who compliment you and similar people in the business. People seem to like my work and I try to keep it affordable. It is because I am now retired that I can do that. I like to sell my work regularly so I can keep making it. I don’t want it stacked in my garage. I loved ceramics but I still have heaps of it. Do you have any advice you might give your younger self? 'Follow your dreams' – you need to do what makes you happy. It is not so much about the money. If I had always done art I think I would be doing totally different things with my art today and hopefully making decent money from it. I really enjoy 3D work mostly so I think it would still have been that type of work. What are your top tips for a great garden? You have to let it grow. When we first moved here, we had no garden – we have been here 20 years now. I like to get things to look like a bush garden – more natural and unstructured. I also like to get various levels - for instance a canopy then a mid-section then ground cover. That takes time to grow. The garden here is an ever-evolving process. I must say I also like to have privacy from neighbours so that means fairly dense foliage on the border of the garden. Do you have any projects coming up you would like to talk about? I will be getting back to market soon - at the end of September at Bangalow on 27th and you can see my work in the Moller Pavilion along with the other artists who exhibit there. People can contact me to see my work or look at Instagram to view my work (johnwalters3615). I am always happy to talk about a commission if anyone is interested. Deborah White is a fascinating local artist who creates sculptures; wall art; drawings; paintings and jewellery. Her art uses either natural items or recycled items, in really innovative and beautiful ways. Her minimalist work explores organic forms in nature and juxtaposes them with materials that humans have invented for day to day use and then thrown away. She also runs workshops to encourage people to make their own art in similar ways. (She also has the most fantastic shed in her lovely garden which gave me huge workshop envy!!) I love the quirky mix of art she sprinkles throughout her garden - certainly made me rethink how to put more of my art into my garden. The soul of Africa runs deep in Deb and certainly shines through in her art. I find growing up in Africa puts a certain 'indelible stamp' on people, as you might know I grew up in South Africa too. She was born in Zimbabwe after which her parents moved, while she was still very young, to Malawi - due to the awful impending war in Zimbabwe. In Malawi they lived in a sugar estate down south called Sucoma and her family lived there for 25 years. Her mum started a school there with a friend and was her teacher for a while before she moved to school in Blantyre. Later on, she became a boarder in South Africa – coming home to Malawi for holidays three times a year. To read more about Deb's fascinating story and to see all her art for sale visit her website deborahwhite-art.com . Does your garden influence your work? Yes - definitely - in fact my first exhibition was called 'Abstract Botanica' at the Ballina gallery – all my work includes things that are natural – even my paintings are are quite cellular or have organic drawings on them . My necklaces feature seeds I have collected or repurposed things that I have been given. I love the seeds from the Bismark palm in my garden. I use many manmade items too that I recycle - for instance fly screen; sound proofing material; bottle tops through to galvanised metal off wood delivered for making steps. The people of Malawi could make something from nothing - as they had nothing – Malawi people are really creative with everything. I think this I saw early on and learnt a lot from growing up with that background. Do you have a favourite corner in the garden? I think the area with the birdbath and the meerkat – it brings back my memories of Africa. They are from the South African desert– I remember mongooses in Malawi .
