Verity Nunan spent the first half of her life living in Nanjing and Shanghai, China - the artist now resides in Federal, where she paints from her studio.

 Primarily working with oil stick on canvas, Verity draws her paintings. Her art is an honest exploration of her own experience, articulated through mediums that are immediate, gestural and transparent. She works in a way that disarms the viewer and seduces them into an upside-down topsy-turvy world that questions all human assumptions.

 The artist states that “To make art is to be in a state of mind … somewhere that lies between trust, surrender and confidence. A place that's less about rational and more about intuition. The more time I spend in this space, the more convincing the work is to me at the end.”

Considered an early career artist, Verity has exhibited nationally and internationally. Alongside showing with Thomgallery, the artist most recently exhibited at Brunswick St Gallery in Melbourne and has just joined the stable at Studio Gallery.

Born in Sydney in 1972, Joseph Rolella completed a Bachelor of Visual Art (Honours) in 1994, a Masters (Visual Arts) in 1998.

In 2011 he won the Publishers Cup Cricket Art Prize and has been selected for many major art prizes including the Mosman Art Prize, the Moran Portrait prize , Paul Guest Drawing Prize, and the Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize.
For Rolella, painting is an adventurous and intuitive endeavour. Whether it is the figure in the landscape or the waters edge - the work is very much about movement and light. By using various tools and methods to apply paint, the works compete in a jostling of texture, colour and motifs to expose a delicate equilibrium. A process of layering and redefining - where objects continue to reveal a hidden beauty.

Selected Awards / Collections

2015 Winner - Oakhill Grammar Art award
2015 The Moran Portrait Prize semi-finalist
2015 Kedumba Drawing Award Bathurst Regional Gallery
2014 Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize
2013 Semi Finalist The Moran Portrait Prize
2011 Winner, The Cricket Art Prize
2010 Finalist, The Stanthrope Art Prize
2010 Finalist, The Mosman Art Prize
2008 Finalist, Plein Air Painting Prize, Parliament House, NSW
2007 Finalist, ANL Maritime Art Award, Melbourne
2005 Finalist, Metro 5 Art Prize
2004 Winner, Hills Grammar Art Prize
2003 Finalist, The Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship
2002 Hills Grammar Art Prize
1995 Bundanon Trust Artist in residence (Sponsored)
1994 William Fletcher Trust Scholarship
1992 Basil and Muriel Hopper Scholarship, Art Gallery of NSW

Australian Art Investment Trust

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Australand

Evatt Foundation, Sydney

Hills Grammar School

Lance Rigby, Sydney

Lang Walker Corporation Ltd

Regional Air Express

Merck Sharp & Dohme, Sydney

North Sydney Council

North Sydney Private Hospital

Patt Corrigan Collection

Park Royal

Qantas Australia

Sydney Airport Corporation Ltd

Sydney Childrens Hospital

University of Western Sydney

Westmead Childrens Hospital

Westpac Collection Sydney

Leah Thiessen holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts and alongside a comprehensive client base the artist has been very well exhibited nationally as well as being a finalist in many major Australian arts prizes - including the John Leslie Art Prize, Paddington Art prize and Gosford Art Prize.

Leah creates artworks that tap into the emotional gravity of a place, its memory, its pulse, its rawness and power. The images are a direct emotional response to the bush, beaches and mangroves that surround her home and her paintings explore unique ways of capturing the diversity of the natural terrain. The artist states that “for me the paintings communicate a deep felt relationship with the earth, embodying a spirit of place and its atmosphere.”

The course of painting is then a primal impulse to mark, it is a physical and emotional experience. Painting in an expressive and gestural way, she captures the force and energy of a place to create a visceral experience, saying that “My paintings are process driven and it is only through the act of painting over, scraping back and drawing into, that my work is resolved.”

Selected Exhibitions / Prizes

2018 John Leslie Art Prize / Gippsland Art Gallery / Victoria

2018 Pro Hart Outback Art Prize / Broken Hill

2018 “The Spirit of Place” / Boom Gallery / Victoria / SOLO

2017 Gosford Art Prize / Gosford Regional Gallery / Commended

2017 Associated Artist / Scott Livesey Galleries / Victoria

2016 The Paddington Art Prize- Sydney

2016 Redland Art Awards / Redland Art Gallery / Cleveland

2016 John Leslie Art Prize / Gippsland Art Gallery / Victoria

2016 Calleen Art Award / Cowra Regional Gallery

2016 Watters Gallery / Sydney / GROUP

2016 “Immersion” / Lethbridge Gallery / Brisbane / SOLO

2015 Calleen Art Award / Cowra Regional Gallery

2015 Clayton Utz / Art Prize / Brisbane

2015 Group show / Lethbridge Gallery / Brisbane

2014 The Paddington Art Prize

2014 Clayton Utz / Art Prize / Brisbane

2014 The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize / Highly Commended

2013 Gold Coast Art Prize

2013 Wilson Art Prize

2012 Landscape / School of Art Gallery / ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences

2011 Border Art Prize

2010 Caldera Artfest

2009 Border Art Prize

2009 Caldera Artfest

2008 Border Art Prize

2008 Caldera Artfest

2007 Border Art Prize

2004 Avalon Art Show / 2nd prize

Josh Mackenzie studied Fine Art at East Sydney Technical College in the 1990’s, majoring in painting before completing his studies in philosophy at Macquarie University in 2000. Josh has been painting professionally since 2013 and alongside exhibiting nationally, has been shortlisted for many major Australian prizes.

Josh is best known for his psychedelic paintings (often of nudes) inspired by 60s and 70s pop culture. The artist embraces a technique reminiscent of Gerhard Richter, where wet oil paint is dragged across the surface of the canvas using a plasterer’s trowel. This gives his works a worn, hallucinogenic, filmic quality and evokes the Sublime.

