Residencies
2022
Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Centre, Murwillumbah South, NSW
I was granted an artist-in-residence in the Nancy Fairfax Studio at the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre in April 2022. The Nancy Fairfax Studio adjoins the gallery itself, overlooking the Tweed valley with a view of Mt Warning. It is a purpose-built studio with artist accommodation, very thoughtfully designed and perfect for uninterrupted creativity.
The Tweed Regional Gallery is home to the meticulous reconstruction of Margaret Olley’s house in Paddington, Sydney which was sold after her passing in 2011. During my residency, I was allowed access to Margaret's house to find inspiration.
Considering all the possibilities, the first item I painted was Margaret’s old painting apron. It was folded and kept in a storeroom with many of other items not on public display. When I took it to the studio to paint, I discovered a ball of used tissues in the pocket. Genuine Margaret Olley DNA.
The exhibition, Domestica, is my artistic response to this residency.
View the gallery here.
2021
Springwater
In 2021 and into 2022, I spent many hours in Dr Tim Liauw’s award-winning house, Springwater. Dr Liauw invited me to create artworks inspired by his private house housing his impressive art collection. The views of Pittwater, Sydney Harbour, are glimpsed through the angophoras and spotted gums juxtaposing the hard concrete and glass structure of the house itself: stunning and overwhelmingly impressive. The challenge was to respond artistically. It wasn’t until I painted Dr Liauw within his house did I feel content that I’d captured the essence of Springwater.
View the gallery here.
May 2021
Hill End Artist in Residence
For the month of May in 2021, I stayed in Murray’s Cottage in the heritage listed community of Hill End in the Bathurst Regional council area of NSW. The residency programme was managed by Bathurst Regional Art Gallery in partnership with Department of Environment & Heritage NSW Parks and Wildlife Services.
The original cottage was built in 1855. It has been rudimentarily renovated over the years, but remains basically original with one bedroom, a sun-filled studio, a lounge room with wood fired heater, and a separate kitchen and bathroom. It has all the qualities of a quirky wattle and daub house with the inherent problems: brittle walls, uneven floors, low ceilings, and resident wildlife.
I discovered the original plan of the garden that Donald Murray and Donald Friend laid out in the late 1940s. I believe some of the fruit trees in the garden today are from the original plantings. Of note is an old apple tree bearing large green fruit which were delicious.
The outstanding feature of the cottage was, for me, the decorative tiles surrounding the now-defunct wood-fired kitchen stove. From my research, I discovered that the positioning of the tiles around the stove was directed by Margaret Olley during one of her ‘residencies’ in the late 1940s. The stove is now affectionately known as Margaret’s stove.
My 2024 exhibition, Domestica, includes paintings that were inspired by my Hill End AIR. One project I undertook following my residency was painting individual replicas of the 94 stove tiles. They are to be hung in sections corresponding to the same position of the originals in Murray’s Cottage.
View the gallery here.
16- 27 April 2012
State Library of NSW
I spent a week as artist in residence at the State Library of NSW in conjunction with the Lewin: Wild Art exhibition. John William Lewin (1770-1819) was a naturalist and painter of Australian flora and fauna. He was Australia’s first artist who was not a convict.
Each morning I set up my drawing board in the Library gallery. Visitors to the exhibition would come and observe me working, have a chat, or simply wander by, all the while being charmed by the stunning original JW Lewin paintings.
Further reading.