What is your favourite plant? I don’t have a lot in the garden but I love orchids so much! Both my parents would grow them and we would go orchid hunting in the bush together in Malawi. I only really have a couple here- one that is tied into the tree and I have a ‘dancing lady’ orchid in a pot and will put it in a tree when it has bloomed this time. They love to go in the fork of a tree enjoying shelter and sprayed water. I also love bromeliads. I am monochromatic in my art, in fact I find colour challenging in art - but I love colour in the garden. As a graduate I used black and white in my fashion show in final year. I went to school at Pietermaritzburg Epworth where I studied art and fashion. I wanted to be an artist - but my dad said no way you’ll be a hippy - so I could choose from graphic design or fashion design. I chose fashion design and worked in Durban in South Africa with a huge staff at Da Vinci shirts. Mainly men’s fashion but I introduced sleep wear and a lady’s range – which were successful. I think looking back I would have loved interior design. I love making stories in areas in the home. I think once you have a creative eye you can use it in so many ways. Can you tell me about a favourite garden? My favourite garden was my mum’s garden in Malawi – she won many awards from every flower show; orchid show and veggie show. It was huge and beautiful - essentially a native garden. She loved gardening as well as flower arranging – specifically ‘Ikebana’. I find this floral art form comes through in my wall art – in its balance and shape. I remember from the 80’s she had Barberton daisies (Gerberas) as well as chrysanthemums and crotons. She was a natural gardener though – never used insecticides only used natural things as sprays. My grandmother lived in Zimbabwe and she enjoyed the garden – she was a forager – she influenced my life a lot as I spent holidays with her collecting things and this influenced me – she also crocheted and made great salads. My dad was in the police and then worked on a sugar estate – he was creative - always building toy yachts and model airplanes How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? I think that the act of making - while creative - for me is the logical process of putting things together. I use a logical way to make something that leads to creative result. I think it is very much based on my heritage – practicality from watching my dad solve problems while making things. That is maybe why my style is quite clean – I love other art to look at but I could never do that. I find it is too ‘loose’ I think I have a bit of OCD as I like things straight and ordered. My art is balanced like that - and black and white which makes it cleaner. I struggle to use colour. The blue one I made (from a whole lot of donated bottle tops) ended up in the garden as I couldn’t look at it in my monochromatic house. Tell us about your career to date – did you always know you wanted to pursue this line of work? I always wanted to be an artist but my dad saying no meant 25 years in the fashion industry. It was really only when I met my husband racing at the Master’s swimming competition and we decided to get together 11 years ago that I left SA. I got really into my art when 4 years ago during our renovation I couldn’t bear to throw all the bits away – so I started seriously to use them. I enjoyed selling at the markets, but they are hard work. My jewellery grew from my love of fashion. I make more of that now – as I can wear them. I would like to do more wall hangings but, due to my busy other job and my back injury I am not able to do a huge amount right now - I hope to get back to it next year. Talk us through your creative process. Where do you start? I am influenced initially by knowing my colour palette and also that it will be balanced. I might be on a walk and see a piece of wood or seeds and I know that will be the start of a wall sculpture or piece of jewellery. I like curves and shapes and then the artworks tend to grow organically. If someone gives me recycled things, then I might see it as a start of a sculpture . My garden or my walks in nature will usually be right at the start of my inspiration. My drawings are freehand – I just start and they come out organically and I just let my hand flow. What’s been the single most crucial tool or strategy you’ve used to grow your creative business? I have to say social media and word of mouth – my workshops are not advertised – usually a friend will organise a group to come to me. As I have another job it is too hard at the moment to do a huge amount, so I get people I know to bring friends. They don’t need to be creative, but they can make a wall hanging they love. Time is limited when you have another job – you can’t turn creativity on and off - you need to be in the zone and keep going in it. What’s been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started your art? I think overcoming the expectation that everyone will love your work and buy it. I find that I get multiple compliments but sometimes no sales. It is so important to market to the right people or market. What’s the best thing that’s happened to you since you started creating? The people I have met through my work and workshops – South African people are such community people and I found it hard here when I first arrived. Once I started my art and workshops, I found a community I could be part of. I have enjoyed being part of art groups – you can’t hide away in your studio and expect a great outcome.
