My Art Journey Continued: Exhibitions and residencies
2000 to 2011
In 2004 I was represented by the Port Douglas Gallery in North Queensland. I was invited to be their artist in residence, living in a beautiful old Queenslander and painting at a small boutique hotel in town.
For five weeks I immersed myself in the life of this magnificent tropical town. I discovered Four Mile Beach and rode my borrowed bicycle to work every morning. I made visits into the wild Daintree and fell in love with this incredible country.
I painted every day in the hotel and on the beach, and after five weeks I held a solo exhibition at the gallery. Such wonderful memories of that time and place.
Painting in Port Douglas.
Port Douglas.
In 2006 I had been exhibiting with Red Hill Gallery in Brisbane. They opened a new contemporary gallery and offered me a solo exhibition. The theme I chose was A Bush Wedding. I travelled to Brisbane for the opening and the exhibition was a great success.
In May of 2022 I was contacted by a woman living in Brisbane who sent me a picture of three of the paintings from that exhibition hanging in her house. It is such a thrill to see where my paintings are years after I painted them.
Bush wedding painting
In 2007 I was represented by Margaret River Gallery in the south west of Western Australia. To prepare for my solo exhibition I spent two months living at beautiful Prevelly Beach where I set up a small studio.
The exhibition, Sapphire Hills, featured the local people who I met and got to know, and the magnificent country around Margaret River. I interviewed and sketched artists, cheesemakers, surfers, organic farmers and winemakers.
I had an appointment to meet the tractor mechanic at Voyager Estate, but on the day we were to meet he was unavailable. While I was there, I had the great fortune to meet the late Michael Wright, the owner and creator of Voyager Estate. I told Michael about my project and he agreed to sit for a portrait that would be included in the exhibition.
Sapphire Hills was a wonderful success and I continue to love my visits to this place.
Sapphire Hills Margaret River Exhibition 2007
Sapphire Hills Margaret River Exhibition 2007
In 2008 I entered my painting of Michael Wright into the Black Swan Portrait Prize and was selected as a finalist. It was such a thrill to see The Man In The Red Hat hanging in the Perth Town Hall.
The Man In The Red Hat
In 2009, with my friend and fellow artist Di Taylor, I started a new body of work for an exhibition together at Gallery 360 in Perth. The exhibition titled I Am Woman featured paintings of strong, dynamic women.
It was a wonderful challenge for me to have models in my Mundaring studio, creating the poses and themes that found their way into my paintings. My daughter Catherine modelled on a borrowed motorbike dressed in a bra and stockings, which became a strong painting called Burn The Road. A friend modelled for Cat Walking, and another, sitting in a shopping trolley in my studio, inspired Saturday Morning Blues.
Cat Walking & Saturday Morning Blues
I Am Women featured paintings of strong, dynamic women
Burn The Road, from the I am Woman Exhibition.
In 2011 Tim and I spent a month travelling through Kenya. Tim was born and grew up there and had looked forward to showing me the people and places he still talked about. His memories of the long drive from Nairobi to Mombasa, stopping to let large herds of elephants slowly cross the road, and summer holidays camping on the beach at Mombasa. I had heard these stories for so long, now it was my chance to discover this place for myself.
And what a wonderful holiday it was. Walking through Nairobi with Tim speaking Swahili to the locals we met. Driving out into the Rift Valley and staying in a small hotel on Lake Elementaita. In Tsavo, staying at Lions Bluff watching large groups of elephants moving across the plains towards Tanzania with the majestic Mount Kilimanjaro filling the distant sky.
And of course we had to spend a few days at The Giraffe Manor in Karen, so close to Tim’s family home. Then onto Zanzibar Island, getting lost for hours in the twisted alleys and eating great food. We loved Zanzibar so much that we called our Ubud Gallery, Zanzibar Art House.
Stay tuned for the paintings that our amazing time in Kenya inspired.