Selected Exhibitions/Prizes

2017 ‘Electricity’ Bellingen NSW (Solo)

2015 ‘Oil on Acid’ First Avenue Sawtell Gallery, NSW (Solo)

2014 Studio Exhibition, Bellingen NSW

2017 Finalist National Still Life Award Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery 

2014 Bishop Druitt College 20th Anniversery Exhibition Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery

 2014 The Lodge Gallery Café, Bellingen NSW (Group)

2013 ‘Sprout’ Pop-up Exhibition, Bellingen NSW (Group)

 2012 ‘Wrong Way, Go Forward’ Renewable Energy Fair, Bellingen NSW (Group)

1996 William Fletcher Trust recipient

1995 Commended, Waverly Art Prize

Collections

Private collections in Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and New Zealand.

Lynne Wallis is a landscape painter whose work is largely inspired by the coast and hinterland of Byron Shire, Northern NSW, where she has lived since 1989.

Her paintings grow from first hand experience in the landscape, coupled with memory of accumulated experiences over time. Her works focus on the play of light, atmosphere and water, evoking the timeless qualities of the natural world while simultaneously capturing the transient nature of every moment.

The artist captures the transformative and the transcendent in scenes of distant hazy horizons or silent seascapes. Liminality is a key element (experientially) in viewing/reading her works - they feel as if they are suspended in time.

Lynne has exhibited in a number of solo and group shows and has been shortlisted in many Australian prizes.

Selected Exhibitions / Prizes

2018 Solo exhibition, Northern Rivers Community Gallery, Ballina

2016 Winner of the Southern Cross University Chancellor's Award (Acquisitive)

2014 Solo exhibition, Lone Goat Gallery, Byron Bay

2014 Finalist Caldera Art Exhibition, Tweed Regional Gallery, Murwillumbah

2013 Finalist Border Art Prize, Gold Coast City Gallery

2011 Finalist Countryscapes Exhibition, Bathurst Regional Gallery

2010 Finalist Countryscapes Exhibition, The Glasshouse Gallery, Port Macquarie

2010 Finalist Mortimore Art Prize Exhibition, Dubbo and Byron Bay

2010 Winner of painting prize, Ocean Shores Art Expo, Ocean Shores

2009 Finalist Countryscapes Exhibition, Lismore Regional Gallery

2009 Employees Choice Award, Countryscapes Exhibition, Lismore Regional Gallery

2009 Finalist Caldera Art Exhibition, The Centre for Scenic Rim Arts and Culture, Beaudesert.

2008 Finalist Countryscapes Exhibition, Wentworth Galleries, Sydney

Born in London in 1970, Charly Wrencher always had a natural artistic ability, drawing and painting for as long as he can remember. His family transitioned to Australia when he was 11 years old, a  move that had a profound impact on the artist … describing it as “moving from grey London to technicolour Australia". Charly trained at Sydney's National Art School (graduating 1991).

Within the paintings that Charly produces, stories are told … the pieces reflect the artists moods and reactions to life. “The emotions within my paintings are joy, anger, bliss .. every emotion.” Leaving areas unfinished allows the viewer to ponder on the negative spaces, whilst allowing other areas to fulfil the richness of his work. A keen surfer, Charly, his wife Jane and their four children live in a Queenslander set on their picturesque 68-acre Friday Hut Road property. In the midst of this pastoral paradise is "The Hut" (Charly's studio) which fronts onto the familiar green rolling hills of the Byron hinterland. Charly has work held in many private collections throughout Australia and around the world and in particular - TDG Cold Storage / GHD Engineering Sydney & Newcastle / Royal Hospital for Women Sydney.

SELECTED  EXHIBITIONS / PRIZES

 2017  Thomgallery Byron Bay

2010  Art Piece Mullumbimby     

2007  United Galleries Sydney / Perth        

2006  United Galleries Sydney

Bondi Pavilion Sydney

The Art Loft Singapore

           Tattersall’s Art Prize (finalist)

2005  Petaluma Art Prize (finalist)

Tattersall’s Art Prize (finalist)

Mount Olivet Art Prize (finalist

2004  United Galleries Sydney        

2003  Bare Bones art space Bangalow

2002  Cape Gallery Byron Bay

2001  Astro Gallery Sydney

Vanessa Wood Fine Art Sydney

2000  Astro Gallery Paddington Sydney         

1999  Wynne Prize finalist Art Gallery NSW

1998  Salon Des Refuses SH Ervin Gallery Sydney

1995  Cop gallery Surry Hills Sydney, One

1994  Mosman art prize (finalist)

1993  Tap Darlinghurst         

1988  Royal Easter show

1989  Mosman art prize (finalist)

Noel's glass art work explores a conservationist motif where the metaphoric possibilities of the study of endangered species, and the potential fragility and enduring qualities of glass, are linked in unique singular objects.

Noel is a modern glass artist drawing on ancient techniques, developing a glassblowing technique inspired by the Middle Eastern core-formed glass from 3500 years ago. This involves replacing the dung/clay core with an expandable glass bubble. Working with a team of glassblowers, the basic hot glass bubble is coated with multiple coloured parts that simulate the plumage of bird species in a painterly manner. A variety of minimalist forms are then blown from the hot glass which will either become finished stand alone works, or used in the creation of unique glass collages.