What are your top Tips for a beautiful garden? You need to stay on it - keep feeding them, weeding them and looking after the soil – we work on ours all the time. We had a vision from when we were inspired while visiting a botanic garden in Dubbo - and we built ours from scratch. Do you have any projects coming up you would like to talk about? My back is not good at the moment and I am waiting for an operation - so most things are on hold at the moment till next year. I need to get my energy back for more creative things including workshops next year. My work for sale is on my website https://www.deborahwhite-art.com Karyn is a local artist living in Mullumbimby in a lovely little oasis near the showground. I have known Karyn for a few years now and we are both part of the Art There Collective that exhibits at the Bangalow market regularly in the Moller Pavilion. Of course, due to the Covid situation, there has been no chance to meet up as often this year - so it was great to catch up with Karyn in her lovely little studio and subtropical garden. I have put some examples of Karyn’s unique work at the bottom of this blog in case you don’t know her work or you can visit her website. Karyn’s work is all about the interaction of light and shadows cast by nature – silhouettes cast by the landscape. She uses a number of beautiful layers of paint to create unusual landscape paintings as well as bird studies and still life paintings. Does your garden influence your work – either in what you create or how it affects you? Yes, in both ways I guess. I spend lots of time from first thing in the morning sitting outside and enjoying my garden. I look at the shadows and birdlife and subject matter for my still life paintings and even for my landscapes - I find the leaves and trees comes into the works later on and, of course, my studio looks out over the garden . I created a whole series based on backyard birds that were all birds that came here to the garden to visit. I sell prints of these at – 'Made in Mullum'. Do you have a favourite corner in your garden? My most favourite corner in the garden is the spot with birdbath and I love watching it with the sun coming through the leaves and shadows that are cast . I am very interested in shadows and outlines with light behind creating patterns and shapes. They are an important part of my works. What is your favourite plant or flower? I love the jacaranda which is stunning when in flower – the one here is a really old tree. I think it must have been planted when house was built in 78. I also really enjoy the frangipani when it flowers and we have a few camellias which the birds love. We have Blue-faced Honey Eaters and Miner birds which feed on the flowers - I do try to photograph them a lot but they are hard to capture. The Magpies come and visit every day too. Do you have a favourite garden? I think it is this one which is small and established – the people who planted it put a lot of thought into it and I love the advanced trees and small manageable lawn. It is a small yard but very private from our neighbours with lots of foliage between us. My parents had a great garden which I loved – we talk about gardens when we call. Both of them are gardeners so we chat about that and books, which we both love. My grandmother was an artist. My mum was creative in the garden and she was also a dressmaker. She told me if things were different, she would have gone into fashion design but it was too hard back then. Mum could make patterns of her own – she would see things she liked and make up the pattern. My Grandmother painted first in oils and then in water colour. She also painted landscapes and birds – and she created some amazing bark paintings back in the 50’s using paper bark tree bark – I have one she did of Blue Wrens. How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? I have always done something creative from a young age – I just liked to be alone and create with play dough; drawing on a chalk board or chopping up hankies making dolls clothes. It is just something I have always done. I just enjoyed being on my own. I have always read a lot – even before primary school - and the librarian couldn’t believe I actually was reading them that fast. I would climb in the tree house and read books. I can remember lying on the trampoline in the big backyard under the gum trees. I would lie on it watching the patterns on the trampoline around me from the light coming through the tree branches - I think that was the start of my fascination with pattern. I did a series of photos at art college about shadows . I can even remember in primary when I was about 7 doing project on silhouettes and being fascinated by it - so I guess my fascination with light and shadow was there from a very early age. Tell us about your career journey to date – did you always want to be an artist? Yes, I always wanted to be an artist. In my first week in primary school a teacher explained about how an illustrator worked in creating books with the writer and was fascinated as suddenly I had found out you could get a job drawing! I went straight to art college from school. My parents wanted me to be a teacher but I resisted that – but I did do a graphic design course and found a job at first. It is a really good discipline I found. I learned the fundamentals of design from college. Composition is really important to me in design and it is important for my painting. I plan my works out in advance and use my sketch books and photographs – I draw all the bits together and then do a final sketch before I start. Could you talk us through your creative process? – I start with an idea and then start sketching. It usually starts outdoors then I photo and draw, or just sketch, then combine the images – maybe 10 photos to compile into another drawing before I start painting. Then I build up layers – like print making in that way -I usually have about 6 layers. What has been your most crucial tool to grow your creative business? My computer I think. Particularly knowing how to use it to promote my work and document all my work. I guess keeping records and keeping in contact with buyers is also important. I also find that documenting my work is important so I can refer back to it. I also plan in advance – I set goals and write lists and try to stick to it. This year is very hard of course – I try to have an exhibition every year – but last year I had two which is just as well as I have had none this year. I do make sure I work enough to have a body of work for an exhibition. This year I have been painting to please myself - but I think it is good as I have found new colours and direction – I am really satisfied with my recent work. What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started painting? Not everyone will like what you do – you just can’t please all the people all of the time. Stick to what you enjoy doing and let it find its market. You have to find your market and not let people get you down who might not like it. There are places my work will be better received than others and I just have to find them. What’s been the best thing that has happened to you since you started painting? It is a buzz if someone whose work I admire says they like my work. At a show of mine in Brisbane a number of years ago - John Coburn saw my show as his gallery was next door. He popped in and told the director that I showed great promise and that felt really good. Do you have any advice you might give your younger self? If it is in your blood you have to do it. What are your top tips for a great garden? Don’t be frightened to remove things and put something else in – we have done that a lot – moved or removed things. Do your homework – find out what is suited to your area – look around in local gardens. I plant what I know will thrive. Do you have any projects coming up you would like to talk about? I am working on a series of still life paintings for a show in the future. I am part of the Open Studio Trail on weekends of 28/29 November and 5/6 December – website info http://www.os-bbb.com/ Flowers are a subject I am working on a lot – from my garden. I might also buy a bouquet and then add in my own flowers – I will photograph it and then paint it. Sacred bamboo and camellia leaves are great additions. There will be a mini exhibition of these still life paintings at the Open Studio Trail.
