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Congratulations to Lori Pensini for being selected as a Finalist in the Gallipoli Art Przie 2025 with her poignant painting, "The Wait" - Oil on raw linen, 40 x 35 cm, Framed.

Artists Statement:

My grandmother would often speak of the loneliness of war, and the lingering threat of an uncerain future on the land if her loved ones didnt't return. 'The Wait' is a sombre window into the angst of waiting for the war to end, the apprehension of not knowing and the dread to come upon knowing. I reflect, sadly on this timeless depiction of then. Not much has changed now with some 92 countries involved in conflicts beyond their borders.

The Gallipoli Art Prize is an annual acquisitional art prize that is awarded to the artist who captures the ethos of the Gallipoli Campaign as is expressed in the Club's 'Creed'. The judges for this year's prize are Elizabeth Fortescue, Jane Watters, Barry Pearce and John Robertson, with the winner being announced on the 16th of April, 2025.

Click on the link below for more information.

Megan Anderson is an artist and writer with a thing for dogs. She makes art under the guise of Hangdog Art, which celebrates wonky, goofball and adorably imperfect hounds. Her style is understated. A sometimes painter, she works mostly with wire on paper, capturing the spirit of dogs in simple black and white (with shadows). In 2019, she wrote and illustrated the book Word of Dog. Her artwork has featured in solo and group exhibitions for more than a decade, hanging in galleries across Australia and homes around the world. She lives in Albany.

Q & A:

When tempted by something sweet, what is it?
Dark chocolate bullets. Who can stop at 20?

If you could time travel, to which historical era would you go and why?
I’d head back to the 70s and fix up a few of my childhood faux pas. I’m still ashamed that I stole play doh from kindergarten (and didn’t get away with it.)

What is your favourite quote?
“I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.” - Mary Oliver

Who is the Artist who inspires you most?
Hercule Van Wolfwinkle does very fine pet portraits. They’re completely silly, and often feature yellow Y-fronts. Plus they raise money for good causes. #lifegoals

(© Image from Hercule Van Wolfwinkle.)

What would be your favourite smell?
Peppermint leaves after an Autumn rain.

Who is the one person you would love to have dinner with in the whole universe?
Ewan McGregor. No need for a meal. If he could just talk and flash his dimples, that would be great.

What is the worst outfit you ever wore?
I wore a polka dot cotton nightie to a school social once, with a fake red bow tie. It was the 80s.

If you could change your name, what would you choose?
Something much more cinematic. Lolita, maybe. Or Bond. Perhaps just M.

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?
Contentment in the face of everything.

What always makes you laugh?
Somebody else laughing so much they’re crying. It’s the best.

We are proud to announce that artist Lori Pensini was chosen as the overall winner for this years Collie Art Prize. Her artwork, Bare Earth, is an emotionally stirring artwork, bringing to our awareness the plight of the animals, land and farmers during the driest season in South West, WA.

Artists Statement:

"This is my response to enduring the driest spell on record in the South West, WA. The struggle was all consuming - landscape, animals, people. Kirsten holding an orphaned lamb advocates for the tenacity & resilience of all us women on the land. It is mentally oppressive, going out into the paddocks everyday to give it your all knowing it still isn’t enough to save every thing in need. It is a testimony to the fabric of bush communities - putting ourselves second to try and make a difference. "

The Exhibition is on show at Collie Art Gallery till 27th April 2025.

Click on the link to read the article by Lyn Di Ciero, Artist's Chronicle. Photo taken by Lyn Di Ciero.

Congratulations to artist, Lori Pensini, for being selected as a finalist in the 2025 Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing, NSW. This prestigious prize is an acquisitive prize, which had 390 artists entrering, 460 drawings submitted and to be chosed as one of the 34 finalists is an achievment. To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the event, a second acquisitive prize, the PLC Sydney Prize for Arts Education will also be awarded this year.

Lori Pensini's artwork, titled 'The Conversation 2#' - 92.5 x 44.5 cm, pencil on board. Artist Statement:

I am a figurative narrative artist illustrating directly from my lived and ancestral grazier experience especially in the regenerative context. Continuing my keen interest in ethology, ’The Conversation #2’ explores the notion of language and communication between humans and animals using non fixed symbols (speech). Studying animal cognition - how animals think that is how they perceive and react to their environment, interact with one another and other animals opens a multitude of pathways to understanding the vexing conservation problems we face going forward. With Australia unenviably recording one of the highest extinction records of its native plants and animals in the world, the painted pink reflective back illuminates the conservation conversation and hints at the urgency of nurturing a healthy focus towards the use of our natural resources for the well being of all living creatures.

The Exhibition of Finalists opens on Friday 28 February at 7.00 pm and will continue until 28 March. Gallery is open 8.30 am - 4.00 pm weekdays, and 11.00 am - 4.00 pm Saturdays 1, 8 & 15 March (closed Saturday 22 March).

For more information click below.

The Collie Art Prize 2025 finalists have been anounced and we are thrilled that two of The Studio Gallery artists have been selected. The theme for this years prize is IDENTITY, and with over 400 artists entries, it was a challenge to carefully choose the 47 finalists.

Kay Gibson submitted a captivating artwork titled "Emus and Anthills 2024" - soft ground etching, acrylic and collage on rice paper on canvas,123cm x 173cm. Kay’s passion for the flora and fauna of Australia has been a constant inspiration for her art, with her work Emus and Anthills paying homage to the ancient land on which we live.

Lori Pensini entered her painting titled "Bare Earth" - Oil on linen, 120 x 100 cm. This is my response to enduring the driest spell on record in the South West, WA. Artist Statement: "The struggle was all consuming - landscape, animals, people. Kirsten holding an orphaned lamb advocates for the tenacity & resilience of all us women on the land. It is mentally oppressive, going out into the paddocks every day to give it your all knowing it still isn’t enough to save every thing in need. It is a testimony to the fabric of bush communities - putting ourselves second to try and make a difference."

The Gala Opening is on Saturday 1st of March, where the winners will be announced. This is sure to be a fantastic event so make sure you add a visit to the Collie Art Gallery to your calender!

Click below to read more on the Collie Art Prize website.

Artist, Teacher, Curator, Writer. Born in England in 1945. Arrived in Australia in 1969 as a young art teacher, with a National Diploma in Design (NDD) London, and a Post Graduate Art Teacher’s Diploma (ATD) University of Liverpool. Lesley’s practice is driven predominately by a deep appreciation and respect for the Australian landscape.

Lesley’s publication, ‘Becoming Australian – an artist’s journey’, launched at her 50-year survey exhibition, is a visual precis of her evolution as an artist. This book also confirms her vast range of skills, her virtuosity and versatility both in technique and image-making, and with a constantly-shifting focus between abstract and representational elements to create both 2D and 3D works. As for her future practice, she states, “I cannot predict what I will be creating in a decade, next year or even next week. Past works are merely prologue – like a line in a poem or cadence in music”.

Outside the studio, Lesley has been involved in a number of sports. She represented Australia in Hockey in the early 1970’s and was the first woman to swim solo across the Rottnest Channel. She has been a life-member of the Rottnest Channel Swim Association for a number of years, and in 2018 was inducted into its Hall of Fame. She claims that the discipline required for competitive physical activity not only keeps her fit, able to withstand the ‘ups and downs’ of a creative life, but helps keep her grounded. She adds, “Being in the bush or the ocean is my ‘church’, where many of my artworks have been conceived.

Q & A:

What is the title and author of your favourite book?

Perfume by Patrick Suskind is, by no means my favourite book, but certainly my most memorable! It is a disturbing account in 18^th Century Europe of a psychopath’s life and journey to becoming the greatest perfumier in the world. With his unbelievable gift for different aromas, he would hunt down young virgins to ‘possess ‘their smell. At the time of reading this book I was on my own travelling from one small Italian village to another – a remarkably similar environment to the perfumier, which is probably why the book made such an impact.

What is your favourite song/band or musical genre?

As an Art student in London in the early 1960s I would frequently dance the night away with fellow art students on Eel Pie Island in the River Thames. It was the early days of the Rolling Stones with songs such as ‘I can’t get no satisfaction’. The old wooden hall was so crowded that we gals would hunt out a good-looking dude with broad shoulders to sit upon while we kept moving along with Mick Jagger’s gyrating and the rise and fall of the wooden floor.

What was your favourite toy as a kid?

As a child I cannot recall many toys. Born at the end of WW11 and the sixth child of seven, I suspect toys had seen better days before they were handed down to me. Our play was focused on creating cubbies - on the ground, up trees, even underground! - and decking them out with hand-made quilts and put-together furniture. However, I do recall one toy - a replica 40cmH x 80cmW double decker Red London Bus! Along with my siblings we took turns to sit astride ‘our very own form of transport’ either on the straight and narrow to the nearest park, or down hillsides covered in snow. It was exhilarating! I loved this bus.

What is my greatest accomplishment?

I would like to think it is yet to happen! In reality, it’s probably my consistent juggling and prioritising of commitments to lead a consistent, well-balanced and meaningful existence for myself, my family and close friends.

What is the biggest risk you ever took?

Risks – there have been many – but at the time of taking them I didn’t realise they were risks! Seeking new experiences and adventures is part of my daily mantra. It’s only now, in later life, that I realise risks were taken and that ‘Innocence was indeed a Blessing’.

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?

In my younger years I often dreamt I was flying. It was scary, but cool. I could pretend I was a bird, but could only imagine what they could see with their superior sight. With their eyes on the side, many species of birds can see both forwards and sideways. With superior visual acuity they also see more colours and can establish subtle differences between similar shades of colour, shades that humans cannot distinguish.

Cy Rocchi is a landscape artist who draws inspiration from her encounters with the natural world, infusing her art with the joy of past memories and present connections to the unique bush and coast of Western Australia. Using large palette knives for application, her method includes layering, scraping, removing and blending, capturing the raw beauty of vast open spaces, and echoing memories etched in the mind. Cy draws on her love of the outdoors to convey the freedom and fragility of our coexistence with nature. Purpose guides her process; from engagement with the natural environment, to the swift application of paint, Cy aims to encapsulate the essence of being. Through layers of cold wax and oil, she invites viewers to journey beyond the visual, to feel the pulse of the earth and find solace in its boundless depths.

Q & A:

Where was your most memorable vacation?

A memorable vacation for me was a recent trip to the island of Vis in Croatia last year. It was a trip I took with one of my daughters and it was fun, adventurous, and sentimental, especially since it’s connected to my father’s heritage. We soaked in the beauty of the island and explored its rich history—an unforgettable experience!

What always makes you laugh?

My husband—he’s quick-witted and very funny. Always keeps me laughing!

What is the title & author of your favourite Book?

This is difficult as I’ve read some fabulous novels, but one that I found enlightening was Phosphorescence by Julia Baird. She writes beautifully about finding awe and wonder in the world around us. It’s a deeply personal exploration of resilience, light, and joy—perfect for when you need some inspiration!

When tempted by something sweet, what is it?

If I’m ever tempted by something sweet, it has to be my mum’s pecan pie from when I was growing up. She’s an amazing cook, and no other pecan pie has ever come close to hers. It’s buttery, rich, and perfectly balanced between sweet and nutty—pure nostalgia in every bite!

Who is the Artist who inspires you most?

The artist who has inspired me the most, ever since I was a child, is Claude Monet. His later works, created when his eyesight was deteriorating, are my absolute favourite. Funny enough, someone once asked if I had an eyesight problem myself because my paintings are intentionally muted and blurred.

How do you prefer to exercise?

I love ocean swimming, and I swim all year round with some gorgeous friends—it’s the perfect way to start the day and makes me feel alive.

Do you have a fear, and what is it?

Ironically, I’m pretty terrified of sharks. Ocean swimming is a mix of pure joy and a bit of anxiety for me, as there’s not a single swim where I don’t think about sharks or imagine I’ve spotted one lurking nearby. It’s a weird combo of thrill and fear, but I love the ocean too much to stay out of it!

Where did you grow up?

I grew up on a beef farm just outside of Busselton in the South West, surrounded by open spaces and the beauty of country life. My love for the outdoors has stayed with me ever since, and those childhood memories are a constant source of inspiration. You’ll find them reflected in my paintings, which capture the serene beauty of the land and coastline of the region that shaped me.

What is your favourite quote?

At my son’s university graduation last year, the guest speaker shared an inspiring message about embracing every new challenge and opportunity. One part that stuck with me was his quote: “There’s no 2nd or 3rd step in life. Every step is a 1st! It really resonated, with the idea that every moment is a chance to start fresh, to be bold, and to approach life with a sense of adventure.

If you won the lottery, what would you do first?

If I won the lottery, the first thing I’d do is travel—there’s so much world to see, and I want to experience it while I’m still fit and healthy. I’d fill my days with hiking through breathtaking landscapes, swimming in pristine oceans, and setting up my easel to paint wherever inspiration strikes. And of course, as a food lover, I’d savour every meal along the way, from local street food to fine dining experiences. Adventure, creativity, and incredible food—what more could I ask for?

Artist Judith Paisley is a well-known ceramicist who is passionate about the raw and rustic firing techniques such as Raku, Naked Raku, Saggar and Pit firings. These techniques have a close interaction between nature and the elements, with the physical input and influence of the artist. Together with Judith's own unique style and creativity, this results in one-off sculptural artworks.

"Art as “self-expression” is an extension of oneself, a capture of one's moods and emotions at a particular moment in time, perhaps in some instances even a bearing of one’s soul."

Q & A:

What is your favourite -Song or Band or Musical Genre?
Jazz and some Classical. In the studio, depending on what stage – in construction mode I listen to Jazz. When in intricate and detail stage requiring concentration, I listen to Classical. When driving, I listen to Classical, it keeps me calm and focused and curbs impatience.

Are you a Coffee or Tea person, and what is your go to order?
Hot chocolate with marshmallows, but to answer the above question, I’d have to say a Tea person.

Who is the Artist who inspires you most?
David Roberts – world renowned ceramist and Raku artist. A perfectionist and patience personified, so inspiring.

Where was your most memorable vacation?
A French Pottery, Wine and Jazz tour: On the go from 7.00am till midnight every day for 2 amazing action packed, weeks. Staying with local Potters, (one of which was at a 300 year, old, chateau). Visited studios and galleries throughout the Drome region (known for its pottery towns).
Far from your typical tourist trail; it was an invitation to share a way of life and insight into the lives of French Potters and an industry that has become their life. Every afternoon we’d race back to Lyon to the Jazz festival till midnight. The program was a smorgasbord of renowned international artists - a once in a lifetime treat.
France in all her glory – a patchwork of vivid colours of purple and yellow with field after field of lavender and sun flowers. France as we will always remember her: Food to die for, wine, freshly baked crusty baguettes, cheese and copious quantities of luscious quality mouth-watering fruit, jazz, pottery, and enchanting ancient villages.