Selected Collections / Publications / Awards

Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong

Amarillo National Bank, Amarillo, Texas, USA

Fujifilm, Tokyo, Japan

Williams & Connolly, LLP, Washington DC, USA

Mitsubishi Corporation, Australia

Epworth Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

Price Waterhouse, Melbourn, Australia

Kaplan-Ostergaard Glass Collection, Palm Springs, USA

Tweed River Regional Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, Australia

National Glass Collection, Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery, Australia

Private Collections

Australia, UK, France, Spain, Hong Kong, NZ, USA, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Ireland,

Austria, Zimbabwe , South Africa, Russia, China

Awards

Coffs Harbour Painting Prize – 1990

Artfelt Art Prize, Northern Rivers Community Art Gallery, Ballina, - First Prize

Publications

Craft Art Magazine

American Style

Art Collector

Parrot

Back to Back Theatre - by Helena Grehan & Peter Eckersall

Coast

Northern Star Weekender

Courier Mail

Habatat Galleries Exhibition Catalogues 2002, 03,04,05,06,07,08,09

World Of Glass

National Liberty Museum – Glass Now

Santa Fean

Flux – New Mexico Museum of Art

Wild Byron - by David Hancock

Hobie Porter is a contemporary landscape painter focused on place and environment. He lives & works in the Tweed Valley, North-Eastern NSW. His work has been selected for recent survey exhibitions, including Assemble | Disassemble (2015) Caboolture Regional Gallery and The New Arcadia (2011) Lismore Regional Gallery, among others. Hobie is a Henry Lawson Scholarship recipient, holding a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) with Honours (Contemporary Art) and a Graduate Diploma of Education. He is currently producing work about North Head’s significant natural history, to be exhibited at Manly Art Gallery & Museum in December 2017.

Hobie has been shortlisted for the 2014 John Leslie Landscape Art Prize. In 2013, he was a finalist in the Colville-LLoyd Rees Landscape prize (Colville Gallery, Hobart), the Mosman Art Prize (Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney) and the Paddington Art Prize (Mary Place Gallery, Sydney). In 2012, He was awarded Highly Commended in the Essential Energy Countryscapes Art Prize (Bathurst Regional Art Gallery).

Selected Exhibitions

2017 Works on Paper, Group, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney

2016 Unnatural History : The Tower Hill Project, Solo, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Warrnambool

2015 Assemble | Disassemble : Earth. Wind. Fire. Water. Heart., Group, Caboolture Regional Gallery,Sunshine Coast,

2015 Unfolding Splendour, Group, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney

2014 Nature’s Redesign, Solo, Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne.

2014 Melbourne Art Fair 2014, Group, Mossgreen Gallery Stand, Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne,

2014 Burnshine, Solo, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney

2012 Continuum, Solo, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney,

Melbourne Art Fair 2012, Group, Arthouse Gallery Stand, Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne

2011 Full Circle, Solo, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney,

2011 The New Arcadia, Group, Lismore Regional Art Gallery, Lismore,

2011 Pressing Currents, Solo, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah

2010 Inanimate, Group, Nyst Gallery in association with Lorraine Pilgrim, Southport,

2010 Rivers of life, Group, Northern Rivers Community Gallery, Ballina

2009 Dry Rain, Travelling Solo, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah and Arthouse Gallery, Sydney,

2009 Exquisite: Small Landscapes, Group, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise

2008 Suspension, Solo, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, Wish You Were Here, Group, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah

2007 Sydney Art Fair 2007, Group, Arthouse Gallery, Exodus Solo, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney

2006 Conrad Jupiters Art Award, Group, Gold Coast City Arts Centre, Gold Coast,

2006 Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship 2006 Finalists, Group, Brett Whiteley Studio, Sydney,

2006 Hobie Porter - New Work, Solo, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney,

2006 Relationships Australia, Group, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lismore

2005 Urgent Calm, Solo, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, Reflex-ions, Group , Lismore Regional Art Gallery, Lismore

Awards / Acquisitions

2011 Highly Commended, Countryscapes Art Prize, Bathurst

2006 Second, Border Art Prize, Tweed River Art Gallery & Gold Coast City Art Gallery

1997 Australia Day South Arm Citizen of the Year for Youth Award, Australia Council

1996 Community Printmakers Murwillumbah Student Encouragement Award, Murwillumbah

1995 Tweed Valley Art Prize Acquisitive, Tweed Shire Council, Tweed Valley Art Prize, Colin Thomas Popular Vote Award, Youth Week Art Award, Murwillumbah

Public Collections

Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery

Warrnambool Art Gallery

Mosman Art Gallery

Tweed Shire Council

Tweed River Art Gallery

Park Road Group

Antoinette Ferwerda is an Australian artist based in Melbourne, whose work joyfully explores nature and the patterns and relationships that she finds within it. 

Using a variety of media, Antoinette’s work is abstract & metaphysical, looking deeply into the interconnectivity of the world around her. Her background in the pharmaceutical industry & interest in sociology, psychology, architecture & fashion has played a large part in informing her fine artwork. Using a sun-soaked palette, Antoinette’s work is often described as optimistic & multi-dimensional. Her abstract Australian landscapes & modern artworks are held in collections both nationally & internationally.

Based in Victoria, Joan Blond is an Abstract Artist who combines an energetic line with bold colour to create works that are visually dynamic and identifiable. Joan’s paintings are held by private collectors throughout Australia, New Zealand, USA, Germany, Singapore and recently Hong Kong.

The artist has had 4 solo exhibitions and had works included in numerous group shows. Just this year Joan has exhibitions (solo & group) with the following galleries - Art2muse; Sydney Road Gallery; Guggenart Gallery; Art to Art; The Peisley Street Gallery, Gullotti Galleries, 19Karen Gallery and Rochfort Gallery.

Sandra Taylor trained at East Sydney Technical College in 1965-66, and in the early 1970s moved away from making functional wares towards making painted and modelled narratives of Australian life. These have usually been humorously and critically observant, and over the years she has made these observations through metaphor.

Sandra Taylor’s reputation was won in the 70s with her satirical works on Sydney suburban life. Foremost in this country to break free from the stronghold of tradition, Taylor was included in the 3rd Sydney Biennale in 1979 and the artist has since influenced generations of students.

She is represented in the Australian National Gallery and most State and regional galleries.