See more of Karyn's work at http://www.karynfendley.com This week I visited local artist Christine Read to have a chat and look around her garden. I already knew that Christine is influenced by her garden and love her vibrant work - and I am lucky enough to own a couple of her pieces. It was a joy to chat to her today and see her in her own backyard. (All photos taken in Christine's garden during my visit) A little about her background for those who don’t know Christine. She has lived in the UK, as well as South Africa, before ending up in Australia. We are lucky to have her teaching and creating in our little town of Lennox Head. Christine takes small groups on sketching tours of France and the UK visiting a number of spectacular gardens along the way, so I knew she was an ideal artist for me to start my journey with. There is nothing safe and unassuming about Christine’s art – it is vibrant and hums with energy and colour. Many of her new pieces are what she terms ‘fantasy’ still life paintings. (see bottom of Blog or her website) Christine lives in a very special part of the country with massive fig trees along the top of the property and lots of rolling grassy areas. Other trees nearby include the paperbark which provides lots of inspiration with its colours and textures. Unsurprisingly, her house is not painted a run of the mill colour – instead it buzzes in turquoise which provides a perfect backdrop for many of the plants - including her stunning kumquat. The garden includes a number of plants that are used repeatedly in her works. She loves the heat of summer and it shines through in her work. Hot pink and red geraniums tumble over themselves in garden beds next to blue pots of sedum and other succulents. Nasturtiums feature in a few of Christine’s works and in her garden, they are left to self-seed and cross pollinate – providing a lovely mix of orange, yellow and red. Easy care they are a lovely addition to a garden. White is an important colour for Christine in her garden and while her white iceberg roses weren’t in bloom at the moment it is easy to imagine them there. I found a gorgeous metal white cockatoo next to a pot of white petunias creating a pool of calm – they were surrounded by branches to keep the constant attention from local bush turkeys at bay! How does your garden influence your work? When thinking about painting I will wander around the garden looking for ideas – we have 1 acre and great views. I will often photograph and sketch -looking for colours and shadows and images. I also will go to the top of the drive and use the streetscape. I do a lot of still life and ‘fantasy’ still life with pots and flowers and landscapes. I put all three in - so I look for flowers in the garden that will fit. I do find that sometimes a certain flower will inspire a painting. Do you have a favourite corner in the garden? I like the view from my studio - and I sit on my settee and look out and sketch that view -so I like those close to the house. The rest of property is not manicured - I like to gather leaves or gum blossoms and I love it all. Do you have a favourite flower or plant? I love them at different times – the ‘drunken parrot tree’ is a big favourite and nasturtiums which started from a trip to Giverny that my mother went on. She painted too and she went there long before me and telling me all about them there so she planted them and their image has always been with me tumbling over with the long stems. They cross pollinate and you get great colours – yellows and oranges and red and they make me happy while reminding me of my mother. I love roses too. Mostly I try to incorporate those less exotic flowers into my works like heliconias and hibiscus – I love the bright colours. I also love daisies and sunflowers, but they don’t want to grow in my garden. The Poinciana is another I love to include in paintings. Which has been your favourite garden? My parent’s garden was lovely –my dad – an engineer – included a train track in the garden and he just loved planting things, which was lovely as he created a beautiful spot. In Sydney my gardens were near the beach and I had some amazing bougainvillea– it was a small garden, but it grew over the palm trees which was stunning. This garden is the biggest I have ever had, and I just love it. How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? I have always found it difficult to be social creature. I was always quite introverted and quite happy to spend time by myself making things. At 9 I was living in South Africa and in the holidays I was found at the sewing machine making doll's clothes - without being shown – just from watching. Even from early days I loved to make things for instance making Plaster of Paris models and painting them. I also adored painting Christmas decorations with my mum and grandma. I eventually discovered I am better socially if making things with friends– I love my art classes and taking people on trips. Did you always know you would end up making art? I always drew and made things and while in high school I took art. It was not really expected that I would do art – 'A' stream students were not expected to do art - but my parents were very supportive and when the time came to choose subjects I only took