What is the most sentimental thing you have?
My Mothers piano. I could tell what mood she was in by the pieces she would play. It is what evokes the most poignant memories of her and who she was.

Do you collect anything? Hand-made pottery mugs and other artist’s work.

What is on your Bucket list? Top of my list would be a trip to the rugged outback of the Kimberley.

What is the biggest risk you ever took?
Creating and starting up a new business from scratch, on my own, mid-life. I’m a Capricorn, a “non, risk-taker”, who craves security So, for me that was like jumping off a cliff. Amazing how deep we dig when necessity dictates. (Happy to report success and after 10 years, sold and retired – exhausted.) That was when I finally found the time to explore my artistic side, that had been “Bottled up” for so many years…...time to pop the cork!

Do you have a fear, and what is it?
Unfortunately, I have a few. Spiders!!!! Public speaking!!! Volcanic eruptions/bubbling lava flow and Earthquakes (Mother Nature’s uncontrollable fury).

Mary-Lynne is an award-winning artist and has lived in the Yallingup hills for 34 years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Edith Cowan University. Mary-Lynne’s paintings are interpretations of the northern landscapes of WA, NT and Central Australia. She spends time travelling and painting plein air in gouache in remote areas absorbing and connecting deeply with our ancient landscape made up of molten rock formations evolved over millions of years. The randomness of tilting and folding rocks with their jewel like qualities glistening in the morning and evening light feeds into her imagination providing fertile material to respond to. Once back in the studio these forms are reimagined and become a playful framework to interpret, using colour, form and various marks in oils.

“I’m open to the possibilities of what the work can become, never quite knowing what the outcome will be I allow the painting to evolve slowly drawing on the memory of the emotional experience felt in a particular place. I always challenge myself to look at the landscape in a new way so layering and lyricism as well as uncertainty are very much a part of the way my work evolves allowing for surprise juxtapositions of colours and form to create a dance for the eye to travel around and through the painting”.

Q & A:

What is the most sentimental thing you have? A teddy bear that my grandfather made and gave to me when I was 4. He died shortly after that. I don’t really remember him. He worked at the tannery and would have tanned the sheep’s hide and cut and sewn the teddy by hand.

Where was your most memorable vacation? The best holidays are camping with family and friends going exploring to remote places up north or central Australia. I don’t need anything fancy.

What is the biggest risk you ever took? Enrolling as a mature age student at 53 to do a bachelor of visual arts degree. It was also the most stimulating and challenging things I have done.

What is your favourite quote? Be yourself; everyone else is already taken - Oscar Wilde.

Who is the Artist who inspires you most? Elizabeth Cummings and Bonnard. Both are colourists. Cummings is a senior Australian artist who paints really gutsy exciting works which you can look at for hours. Her compositions take you on a journey into the Australian landscape.

What would be your greatest accomplishment? Raising our two children and seeing them raising their own. Being a mum is one of the most underrated occupations.

What is on your Bucket list? To do an artist residency somewhere up north or in Bundanon where Arthur Boyd did his Shoalhaven series of paintings. Having an extended time to create in an interesting landscape would be a luxury. We try to do this by going camping with other artist a couple of times a year.

Do you have a fear, and what is it? Drowning at sea way out in the deep dark ocean where you can’t see what’s down there. Titanic movie reinforced that fear.

Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not go a day without? Can’t live without a cup of tea first thing when I wake up before anything else.

What is the title & author of your favourite Book? Night Street by Kristen Thornell. A story based on the life of a young artist Clarice Beckett who defies society’s conventions and indifferent art critics alike. She was born in 1887 and died at 43. Living a life of taking her painting trolley to the streets and beaches of Melbourne whilst leading a life caring for her parents. She had great drive and daring for the times which I admire.

Lori spent her early childhood on the family’s farm at Yilliminning in the wheatbelt of WA, and her early adult life jillarooing on the cattle station of her husband’s family in the Pilbara, WA. She and her husband now farm on their sustainable regenerative agricultural farming property in Boyaup Brook, WA, from where she paints at her studio.

“My art practice is an exploration of myself, my identity and placement within my family’s multifaceted history. It is illustrated directly from lived experiences on country and my responses to, and relationship with our landscape. Matrilineal memories within my shared European and indigenous histories in the Australian landscape, engages commentary around the simultaneously constructive and destructive relationship between wo(man) and land."

The botanical elements in Lori's work are used as a reflection of personal transformations. They link key positive personality traits of people with ecological characteristics of botanicals to create a distinctive 'language of flowers' as a way of expressing inner strengths/virtues. Significantly they dually seek to create a narrative around our cultural identity and role within our natural world.

In recent workings Lori has extended Nature-Culture concepts to include installations of found flora, fauna and composite earthen raw materials. Repurposing natural forms found in her farm bushland aids in creating contemporary depth to the painted themes. Regenerating storylines using natural resources aims to examine the concept of placement. Firstly, self-placement within family culture, 'who am I? who has shaped me?' and the environmental imprinting influencing ones bearing and identity.

Q & A:

What is your favourite -Song or Band or Musical Genre? I range from old country like Charlie Pride and Johnny Cash to rock n roll and rap. No favourite, more so responding to songs that mark a particular memory in time.

What is the biggest risk you ever took? creating art.

If you could own any animal as a pet, what would you choose? A unicorn

What was your favourite toy as a kid? Koala bear made from real fur with a music box in his heart. You would wind up the key in his chest and waltzing Matilda played. I would put my ear to his chest and hear the grinding of the box over the music and think it was his heart beating. His name was koala, very original!

Who is the Artist who inspires you most? I respect many artists from many periods but the western desert art movement beginning in the settlement of Papunya is soul moving, my favorite being Rover Thomas.

What would be your favourite smell? The smell of horses and tack rooms, petrichor - (smell of rain on dry ground)

Who is the one person you would love to have dinner with in the whole universe? My forebearers

Are you a Coffee or Tea person, and what is your go to order? Green tea, loose leaf first harvest Shincha

What is the worst outfit you ever wore? Too many, I was a seventies feral farm kid. Terry toweling is something I still avoid!!

If you won the lottery, what would you do first? Fix the broken windows and wonky doors in our house. I would love to have a bigger space to paint, more purpose built for painting and exhibiting.

We are so proud to share that artist Lori Pensini has been announced as the winner of the 2024 Portia Geach Memorial Prize, for her poignant artwork "Conversations #3" - Oil on raw linen - 52 x 80 cm
This is Australia's most prestigious art prize for portraiture by women artists, and Lori Pensini is the second Western Australian female artist to win this award, with the first being Mary Moore in 2001.

On show until 15 December at the NATIONAL TRUST SH ERVIN GALLERY Sydney NSW.

ARTIST STATEMENT: "This work is continuum of a series I’m exploring around conversations with animals and understanding animal decision making for conservation. It draws from memories and encounters with our unique wildlife and my biophilic nature to connect with nature and other forms of life.

Animals make decisions based on their environmental and social context. The rate at which we are altering the natural systems through the impact of habitat loss and degradation has set about critical changes in that context that ultimately impacts species populations and diversity. Such decline in biodiversity threatens our basically ecological cycles and has a direct impact on our own health. ‘Conversation’s 3# opens up dialogue around our engagement with animals, the differences in the way we perceive and experience the same world and how we can balance the different realities to redevelop more sustainable models moving forward."

The judges wrote: “The conversation #3" is a beautifully composed painting that delivers, with exceptional skill, an alluring sense of connection between human and animal subjects. The painting sensitively conveys the artist’s desire to explore knowledge systems of the non-human world, suggesting how these might influence an understanding our environments as cohabited spaces. The intimacy of this shared portrait may reflect the artist’s own experience, but also poses a timely and larger question of how we view the world at a time of human-made environmental crisis."

Born in South Australia in 1949, Jeanette came to Perth as a small child. In her adult life Jeanette has been Vice President of the Kununurra Arts Council, created and managed two Kununurra Art Galleries, Resident Artist at the Kununurra District High School, taught at Kimberley College of TAFE and given private tuition. Jeanette has participated in exhibitions Australia wide and in London, Paris and New York.
Her love of the Western Australian landscape is apparent throughout her work; capturing the unique colours and textures, using a variety of techniques in acrylic, Kimberley Ochre, pearl dust and gold dust. This technique has made her aware of all the influences that have formed her own identity, specifically that of the Kimberley, Pilbara & Kakadu in the Northern Territory.

Q & A:

What always makes you laugh? Everything. I love to laugh (not always at the most appropriate times) & to make others laugh.

Where was your most memorable vacation? Can’t single out one, but favourites have been Sri Lanka, Nth India, China, Cambodia, Mauritius, England, France, 20 trips to Thailand with our beautiful family and Grandies since they were 2 years old.

What is your favourite -Song or Band or Musical Genre? Song - It’s not my fault, I am only human by The Rag & Bone Man

What is your favourite quote? The mind is everything, what you think you become - Buddha

Who is the Artist who inspires you most? Robert Juniper - my greatest compliment is for someone to say they can see inspiration from Juniper’s style.

If you could own any animal as a pet, what would you choose? Always wanted a small monkey as a pet. Only ever had one pet in our lives & that was Rosa, our son’s dog. He lived with us & we grew to love her unconditionally. It taught me a huge lesson in life. She was euthanised 6 months ago, & we are still struggling to fill the hole she left in our hearts.

Do you collect anything? Anything with an Oriental Eastern/ Asian influence - furniture, paintings, books, Kimonos, China, bronzes & Aboriginal

What would be your greatest accomplishment? Two major ones: The standard, generic answer that most parents/ grandparents give - family & the joy (& shall we say ‘interest’) they bring to our lives.

As an artist (mainly Kimberley artwork), which has taken 45 years so far & exhibiting in London (went over for opening) Paris & New York. Love having it on my CV.

What is on your Bucket list? To go on one of those European river boat trips & sit on your private balcony, with a glass of bubbles & watch the world go by.

“Art is a continuous journey in an attempt to discover the unexpected. As a landscape painter living in Western Australia, it is impossible not to be affected by the fierce light, intense colour, immense space and endless horizons of this extraordinary and varied landscape.

Through filtered memory I reassemble a range of images carefully striking a balance between realism and abstraction.

A constant throughout my work is the strictly parallel horizon line. Experience gained from flights over the landscape, and journeys inland enables me to approach the landscape from two points of view – the illusion of distance beyond the horizon, in contrast to the aerial view of the solid field-like frontality of the landscape below the horizon line. This duality is essential to my visual approach.

The addition of elements of light at a certain time of day, clouds, shadows, dust, rain, wind or mist add atmosphere and mood to the works and are an integral part of my imagery.

Over the years, the privilege of retrospection has enabled me to rediscover and evolve anew, iconic images from previous periods.

They fall into 4 distinct groups: Earth, Air, Fire and Water – essential elements necessary for the regeneration of the environment, unique to this part of the world."

Q & A:

What is the title & author of your favourite Book? The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes

Where was your most memorable vacation? Tuscany

What is your favourite -Song or Band or Musical Genre? J S Bach, Arvo Párt, Miles Davis, Sarah Hopkins

What is your favourite quote? “This is no way to live” - on Gravestone of Groucho Marx

Who is the Artist who inspires you most? Monet, Diebenkorn, Fred Williams

Who is the one person you would love to have dinner with in the whole universe? Primo Levi – author

What would be your greatest accomplishment? To create a masterpiece as a painter.

What was your most random impulse purchase? An expensive pair of white sneakers

Where did you grow up? Johannesburg, South Africa

What always makes you laugh? The ‘Yes Minister’ TV series

“I studied Graphic Design in South Africa and worked as a Medical Artist in London, and later as a storyboard artist in the Advertising industry. For many years I painted botanical works as a hobby.

Over the past 20 years I have painted our elegant tree shapes found at Rottnest, and in the paddocks and around the bays of our South West region in Western Australia.

I paint from memory – trees, clouds, reflections, a moon, a star, the ever-changing light of day, and most of all, I hope to capture a moment in time.

I have found a saying by the 19^th century French photographer,

Louis Daguerre, which says it all for me - ‘I have seized the light. I have arrested its flight!’”

Q & A:

When tempted by something sweet, what is it? Baklava

Where was your most memorable vacation? Tuscany

What is your favourite -Song or Band or Musical Genre? Zadok the Priest by Handel, Every Breath you Take by The Police

Are you a Coffee or Tea person, and what is your go to order? A Long Mac Topped Up

What is your favourite quote? “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” Matthew 7:12

Who is the Artist who inspires you most? Sydney Long

What is the most sentimental thing you have? The diamond from my mother’s engagement ring.

Who is the one person you would love to have dinner with in the whole universe?

My dear Father now passed away, Kenneth Paterson. The one photo shows him wearing a pair of ‘Aqualungs’ which he made himself and was testing it in a sea pool. It worked!

Where did you grow up? Durban, South Africa

What always makes you laugh? Silly utterances from my lovely friends and husband.

In 2004 I started working with my left hand, although I am right-handed, and found an amazing connection with myself. My nature seemed to be synchronised with my creativeness emanating from the use of my left hand. Consequently, I have never used my right hand again for my creative endeavours and even write my poetry with my left hand. This has been a blessing for me and I now relish my work as it guides me in my life and helps me to make sense of my own reality.

In my work I try to explain the existence of the soul… ... the truth of who we are ... the spiritual spark that animates the body... this body is of course temporary but the soul exists eternally beyond this life ... the animals I choose are random but most of my paintings I have the subjects looking at you and making a personal connection... the eyes being the ‘window to the soul’ from there I extrapolate into why we are here and how we are connected to this material realm and beyond that the cause of all this.

Q & A:

What would be your favourite smell? Sandalwood

What is the title & author of your favourite Book? Bhagavad Gita, “As it is” or A.C. Bhaktvedanta and Swami Praghupada “His Divine Grace”

What is your favourite -Song or Band or Musical Genre? My Sweet Lord, George Harrison

What is your favourite quote? Accept what is Good for & reject what is Bad.

Do you collect anything? Wisdom Literature

Who is the one person you would love to have dinner with in the whole universe? Ray Cappo

What is on your Bucket list? Revisit India on Pilgrimage

What is the biggest risk you ever took? Getting Married

Where did you grow up? Maffra, East Gippsland VIC

Do you have a fear, and what is it? I have a fear of fear itself.