Collections

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Grafton Regional Gallery
Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre
Queensland Art Gallery QAGOMA
Shepparton Art Gallery 
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery
Campbelltown City Council Regional Gallery
Gold Coast City Art Gallery
Queensland University of Technology
National Gallery of Victoria
New England Regional Art Museum
UNSW Art & Design, Sydney
Ipswich City Council Regional Art Gallery
Brisbane City Council
Orange Regional Art Gallery
Darling Downs Institute, Toowoomba
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Arts Victoria Festival Collection
Art Bank, Sydney
The Phillip Morris Collection, Sydney
Rockhampton City Art Gallery
Geelong City Art Gallery
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Crafts Board of Australia
Melbourne University Art Gallery
Melbourne State College
Wollongong City Art Gallery
International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville
Glasshouse Port Macquarie
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery
Lismore Regional Gallery

Uri studied at the Telma-Yalin Art School in Israel, at the Art Student League in New York City and at Brooklyn College. His work hangs in many private galleries, corporate institutions, and public collections and has been featured in many prominent group exhibitions in the United States and Israel. In Hawaii his paintings can be seen at the Bank of Hawaii, the Hawaii State Museum, and the Hawaii State Foundation in Culture and the Arts. He has won many awards and recently won a grant from the Elizabeth Greenshield Foundation. His work has been reviewed in the New York Times, The New York Sun, and The Jerusalem Post.

"There are occasions when a young painter of marked ability appears on the scene. They are rare, and this is one of them. Blayer looks at nature, stands before it with a love and accomplishment that sets him apart..."
Francis Cunningham, New York Times 2004

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018   Landscapes and Coastlines, Rothschild Fine Art, Tel Aviv, IsraeL

2016   Landscapes and Portraits, Rothschild Fine Art, Tel Aviv, Israel

2014   Under Northern Skies, Rothschild Fine Art, Tel Aviv, Israel

2013   Fresh Paint 6 Art Fair, Tel aviv, Israel

2012   Masada-Land and Landscape ; Rothschild Fine Art, Tel Aviv

2010   Recent work; Amy Lauren Gallery, kauai, Hawaii

2008  The Negev Desert ; Golconda Gallery, Tel Aviv

2005  North/South Israel ; Gallery 33, Tel Aviv

2004  Hawaii, Tatistcheff Gallery, N.Y.C

2003   New Point of view; The Village Gallery, Maui, Hawaii

2001   Tatistcheff Gallery, N.Y.C

2000  The Library Gallery, Chappaqua, N.Y

1998   Israeli Landscapes; The Synagogue for the Arts, N.Y.C

COLLECTIONS

Numerous private collections across the U.S and Israel

Bank of Hawaii, Honolulu

Hawaii State Museum, Honolulu

State Foundation on Culture and Arts, Art in Public Places Program

Elaine Green has a Degree in Visual Arts from Southern Cross University and studied Fine Arts at Murwillumbah TAFE.

Primarily a landscape painter, her works are influenced in part by her Scottish-English heritage. Residing now in the Northern Rivers Area of NSW it is the misty, moody atmosphere that fuels her creativity.

Her endeavour is to communicate visually her emotional response to the landscape rather than a realistic representation of it. Elaine has received a number of awards and has been a finalist in many major Australian Art Prizes art including the Tattersalls Art Prize, Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize, Sunshine Coast Art Prize, SHE Art Prize, Eutick Memorial Still Life Awards, and Len Fox Art.

In regard to her work, the artist states … "It is the essence and the energy I am attempting to portray, my interest is in what lies beyond the mist. By blurring and blending I allow the paint to create the atmosphere, losing the detail to reveal the story."  

Selected Exhibitions / Prizes

2015 ‘Energy Never Dies’ Perculator Gallery, Paddington Brisbane

2015 Remembered Landscapes, The White Jade Pottsville

2016 Finalist Brisbane Art Prize

2016 Finalist Waverley Art Prize

2016 Finalist Camberwell Art Prize

2016 Finalist Lethbridge 10000

2016 Finalist Border Art Prize

2015 Finalist Eutick Memorial Still Life Award

2015 Finalist She Art Prize Walker Gallery Dandenong Vic.

2014 Finalist Sunshine Coast Art Prize

2014 Finalist Border Art Prize

2012 Finalist Border Art prize Tweed River Art Gallery

2012 Selected Caldera Art Prize, Muwillumbah NSW.

2016 Regeneration, Aspire Gallery Brisbane (Group Show)

2015 Memory and Place, Cowper Art Gallery (Group Show)

2014 Border Art Prize Tweed River Art Gallery NSW

2014 Lethbridge 10000 Smalls, Paddington Qld

2013 Border Art Prize, Gold Coast Art Gallery

2006 Border Art Prize, Tweed River Regional Art Gallery, Murwillumba

Barbara Carmichael has been exhibiting throughout Australia for the last 20 years, featuring in both group and solo shows during this time.

The artists work is held in many private and corporate collections including Austral Shipping in Perth, I.T.G Stockbrokers Sydney, as well as collections in NZ, UK and USA  (a purchase of her work was made by Heath Ledger for his private US collection).

Barbara was invited to exhibit for the Australian Artists exhibition held at Agora Gallery in New York and was also invited by one of the world's largest construction companies (Emaar) to create a work for the ‘Burj’ (Dubai) now the tallest building in the world.

Time spent living in Singapore with many trips to India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam has had a great influence on her work and the evocation of feelings of calm and tranquillity.

Barbara currently resides in Byron Bay NSW and continues to work on commissions both here and overseas.

The work of artist John Scott usually unfolds in series. Themes vary, incorporating multiple disciplines.

John likes to incorporate modern quantum theory within a whole mélange of seemingly incongruent ideas, landscape, history, archetypes, mythology and current sociological events. He pushes the visual moiré of these ideas to where he touches a kind of holographic representation of what reality may be, a multiverse with many ideas interwoven within the same space-time continuum.

