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.

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.

Natasha is an award-winning designer and artist based in Molong, NSW, on Wiradjuri Country. Since completing her Bachelor of Arts in Graphic and Web Design in 2004, Natasha has built a diverse career spanning design agencies, state government, higher education, and now local government. Currently, she leads a creative team in Orange, managing major design and communication projects. When she's not fulfilling her role as Chief Snack Officer at home, Natasha is busy developing websites and crafting brand identities at work. In her spare time, she enjoys experimenting with timber and paint in her shed, exploring shape, composition, and colour. Natasha's creative journey was shaped by her studies at university and her time as a Senior Creative at a Sydney design agency. Drawing inspiration from the Bauhaus and Swiss Design movements, she blends design, fine art, and craft. Her evolving process reflects this intersection, as she continually experiments with function, materials, and colour.

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.

This collection of work explores domestic life centred around the dining table that occupies an important place in the artist’s home. A table of interesting dimensions, long and thin, it was made originally to fit a difficult space. It has since moved house twice, and has fitted into each new space as if it were made to be right there.

As the cold season approaches, the table becomes the place to sit in the warmth of Winter sun - to eat, to read, to work, or to talk with friends.

Karlie Simring is an artist and designer based in Inner Sydney on Gadigal Land. Holding a Bachelor of Fashion and Textile Design, Karlie has enjoyed a creative career as a Senior and Head designer in the fashion industry for more than 25 years. Her early education also included a year at the National Art School. More recently, Karlie has explored various creative mediums, including watercolour, ceramics, basketry & weaving. Now an emerging artist, she creates contemporary textiles, focusing on surface embroidery. Art and design are Karlie’s guiding passions, with the world of textiles continually inspiring her process. Drawing from her experience in fashion, she infuses her work with a considered sense of colour, form and detail. Karlie’s process is intuitive, as she explores and observes her surroundings. Her art is an interplay of line, texture and tone, creating stories with a deep appreciation for materiality and tactility. Mark making with thread, brings the viewer into her inner world.

Time to Reflect is the latest series of paintings by Jo Fernandez.  The works feature water as a prompt for personal reflection.  The central subject is the reflection of land and sky, and although inspired by specific locations, it could be anywhere, as the artist works from intuition as well as observation.

Jo's works are representational of elements within the landscape she responds to emotionally; editing and isolating what she considers to be the core significance.  Be it the transient quality of light and atmosphere, the drama of colour and tone in cloud formations, her works convey a sense of calm and nostalgia. The artist invites the viewer to pause, reflect and restore a sense of place in nature.

Working primarily with soft pastels, Rivers applies scraping and blending techniques to swiftly establish composition and colour arrangement, later refining the works with intricate marks. His experimentation with pastels yields both loose yet finely detailed drawings and paintings.

His latest collection, “Under Sandstone Skies,” invites audiences to immerse themselves in his experience of residing under towering cliffs and open skies, observing the ever shifting interplay of light, colour and distinct weather phenomena. From the glow of a solitary cloud illuminated by the morning sun to the dynamic shadows cast by drifting clouds, Rivers’ work shares his connection to these moments of transient beauty.

Moving back to the country became the catalyst for Amanda Holman to pursue her dream of becoming a full-time artist.

Inspiration to capture the beauty of the countryside evolved from a childhood in the township of Mudgee NSW, a country town surrounded by hills with everchanging colours, rivers framed by ancient rivergums, and seasonal windswept pastures.

Now living in Orange, Amanda has found the surrounding scenery to be a fuel for the senses. 

Amanda’s pursuit of landscapes that capture the essence of Australia and the Australian light is paramount in her practice.  To create scenes that evoke a sense of connection to the country and a feeling of tranquillity and restfulness is her objective. 

Beyond 4 Walls is a collection of works in which Amanda seeks to portray the awe-inspiring beauty of the country around us.

Andrea is a prolific artist who is represented by various Galleries within Australia and collections worldwide. She creates work that observe the ordinary, but celebrate the beauty within.

Andrea presents us with a collection of work that invites us to emerge from the blur of the last few years and find some clarity in the future. Using the landscape as reference, “Blur” envelopes the viewer in a haze that evokes comfort and hope.

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.

Within this body of work, Jane explores the natural beauty, the ecological importance and essential habitat sanctuary that bushland and wilderness areas provide - A Refuge, where flora, fauna and biodiversity can thrive. Conservation, regeneration and the re-wilding of country are integral to a healthy, bio-diverse environment.

Time spent Bushwalking and forest bathing Shinrin-yoku, are integral in the development of Jane’s arts practice, providing an endless source of creative nourishment and compositional inspiration.

In our busy, modern lives, where many daylight hour are spent indoors, it is easy to feel a disconnection from nature. The lives we live, the resources we consume and the impact our choices have upon the natural environment are often out of sight, out of mind.