Suzie is a true local having grown up in the Yallingup region, but her career has taken her working all over Western Australia. A passion for art and working in art galleries for many years has resulted in an extensive knowledge of the arts which she loves to share with visitors. Meeting and talking to people from all walks of life in her gentle, well-spoken way is another aspect of her role as gallery assistant that Suzie enjoys immensely.

Q & A:

When tempted by something sweet, what is it? I had to think on this one because I spend so much time baking sweet treats and yet I do not have a sweet tooth. Yallingup Woodfired fruit bread is my sweet temptation.

What would be your greatest accomplishment? Bringing three wonderful people into the world.

Who is the Artist who inspires you most? Italian artist Caravaggio and so many of our very own artists who inspire me every day

What is the title & author of your favourite Book? Amor Towles is my all-time favourite author. This was a debate between A Gentleman in Moscow and Lincoln Highway.

What is your favourite quote? “It is what it is “, because there is a sense of release in knowing that there are some outcomes you cannot change.

What would be your favourite smell? The Australian Eucalypts on a damp and rainy day.

Who is your hero? Every person who perseveres through adversity and still finds joy.

Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not go a day without? Reflection.

What always makes you smile/laugh? Happy People.

How do you prefer to exercise? Walking in our pristine landscapes.

Congratulations goes out to Lori Pensini who has been selected as a finalist in the Len Fox Painting Award 2024 for her painting - the big Dry 2#, Oil on linen, 110 x 100 cm.

Artist Statement:

My piece ‘The Big Dry’ is influenced by 19th century French animal naturalistic artist Rosa Banheur and embodies an early English/European view of a fatigued antipodean landscape.

The sombre monochromatic background represents my current lived experience farming through our driest periods on record in rural WA. An unrelenting drought pushed everything to its limits and importantly raised the question of shifting old paradigm thinking around our use of natural resources.

Restricted pindan red highlights within the dress fabric of the drying creek narrative casts focus on the urgency of our environmental predicament, whilst the light accents on the facial expressions of Eloise and the sheep sets a pensive tension encouraging further conversation around their plight...will they make it through?

For more information click on the 'Learn More' below.

Abstract expressionist artist Rob Forlani resides in Perth and has solo exhibited nationally and internationally with collectors across Australia in Sweden, England, South Korea, New Zealand and the USA. “I’m in a sense...an improvisational artist, improvising a real-life situation into Art."- “When asked where I sit in the art world, I would say that I have become known for bold application of colour and texture in my work. I attempt the use of symbolism to mark my marks on the canvas as a starting point, which for me is crucial. This then guides my brush strokes into abstract pieces. Every piece has a meaning as I try to precipitate events in the real world into more of a concrete circumstance, a kind of Abstract Realism if such a thing exists...This is my method.”

What is your favourite -Song or Band or Musical Genre? Can’t Shake It’ - The Angels - Rock/Punk/Grunge

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be? All the knowledge possible

Who is your hero? My Three Daughters

What would be your favourite smell? ‘Xerjoff - Tony Iommi’

What is the title & author of your favourite Book? Darkness Take My Hand’ - Dennis Lehane

What is the most sentimental thing you have? Winged horse pendant from my daughter

Where was your most memorable vacation? Russia’

Are you a Coffee or Tea person, and what is your go to order Coffee - Macchiato

Who is the Artist who inspires you most? Jean-Michel Basquiat’

Who is the one person you would love to have dinner with in the whole universe? ‘Marilyn Monroe’

Sue Smorthwaite is a mixed media and textile artist living in Yallingup, WA. As a young child she lived in diverse cultures such as Africa, Asia, Arabia and Scandinavia, cultures that instilled a passion for rich colour, pattern and texture, all evident in her artwork. Largely self-taught, Sue has also taken numerous textile courses both in Australia and in the UK. She now works mainly with wool, silks and other natural fibres.

Q & A:

Where was your most memorable vacation? I’ve been very lucky to have done some amazing travel all my life, Africa, South America, the Middle East and a lot of Asia, but our last trip from Chile down to the Antarctic peninsula via the Falkland Islands and South Georgia was spectacular and so very different from anything we have done before.

What would be your favourite smell? Freshly cut green grass

What was your most random impulse purchase? This has to be shared with my husband…..buying our plot of land in Yallingup while on a short Christmas holiday from Doha.

When tempted by something sweet, what is it? Anything chocolate, but preferably dark chocolate. I do like a good lemon drizzle cake or carrot cake too.

Are you a Coffee or Tea person, and what is your go to order? Definitely a tea person...I can’t start the day without a good brew and a cup of tea is always the answer to most problems. But I do enjoy a good cup of coffee when out with friends.

If you could own any animal as a pet, what would you choose? Most definitely another dog.

Do you collect anything? Yes….too much. I have a collection of fir-cones that I have collected from around the world, including one from Eva Peróns grave site in Argentina. I also have an extensive frog collection.

Where did you grow up? I was born in the UK, moved to Zambia when I was 5 and have lived overseas ever since...Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Chicago, Stockholm, Beirut and Doha and are now very happy in Yallingup.

What always makes you laugh? Children laughing

How do you prefer to exercise? Outside in the fresh air come rain or shine, preferably a good brisk, long walk.

We would like to acklowledge the superb feature article in last weeks South Western Times of artist Lesley Meaney.

The article gives great insight into the time and thought Lesley puts into her artworks, inspired by the Australian bush and landscapes.

Her 'Treescapes as Metaphor' exhibition consists of 40 new works inspired by the peeling bark on trees, used as a metaphor for life and how we move through it.

She has opened her studio in Yallingup again this year for the Open Studios, you can see her works there as well as at The Studio Gallery.

NB: Please go to Lesley's artist page on our website, click on the CV/Doc link and scroll down to click on the press release link to read the full article.

An introduction to the beauty of porcelain and slip casting in 2016 re-ignited a passion in ceramics for Felicity that had started in the early 1980’s, and now finds her working full time as a ceramic artist from her purpose-built studio. Felicity’s background as a landscape designer is evident in the handmade decals which she uses to create pattern and texture representing the natural environment.

She prefers to work with porcelain to create fine slip cast ceramics, that start out as original wheel thrown or hand-built artworks. Combining all her creative talents with a focus on modern aesthetics and a limited colour palette, Felicity creates truly minimalist contemporary ceramics that are timeless in their beauty.

Q & A:

What always makes you laugh? Our two dachshunds Remington and Ruby. They are the most comical, fiercely loyal and demanding fur people and I would not be without them.

What is your favourite -Song or Band or Musical Genre?1970’s disco and funk. You will often hear this emanating from my studio while I work.

What would be your greatest accomplishment? This might be a bit cliché but being married to Simon for 32 years and together raising two beautiful daughters who are kind, strong and independent women.

What is the title & author of your favourite Book? Cloud street by Tim Winton. I think I have read it about 5 times. I love to read stories by Australian authors and the familiarity of the Australian settings.

When tempted by something sweet, what is it? Chocolate – always chocolate. I have been known to raid the cooking chocolate when regular is not available.

Are you a Coffee or Tea person, and what is your go to order? Coffee – always a flat white. I would rather drink tea than a bad coffee.

What is your favourite quote? 'No opportunity wasted’. I don’t think this is an official quote, more of a motto to live by.

What would be your favourite smell? Spices, star anise and cardamon and citrus

What is on your Bucket list? To travel to New York. I love urban environments and I think New York is the most urban you can get.

What is the biggest risk you ever took? Recently giving up my job for the last 30 years as a landscape designer to concentrate on ceramics.

Do you have a fear, and what is it? Snakes, I can’t even watch them on TV. I think it’s the soulless eyes that creep me out the most.

Jennifer Sadler has been inspired by different landscapes around the globe since a very early age. Capturing what she sees and experiences creates artwork that invites one to explore the landscape from a uniquely different perspective.

"My work continues a passionate response to the environment in which I live. I’m drawn to ephemeral elements such as shifting light, shadows, and reflections. I don’t try to depict the landscape as I see it, but as it feels. Playing with nuances of colour and mark making I am able to walk into the memory of those landscape encounters."

Q & A:

Where did you grow up? I was born in Jamaica in the West Indies and then lived in rural Scotland between the ages of 5 and 12, before moving to Australia.

What was your favourite toy as a kid? A Caribbean doll. She had a long-ruffled skirt and a basket on her head filled with brightly coloured packages of ??? My curiousity got the better of me eventually and I unwrapped all those little packages to find nothing inside except newspaper.

What is your favourite smell? No way can I choose just one! Petrichor - the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil, baking, spring blossoms and fresh herbs in the garden.

If you could time travel, to which historical era would you go? New York city in the 1950's and 60's with the emergence of the New York School art movement, where visual artists made primarily abstract paintings, often using gestural brushstrokes and large fields of colour.

What is the worst outfit you ever wore? There had to be a few of them growing up in the 70's and 80's but the one that sticks in my mind (unfortunately) was a combination of white embroidered knee length boots with a maxi skirt. Horrid!

What makes you laugh? The gems that come out of the mouths of children. Priceless and mostly random.

Where was your most memorable vacation? India - Rajasthan. I travelled there earlier this year for the first time after many years of longing to visit. The colour, chaos, charm, challenge, humanity, humility, humour, insight and inspiration. India makes me feel alive.

Do you collect anything? Artbooks. I find these hugely inspirational and love to read about the processes, work rituals and inspirations that drive other artists.

Are you a coffee or tea person, and what is your go to order? Definitely tea - Lady Grey to start the day and herbal teas throughout. Indian Chai with friends, and a chat and a dirty Chai as a treat - but best enjoyed before midday otherwise I am awake for much of the night!

What is your favourite quote? "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou

A big congratulations to artist Lori Pensini for winning the 3D Composite/Assemblage Categorie in the Stanthorpe Art Prize 2024, for her striking art sculpture titled 'Farm Yard' - 59 x 39 cm - Oil on Xanthorrhoea Heart Wood. The exhibition can be seen at Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery from 7 September - 10 November 2024.

Judges: Jessica Bridgfoot - Director, Bendigo Art Gallery; Michael Brennan - Director, Noosa Regional Gallery.

Judges Comments: "Cultures and histories collide in this work, reflecting the maker's own family story, but also more braodly that of indigeneity, colonisation and complex relatinships with our environment. Its materials and the appearances they assume are loaded with these histories and cultures, and provide a subtext for what is pictorially portrayed."

Artist Statement: This is my grandmother's story of stoic, no frills self-sufficiency farming in the wheatbelt of WA. The nature of women's farm work is often rendered invisible, dismissed as 'domestic', and 'ordinary' - on the contrary it is the back bone in sustaining families, farms and communities.

For more information on this exhibition, click on the learn more...

Jacinda Bayne has been a practising artist for over 20 years, having graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She has held regular exhibitions throughout the globe, and is represented by galleries around Australia. There is a recurring theme of landscape in her work with the use of colour as a visual language which makes a strong impact. This is achieved by her preferred medium of oil paint, creating intensity and depth of colour through numerous layers of glazes. Jacinda describes herself as an emotive colourist, producing work that creates escapism not just for herself, but also for the viewer. Her current practice relates directly to her search for the ultimate utopia and the importance of noticing the beauty and balance within nature.

Q & A:

Where was your most memorable vacation? Africa

What is your favorite -Song or Band or Musical Genre? I am a cycle Instructor & make my own playlists. I love absolutely everything but if I had to choose it would be Old School Hip Hop.

Who is the Artist who inspires you most? Gehard Richter

If you could own any animal as a pet, what would you choose? A Thorny Devil Lizard - of course I would not though as they are protected.

Do you collect anything? My painting palettes

What would be your greatest accomplishment? Doing what I love for a living.

Do you have a useless talent – and what is it? Solving the rubix cube!

Where did you grow up? South Island New Zealand

If you won the lottery, what would you do first? Travel the world with my son.

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be? To fly..

Kay is a painter and printmaker with a passionate interest in the natural environment. Her practice is reflective of her life in Margaret River with many of the regions native birds and animals featuring in her work. The subtle gouache images are painted onto Hahnemuhle paper that Kay has embossed with local plants to create a textured backdrop. The role of fire and regeneration is emulated by her use of fumage, a technique that deposits the smoke and soot from a candle onto the paper giving the work an ethereal appearance.

Q & A:

When tempted by something sweet, what is it? I’m a bit of a cake fiend which many of my friends know. It’s got to be good though!

Where was your most memorable vacation? One of my most memorable vacations was Tasmania. Travelling on the ferry through the magnificent Marlborough Sounds and a boat trip through the awe-inspiring Milford Sound.

What is your favourite -Song or Band or Musical Genre? Spotify has been a revelation for me when I’m working in the studio. Podcasts ranging from True Crime to Talking with Painters, classical music to Triple J’s top 100, my tastes are varied.

If you could time travel, to which historical era would you go and why? If I could time travel, I think I would choose the Jurassic era with all those incredible dinosaurs. Watching repeats of Jurassic Park is a great, edge of my seat, thrill for me.

What is your favourite quote? I feel with so much information being posted on social media a little reminder that ‘Comparison is the thief of joy’ is a wise quote.

Who is the Artist who inspires you most? There are so many artists that I admire and they predominantly reside in Australia. I greatly admire the work of Clifton Pugh (1924-1990). For me his paintings capture the feeling of the Australian bush, the harshness and the incredible beauty.

What would be your favourite smell? I love roses. My mother in-law grew beautiful roses and I inherited some of them including the incredible intoxicatingly scented Papa Meilland rose.

What is the most sentimental thing you have? The most sentimental thing I have are family photos, including the grandkids and the memories of doing special activities with them over the years.

Do you collect anything? I collect art books that include biographies on artists such as Arthur Boyd, Judy Cassab and Ian Fairweather. One of my most treasured books is The Woodblock Paintings of Cressida Campbell.

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Perth in the lovely coastal suburbs of Floreat Park and Wembley Downs. Picnics in the hills of Perth, Mundaring and Darlington gave me a love of the natural world. Soon the lure of nature beckoned and I moved to Margaret River in 1975 and with my partner we built a house and raised a family. The photo is of our home.

What is the worst outfit you ever wore? My mum bought me matching purple flares and top when I was thirteen. It was a hideous outfit and thankfully I wore it only a couple of times.

What always makes you laugh? Watching repeats of Absolutely Fabulous always makes me laugh.

Lesley Whitham was born in Glasgow, and migrated to Australia in 1991. She is now a WA local, where she works from her studio in the garden. Her hand built and painted ceramic sculptures reflect her experiences and how she processes the world around her, filling her mind with inspiration and fanciful images.