John often uses Allegory to convey his subjective interpretation through perceived phenomena e.g. using our landscape’s need for fire to rebirth itself into new growth.

The element of fire also needed to transmute or alchemise different states of consciousness to other, perhaps more refined, platforms of
understanding.

He sees the causal tension underpinning each subject approached and no single answer seems to come forward in this search.

“I’m tending to move toward new symbolism as a narrative beyond the normal façade of what we term “reality”.”

John Scott © 2017Prizes 

2013 – Semi-finalist Doug Moran Portrait Prize

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2016 – Chifley tower – Soho Gallery
2015 – ‘Wind’ : Without Pier Gallery, VIC
2012 – ‘Prometheus and other Mythological Moirés 2012’ : Glen Eira City Council Art Gallery, VIC
2009 – ‘Telesma’ : Global Gallery, Paddington, NSW
2009 – ‘Vesica Piscis’ : Soho Galleries, Sydney, NSW
2007 – ‘Interconnected’ : Zohara Gallery, Adelaide, SA
2007 – ‘Dreams of Another Time’ : Gallery O, Perth, WA
2006 – ‘Landscape’ : Lynne Wilton Gallery, Armadale, VIC
2005 – ‘The Great Mother’ : Global Gallery, Paddington, NSW
1985 – ‘Landscapes’ : Scone Gallery, Scone, NSW

Isaac Petersen was born in New Zealand.

His memories of the ocean and rugged landscape of New Zealand has inspired him to paint predominantly landscapes and ocean scenes.

Travel being a big part of his adult life, his paintings expanded to capture the essence and feeling of his journeys overseas.

The recent addition of his wife Erika to his paintings adds a figurative dimension to his beautifully painted environments.

"I hope to leave the viewer with a good feeling. Whether they can relate to my painting with a past experience or a fantasy of a place they would like to be, I hope my painting can take them there."

Raised in the hinterland of the Gold Coast, Brian Connolly completed a Bachelor of Creative Industries and major in Visual Arts in 2007. After a move to Melbourne the artist gained media exposure through mural collaborations with the acclaimed hair and beauty Salon Edwards & Co. The artists bold and often whimsical works seek to bridge a link between nature and human life and Connolly has generated a constant flow of commissioned works. The artist now resides in Byron Bay.

Selected Exhibitions and Murals 

2013- Artworks acquired by David Jones Youth dept, Melbourne

2014- Hair and Flowers Mural Edwards & Co hair salon, Melbourne

2015- A Flower cannot blossom without sunshine Mural Edwards & Co salon, Melbourne

2015- Growth Mural Edwards & Co salon, Melbourne

2015- In full bloom Mural Edwards & Co Salon, Sydney

2016- Edwards & Co Melbourne mural artwork feature and Q&A in Collective Hub Magazine

2016-Sow your seed; watch it grow Mural Edwards & Co salon, Sydney

2016- Lead me into the forest Mural Edwards & Co salon, Sydney

2016- Rinse with tepid water Mural Edwards & Co salon, Byron Bay

2016- Trolling til Blomster Mural HUD skin and beauty clinic, Melbourne

2017- Stop and Smell Mural Edwards & Co Salon, Sydney

2017- Edwards & Co Sydney  and Byron Bay Salon mural feature in Harper’s BAZAAR magazine

2017- From the Outside, Looking in Solo exhibition, Henley Club gallery (Mirka Moira’s former art studio), Melbourne

2017- Cacti Mi Casa Airbnb Byron Bay Mural feature in Vogue Living magazine

2017- Protea Tree Mural Edwards & Co Salon, Melbourne

2018- Feeling my feet above the ground Mural Edwards & Co Salon, Sydney

2018- Wilting, falling, rooting, rising Mural Edwards & Co Salon, Gold Coast

2018- I am the flowers Solo exhibition, Maverick Art Gallery, Gold Coast

2018- Don’t bite the hand that feeds you Mural Edwards & Co Salon, Sydney

2018-Taking a deep, urban forest inhale Mural Central Park Mall, Sydney

2019- Over the rainbow  Mural Bay Leaf Café, Byron Bay

2019- In constant flow Mural Serotonin café, Melbourne.

My work involves creating contemporary artifacts in glass as objects for contemplation.

For the Vitroliths, the threads of inspiration are many and varied. Primarily they are about the earth, nature, and human cultures that did and still do honor the natural environment, and the connections between these factors.

This is expressed in a language of symbols and abstraction which hopefully come together cohesively.

​- Colin Heaney

Past Exhibitions

2018

Kevin Muente: Forgotten Land

April 13th – June 9, 2018

​

Jorge Rodríguez Diez (R10): The Banana Issue

March 23rd – May 12th, 2018

​

Heather Jones & Jeffery Cortland Jones: Between Earth and Sky

February 10th – April 7th, 2018

​

Interwoven: Contemporary Textiles and Techniques

January 13th – March 10th, 2018

​

Jarrett Hawkins: Edgewise

November 17th, 2017 – January 6th, 2018

2017

Kim Krause: The Nature of Things

October 6 - December 2, 2017

​

Julia Oldham & Casey Riordan Millard: Anima & Animus

August 16 - November 11, 2017

​

Claudio Malacarne & Gianluca Vidal: Riflessioni di Colore 

August 11 - September 30, 2017

​

Tony DeVarco & Mayako Nakamura: ReGenerations

June 9 - August 5, 2017

​

Eric Standley: Strata 

April 7 - June 3, 2017

​

Kevin Veara: Birds of Paradise 

February 3 - March 25, 2017

​

Stephen Rolfe Powell: Echoes

December 2 - January 28. 2017

​

2016

Life in the Woods: Evocative Landscapes by Kevin Muente 

October 7 - November 26, 2016 

Schopenhauer's Dream: Recent works by Riad Miah & Clint Woods 
May 20 - July 2, 2016 