one language and art. I therefore managed to take art all the way through, at the highest level and we had a great art department. Then it became trickier as I had to decide a career area – I thought of medical art, but I would have had to go to England. The teachers said I was too bright to just do art and encouraged me to go down the science track and, in the end, I put in for medicine and got in so that set me on that path. I always knew I could come back to it and always kept drawing and screen printing. I even went into business while still at school with a friend who sewed and who would make up materials I screen printed into items our friends bought off us. Talk us through your creative process? I construct a painting – sometimes from starting with a vase or bowl and then go into the garden – I build it on the canvas and I even take things out at times. I don’t often have a whole image in my head at the start - it can evolve as the painting develops. What has been a crucial tool or strategy in growing your art business? As I was ending my career in the medical sector, I had in my mind that 60 was a good time to change. I enjoyed my job, but I really wanted to concentrate on my art by then. I did realise that I couldn’t just stop so I worked out how to ease into it. My husband was ecstatic to move as he is a surfer, so I semi-retired and moved up here to start an art career. My mum left her job at 60 and became a proper knitter with a machine. That made me realise that I could start my second career at 60 as well – work part time and start my art business. It started with us buying a house with space for a studio – I believed I should build it and it would happen. I started with Still at the Centre and started going there and got back into my painting and by putting myself out there it got me to meet various local artists. I met Mark Waller in Lennox where I would go and paint regularly. At one point I decided that I could contribute and, along with a few others, created the Lennox Art Collective. About 4 years ago, I decided that my art classes and my painting would allow me to stop working my other job part time and just do my art full time. What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since starting painting? I think it is to have faith in yourself – it is quite confronting to put your work out there and so it is hard not to lose heart and just keep going. My advice is not to ask your friends and family members for their opinion – just keep going with what you are making and believe in yourself. What is the best thing that’s happened to you since you started painting? Just to be doing exactly what I want to do is such a pleasure – I do question whether I should have done art all the way through my life. My children are really supportive, my son is a film director and is a useful critic. My daughter is creative in the sense of having a great eye for knowing what makes a perfect setup in various rooms in a home – she did beautiful ceramic painting when she was younger. My daughter in law was on the production side of films and now has been curating in galleries and we go to all these great exhibitions when in the UK. They both said when starting my business that I needed social media and a website, and I did both. What is the best advice you would give your younger self? Have faith and don’t second guess yourself. I was lacking in confidence but fortunately I got over that as it is such a waste. I decided to take every opportunity I could after reading ‘Feel the Fear and do it Anyway’ and it has been my motto from then on. What are your top tips for a beautiful garden? Have some structure but don’t overdo it – there is too much work in a structured garden and I like a more casual approach. Try to plant what will grow in your area – give them love but if they don’t survive then they are not worth having so don’t keep replanting them. Try to choose great colour combinations to plant next to each other. I found I love an iceberg rose – you need whites in a garden as well as colours. Geraniums, while fairly ordinary, have such lovely colour and nasturtiums of course. I love some smells and lavender is a great one for its silvery foliage and the calming smell when you crush the leaves. Different leaf colour is important – plus you also need tree trunks for the structure. Do you have any projects coming up you would like to mention? I am part of the Open studio Trail on weekends of 28/29 November and 5/6 December – website info http://www.os-bbb.com/
I hopefully have a tour going to France in September next year – this year’s tour was cancelled. It may happen but I feel we can’t make firm plans at this stage. Ongoing work of mine is shown in the Lennox LAC gallery – my face to face classes are all full but I do have some spots on zoom classes available. To view more of Christine's work go to her website at https://christinereadart.com/ |
Kay KnightsI am an Australian artist who is crazy about her garden and I'm inspired by the colours and contrasts in my backyard. I truly believe that Gardening is Art - I believe that many Artists are similarly inspired in their gardens. This Blog is for me to go and meet some of them and share their gardens and art. ArchivesNo Archives Categories |