"Ideas for sculptures arrive at the most unexpected times - as I wake in the mornings, when I'm cooking a meal or doing the laundry. My sketchbook is often no more than a handy scrap of paper and sketches can be mere shorthand scribbles, recording an idea before it vanishes." - Lesley Whitham

Q & A:

Who is the artists who inspires you most? So many, past and present, but one of my favourite sculptors is Henri Laurens. I was mesmerised by 'Le Grand Adieu' in the Centre Pompidou when I was a student. It's still one of my favourites. I love Brueghel too and got so excited to be so close to one of his paintings in Florence, I set the warning alarm off! That is the actual photo close up that got me in trouble!

What is the most sentimental thing you have? My mums silver locket. Dad bought it for her in an antique shop in Paisley. I wear it most of the time when I'm out.

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be? I always dreamt of being Samantha from 'Bewitched'! One of my favourite TV shows growing up.

Where was your most memorable vacation? A big family holiday last year to Scotland, catching up with friends and family, revisiting Duncan of Jordanstone (my old college). Then on to Italy and Greece for even more culture, beautiful scenery and fun family time.

What is your favourite song, band or musical genre? I have a varied musical taste - soft rock, country, solo artists...but every so often I love to play 'Barcelona' - Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe - in my studio. It lifts my mood!

What was your favourite toy as a kid? Woofles, he was a dog my grandma knitted for me as a baby. He had one leg shorter than the others because she ran out of wool, but he went everywhere with me. Sadly he disintegrated after the move to Australia, so I no longer have him.

What is your favourite quote? "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation" - Herman Melville

What would be your favourite smell? Any at all would do! I have never had a sense of smell!

What would be your greatest accomplishment? Definitely my two beautiful daughters! The photo shows my girls. They made us a calendar last year and for 'May' (Mother's Day and my birthday), they both dressed up as me! Oh, and they both have their eyes closed because that's usually me in the photo!! So funny. They are both very creative.

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Clarkston on the outskirts of Glasgow with my sister. My best friend lived across the road and we would spend many days exploring the surrounding countryside and also at Flenders farm sliding down hay bales and feeding calves. Our house (in the photo) had a lovely big back garden with Hedgehogs living in the hedge at the bottom.

What is the worst outfit you ever wore? Definitely a pale blue Polyester jacket and skirt I made at school when I was 13!

A strong appreciation of art brought Sabine Hofferberth to the gallery and she commenced as a sales assistant when it first opened. She has seen it grow and change into the success it is today. Sabine greets all who visit with her beautiful trademark red lipstick smile and is always happy to share her passion and knowledge about the artwork and artists represented here.

Q & A:

What is the biggest risk you ever took? My biggest risk and biggest success at the same time was moving to Australia when I was 30 years old.

What is your favourite smell? My favourite smell is a room full of freshly picked roses.

How do you prefer to exercise? I love to exercise in the open air, nothing better than a walk along the beach with my dog.

What is the title & aurthor of your favourite book? I have many favourite books which I have read in different stages of my life, so it's hard to choose one. However, the most recent book which touched me is Wifedom by Anna Funder.

What is your favourite song, band or musical genre? My favourite band is the Beach Boys.

Where was your most memorable vacation? We went to Peru, the most incredible and most memorable trip for me. The people, the history, the art and architecture just left us with unforgettable memories.

What is your favourite quote? "What goes around comes around"

What is the worst outfit you ever wore? Bell bottom pants

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Bavaria, Germany, surrounded by beautiful lakes, mountains and villages.

Are you a coffee or tea person, and what is your go to order? I definitely am a coffee person, flat white with a lot of froth!

Growing up in Africa, Paula spent her youth riding horses, daydreaming by the side of a stream, observing wildlife and sketching. She trained as a classical ballet dancer and teacher, and years later studied art under the guidance of the late Carlo Sdoya in South Africa. For Paula, there has always been a burning desire to create, whether through dance, choreography, writing or fine art. Creativity has always been her driving force.

Q & A:

Who is the Artist that inspires you most? Many years ago, I was given the autobiography of David Shepherd by my sister-in-law, who thought it would be of interest to me. His life story really captured my imagination as he successfully put African animals, especially elephants firmly into the public eye. When I finally embarked on my own artistic journey, I was inspired by his ethos. My interest in the preservation of endangered species and wildlife in general has been the driving force in my practice.

Do you have a fear, and what is it? I have a fear of spiders and being locked in a public toilet! Go figure!

Where did you grow up? I was born in a small town called Rusape, Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, which if you blinked while driving through in a car, you would miss it. We lived on a farm about 15km out of town in a spacious house surrounded by a wide veranda. Large herds of kudu, bushpigs, elephants and many animals could often be seen nearby. The farm was named Gorubi Springs which in the native language means bushpig. Rusape holds a very special place in my heart as this is where my sister Eleen was buried at the age of four. One day I hope to go back to find her grave and pay homage to her.

What is your favourite quote? "To thine own self be true" William Shakespeare. In my final year at junior school, it was customary to have a autograph book to collect signatures of your friends and favourite teachers. One of the young male teachers whom all the girls adored signed my book with this quote. I still have that autograph book and have tried to live my life accordingly.

What is your most memorable vacation? Beira, Mozambique with my family. As a child I treasure the memories of walking on the beach with my mother, collecting shells and finding all the little sea creatures hiding in the rock pools. We stayed in the chalets within walking distance to the beach. There was a very large metal skeleton of a shipwreck near the Makuti candy striped lighthouse.

What was the most embarrassing thing you have ever done? At my sister's 21st birthday we were all sitting around a fire on canvas desk chairs at our home. Suddenly my chair seat gave way and I fell clean through with my bottom on the ground and my knees up by my ears. I was firmly wedged in and couldn't move. Everyone packed out laughing. Finally, someone took pity on me and prized me out while someone else held onto the chair! I was mortified!

Do you collect anything? I have collected postage stamps since I was four years old after my mother gave me my first album for my birthday. I also collect vintage enamelware, tins adn inkwells, delft (my husband's family come from Holland) and any old interesting object that sparks my imagination, which could possibly be utilized as a prop in my still life paintings.

What was your favourite toy as a kid? My ballerina doll. I woke up early on Christmas morning when I was 6 years old to see this beautifull ballerina doll staring at me from the end of my bed. She had articulated joints and could point her feet. Her long brown hair was tied up with a pink ribbon and she could open and shut her eyes, which had lovely long eyelashes. She wore a pink tulle tutu and satin ballet shoes. I was one very happy little girl and treasured her.

What would be your greatest accomplishement? My children - I have three precious children, and they have blessed me with five grandchildren!

Do you have a useless talent, and what is it? I can count to 10 in Bushmen. My grandfather lived on a farm in Africa and had many Bushment working for him. I was fascinated with the clicking sounds they made when talking. Grandad Len taught me to count to 10 in Bushmen! I remember him making me repear it over and over again untill I got it right. He did a good job as it has stuck with me!

Tamara was born into an artistic and musical family. She studied fine arts at RMIT in Melbourne and moved to Sydney to work as a *Cell Painter and background artists for Hanna Barbara Studios. In pursuit of a career change, Tamara moved back to Melbourne to teach classical and jazz piano. After 20 years she felt drawn to go back to art and was involved in commercial and graphic art as well as illustration.

"I find one of the most striking aspects of art is colour and its ability to affect the way we feel. Bright colours can lift our mood, colour and shape can make us reflective or happy, or even make us see things from a different point of view. Art is my passion and I could not begin to imagine what life would be like without it. If my work makes one person smile, than I am happy, if my work makes one person look at life with different eyes and open their minds and hearts to new ideas, then I am delighted."

Q & A:

What is the biggest risk you ever took? Taking on a job as an air hostess for a charter flight company when I was terrified of heights.

Do you have a useless talent - and what is it? Hahahaha, I do...I can make some amazing chicken noises when they lay an egg. I'm still working on laying the egg.

How do you prefer to exercise?I love walking along the Noosa beach, feeling the sand in between my toes, the warmth of the water, and also walking through rainforests. Any walks through nature.

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be? I think I'd love to be able to sing.

Where did you grow up? We grew up in outer Melbourne on a chicken farm.

Who is the Artist who inspires you most? Ever since art school I've always enjoyed Brett Whiteley's work for its originality and his slightly different way of looking at life. His bright colour palette has been so inspiring.

Do you collect anything? I collect chickens. Not the real ones but ornamental chickens from all over the world, Japan, Israel, France, Mexico...

If you could time travel, to which historical era would you go and why?I think I'd like the 1920's, there was so much change happening from old to new.

What is on your Bucket list? I would love to go back to Paris and visit all the wonderful art galleries.

Who is the one person you would love to have dinner with in the whole universe? Beethoven...(before he went deaf of course!) I think he was a genius.

Click on 'Learn More' below to discover what *Cell Painting is all about.

The Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award was established in 2009 and celebrates contemporary sculptures from artists around Australia.

Of the 300 plus entries that are received annually, only 40 are shorlisted as finalists, with the winning work going into the Deakin University Art Collection.

It is a great achievement to be selected as finalist, and we are inspired by the sculpture that Lori Pensini entered, "Empty" - 17 cm diam x 85 cm high, Callistemon Phoeniceus nut & seed, Jarrah bark, fine bone china and Kangaroo hide.

The Artists Statement - Autumn 2024. Like many Western Australian farmers, we ran out of water in our driest period on record. Nothing was spared, the people, animals, land and bush, we all suffered. "Empty" is my response to the despair experienced not being able to save our bushland and animals, and brings to focus conservations around drought resillience and managment of our water resources going forward.

The exhibition is on display from 29 August - 11 October 2024, and visitors are able to vote for the People's Choice award. If you are in the area make sure to visit this exciting sculptural exhibition.

After 18 years as a designer/illustrator, in 2014, Fiona made the leap to becoming a full-time artist. Fiona’s works live with people excited by colour and nature. By working with watercolour and mixed media, Fiona creates fluidity in her work; subtle washes, bright colours, and fine lines that gently move across large pieces of paper and the canvas. Fiona’s artworks appeal to the beauty of aesthetics, they can serve as a reminder to enjoy and wonder at the environment we live in. Depicting nature at its most vulnerable.

Q & A:

Where was your most memorable vacation?

I am very lucky to say too many to choose from - any holiday with all four of my kids present - from camping to moving to Bali for 6 months - whenever we are all together, we have a lot of fun.

What always makes you laugh? Chickens running.

Are you a Coffee or Tea person, and what is your go to order?
Tea - orange pekoe - white with one but truly as long as it’s hot I am happy.

What is your favourite quote?
“Proceed until apprehended.” – from the book The Florence Prescription by Joe Tye.

What would be your favourite smell? Pink grapefruit.

What is on your Bucket list? A month-long residency.

When tempted by something sweet, what is it? I cannot go past chocolate mousse!

What is the worst outfit you ever wore? Let’s just say I cannot believe bubble skirts are back.

Do you have a fear, and what is it? Fire - I always know where the exit is.

If you won the lottery, what would you do first? Check the numbers and then find out who bought me the ticket.

Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not go a day without? Laughter.

How do you prefer to exercise? Bushwalking

My work explores the simple way of seeing the world with a specific focus on the beauty of the small and overlooked marine life found washed up along our shoreline. These paintings and drawings, of the unremarkable along the tidal edges in Geographe Bay, are inspired by my memories of a childhood living beside the beach in another place and time. 
I find myself holding up a small shell against the sun to admire the colours in its brittle layers or the iridescent glow of life in the diaphanous leaves of a torn piece of seaweed. 
Opening up to this attitude of innocence has engendered another way of being in the world, resulting in an interconnectedness with the environment and a passionate role in preserving it. 

Q & A:

What is the title & author of your favourite Book?

Rachel Carson for her poetic writing about the sea and environmental concerns. 'Lands Edge' by Tim Winton. And for light reading it would have to be all of the Liane Moriarty books for her narratives on inter-family and social relationships.

What is your favourite quote?

'Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly' - Aldous Huxley

What always makes you laugh? I can't go past a really good prank!!! I become formless, haha!

Who is the Artist who inspires you most?

Rembrandt, Cy Twombly, Tacita Dean, Toba Khedoori and Sally Mann.

What would be your favourite smell? The ocean, the salty air and coastal flowers on a hot summer’s day.

What is the most sentimental thing you have? Old black and white photographs.

Do you collect anything? Beautiful washed up curiosities I find along the beach.

Who is the one person you would love to have dinner with in the whole universe?  All of my children, who all live too far away!

What is your favourite -Song or Band or Musical Genre?

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - 'Push the sky away'

Leonard Cohen - 'Dance me to the end of love'

Fleetwood Mac - 'Landslide'

What would be your greatest accomplishment? Raising my children and seeing them succeed.

Jo Darvall has been announced as the 2024 Edith Cowan University Artist in Residence, Parliament House, WA.

This will be a three month residence, with the final artworks being acquired for the permanent collection of the Parliament House. Congratulations Jo on this wonderful journey, we cannot wait to see the path unfold.

For more information on the free tours to view the Parliament House Collection, click on the link below.

Congratulations to Lori Pensini for being selected as a finalist in the Sunshine Coast National Art Prize, 23 August - 13 October 2024, for her painting, "Freebird" - oil on linen, 110 x 100 cm.

Artist Statement:

Budgerigars have adapted to survive in harsh inland conditions of Australia. They are nomadic and flocks move on from sites as environmental conditions chance particularly the availabilty of food and water. For us on the land, budgerigars are a synonymous sign of abundance and for-tuitous times. We only saw them on really good season, the flocks of thousands would fill the skies in fluid choreographic spectacles. The budgerigars in this piece are metaphors of hope as we endured one of our driest periods on record in WA. We looked to the natural world, surveying cues from the land, sky and birds for signs of change, the promise of rain and the chance to feel alive again, unfettered, vital.

You can go vote for the People's Choice on the website for the Sunshine Coast National Art Awards.

We at The Studio Gallery have decided it is time to reintroduce ourselves and our artists to you, our followers, and patrons. Now this will not be the usual, standard “get to know you” but a little peek into who we are beyond the faces and voices and artwork. So read on and discover The Studio Gallery on a whole new level!

We kick things off with gallery owner, Sandy Tippett, who is dedicated and passionate for the success of each artist at the Studio Gallery. She leads the team by example, creating a work culture of dedication, empowerment and a love for what we do here. Her other loves are family, walking her dog or painting and creating her own artworks!

Q & A:

Where was your most memorable vacation?

In my childhood my parents always took us to Mombasa for our family holiday – 2 weeks of pure happiness and fun at Diani Beach…pure white sand, pristine aqua ocean, palm trees on the beach, monkeys throwing coconuts down onto people’s heads, looking for sand crabs at night…a perfect holiday.

