This collection of paintings is inspired by my experiences this year of travelling across continents and living ‘in between’ places - from the tranquil shores of Pittwater in Sydney to a wild headland above Roaring Beach in Tasmania and finally to Yunosato, a village in the forest in Japan. Even though each place is different in landscape, climate and culture I have found that they have similarities that connect them. Being surrounded by nature and these vast and beautiful environments whilst living in small humble shelters has also given me a sense of feeling grounded in each place.

This series is congruent with the artist’s wider art making practice that resonates with the notion of buildings as “guardians of identity “ and “silent witnesses” ( Alain de Botton, Architecture of Happiness 2006 ). The Central West has so many distinctive structures and scenes that tell stories of earlier lives and ongoing practices. These features exist in open space and light in a way that refresh and somehow comfort the city based artist.

Liz Wickramasinghe’s paintings explore a combination of themes around domestic crafts, such a textiles and hand-making traditions and the rugged, costal landscapes where she lives on Wadawurrung country in Victoria. By combining a range of painting, masking and relief-printmaking techniques, her works explore layering, repetition, texture, linework and pattern. This approach allows Liz to explore naturally occurring repetition and pattern found in the landscapes and botanical life of her region, highlighting the parallels with her love of weaving, patchwork and collaged imagery. This body of work includes Liz’s first attempts at portraying a still life setting, which bring together the themes and visual references so often apparent in her art practice.

Nerrida Parfitt’s oil paintings explore themes of solitude, impermanence, and the interplay between self and environment. In this exhibition titled 'Pause', she captures brooding landscapes and abandoned spaces, evoking a quiet tension through light, shadow, and profound stillness.

As a proud Nhunggabarra artist, my work is deeply rooted in the stories, traditions, and landscapes of my heritage. For the past eight years, I have dedicated myself to exploring and expressing my culture through acrylic paintings on canvas and various public murals. My art serves as a bridge between cultures, weaving together traditional teachings and contemporary perspectives. Through this fusion, I aim to share the richness of my Aboriginal identity with a broader audience. Each piece reflects my deep connection to the land, the generations before me and the stories that have been passed down through time.

This collection focuses on an obsession with the light in the sky at dawn and at dusk. The paintings were inspired by wanderings and early commuting into the rising dawn and the setting sunlight. They are imbued with a sense of peace, calm and hope unique to the start of a new day and the sense of unwinding and drawing in at day's end.

In my latest exhibition, "The Things We Collect," I invite you to explore the interplay between the literal and the allegorical. Initially, the concept is straightforward: the still life paintings that depict our tangible collections—objects that are familiar, safe, and pleasing to the eye. These works, though somewhat allegorical, are easily understood and offer a simple aesthetic pleasure.

Through exploring dramatic tonal contrasts and examining the balance between light and shade, Nell Symonds creates dynamic still life portrayals. Composed of assorted potteries, summery lemons and curvaceous pears and pomegranates, her subjects are often selected for their shapely proportions, intrinsic colour variations, luminosity and ability to cast compelling shadows.

Sydney based artist, Zoe Sernack has produced 5 new works for us that reflect forms of nature above and below the surface. Using a soft and delicate colour palette, Zoe not only paints but carves into the timber boards to really capture the flow and pulse of the Australian landscape. Her work explores the connections between landscape, memory and the subconscious. She has an instinctive understanding of colour, line and texture while balancing abstracted forms. Zoes’ objective has never been to depict but to evoke a visual connection. Whether it be a sense of place, a feeling or a memory.

How does exploring a new place make you feel ? Do you find yourself taking note of the differences in landscape, mentally jotting down the colours and shapes?

Recently I’ve been lucky enough to experience some travel and found myself taking note of these changes unable to quiet my mind until I’ve brought those new colours and compositions to the canvas.

‘Field Notes’ celebrates finding beauty in the things that surround us…whether that be noticing the new colours with the changing of seasons or taking note of the beautiful shapes from little flowers in our very own backyards.

My hope for this exhibit is that it will bring joy to each viewer and reason to take note of the beauty within colours and shadows of our everyday surrounds.

Terrain brings together some of our wonderful, female landscape painters who have exhibited with The Corner Store Gallery over the past few years. Each artist portrays their environment in unique and personal ways. Some with precise and finite detail, some loosely and freely.

Their connection to particular places and landscapes is heartfelt and joyous, each celebrating the beauty and complexity that surrounds them.

Exhibiting Artists: Natasha Daniloff, Inel Date, Jo Fernandez, Ann Gordon, Amanda Holman, Rishelle Kent, Pennie McKibbin, Petra Pinn, Dee Roberts, Chanel Sohier, Allison Taplin, Jane Tonks.

When I started this series in 2017 my focus was the muted beauty of the Darling Barka.  The often sombre colours, the slope of banks and the light at different times of day. Since September 2018 when Four Corners exposed corruption, water theft, and an avalanche of media attention - these escalating conflicts have seeped into my images. A shift in colour intensity and thickness of paint -  a reflection on the strength of connections to this river system for myself and many others in awe of its presence.

Madeline Young’s abstract compositions are inspired by the unique beauty of the Australian bush; the way dappled sunlight filters through the canopy, casting long rays of light and shadow and the distinctive blue-green of Eucalyptus leaves filling the air with their familiar scent. Madeline simplifies and exaggerates the shapes she finds in nature and uses blocks of colour to create works that, like the Australian bush, are simultaneously vibrant and serene.

Form and Shape is an exhibition featuring two Sydney-based artists. Both artists are currently undertaking Advanced Diploma in Ceramics, displaying very different styles and techniques.

Suburban Requiem collages together the unruly miniature landscapes of potted gardens and common succulents, overgrown ground cover and Nanna’s staked begonias. The ubiquitous camelia and gaudy eternally flowering geraniums pay homage to the waning suburban garden.