Adrift in the Wonder World: Women Make Meaning of Moby-Dick 
April 23, 2016 - June 11, 2016 

The Liminal Landscape: Frank Herrmann 
March 18, 2016 - May 14, 2016 

​

2015

From East to West: Tim Harding & Hiroshi Yamano 
September 12, 2015 - November 8, 2015

 
Harbinger: Shane Fero & Kevin Veara 
April 17, - June 13, 2015 

Laws of Nature/Dreams of Man 
February 26, 2015 - March 28, 2015 

​

2014

A Closer Look 
November 20, 2014 - December 27, 2014 

Continuum: Brian Russell 
May 31, 2014 - July 26, 2014 

Unspoken: recent ceramic sculpture by Lyndsey Fryman 
March 28, 2014 - May 24, 2014 

CUT: Windows to Eternity: Eric Standley 
January 18, 2014 - March 1, 2014 

2013

Eleusinian Mysteries: Kim Krause 
November 1, 2013 - December 28, 2013

 
This is Contemporary Art 
September 20, 2013 - October 26, 2013 

Betwixt & Between: Grangeon & Berry 
March 29, 2013 - May 26, 2013 

Brian Russell: New Sculpture 
February 9, 2013 - March 23, 2013 

Colin Passmore resides in Noosa Australia, where he creates works inspired from Australian landscape, flora and fauna.

He began exhibiting his work in 1983, winning much acclaim and acceptance from some of Australia's top galleries and critics. He is now represented by galleries throughout Australia and Japan.

A favourite of Australian Interior designers, he has work placed throughout prestigious private homes, as well as corporate and university collections.

His eclectic style is alive with the passion and flair he translates from the Australian environment, marking his own style in his colour combinations and his distinctive brush work.

Having resided in Byron Bay for the last five years, the self-taught Art director, photographer, painter, fashion designer and multi- disciplinary visual artist left his native New York City for Tokyo in 2003 on an invite from VOGUE Japan to host a retrospective of his works from 1999-2002 at the Rocket Gallery, Omotesando.

The next 9 years were spent in Tokyo (Shibuya) immersed in the unique and ancient Japanese culture which not only influenced his art but permeated it's way through his entire being.

Produced during his stay, the photographic series "Tokyo undressed' garnered him the title 2009-2010 "Photographer of the Year" at the UK's Erotic Awards.

The collection became a global success after it featured as a blog narrative and was published in a 280 page photo novel by the premier Japanese art book publisher Powershovel books.

The combination of Rikki's observations of his surroundings and his almost photographic watercolour style produce stunning and almost voyeuristic images in which with a lot of his works, the viewer can identify themselves as the subject.

In paintings by Hollie McKenzie historical and contemporary imagery collide. Simultaneously historical, surreal and contemporary, her paintings speak to the way in which virtual reality mediates our world. By using her young daughter as a sitter, the artists intends to highlight uncertainty in the face of potential futures.

The artist indicates that the application of paint is heavily influenced by the Rococo, in terms of light and a feeling of both delicacy and flamboyancy. While only in the early stages her career, Hollie exhibits an established understanding of oil paint and an aesthetic that could easily be situated alongside that of well known LA based Pop Surrealist artist such as Mark Ryden Marion Peck and Alex Gross.

Based in Whian Whian NSW, Hollie McKenzie has been placed as a finalist in national art prizes and is currently showing with Thomgallery.

Born in England in the 1960’s, Mellissa Read Devine currently resides in rural Sydney alongside the Hawkesbury River. Mellissa’s paintings have evolved into her “macropointilist” style celebrating the shape, colour and brushstroke of contemporary impressionism. Mellissa’s work ranges between vibrant interpretations of her local landscape to intricate wood & linocuts. Her combination of quirkiness and calm blend to create works with a strong spiritual base.

Since the 1990’s Mellissa has been studying and practicing printmaking and painting, in that time she has been both a finalist and recipient of many major Australian Art Prizes. The artist is heavily sought after and her works are part of many private and public collections around the world.

Selected Exhibitions / Prizes

2018 Solo Show “Set in Place” Purple Noon Gallery, Freemans Reach

2018 Group Shows “Land & Sea”, “Petals & Pods”, “Whimsy” Rochfort Gallery North Sydney

2017 Solo Show “Also A Printmaker” Breathing Colours, Balmain

2017 Solo “Verdance” 19Karen Contemporary Art Space, Gold Coast

2016 Finalist, Flanagan2016 Finalist, Corangamarah

2016 Finalist, Fleurieu Food & Wine Art Prize

2016 Solo Show “Kaleidoscope Purple Noon Gallery, Freemans Reach NSW

2015 Finalist Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Coffs Harbour Finalist Fishers Ghost Art Award

2014 Finalist, Paddington Art Prize

2014 Finalist Stanthorpe Art Prize

2013 Finalist Blacktown Art Prize Finalist Hawkesbury Art Prize

2013 Finalist Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Coffs Harbour

2013 "Sanctuary" Solo Exhibition, 19 Karen Contemp Artspace, Gold Coast Finalist

2013 Northbridge Art Prize

2013 Finalist, Flanagan Art Prize

2012 Finalist, Norville Art Prize Art Expo Sydney

2012 Finalist, Hawkesbury Art Prize

2012 Finalist Eutick Memorial Still Life Awards, Coffs Harbour

2012 Finalist Prometheus Visual Art Award

2012 Camberwell Art Show

2010 Finalist, Blacktown City Art Prize

2010 Finalist, Norvill Art Prize

2010 Northbridge Art Prize

2010 Finalist, Redland Art Awards

2009 Festival of Fishers Ghost, Campbelltown Arts Centre

2008 Solo “Allegory & Observation” St.Albans Gallery

2007 EMSLA Finalist Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery

2006 Boyd Art Gallery, Harrington Park, NSW (CASS Exhibition) Wagga Wagga Art Gallery: “Recent Acquisitions:Photos & Prints” Australian Society of Miniature Art QLD Noosa Art Gallery Australian Society of Miniature Art NSW Willoughby

Russell Kereama was born in Fielding, New Zealand and resides in Byron Bay, Australia.