What was your favourite toy as a kid?

Trudy Troll…she was a present in my Christmas stocking when I was 7 years old. I loved her orange hair, squishy nose and gorgeous smile. I still have her today, along with others.

Who is the one person you would love to have dinner with in the whole universe?

My brother David, he passed away 31 years ago at just 38 years old. I miss him terribly. He was a good artist and great fun. Someone you always wanted to be around with. That is him in the photo on Diani beach.

What is your favourite sweet treat?

Anything with meringue – pavlova, cake or tart!

What is your favourite quote?

“If your dog doesn't like someone, you probably shouldn't either.” Animals are the best judge of character I believe. When people visit the gallery and have a dog with them, we always tell them dogs are very welcome!

If you won the lottery, what would you do first?

Help my family and close friends as much as possible.

What makes you laugh?

My dear sweet granddaughter more than anything plus animals and baby animals/creatures.

What is the most sentimental thing you have?

A clay pot my brother made (he was an artist), I have always loved this as a) he made it b) it is the ocean and c) it is different and simply beautiful.

What is on your Bucket list?

A trip to Italy, Germany and Tanzania - with my boys and their wives. I’d love to find my Italian heritage with them and see Mt Kilimanjaro once more so they can experience what I saw everyday as a child. I’d love for my nieces and nephew to be with us too.

What is your favourite smell in the whole world?

Horses …. they remind me of not only wonderful moments in my childhood but also the unconditional graciousness, sincerity and loyalty a horse has.

The Cossack Art Awards showcases artwork from across the nation, for this annual prestigious exhibition. Three of our artists were selected as finalists: Mary-Lynne Stratton, Kay Gibson and Jacinda Bayne, with Mary-Lynne Stratton receiving a Highly Commended - Pilbara Landscape for her painting "Rhythm of Ancient Country".

Judges’ comments:
This art work beautifully explores how it actually feels to be in the landscape and experience the changing light. The large patchwork reds depict the formations and layering of time through the play of light.

You can visit the free exhibition from 10am to 3pm daily from now till the 11th August in Cossack Town, WA.

Acclaimed artist Lori Pensini has been selected as a Finalist in the Perth Royal Art Prize for Landscape 2024 with her outstanding painting titled Clay Pan 80 x 75 cm. Oil on linen.
This exhibition will be showcased at the Wilkinson Gallery Claremont Showgrounds 13 - 21 July.

Artist Statement:
This figurative landscape is painted in response to enduring the driest spell on record in the South West of WA. Everything struggled, landscape, animals and people. Our dams dried up and the natural springs, a vital life source for decades seared in the heat to become baked pans of hardened clay. My torso image in this piece represents seasons past, the times of plenty and is set against the backdrop of this years drought stricken landscape.

Artist Lori Pensini has been selected as a finalist in this years prize for her thought provoking and clever artwork - The Chatterbox Fortune Tellers - The critically endangered edition 2# - 10 x 50 x 14 pencil & ink on paper. This will be open for viewing from the 2 - 25 August at the Manly Art Gallery and Museum in New South Wales.

Artist Statement:
The ‘critically endeared edition’ is a dystopian projection of the childhood chatterbox fortune telling game. Each fortune teller displays 4 critically endangered or extinct known and lesser known species and each playing outcome arrives at the same cataclysmic point spotlighting species elimination. The aim is to emphasise the acute fragility of our environment and the need for urgent action to stabilise the ecological disequilibrium brought about by our land mismanagement.

A huge congratulations to Lori Pensini for being selected as a finalist in the Salon DeRefuses for this year with her beautiful and melancholy painting titled 'Free Bird', 55 x 50 cm.

Artist statement:
This work highlights our role in planetary health. Unenviably, Australia has the highest rates of extinction and loss of biodiversity in the world. The small yellow breasted robin perched upon my head represents habitat loss, he is alert, unsettled, unpaired, displaced. Paradoxically the cause of his destruction is also his salvation. There is an urgent need for significant change from each and every one of us if we are to repair the degradation brought about by our environmental mismanagement.

Artist Nellie Crawford is a multi-talented artist who is well known for her amazing Still Life paintings, but we are thrilled to announce that she has won 2nd place in this year’s Love to Read Local Week Fictional Flashbacks Competition!

You can read Nellie Crawford's story, 'A Rope Swing in the Forest' by visiting their website and clicking the link stating - "Literary Map of WA here".
Please have a look at her beautiful paintings while you are visiting our website as well.

https://ltrl.writingwa.org/uncategorised/winners-announcement-ltrl-fictional-flashbacks-competition/

Lori Pensini has been invited to participate in this years King's School Art Prize with a breathtaking painting called 'North of the Black Stump' - Oil on linen, 110 x 100 cm.

Artist Statement
North of the Black Stump is a self reflective interpretation of me as a young woman heading north into the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia to be a cook and jillaroo on my husband’s cattle station ‘Wyloo’. A million acres 1800 kms from home, it was a world a way. A land of contradiction, hours and hours of flat nothingness giving way to the everything of rugged ranges and ancient rivers. It speaks of a life rich in colour and a woman’s best friend being her own grit and determination.

If you are looking for something wonderful to do this long weekend, join The King's School for the Gala evening celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the King's Art Prize on Saturday 1 June 2024 from 6.30pm in Horrocks Hall at the Preparatory School.
The ticket will includes a three-course meal, beverages and live entertainment. Go to their website for bookings. Artworks that are on display are available for sale in Horrocks Hall on Thursday 30 May - Saturday 1 June between 10.00am and 4.00pm.

https://www.kings.edu.au/supporting/the-kings-school-art-prize-exhibition/

The Omnia Art Prize and Exhibition is one of Australia’s premier awards for contemporary art. This prestigious annual prize is open to established and emerging Australian contemporary artists across all mediums. Bringing together communities and artists across a full weekend of exhibition and events, with all artwork available for purchase.
Artist Lori Pensini has been selected as a finalist with her painting - 'Floundering Woman', Oil on linen, 110 x 110 cm

Artist Statement:: Flounder- to struggle to move or obtain footing. A dull spotted bottom dwelling flatfish. This piece explores the apprehension and fear associated with the stigma of mental illness and highlights the self empowerment assertion of ‘its ok not to be ok’. Countering Ainslie’s attractive physical self, a gasping flounder fish drapes over her head as metaphor for her internal experiences of feeling bereft - ‘’like a boat smashed on the rocks in tumultuous sea , battered, floundering’’.AB

Congratulations to Lori Pensini for being selected as a finalist in the Mandorla Art Award 2024 for her painting, Mother #2.
The judging is currently underway, and the gallery will be opening on the 25th May for all to view.
Artist Statement:
Whenever we look beyond our own needs to foster and nurture the needs of others, we take on the role of mothers. This inherent drive to protect and comfort those around us isn’t solely restricted to conventional motherhood. Extending far beyond the bounds of biology, motherhood encompasses a multidimensional connection to each other, other sentients and the world around us. This piece embodies the role of mothering in a rural context - it illustrates the life sustaining bond between (wo)man and other living beings, and the holistic integration with the natural world that is fundamental for planetary health.

We are so proud of the four artists that have been selected as finalists in this year's Jury Prize - Lesley Meaney, Lori Pensini, Simon Hemsley and Mary-Lynne Stratton. The exhibition opening was on the 18th May and will be on display till 19th July 2024. Voting is open and you have a chance to vote for your favourites till the 18th of July, with winners announced on the 19th July. Go visit their website for more information:
https://thejunctionco.com.au/the-jury-art-prize-contest/

Artists Statements:
Lesley Meaney - A passion for lingering and loitering around trees in both North and South of the state has played a recurring role in my Arts Practice – our Eucalypts, particularly some, centuries old, which have witnessed all that has happened both before and after European settlement. In the North, eucalypts appear to be the ‘spirits of endurance’ with their every twist, turn and agony inflicted by drought or growth-retardant winds. In the South, near my studio the trees are generally taller and straighter. However, if you look closely at any trunk anywhere a smorgasbord of visual delights awaits. If you look closely at this ‘splintered painting’ you will see that I have painted two canvases, cut one into strips of different widths and sewn each strip, one by one, onto the bigger canvas. The resulting image is intended to be reminiscent of a barcode – an optical representation of my lingering observations. Southwest, WA. Acrylic and thread on canvas, 64cm (h) x 118cm (w)

Lori Pensini - Family is not only defined by blood, it is a linking between our lives and the land with a sense of belonging that is enduring and consequential for our well being across our whole life.This painting is my interpretation of the ‘healing’ powers of relationships and honours my friendship with Noongar elder Aunty Kathy and her capacity to give and support free of judgement and criticism. It is about coming together, sharing our family stories, past and present and standing up for each other in a meaningful way. The painted red gum blossom ‘yorgum’ in Noongar language promotes healing. Oil & ground burnt Jarrah on linen, 100cm (h) x 85cm (w)

Simon Hemsley - This painting depicts the unique sandstone Karst formations that make up the Bungle Bungle Ranges in Purnululu National Park The ancient, evocative landscape has won Unesco World Heritage status and it's easy to appreciate why this area is of powerful cultural significance to the traditional owners, the Djaru and Giga people. In this artwork I've attempted to capture the sense of wonder Purnululu inspires in those privileged enough to experience it. Oil and ink, 95cm (h) x 150cm (w)

Mary-Lynne Stratton - This painting explores the ancient landscapes I keep revisiting. Walking through and painting in these places speaks to me of a powerful history and spirit embedded in the molten rock formations evolved over millions of years. The folding and layering of geology is a rich source of pattern and colour which seem to dance in the ever-changing light. The lyrical brush work and warm layered colours of reds, oranges, yellows and olive greens that make up the patterns of spinifex and grasses dotting the landscape attempt to convey my emotional response and awe I feel when I have these desert encounters. Oil on canvas, 126cm (h) x 126cm (w)

Lori Pensini is a finalist in the SWAN 2024 with these poignant artworks titled 'The song of Myself'. This works, among others can be seen at The Bunbury Regional Art Gallery now till Sunday 21 July 2024.
artist statement: In this current work I have extended focus from illustrating figurative oils on the conventional medium of canvas linen to working with composite raw materials - repurposing found natural forms and native flora in our bushland and overlaying with painted imagery. By regenerating storylines on mixed natural resources, I seek to examine the concept of placement. Firstly, self placement within family culture, who am I? who has shaped me? and the environmental imprinting influencing ones bearing and identity. I recall as a child our old farm house, a derelict timber ruin with crumbling walls of ill fashioned daub, well on its way to returning back to the earth I consider know before we moved in. I have regenerated this memory, like the house, rebuilding it from the earth, drawn in particular to the conviction that both the environment and the faculty of the mind, the memory, are metamorphic and perishable. The recasting of the organic wattle and daub is a considered reflection of our transience and its homespun greenness reflects the ‘make do’ approach to life of my rural heritage.

The Lethbridge Gallery is showing The Lethbridge Landscape Prize until the 23rd of May, and once again the selection of artists work is phenomenal.
We are proud of artist Lori Pensini for being selected as a finalist with her painting "Little Women"
artist statement: ''Little Women'' embodies my matriarchal rural women. Unsung but not without song in an unyielding landscape. They shared their stories of life and labours on the land with humoured pluck, and taught me the value of remembrance, to know where you come from and to never forget those that have come before us.

Artist Lori Pensini was selected as a finalist for this years Galipoli Art Prize with her poignant artwork 'Weeping Woman #1'
The exhibition can be viewed online at www.gallipoliartprize.org.au
Artist statement: Weeping Women is an emotional response to the intensive discord in the world right now. Territorial conflict, holy warfare, genocide, famine, displacement, suppression, suffering. It is hard to navigate and not be afflicted.

This exhibition is in celebration of 100 plus years of Women in the Northcliffe region, and we are happy to announce that artist Lori Pensini has been selected as a finalist with her artwork 'Drift-wood' The exhibition runs till the 12th May if you visit Painted Tree Gallery, Northcliffe Information & Visitor Centre, Lot 178 Muirillup Rd, Northcliffe WA 6262
Artist statement: ‘Drift-wood’ is a reflective emotive piece in response to truth-telling with Wardandi Elder Sue Kelly (nee Froome). She tells of her Wardandi great grandmother Elizabeth Hill (nee Dawson) born circa 1850, who in her elder years was denied a pension or government support on the grounds she couldn’t prove she was an Australian. She relied on family bonds to support her until her death in 1947 at Jardee on her son’s property, aged 97. Portrayed next to her is Sue age 4, now 75. 150 years on, has much changed when we talk of displacement and belonging? In the face of the referendum and ‘no’ vote, perhaps not? The deliberation to paint on charred jarrah bark, remnants of a recent bush fire, aims to highlight the intrinsic millennium connection of noongar peoples with country. The washed white oil scrutinises the discriminatory policies of our colonial history, heavy set against the dark jarrah they give the impression the figures are floating off of the wood, unfixed, a-drift.

This past weekend the saw the South West Region host Sculpture by the Bay, and we are proud to say that many of our artists works were on display; Sue Smorthwaite, Wayne Smith and Anne Grotian. Sue Smorthwaite was chosen as this years Winner of the Cape Constructions Small Sculpture Prize at Sculpture by the Bay. Sue uses her chosen medium with such an unique and inspired creativity, which has seen her become a truly collectible artist. Photo credit, Christian Fletcher

A huge congratulations to Jo Darvall for being selected as a finalist in 2024 The Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing an acquisitive art award. Of her nomination Jo has said, "Im rapt and honoured to be a finalist in 2024 The Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing an acquisitive art award among the most significant of its kind the selection this year was made by Emeritus Professor Sasha Grishin, art historian, art critic and curator." The Adelaide Perry Prize was launched in 2006 and is named in honour of respected painter, printmaker and draughtswoman, Miss Adelaide Elizabeth Perry (1891-1973) who taught Visual Arts at PLC Sydney from 1930 to 1962, the Prize attracts submissions from around Australia. https://apg.plc.nsw.edu.au/

'I Am Enough' - 1600 x 850 oil on linen, kurrajong wood & thread. This stirring work by Lori Pensini has been chosen as a finalist in the Midwest Art Prize 2023, Geraldton Regional gallery. Exhibition opens 10 Dec 2023 - 4 Feb 2024 artist statement: ‘I am enough’ is a reflective response to the feminine psyche of mothering. It considers the compelling maternal instincts that drives a woman to respond to her child’s needs and welfare, and bids them against the internal conflict and self doubting of her inner strengths - of ‘being enough’.