Robin Meiklejohn is an Orange based watercolour artist . Growing up in the Blue Mountains completely surrounded by natural bush land Robin developed a life long appreciation of the beauty and fragility of her natural environment. It is her love of this environment that underpins much of her art practice today.

Ordinary Things is a celebration of the tenacity, joy, dedication, humour, and chaos that permeates my life as a working-from-home artist. It is an exploration of the endless balancing act of being a mother, wife and creator. The works blur the boundaries of domestic and artistic life, where household items or children’s toys playfully invade the composition as if they’re in the process of being tidied up. The exhibition also explores the bittersweet passing of childhood, highlighting the brevity of this period of innocence and playfulness, where the young child’s locus in the domestic sphere begins to expand and well-loved childhood toys are abandoned.

Jo Fernandez is a representational landscape artist living in the historic village of Millthorpe, in the Central Tablelands of NSW. Her work is inspired by the landscape of this region - the expanses of land and sky, distinct seasons and their impact on light and colour.

Known for her cloudscapes, her works invite us to pause, reflect and restore a sense of our place in nature.

For this body of work my focus is to bring out the fundamental highlights of life. Becoming a father and dialing into the journeys and adventures of our lives so far, with an ever evolving response to landscape, a celebration of it’s diverse beauty.

Through my practice, it is important to keep my hands on the materials. From cutting the timber to size, building the supports and finally to finish framing the works, my love and respect of materials is my entry point into my creative process.

Landscape painting is to me, like being in a massive garden and responding to the energy and experience I find there. Reimagining the land to create my own visual world. This is a way to connect and engage with the landscape on a level that expands past my human self, something more, my higher self.

I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land, the Gumbainggir people and deep gratitude for allowing my stay on country.

Ana Anderson is a contemporary Australian artist, she holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2007) Honours from the National Art School. Ana’s work focuses on the Australian landscape and our connection to nature, exploring the line between reality and abstraction.

In this body of work Ana represents the places of solace that she often retreats to, they are the quiet spaces where she finds connection to something larger, where she can escape and just breathe, they are the spaces between the trees. These compositions were created with multiple layers, tuning into the works in a push and pull intuitive process, creating a balance between reality and abstraction.

In Safe Keeping pays homage to the natural treasures we gather, collect and study. I have long been fascinated with natural history collections, and through my horticultural background, herbarium specimens. There is a reverence to the taking and preservation of a single fragile specimen. When pulled from the crowd and treated with care, these individual beings are elevated to a position of great importance, capturing a moment in time and inviting study and appreciation through a quiet and still voice.

This body of work comprises ornithology, entomology, mycology and herbarium specimens and collections - a gathering of works in paper, as fragile as those they represent and intended to be observed closely and cherished in safe keeping.

In this most recent collection, Jason presents a delightful portrait series of his orphan animals - Loppy the kangaroo, Squeaker the magpie, Holly the honeyeater and Little Pipit. All rescued on the farm, they soon ingratiated into both home and heart providing pure talent for a quick photographer. We follow their free for all amongst the memorabilia of the lovingly restored Shearer’s Cottage Jason calls home. The stylised monochromatic compositions contrasted with colourful vintage objects and fresh cut flowers from his garden lead us to examine nostalgic notions of childhood, memory, colour and play.

This series of works explores the theme of belonging through the recurring motif of banksia integrifolia foliage, which is drawn, painted or scraped back into each artwork. Banksia integrifolia, or Coast Banksia is common along Newcastle’s coast and streets and the foliage of this plant is symbolic for me. I planted one of these trees on my birthday in Dad’s garden after he died. This is my sister’s garden now, so it’s where my nephews play.The familiarity of this iconic plant, and seeing it everyday in my neighbourhood, connects me to my own sense of belonging. Having a sense of belonging is something that I realise I actively need to cultivate for myself, and reconnecting to nature and making art are part of this active process for me.

This collection of still life and interiors paintings is my way of celebrating the everyday objects that keep me connected to loved ones and to places that have provided sanctuary… My coffee pot, favourite jug, tableware and pieces of cloth came from my apartment in Florence, where I lived and worked for 25 years; coloured glassware, ceramic vases and vintage teapots have been gathered in the 12 years since I returned to Australia; books have been bought on my travels or were left to me by my beloved mentor, Susan Nevelson. Functional household items have become deeply meaningful to me over the past year and I find myself mixing bolder colours and deliberately seeking out beauty and familiarity as a counter to heartbreaking news and the tyranny of distance.

This solo exhibition by local artist Naomi Lawler is the result of winning first place in our MINI SERIES ART PRIZE in 2019. First place won a rent-free solo exhibition and studio tour photo shoot with us here at The Corner Store Gallery.

Nostalgia is a collection of oil paintings exploring the strong connection between nostalgia and grief. Naomi (The artist) has sought to explore her own experience through the different lenses of still life, allegory and surrealism.

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.

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.