His tribal roots reflect greatly throughout his bold works, embracing a rhythmic flow with vibrant colours and abstract style.  

In this translation, three elements are in focus- earth, sky and water.   

After a decade as an art agent, he started to create works of his own and was encouraged by his peers to continue on this path. His work has won the respect and acknowledgement of artists, interior designers and and collectors world-wide.

His highly-collectible work is found throughout the world with collectors in Carmel, California, The Marriott Hotel, Canada, China, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and Australia.

Roslyn Oakes lives and works from Murwillimbah, NSW.

She creates beautiful realistic works from her surroundings in the Northern Rivers and draws inspiration from the ethereal beauty that this landscape has to offer. After meeting Landscape Artist Andy Reimanis at the Caldera Art Gallery, and being offered the opportunity to be part of the "Green Cauldron Panorama", an 18 metre long painting depicting the 360 degree view from the summit of Wollumbin, Mt Warning, taking 12 months to create, her trajectory was set to produce more pieces of this calibre.

Roslyn uses pastels, acrylics and oils, sometimes all in one piece, to produce images of native Australian Flora and Fauna, and strikingly realistic natural wildlife.

Her work with Graeme Stevenson from "Colour In Your Life" in both teaching and fund-raising capacities has opened her work up to a greater Australian and International audience with television promotion of her work as an Australian artist to watch.

Shannon Alexander Murphy is an Australian artist residing in Berlin.

His large scale works are inspired by the Japanese tradition of Suminagashi, an ancient technique of marbling that originated in the 12th century.

Murphy’s underwater paintings apply the chance effect of “floating ink” in a swimming pool of water to create marbled patterns on large-scale canvases.

The unique and highly visceral process of this method raises important questions regarding artistic authorship and the agency of matter, and how a non-anthropocentric relationship to the natural elements can be embraced through artistic practice.

After a year marked by a record-breaking number of floods and natural disasters, this project forms a timely manifestation of an environmental sensibility that proves both politically urgent and artistically compelling. In his strong sensibility toward nature and natural phenomena, Murphy’s work represents and expands on a strong tradition within Australia’s artistic legacy, by which it has attained an important global voice in the defence of environmental sustainability and innovation.

Education

2010 Master of Fine Art (Media Installation), The Bauhaus School, Weimar, Germany.

2009 Master of Art (Painting), College of Fine Art, Sydney.

2003 Bachelor of Arts (Contemporary Media), Deakin University, Melbourne.

1999 Bachelor of Arts (Sociology), La Trobe University, Melbourne.

Select recent exhibitions

2017 Shannon Alexander Murphy. The Natural History Museum, Chemnitz, Germany.

2016 Landscape Is A State Of Mind. The Australian Embassy, Berlin, Germany.

2011 The Dinner Party Tokyo. Featuring Maggie Beer & Joni Waka, Japan.

2010 The Arms Race, World Futures 2020, Boston, USA.

2010 The Dinner Party, Kudos Gallery, Sydney, Australia. With Felicity Fenner.

2009 The Boat Exploration, The Natural History Museum, Jena, Germany.

2006 Landscape Interventions (live), inner city Barcelona, Spain.

2005 Humans in Conflict, Open Mind Gallery, Milan, Italy.

Upcoming Solo Exhibitions

Jan 2018  Thomgallery, NSW Australia

April 2018  Deutsche Bank, Saxony, Germany

May 2018 Weserhalle, Berlin.

Galerie Luc Berthier, Paris, France

Awards

2017 Global Foundries Germany, New York Sponsorship for Museum, Germany.

2010 Arts NSW- quick Grant, Sydney.

2010 COFA-ADG grant, Sydney.

2010 Selected into the Top 40 Emerging Artists- Artmouth & A.b.a.F, Sydney.

2009 Artwork selected to represent 90th Birthday of The Bauhaus School, Germany.

New Work Grant, COFA, Sydney.

2009 The Bauhaus School- Cultural Exchange, Germany.

Collections

2002-2017 Various Private Collections in Italy, Japan, Spain, Australia and Germany.

Commissions

2017 Shannon Alexander Murphy. The Natural History Museum, Chemnitz, Germany.

2015 Landscape Is A State Of Mind, The Australian Embassy- Berlin, Germany.

2010 The Mind’s Eye. Australian Photographic Publication. A collection of 50 images.

The Arms Race@ The Red Centre, Sydney, for the ConnectEd Exhibition and Conference.

2009 Artwork selected to represent the 90th Anniversary of artists from the Bauhaus School.

Featured in International Publications

Time Magazine USA

The Financial Times New York

The New York Observer

Celebrity Networth

Artforum Magazine

Australian Art Review

SBS Television

Architectural Digest International

Yap is a London based artist.

His work flows from a deep psyche that is as much about abstract mathematics as it is about colour and shape. His love of geometry leads him to paint what he considers to be the shapes that work themselves into the continuous lines of movement. What he deems, the shapelessness of shape.

His drawings are mainly one continuous line. Once the pen touches paper it doesn’t come off until what he is trying to capture is there on the page in ink. Sometimes he closes his eyes when he draws and simply trusts to the shapes already within. He prefers watercolours because of the soft impressions they leave.

As a philosopher, he lectures on the work of Immanuel Kant, (so as to further advance our understanding of the human mind), and records his own music.

Yap was signed with Virgin records in 1995 and toured the world for ten years as the front man for British rock band “One Minute Silence” who went on to find success. Yap chose his philosophical and artistic pursuits over the music industry and has thrived in these fields ever since.