A big congratulations to Lori Pensini for being selected as a finalist in this years Portia Geach Memorial Award for her unique artwork,'melaleuca lucinda' (after Rossetti). Of her artwork Lori has said: The melaleuca is known for its purifying properties, of both body and mind, a healer to clear negative energies and release emotional wounds that no longer serve. It is a quietly powerful allegory here for my friendship with Lucinda Giblett, writer, co-creator and founder of Stellar Violets. We reach out often exploring our complexions and identity in the natural world, the creative curios-is we share, mine visual fables, hers artistry of words, an evolutionary thread woven and whispered since the dawn of time. I wanted to capture Cin here, ingrained, of this earth, likening to Greek dryad Daphne, tree spirit, to illustrate the affinity binding of nature and people, people as nature. The Portia Geach Award is held annually supporting women artists in Australia. The artworks are to be portraits painted from life of a person distinguished in the arts, letters or sciences. The exhibition opens 3 Nov - 17 Dec and is held at the National Trust S.H. Erwin Gallery at 2 Watson Rd, Millers Point NSW.

The amazing work of ceramists Felicity Bodycoat has been selected as a finalist in the 47th annual Melville Art Awards exhibition being held at Wireless Hill Museum located in Yagan Mia Wireless Hill Park. The Award showcases artworks by established and emerging West Australian artists and artwork may be purchased throughout the event. The award is on show till the 12th November (closed Monday), so make your way to the Wireless Hill Museum and enjoy!

With the City of Stirling biennial Art Awards and Exhibition set to return from 4 - 12 November 2023, we are excited for our artist Cy Rocchi, who has been announced as a finalist with her painting Morning Start. This award showcases an extraordinary collection of 170 new works from established and emerging Western Australian artists. The works include paintings, works on paper, printmaking, textiles, photography and small sculptural works. The exhibition is open to the public and free to enjoy with all works available for sale. City of Stilring Reception Hall, 25 Cedric street, from 4-12 November 2023.

We are thrilled to announce that artist Felicity Bodycoat was selected as the Winner of the Sculpture Award in the Claremont Art Award 2023. Of the artwork, the judges said, “The apparent simplicity of the form belies the complexity of the process and difficulty in achieving this level of perfection where the form, the internal and outer surface properties of the work are in perfect sync with each other.” We completely agree, and see this time and again with Felicity's artwork. Come and visit the gallery to see and perhaps take home some of her beautiful and functional forms.

Congratulations to ceramicist Felicity Bodycoat for being selected as a finalist in this years Claremont Art Awards for her work, Ellipse Series. These slip cast porcelain vessels, measuring #1: 11.5cm W x 21cm H and #2: 17cm W x 12cm H, showcases beautifully the marriage between form and design with a result that is striking in its simplicity. The winners will be announced this Friday evening of the 11th August, and if you are in the area, go and have a look! https://www.claremont.wa.gov.au/community/arts-and-culture/art-awards-exhibition/

Huge Congratulations to Jo DARVALL for winning this years Collie Art Prize! A very well deserved win for this highly collectable artist. Jo’s honesty and sincerity to her art is reflected in her beautiful pieces. We are so proud to represent Jo, drop in and see her fabulous paintings we have displayed in the gallery. Visit the Collie Art Gallery to see the winning painting plus all selected finalists which proudly includes our other Studio Gallery artists - Lori Pensini and Marjan Bakhtiarikish

A huge congratulations to Lori Pensini for winning the 2022 Perth Royal Show Landscape Art Prize. The Prize for Landscape, created in 2017, is unique within WA as the only competition for landscape works. Congratulations to all 60 finalists selected from 200 entries in a broad spectrum of styles and mediums. This years judging panel: Perth Royal Art Prize Curator Sandra Murray; WA artist & Dean of Learning & Teaching Humanities Faculty, Curtain University Dr Nicole Slatter; and Curator & Gallery Manager of the Janet Holmes a Court Collection Dr Laetitia Wilson. A special congratulations to our Studio Gallery artists Jacinda Bayne, Joanne Duffy and Jo Darvall for being selected as finalists. Well done one and all!

We are so proud of all our artists who made it into the Cossack Art Awards this year. Congratulations to Jacinda Bayne, Simon Hemsley, Bronwen Newbury, Mary-Lynne Stratton and Paula Wiegmink! The Cossack Art Awards have grown to become one the richest acquisitive art award in regional Australia. This its 30th Anniversary Exhibition, the Cossack Art Awards showcases such a wide variety of artistic talents for all to see. If you are in the region between the 17th July - 7 August, go and view the award exhibition, open daily between 10am- 3pm.

An amazing painting by Lori Pensini titled 'Worlds End', has been chosen as a finalist at this years National Capital Art Prize. Not only is it a hauntingly beautiful artwork but the message it holds is of utmost importance. artist statement: 'World's End' sets a dystopian view of a landscape beyond its tipping point, unable to maintain ecological equilibrium from the plague like blindness of our environmental mismanagement. A dying jarrah tree and girl holding a memory of a bird (in the form of a paper origami model), aims to cultivate awareness of our impact on the rapid rate of species elimination and our hand in its recovery. The girls’ precarious position against a thinning branch emphasises the imbalance and displays the acute fragility of the environment placed upon inherit future generations. National Capital Art Prize is a competition open to artists Australia wide, and aims to establish the National Capital as an artistic and cultural hub. Started as a not-for-profit company it aims to encourage artists, to display and sell their work during 2020-2021, a time when many lost the ability to showcase their art to the viewing public. This year there is a new Sustainability Prize category is based on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. credit: https://nationalcapitalartprize.com.au/

Congratulations to artist Paula Wiegmink for winning two awards for her painting Tricycle Made For Two at this years LIGHT SPACE TIME Online Art Competition. She won Overall Top 10 Winning Artists & Artwork and the Top 15 Paintings & Other Media Winning Artists & Artwork. The gallery’s competition for June 2022 was the 12th Annual and artists from around the world were invited to participate by submitting their best abstract or representational art along the theme of 'Open'. There were 3 media categories: Painting & Other Media, Photography & Digital and then 3D Art, with additional Winning Artist categories; 'Best of the Best' consisting of 10 best entries over all media catergories. In the end the gallery received 635 entries from 25 different countries globally. https://lightspacetime.art/current-online-juried-art-exhibition/

We would like to congratulate Mary-Lynne Stratton for being selected as a finalist for her artwork Deluge and Rising Monolith in this years The Jury Prize. Artist Statement - This work is a comment on the unusually frequent and severe weather events that we now seem to experience. Last year I travelled to the Murchison after a particularly wet period and climbed several monolithic rocks where I experienced being surrounded by vast expanses of water. The sodden soil made me imagine this monolith rising up from the ground and floating away. High water levels after heavy rain made me think more about climate change and the effects in our country of severe flooding. The Jury Art Prize 2022 can now be viewed in the heart of Perth’s CBD, Yagan Square. If you are in the city, be sure to check out the amazing work showcased in this year’s exhibition. And when you are posting on socials, please tag us @thejunctionco_pilbara and use #thejuryartprize and #tjap2022 in your hashtags. thejunctionco.com.au

A big congratulations to Jo Darval for being selected as a finalist in this years Jury Prize for her painting, Bonarup Forest U Tree 2022. The Junction Co. and Courthouse Gallery+Studio showcases 50 artworks from artists from across regional Western Australia, resulting in a unique show of diverse perspectives and artists stories about their regional WA communities. Finalists were selected from all media and included painting, photography, sculpture, and mixed media from Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists. The Jury Art Prize 2022 can now be viewed in the heart of Perth’s CBD, Yagan Square. If you are in the city, be sure to check out the amazing work showcased in this year’s exhibition. And when you are posting on socials, please tag us @thejunctionco_pilbara and use #thejuryartprize and #tjap2022 in your hashtags. thejunctionco.com.au

Artist Lori Pensini has been selected as a finalist in the Jury Art Prize this year for her painting, 'Bush Coat' There were over 120 West Australian artist entries, of which 50 were selected as finalist. "Bush coat showcases West Australian flora biodiversity, its warming fullness set against a bared off landscape engages the viewer to consider their own engagement with the landscape." -- Lori Pensini The jury prize opens this Saturday 21st May- 4 august, The Junction Co. and Courthouse Gallery+Studio, Port Hedland. We are very proud of Lori and encourage all to go to the below website and vote for your favourites. www.thejunctionco.com.au

Congratulations to Lori Pensini for being selected as a Finalist in The Salon Des Refuse 2022. Artist statement: The bogong moth portrait is a response to our impact on the state of our natural systems and emphasises the acute ecological disequilibrium brought about by our environmental mismanagement. An over-cleared landscape backdrops the plight of the moth and other species dependent on its continuance. They cling to my solitary form like a moth to a flame, the very thing that threatens existence is their only salvation and dually asks the viewer to consider their own role in environmental regeneration. The Salon des Refusés is the S.H. Ervin Gallery’s ‘alternative’ selection from works entered into the annual Archibald and Wynne Prizes. The Salon des Refusés was initiated by the S.H. Ervin Gallery in 1992 in response to the large number of works entered into the Archibald Prize which were not selected for display in the official exhibition. The Archibald Prize is one of Australia’s most high profile and respected awards which attracts hundreds of entries each year and the S.H. Ervin Gallery’s ‘alternative’ selection has become a much anticipated feature of the Sydney scene. Each year our panel is invited to go behind the scenes of the judging process for the annual Archibald Prize for portraiture and Wynne Prize for landscape painting and figure sculpture at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, to select an exhibition from the many hundreds of works entered in both prizes but not chosen for the official award exhibition. The Salon des Refusés exhibition at the S.H. Ervin Gallery has established an excellent reputation that rivals the selections in the ‘official’ exhibition, with works selected for quality, diversity, humour and experimentation, and which examine contemporary art practices, different approaches to portraiture and responses to the landscape. The Holding Redlich People’s Choice Award is valued at $3000. https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/event/2022-salon-des-refuses-the-alternative-archibald-wynne-prize-selection/

Congratulations to Lori Pensini on being selected as a Finalist in the Gallipoli Art Prize this year for her painting, The White Feathers - Coward or Courage (Oil on linen in reclaimed French frame). Artist Statement - The divisiveness caused by the first world war went well beyond the front line. The able-bodied men left behind who did not volunteer for service were looked down upon as cowards and women were advised to ‘not grant your affections to stay at home men, but to save a warm place in your hearts for the boys fighting for the future honour and freedom’. The men were sent white feathers as a symbol of their cowardly, to scorn their failure to be real men. A number of feathers were sent to young men in my great grandparents’ shire of Woondanilling, a small wheat and sheep community in rural Western Australia, with the committee president saying ‘the Empire was better served by the growing of wheat than by the handling of rifles’. Many women endured years of hardship when left to tend the farmlands and feed their young families singlehandedly without hardy men. It would have taken a gallant measure of courage to choose land over country against the glamourised war propaganda campaigns of the times.

Another of our artists, Kay Gibson has been selected as a finalist in the SWAN prize 2022 at Bunbury Regional Art Gallery. ARTIST STATEMENT Kay’s art practice combines her love of printmaking, drawing and painting along with her passion for working on and with paper. For nearly 5 decades the Margaret River region has been her home and her work often portrays the flora and fauna of the area. In this work Kay has used some of the plants that grow along the river to create soft ground etchings that have been printed onto rice paper. All the paper has been hand-coloured and torn to create the image. When viewing the landscape Kay says “I often wonder what it would have been like for the first people that lived in this place, the Wadandi People. Having intimate knowledge of the land was crucial to their everyday life and survival and ultimately sustained them for thousands of years. Today our lives are not as obviously or as directly dependent on the plants and animals that surround us but we must know their role in order to maintain healthy ecosystems. This artwork is a homage to this beautiful and vital river."

We would like to congratulate Lori Pensini for being nominated as a Finalist in The Alice Prize 2022 for her artwork, Chatterbox Fortune Tellers - The Rare Bird Extinction series (pencil, ink on paper). artist statement: I have applied a melancholic macabre spin to a favourite childhood game of chatterbox fortune telling. Each fortune teller displays extinct or critically endanger bird species and each playing outcome arrives at the same point - extinction. The aim is to emphasise the acute fragility of our environment and the need for urgent action to stabilise the ecological disequilibrium brought about by our former and current land mismanagement. Paradoxically, the act of ‘playing the game’, points critically to the fact that this isn’t a game, it isn’t something we can gamble on anymore. "The Alice Prize is an acquisitive national contemporary art prize, welcoming entries from around Australia, in any medium or theme." https://www.aliceprize.com/

We would like to congratulate Jo Darvall for being selected as a finalist for The Ravenswood Australian Women's Art Prize for her print "Winged Realm - Summer 2021" This is a great honour for any Australian female artist and we are very proud of her. Australian art. Any medium. All women. The Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize is an annual prize and exhibition conducted by Ravenswood School for Girl. The aim of this art prize is to inspire, promote and connect generations of Australian women artists. The three prize categories are open to all mediums and themes as long as the artwork reflects the artists intentions for their practice. Professional Artist Prize - $35,000 (acquisitive) Emerging Artist Prize - $5,000 (acquisitive) Indigenous Emerging Artist Prize - $5,000 (acquisitive) Peoples’ Choice Award - $2,000

The City of Bunbury has purchased the artwork of Lori Pensini, "We of the Wandoo" as part of their permanent collection. This painting was submitted to the SWAN Exhibition and Awards 2022, and not only has it been purchased, it is also a Finalist in the SWAN Prize 2022. Congratulations to Lori for being chosen for this honour. The Artists statement: We of the Wandoo is an embodied response to Lori Pensini’s yarnings with her friend Gloria. Gloria is a Karriyarra, Ngarluma Yindjibarndi and Yawuru woman on her father’s side and Yuet Ngaju Noongar on her mother’s. She is a healer from both lines. They first met as artists sharing knowledge about creativity. Conversations about form and mark-making soon gave way to sharing stories about their shaping as women, from the hands of past generations, seeing each other from within and beyond their skins. Gloria speaks of a ‘oneness’; each of us individual threads of a fabric spun to form a quilt of life. The fabric I am weaving with Gloria is one of shared knowledge, healing and nurturing. I wanted to portray this kinship as gentle strength; two women supporting each other’s vitality, poised in front of wandoo blossom. The wandoo (white gum) is legendary for its hardiness and tolerance to drought and salinity. Its leaves have remedial medicinal properties. Here, it conveys the sincerity of our friendship and the healing and shared commitment to the future health of our environment.

With the destruction of habitat due to the recent fires in our beautiful South forest, The Studio Gallery and artist Janey Emery donated a percentage from the sale of Janey's painting "Dappled Forest" to assist with their ongoing care of local wildlife. FAWNA plans to build WA's first Regional Wildlife Hospital and Research Centre. The funding of the ongoing costs of the hospital will be done through a co-located 300-hectare Open Plan Biodiversity Eco Tourism Project, which is planned for completion in two years. With so many of our wildlife in danger of predators, loss of habitat and other threats, local domestic and pet livestock Vets try their best to assist where they can, but lack of the wildlife training, supplies and equipment mean that they struggle to make a lasting impact. If you would like to donate to FAWNA please click on the image of the painting and it will take you to their website where you can just follow the prompts.

We are delighted to announce that two of our artists, Paula Wiegmink and Herman Pekel will be among the artists who's episodes will be sent up to and kept on the Moon! Art TV show, Put Some Colour in Your Life, received the exciting news that all 22 seasons of their TV art documentaries will be included in the Lunar Codex or “the Museum on the Moon”, rocketed via the Astrobotic Griffin / NASA VIPER ROVER / SpaceX Falcon Heavy mission headed to the Lunar South Pole due to land in 2023. Graeme Stevenson OAM, CEO and founder of Put Some Colour in Your Life, was over the moon when payload co-ordinator and curator Dr. Samuel Peralta (physicist), confirmed that all of the nearly 300 artists who have been filmed over the past 12 years in 7 countries will be represented. Put Some Colour in Your Life TV show based in Murwillumbah, Northern NSW, Australia, films 24-minute TV art documentaries about artists in their studios and then distributes the show to TV networks in over fifty counties, as well as many online streaming services and Smart TV apps. "When I began this business back in 2009, my vision was to build a library of the minds of artists, preserving a digital record of creative spirit, culture, and techniques for future generations”, Graeme explained,” I had no idea that the library would be kept on the moon. It is just mind blowing!" "The Lunar Codex -- www.lunarcodex.com- is a project to preserve contemporary creative arts for future generations, a message-in-a-bottle to the future," explained Dr. Samuel Peralta, creator of the enterprise. "It is sending the work of 5000+ creative artists to the Moon in three lunar exhibits / time capsules to be launched via three separate missions to the Moon over 2021-2023." - Colour In Your Life and The Lunar Codex

We are so proud of artist Lori Pensini for being selected as a Finalist for the Portia Geach Memorial Award this year for her painting titled, My language of flowers. artist statement: I paint figurative floriography using Australian botanicals to create a unique language of flowers. The botanicals are spiritual emblems, giving voice to the personality traits of my figures by creating a metamorphosis of both flora and person. This piece uses floriography, a unique language of flowers that embodies the whole of me, my language, the heart and soul of my shaping. The botanics chosen are a complex bouquet of spiritual symbols defining the coloured flections of my being and aid in expressing myself and life story. They personify all of the hands past and present, that tended the soil and seeds of vitality, nurturing the unfurling of the woman I am. Botanicals - banksia - menziesii/robur/attenuata/grandis, dryandra, sheoak: kangaroo paw, wandoo, wattle, sturt desert pea, grevillea, pituri bush, honey myrtle, swamp paperbark, fairy apron.

Congratulations to artist Lori Pensini for being selected as a Semi-finalist in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize for this year with this hauntingly beautiful self-portrait. Of her entry the artist says, 'Woman with Flathead' is a self portrait illustrating the precarious balance of our mental wellbeing amidst the volatile economic, environmental and social equities of the modern world we navigate. I have used the yellow tail flat head fish, a nondescript brown bottom dweller as a metaphor to chronicle the floundering thoughts that threaten to overrun my normally buoyant self. The raised venomous barb of the fin alluding to the vulnerability of such deprecation.'

We are so proud of Lori Pensini for being chosen as the winner of the Kilgour Prize this year for her work 'Family'. JUDGES STATEMENT: 'There is a tension presented through this work - the portraits are haunting but also mesmerising' commented Newcastle Art Gallery Director Lauretta Morton. "it is not a divisive narrative, but one that embraces the individual stoires behind this family portrait. Artist Statement: These portraits are a continuum for myself and my art practice exploring the indigenous lineage to my ancestry. They are painted on family heirloom fine bone china English plates and are a tribute to the inter racial relationships of my colonial fore-bearers and the first people’s of the south west of Western Australia. Each plate is unique to itself, honouring individual endeavours and fortitude. Collectively they embody the sense of ‘family’, of intimate bonds forged and the endurance of fervent relationships that defied racial vilification of the times. The deliberation of painting on fine bone china english plates represents the fragility of our bonds and cultural identity, and delicately betrays the ruinous heavy hand of European colonisation both towards indigenous peoples and the Australian landscape.

Congratulations to Sue, was awarded The Highly Commended prize for the Non functional teapot in any medium. The judges were Lynda Worthington, editor of Embellish Magazine and esteemed potter Glenn England. Stonehouse Gallery in Warrandyte is pleased to present The Melbourne Teapot Exhibition 2021. This spectacular and popular Annual Teapot Exhibition features both functional and non functional sections in diverse creative disciplines. ? The 15th The Melbourne Teapot Exhibition gives artists and makers of diverse disciplines the opportunity to explore and interpret the teapot form within their individual field of expertise and materials. Because of recent lockdowns and COVID restrictions, there will be no opening unfortunately, but follow their social media pages for more on this unique exhibition!

Congratulations to Bronwen Newbury for being chosen as the best overall artwork winner at the Cossack Art Awards 2021 for her painting 'The Golden Hour' Judges comments: This fine painting left no room for doubt for our judges, it was a unanimous decision. This is an evocative landscape with subtle layers, deliberate mark making and it continues an Australian tradition of landscape painting. Esther McDowell-Kickett pointed out that “the bright line at the horizon feels like a cut, a slice through flesh. The line feels alive, like it contains a heartbeat.”

Artist Jacinda Bayne was awarded Highly Commended at this years Cossack Art Awards and we just want to congratulate her on this achievement. This painting has a luminescence that is truly magical.

We are proud to announce that artist Rob Forlani has been as been selected as the Cossack Art Awards 2021 Artist in Residence. Rob will relocate to the historic townsite of Cossack for a four-week residency during which he will work from a studio space to develop a body of work inspired by his experience. He will also lead abstract painting workshops as part of the 2021 Public Program which we are sure will be a exciting experience for those who can attend.

We would like to congratulate our artist, Paula Wiegmink, on being selected as a finalist in this years Minnawarra Art Awards, for not just one of her artworks but two! ‘Magpie Ridge’ A visit to North Western Australia revealed something I hadn't experienced before. The vast open spaces and strong colours of the earth and sky were the inspiration for ‘Magpie Ridge’. A place that once visited, magically lures you back. Approaching this painting with a sense of freedom I hoped to capture that fleeting moment which drew my breath away. Using texture paste added drama and defined the direction of this painting, while using acrylics as my chosen medium. The addition of the magpies helped to create a sense of space and time. ‘I can see Clearly Now’ Art is a powerful vehicle that can evoke thought, debate and sometimes controversy. Many artists show their support for wildlife and the environment through their work. I hope to draw attention to the endangered Carnaby Cockatoo which are now rapidly diminishing in numbers. My chosen medium for ‘I Can See Clearly now’ is oil on stretched canvas. The Minnawarra Art Awards showcases some of Western Australia’s best artists, a number of which are local to the Armadale district! This year saw an increased prize pool and more targeted art awards that ensured this professionally curated exhibition provided viewers with a powerful show of high calibre and diverse artworks.

The Studio Gallery congratulates four Studio Artists who are selected as finalists in the curated Art Prize exhibition, The Jury Art Prize.
Kay Gibson, Lori Pensini, Paula Wiegmink and Marjan Bakhtiarikish will be among the 55 artists who work across regional and remote WA to showcase their work at The Junction Co. and Courthouse Gallery + Studio commencing Friday 11 June.
'Finalists were selected from across all regions, and included painting, photography, sculpture, digital and mixed media from both Aboriginal and non-indigenous artists.'
'The Prize will be judged by industry experts, artist Damien Shen, multidisciplinary artist and poet Jazz Money and acclaimed curator Sandra Murray.'
'There are four key prize categories, the Judge’s Prize, Kathy Donnelly Encouragement Prize, Jury Prize (people’s choice) and Patron Award supported by the Town of Port Hedland, with prize monies for the Jury Prize and Judge’s prize being equal value of $10,000 each.'

Kay Gibson - ARTIST STATEMENT
In the Balance
Animals, nature, emotion and connection. These are the things that drive my art. My work is about the emotional life of animals and their place in the ecosystem. When I look at the Australian ‘landscape’ I not only see its geological beauty but I also see the symbiotic relationship with our unique wildlife. The dingo holds a significant place in the ecosystem. When they don’t have their social structure disrupted by poison baiting, trapping and shooting only the apex female breeds, once a year at the most. These family groups have strictly defined ranges, and they kill or chase off other wild dogs or dingoes that intrude. They also keep kangaroos down to very low numbers, which is a huge benefit in regards to pasture growth for graziers. The dingoes also limit feral pig, cat and fox numbers which in turn benefit biodiversity conservation and soil condition.

Lori Pensini - ARTIST STATEMENT
The Burrup Moon
I sat out at Murujuga National park at the Burrup recently, some 20 years on from my first visit. The landscape reddened now, not only from the pindan dust but from the mourning tears of lost culture. The old ways are all but a whisper, thin threads against the hungry squalling winds of industry. Childhood legend speaks of our loved ones shining down on us from the moon, here I attribute this perspective detailing a waning moon with aboriginal woman spirit crying from the ruination of her peoples, landscape and lore.

Paula Wiegmink - ARTIST STATEMENT
Magpie Manoeuvres
Always surprised how smaller birds manage to not only attack but to successfully fend off larger birds of prey was the inspiration for 'Magpie Manoeuvres.' The behaviour of 'mobbing' is a term used when smaller birds fend off larger birds protecting their nests and environment. Speed enables these birds to successfully fend off hostile predators. They usually attack the larger birds from behind or above to avoid the larger birds' talons. This only goes to show that being small is not necessarily a limitation. Magpies are notorious for swooping on humans, no doubt an effective deterrent in protecting their young, not unlike human behaviour. The wonderful wheatbelt landscape of Western Australia and moody sky provided the perfect backdrop for 'Magpie Manoeuvres'. I chose to paint in acrylic using a multi layering method on canvas in a realistic style. The artwork depicts an Australian magpie (Cracticus tibicen) pursuing a whistling kite (Haliastur sphenurus). Both species can be frequently spotted throughout Western Australia.

Marjan Bakhtiarikish - ARTIST STATEMENT
Tomorrow
This painting came about as part of a series of paintings resulting from my ongoing fascination with Rembrandt’s luscious late painting technique and my admiration for the “timeless” portraits of Old Masters. The timeless portrait attempts to go beyond the particular individual and address all humanity through an idealization that would embrace archetypal human emotions. The image of the child emerges like an apparition out of the mists of time and space. A sense of awareness and foreboding of a future unknown may enshroud her as she stands in the evening of her childhood. Scrapings of palette knife, pushing the bristles around, dragging, sculpting, building and building layers, at times removing; all helped express her innocence, fragility and yet her emerging inner strength and resolution. In this age of uncertainty, I believed this rough but subtle, ancient language of painting could best evoke the mystical presence of future hope.

Congratulations to Judith Paisley for winning the Highly Commended Award at this years CAAWA Selective Exhibition for her work 'Little Urchin', Medium - Naked Raku Sulpture. "My introduction to pottery was late in life. I thoroughly enjoy throwing on the wheel however after an inspiring workshop with raku artist Britta Stolle-Jacob I learned to appreciate the unlimited potential of hand building and became captivated by raku firing, a significant turning point for me. I have since developed a strong passion for the raw and rustic nature of ALTERNATIVE firings. I am driven by fine powerful simplicity of form being the ultimate canvas to showcase the dramatic permeations derived by alternative firings. I love the close interaction with nature and the elements; the fact the artist has so much physical input and influence throughout most of the process.I like that there are no set rules as such, with plenty of scope for experimentation and room to put your own stamp on varying outcomes. With alternative firing, you quickly learn you are not in control, but part of the process.Learning not to be too precious about your pieces allows you the freedom to experiment, learn and grow." - Judith Paisley Established in 1993, the Ceramic Arts Association of WA (CAAWA) is a not for profit organisation run by members supporting the ceramics community in Western Australia. We aim to connect and promote all aspects of hand made pottery and ceramic sculpture. The Selective Exhibition was held at Earlyworks Gallery, 330 South Terrace, 5th Fremantle between 23 April - 2 May 2021. Quoted from https://www.ceramicartswa.asn.au/judith-paisley

Lori Pensini has been selected as a finalist in the Minnawarra Art Prize 2021. The Minnawarra Art Awards is the centrepiece of the Armadale Arts Festival and offers an exciting public program ensuring that it’s not just the arts lovers that are able to revel in this creative visual feast! 1-16 May 2021 Lori Pensini - 'This painting is my ancestral story, it speaks of the co joining of cultures and the bonds created in the shared keeping of landscape. The women are wearing blossom dresses of the wandoo eucalyptus tree, a totem for the strength and resilience the kinship of married cultures had to endure against the social and political pressures of the times - biologically the wandoo is legendary for its hardness and tolerance to drought and salinity. The figures are symbolically stepping out of the darkness and walking towards the light in a show of unity.'

Congratulations to Lori Pensini for being selected as a finalist in the Gallipoli Art Prize this year. Lori Pensini - 'War mobilised women. With the Australian economy hamstrung from the loss of its workforce and diversion of funds to the military to fight the war, woman played a vital role in homeland production on both home front and the front line. They invested invaluable emotional and physical labour caring for troops and sending comforts to the war front through charitable work and fundraising: baking, writing letters, and the knitting of clothing & camouflage nets. This painting tells the story of Fay Howe, 15, daughter of the Breaksea Island lighthouse keeper, King George Sound, Albany Western Australia. Although her mother died before she could teach her to knit properly, she heeded the Country Women’s Association call to duty, and knitted socks with her CWA’s war relief wool donations.'

We are pleased to announce that artist Jo Darval has been selected as a finalist in the York Botanical Art Prize 2020 for her work titled 'Wandoo Forrest'. The exhibition runs from the 2 November 2020 - 24 January 2021. Hundreds of participants from across Australia send in their entries with a diverse exploration of the Prize's theme of botanic art in the expanded field.