Yap was diagnosed with Aspergers (High Functioning Autism) eight years ago, which in turn recognised a mind that was downloading complex abstract mathematics of its own accord. ‘Forget the autistic kids who memorize phonebooks,’ he says with an open heart, ‘I’m about the mathematical foundation for the next stage in human evolution.’

He has had two successful solo exhibitions to date and was shortlisted for the National Art Competition in 2012. Out to shape the world in any way he can, Yap is an artist truly in a field of his own. 

Wendy was born in Hong Kong.

Art has always been at the heart of all her career decisions. Trained in Art and Design at The Wimbledon School of Art, UK, with a Graphic Design and Illustration background in advertising and publishing.

Wendy's new body of work explores elegance through the female form, pattern and shapes drawn from nature. Her subtle colour harmonies combined with overlapping patterns and silhouettes create contrasts; balanced between the abstract and the illusion.

Wendy's work presents itself in an enclosed space of aesthetic form and complex structure. It can be described as dismantled and transformed evanescent beauty, sensual and organic.

Concerned with colour, composition and atmospheric mood, Jewels Stevens creates works that are in constant flux between the quiet and the chaotic. In essence, Stevens is interested in creating a pictorial landscape where the paintings possess their own logic.

While there is most often an immediate impact in her bold and expressive paintings, as one delves further into the layered brushwork, more detail and nuance is revealed.

The artist holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Cross University and is represented in private collections in Australia, Singapore, Iceland and the United States. Alongside a number of solo/group exhibitions, the artist has participated in Art Fairs and Artist Residencies both nationally and internationally.

Selected Exhibitions/Art Fairs/Residencies

2017    From the outer realms - Jacob Hoerner Galleries Fitzroy, Melbourne (Solo)

2017  10 Year Anniversary show - Art piece gallery, Mullumbimby, Northern NSW (Group)

2016    Retrospect - Jacob Hoerner Galleries, Richmond, Melbourne (Solo)

2016    602 - Little Bourke St Melbourne, Australia (Art Fair)

2016  Look around you - Art piece gallery, Mullumbimby, Northern NSW (Group

2015    Finissage - Kick Gallery, Collingwood, Melbourne (Group)

2015    Art Stage Singapore - Marina Bay Sands, Singapore (Art Fair)

2015    An Ocean Inside - Kick Gallery, Collingwood, Melbourne (Solo)

2014    Selected Artists - Kick Gallery, Collingwood, Melbourne (Group)

2014    Songs of the Plants - Kick Gallery, Collingwood, Melbourne (Solo)

2013    Diffraction and Scatter - Kick Gallery, Collingwood, Melbourne (Solo)

2012    Between Two Worlds - Kick Gallery, Collingwood, Melbourne (Solo)

2012    Kick Artists - Kick Gallery, Collingwood, Melbourne (Group)

2011    Chrysalis - Kick Gallery, Collingwood, Melbourne (Solo)

2011    Winterpark - Album Launch/ Exhibition. Dear Patti Smith Gallery, Collingwood (Group)

2011    The Vermont Studio Centre 1-Month Residency, Vermont, USA (Residency)

2010    SIM Association of Icelandic Artists, 3-Month Residency, Reykjavik, Iceland (Residency)

2010    SIM Residency Group Show - SIM Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland

2010    Jewels of the North - Kick Gallery, Collingwood, Melbourne (Solo)

2009    Secrets of Vehement Dreams - Kick Gallery, Northcote, Melbourne (Solo)

2009    The Writings on the Wall - Northern Exposure Visual Arts Festival, Northcote

2009    Eastment St Studios, 2 months, Northcote, Melbourne (Residency)

2007    Shedding the Velvet - Gasworks Artist Park, Albert Park VIC (Solo)

Michael Scott, born in Bethlehem Hospital, Malvern in 1964.

Michael has worked in Education, Theatre, as a stand up comedian, as a Commedia Del Arte practitioner, and an Improvisator representing his country at the Calgary Winter Olympic Art Festival in 2015.

He has also worked as a puppet-maker and performer, plying his thespianism on stage, television and film.

As a software developer he worked on interactive games, also on framework development for financial administration systems.

Inspirations include Philosophers Deleuse, Wittgenstein, and tail recursive algorithms.

Michael's academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Education majoring in Drama, Literature and Language acquisition from Victoria College Rusden, and a Bachelor of Information Technology from Monash University.

Michael is a firm believer in the fundamental interconnectedness of nearly all things but would like to single out some particular geniuses in regards to artistic debt and influence (in no particular order)

Brett Whitely, Modigliani, Klee, Odd Nerdrum, Lloyd Rees, Hundertwasser, Soutine, Duchamp.

Solo shows: Chaotic Gallery (Prahran), Project 54, St Leonards (Sydney), Milettos (Prahran), Chaotic Gallery (Wonthaggi)

Despite being increasingly informed that Art is not a proper job he considers it an essential service.

Dianne is an eclectic artist from the far North Coast of NSW. She studied representational art for many years at Lismore Tafe College, before following her instinct to explore new boundaries in abstract and contemporary art. Artist Roland Weight awakened the abstract artist in Dianne, and gave her the compositional grounding that is still present in her work today. Dianne travelled to America to study with Maxine Masterfield and returned to Tafe to study under Michael John Taylor. Dianne has been selected as a finalist in many major art prizes and is developing a following nationally.

Selected Exhibitions/Prizes

2017 Finalist Muswellbrook Art Prize                                             

2016  Finalist Stanthorpe Art Prize                                                         

2015  Finalist Kilgour Portrait Prize, Newcastle                                          

2015  Winner - Best in Show, Coraki Art Show                                                  

2014  Winner (Painting) Coraki Art Prize                                             

2013 Finalist Gold Coast City Art Award

2013  The Border Art Prize NSW, (shared 1st)