Artist Jo Darvall has been selected as a finalist for The City of Busselton Art Award 2020 for her painting 'Wandoo Forrest'. The 13th annual City of Busselton Art Award is introducing a new format by choosing to extend the show into the entire ArtGeo Cultural Complex. The juried Art Award will be shown in the ArtGeo Gallery while an additional Showcase of Skills will be exhibited in the Old Courthouse. This extended show will enable artists and visitors to more fully appreciate the depth of talent from West Australian Artists. Traditionally the Art Award was shown in September. This year the Award will will be shown in December 2020 and January 2021.

Congratulations to Lori Pensini who has been awarded joint Winner, along with Aboriginal Artist Debra Thomas in The Jury Art Prize 2020.
'Mother', oil on linen 120 x 100 cm

artist statement: This piece is a continuum of my rural women series personifying the role of women in the bush. The thread of her being, golden with adoration, is fashioned from the humility and integrity of the women that came before her, unconditional and unbounded it enswathes her family and embodies her community and landscape. She is vital to the health of everything, she is the everything, without her the day is that little bit longer, a little drier.

Congratulations to Lori Pensini who has been awarded Highly commended for this years Gallipoli Art Prize 2020 for her emotive painting, 'The Telegram'.

Artist statement: The telegram. My grandmother unmasks the memory of waiting. She tells of the foreboding waiting for a telegram to arrive, the angst of not knowing and the dread to come upon knowing. This painting is a tribute to the rural women that fought the loneliness of war and the ever lingering threat of an uncertain future on the land without their loved ones..

Congratulations to Lori Pensini who has been selected as a finalist in the Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing 2020.

Artist Statement
Family. These sketches are a continuum for myself and my art practice around the exploration of the indigenous lineage to my ancestry. They examine the inter racial relationships of my colonial fore-bearers and the forging of Australia’s post European culture. They are semi stylised depictions of my family simulating the camera obscure (pinhole) method of photography of the 1800’s. I wanted to capture the fortitude commanded to withstand the political and social prejudices their relationship would of suffered at the time, and to consider also, these prejudices are still current and have direct bearing on the health of family units in todays society.

"The works on display in this South Western Times Art 2020 exhibition challenge us, they show us who we are and what we value, they remind us of where we have come from and where we are going. " - BRAG We would like to congratulate our artists - Sue Smorthwaite, Simon Hemsley and Paula Wiegmink on being selected to submit their works for this year's survey. Paula Wiegmink, "Magpie manoeuvres" Surprise at how smaller birds manage to not only attack but to successfully fend off larger birds of prey was the inspiration for Paula's artwork. The behaviour of 'mobbing' is a term used when smaller birds fend off larger birds protecting their nests and environment. Speed enables these birds to successfully fend off hostile predators. They usually attack the bigger bird from behind or above to avoid the larger bird's talons. This only goes to show that being small is not necessarily a limitation. Sue Smorthwaite, "Reef Knot" Using colour, form and texture, Sue has brought to life the natural state of our reefs, in order to highlight the rapid reef degradation and coral bleaching occurring in our oceans. These are reversible if we as individuals and a country dedicate our efforts towards it. The knot can be viewed as the tipping point in one direction, which can, by definition, be undone and the process be reversed. Simon Hemsley, "Under the Microscope" Melanoma is a major health problem for Australians due to our outdoor lifestyles and the depletion of the ozone layer exposing us to extreme UV exposure at times. Simon's submission aims to increase people's awareness of this. By looking at hisopatholoy specimens he was able to relate it to abstraction in the environment. Nature is continuously changing, from natural harmonious cycles to permanent reshaping, and Simon has found that skin cancer has a similarity as it can start as a small change of pigmentation but rapidly invades the local tissues - growing, eroding and ultimately engulfing. Then there is the visual similarity between nature on a grand scale when viewed from above , compared to the viewing of histological specimens under higher magnification, and it is striking. Simon hopes to remind and inspire viewers to life each day as it comes as tomorrow is uncertain for many of us.

Same Prize. Different Face. The Black Swan Prize for Portraiture, one of the country’s richest prizes for portraiture has been renamed The Lester Prize in honour of the award’s leading patron, Richard Lester. Amongst this year's finalists, 15 were WA artists, 10 were from VIC, 9 from NSW, with the remaining 6 from QLD, TAS and the ACT. Subjects of the works range from self-portraits to people who have played a significant part in the artists' lives. A quarter of this year's finalists have been named as finalists in previous years of the competition. Congratulations to Lori Pensini for winning the Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize for her painting, Banksia grandis—love begets love 2019. Artist Statement This is a love story – it is my family’s story. It tells of love lost, forbidden and endured; of discrimination, shame and division of which my family wasn’t immune. It is important for my person and myself as an artist to paint the courage, resilience and the sheer resolve of character my forbearers modelled. They empower me, their laudable threads woven intricately into the fabric of my being. They ground and grow my inner strength, and, in turn, give rise to fertile beds to nourish my children.

Congratulations to Ayad Alqaragholli on being part of the Starfield COEX Mall Street Sculpture Symposium in Seoul, South Korea. Ayad is shown here standing proudly with his public art piece created from granite and the pomegranate of bronze. Street art, especially sculpture, is a wonderful interactive way to bring art directly to people in our every day spaces.

Congratulations to Laura Matthews for being selected as a finalist with her sensational piece Steel Etched in the prestigious Paddington Art Prize. We wish Laura every success. 'The Paddington Art Prize is a $30,000 National acquisitive prize, awarded annually for a painting inspired by the Australian landscape. Established in 2004 by Arts Patron, Marlene Antico OAM, this National prize takes its place among the country’s most lucrative and highly coveted painting prizes. The prize encourages the interpretation of the landscape as a significant contemporary genre, its long tradition in Australian painting as a key contributor to our national ethos, and is a positive initiative in private patronage of the arts in Australia.' Paddington Art Prize

Congratulations again to Laura for being selected as a semi finalist with her piece Natural Habitat.  We wish her the best of luck for when the finalists are announced on 16th October. 'Founded by Doug & Greta Moran and family in 1988, the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (DMNPP) is an annual Australian portrait painting prize supporting Australian artists. The prize has encouraged both excellence and creativity in contemporary Australian portraiture by asking artists to interpret the look and personality of a chosen sitter, either unknown or well known. ' - Moran Art Foundation

Congratulations to Laura Matthews who won in the Manning Art Prize 2019, Naked & Nude, with her painting 'Sea Creatures' at the Manning Regional Art Gallery, NSW.
The ‘Naked & Nude Art Prize’ is the only art award of its kind in Australia and attracts entries from across Australia from artists at all stages of their careers and working in all mediums.
The theme ‘Naked & Nude’ is an evocative platform for creative inspiration, and artists delve into representations of the human form. With a history dating back to ancient times across many cultures, the exposed human figure is one the most enduring themes in the visual arts, and remains relevant to artists across all disciplines.
Announcing 'Sea Creatures' as the winner, the judge commented "this beautifully composed painting may be a landscape (or seascape) but it is one that pivots around the formation of the two female figures. Their connection to each other and to their beach setting is the true subject of the work.
"Despite the agitated surface texture of this painting; one that encapsulates the perpetual motion of the ocean setting, the work exudes a great sense of calm and intimacy. The figures here do indeed appear as ‘sea creatures’ as they are drawn into their environment, and lead us, as viewers, in with them."
The painting is ultimately successful due to the strong sense of the physicality of the figures and the human connection between them and their environment.
- Courtesy of the Midwest Council NSW

Mel Brigg was contacted by author Kalypso Nicolaidis after she saw his artwork. She felt that his painting would be the perfect cover for her latest book, Exodus Reckoning Sacrifice. We could not agree more!

This book has received great reviews such as this one from Richard Buxton, author of Myths and Tragedies in their Ancient Greek Contexts; "Dazzling, tolerant, wise, pyrotechnic, thoroughly up-to-date, yet steeped in millennia-old story patterns, this book is a must-read for anyone tempted to believe that Brexit - or, for that matter, ancient mythology - is a simple matter. Like the Hebrew and Greek myths which she evokes, Professor Nicolaidis offers no easy solutions. This is a book which neither Remainers nor Leavers can afford to ignore."

Congratulations to Sue Smorthwaite who has been awarded Excellence In Design - Non Functional with her sculpture Billy Tea at the 2019 Melbourne Teapot Exhibition.  

The exhibtion has been running for 14 years and is held annually at the Stonehouse Gallery in Warrandyte, featuring both functional and non functional sections in diverse creative disciplines.
?The exhibition gives artists and makers of diverse disciplines the opportunity to explore and interpret the teapot form within their individual field of expertise and materials. 

Congratulations to Jennifer Sadler, Jo Darvall, Kay Gibson, Jacinda Bayne & Lori Pensini who have been selected as finalists in this years Perth Royal Art Prize.

The Perth Royal Art Prize was established by RASWA in 1974 and it has grown in artistic calibre every year.  It is the only prize in WA dedicated to the theme of landscape. The prize showcases some of the best talent from WA artists only, both regional and metropolitan.

Featured images:
Kay Gibson - In the Balance
Jacinda Bayne - Pontoon
Jennifer Sadler - Walk to Bush Camp

KAY GIBSON ARTIST STATEMENT
'When I look at the Australian ‘landscape’ I not only see its geological beauty but I also see the symbiotic relationship with our unique wildlife. We know that birds and insects pollinate plants but less obvious is the role of some our smaller mammals. They are integral in creating a healthy topsoil and ensuring biodiversity. Since European settlement a number of these mammals have become extinct mainly due to feral cats. With efforts to restore and maintain ‘a balance’ research has been conducted showing that dingoes suppress feral cat numbers.'

Still life - Lost works - Jo Darvall Finalist - Still: National Still Life Award 2019

Still is a biennial, acquisitive award for artworks in the genre of still life, in all mediums. Still: National Still Life Award seeks to highlight the diversity and vitality of still life in Australian contemporary art practice, broadening the interpretation and meaning of this enduring genre.

Still life - Lost works is a part of a large series and exhibition that Jo created to retell the story of Australia's pre-war artist, Kathleen O’Connor.

Wadjemup by Lori Pensini Finalist - Kilgour Art Prize 2019

Lori has been selected as a finalist in the annual art prize for figurative and portrait painting administered annually by Newcastle Art Gallery.

Wadjemup - black jail, white playground. 1838-1902. The history of Wadjemup (Rottnest Island, WA) tells of some 3700 aboriginal boys and men ‘rounded up’, chained and walked from as far as the Goldfields, Western Desert, Pilbara and Kimberlys to be incarcerated on Rottnest island 19km from the mainland port of Fremantle. Lori Pensini 2019

Stellar Violets by Lori Pensini Finalist - Portia Geach Memorial Award 2019

Congratulations to Lori Pensini who has been shortlisted for Australia's most prestigious art prize for portraiture by female artists.

Artist Statement
It's a pleasure to be involved in the Biennale creating the work and visiting the site of the great rock Goomba Boya. If you travel down Sugar Loaf road in Yallingup Western Australia at the end of the road there is a huge rock. Its enchanting at times it looks like a wise owl Wardandi Cultural Custodian Isaac Web mentioned there is no cultural name for Sugar Loaf Rock but suggests we call it Goomba Boya. Sadly many stories have been lost due to colonisation. Accompanying this work is the stunning melancholy music "Salt" inspired by Goomba Boya the Composer is Rebecca Erin Smith ..Musicians: Madeleine Antoine (violin) and Setsu Masuda (piano). the artwork is on exhibition until 21st of July 2019 at Bunbury Regional Gallery in WA.
Jo Darvall

We are so delighted for Lori Pensini who's painting 'pride & prejudice' has won the People's Choice Award - Kilgour Portrait Prize. Lori is the first West Australian artist to win this prize.

Congratulations to Lori Pensini who has been selected as a finalist in this years Bruny Island Art Prize.

'The Bruny’ is a unique national art prize, focused specifically on painting that explores concepts of identity and environment, including the relationship between people and the physical world.'

'In 2018, the specific theme of the prize is Art of Adaptation, which encompasses the way challenges such as climate adaptation are negotiated.'

On October 13 the judges will announce the winner of the prize.

Ayad's recent trip to China saw the installation of his new sculpture in the Min Qin desert.
The large figurative copper sculpture was installed on sand, on the Silk Road.
We believe this is such a fantastic opportunity Ayad and his artwork.

The photograph below shows Ayad at the seminar where he presented the international Artists involved in the International Desert Sculpture exhibition, in Min Qin close to the Mongolia border.

'MERINO COUNTRY'

"Merino Country pays homage to the integral role that the merino wool industry has played in the Australian landscape for the past 200 years. The first Australian produced fleece sold in England in 1807 and by the late 19th century wool had become Australia’s major export. By the 1950’s it was said that Australia was riding on the sheep’s back. New breeds have been developed to cope with the hot dry semi-arid areas of Australia. Australia still dominates the fine wool market producing more than half of the world’s merino wool." Kay Gibson

Congratulations to our wonderful artist Kay Gibson as her painting 'Merino Country' was shortlisted from 271 entries to just 51 in this years Perth Royal Art Prize.

A huge and well deserved congratulations to our incredibly talented artist Jo Darvall who was selected as a finalist in this years John Leslie Art Prize.

The John Leslie Art Prize is open to all artists living and working in Australia for landscape paintings that have been completed since 1 July 2016.
Inaugurated in 2000, the Prize is named after John Leslie OBE (1919—2016), Patron of the Gippsland Art Gallery.
The continuation of the Prize is made possible by the generous ongoing support of the John Leslie Foundation.
Prizes include the $20,000 acquisitive prize as well as a $1,000 non-acquisitive prize for the ‘Best Gippsland Work’.

Laura continues to have a fantastic year with finalist selections, this time she has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious Paddington Art Prize.
Congratulations to Laura, we are so excited for her solo show in January 2018.
'In the name of progress they spoilt my view'

Lori is so unique with her work no wonder she was chosen as a finalist for the prestigious Black Swan Art Prize 2017. This prize showcases and promotes Australia's top artists, it is an exhibition/competition not to be missed.

We are sending positive thoughts for Lori to win it this year.
‘Bloom’ ,oil on canvas, 150 x 150 cm

Good luck to our artist Jacinda Bayne who is having her first exhibition - ‘Merging Landscape’ in New York, October 5th 2017.
Jacinda’s paintings are so magical, they can make one stop and contemplate for hours at a time.
We wish you the best of luck Jacinda.

Lori Pensini - Finalist in the Kilgour Prize 2017
Congratulations to our incredibly talented artist, Lori Pensini. Lori is one of 30 finalists that were shortlisted from over 350 applicants for the prestigious Kilgour Prize.
Our fingers and toes are crossed in the hope that she will win the People’s Choice Award.

To vote for Lori you can Click here

Lori’s Pensini - ‘Woman with Mullet’