Maree Kelly on how she represents the emotional reality of place through landscape painting
28/05/26
What is the role of landscape painting in a world where photography is so accessible? Why would we need to capture a scene through the slow and arduous process of oil painting when we could just whip out our phone and take a picture in less than 10 seconds?
Maree Kelly’s practice shows us that the art of landscape painting still has something to offer us. Through this artform, Maree communicates the subtleties of what makes a place unique, taking you beyond a photographic representation into the emotional reality of being in place.
Maree lives on a property near Curlewis, 19 km from north-west mining town and agricultural, Gunnedah. She was raised there, spending a few years away in her early adulthood, before returning to the family farm with her husband Steve to raise their children and work the land. Maree wasn’t always an artist in the formal sense but returned to it after pursuing her other love; environmental science.
“I was always a very creative child. My dad’s very artistic, I’ve got quite a lot of artistic type people in our family, but I failed art at school. I went off and studied environmental science. When I moved back to Gunnedah I wanted to go to art school, but I married a farmer and the distance to attend a metropolitan art school just wasn’t viable. He supported me to do an Advanced Diploma at TAFE in Tamworth instead. Then, with recognition of prior learning, I just had to do six more months of study at the University of Newcastle, to achieve a degree in Fine Arts, which was marvellous.”
For Maree, the practical-focused style of teaching a TAFE was important, helping her with artistic and business skills. She learned to how to paint, stretch her own canvases, frame her work and run a professional practice. She feels this education fully prepared her for being an artist.
Maree Kelly, ‘Deep in the Forest’, 2024. Oil on canvas, 36cm x 56cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Maree doesn’t just paint landscapes for the sake of it. Her practice is deeply rooted in place and her personal connection to her subjects.
The Pilliga Series is the perfect example of this. In 2021, she began painting the Pilliga Scrub. She continued this series for three years to help her understand more about her family history and the connection her ancestors had to the land.
“It began as a personal journey, looking back at my family history and the connection to the area around the Pilliga. Many years ago, my great-grandmother was interviewed about her young life growing up on the edge of the Pilliga Scrub at a little place called Cutabri, located between Wee Waa and the township of Pilliga. Born in 1901, she talked about her experiences as a young woman, born in a bark hut to an Aboriginal mother; she spoke of floods, fires, bushrangers, wild horses, bush food and medicines, the people, and her life in the bush. I found it all so fascinating when I listened to the recordings many years later. I wanted to capture the beauty of it, particularly when all the wildflowers were in season, it’s just magic. And the sense of solitude. And then to hear my grandmother when she talked about things like the wild horses running through the scrub and her uncle who was an Aboriginal man and really well-known tracker who lived in the scrub.”
Despite her cultural background, Maree was raised ‘without a label’, and no one in the family truly acknowledged or understood the cultural significance of her Aboriginal connection. By immersing herself like this for so much time, she was able to regain a little of her cultural connection to this place.
“My family comes from there, and I’m really proud of that; it forms who I am… I hope the paintings from the Pilliga series convey my joy in exploring the beauty and uniqueness of the forest – an ode to an incredible place that should be treasured and protected for generations to come.”
What stands out when viewing Maree’s paintings is her extraordinary treatment of light, which creates a sense of the ethereal. She paints in exaggerated bright colours, capturing the blurred, hazy light of dawn or the sharpness of the last light of day hitting the top of the treeline. She is not seeking to create a photorealistic representation of a place, but to help viewers understand what it feels like to be there.
“I always want to push it a bit further and feel the experience of being there. Light is such an important part of seeing the landscape in a different way. Being able to communicate something extra is important, particularly with landscapes. And it’s just got to give you that experience of something magical if you’re there.”
Maree Kelly, ‘Dawn Light in Summer‘, 2023. Oil on canvas, 66cm x 66cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Maree Kelly, ‘Last Light on Ironbarks‘, 2023. Oil on canvas, 66cm x 66cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
She continues to paint personally significant places now. She is currently making a body of work titled Nest of the Whistling Kite. This series is focused on her family property, Piyawoola. The name comes from the Gamilaraay language and translates to ‘nest or home of the Whistling Kite’. This series is being prepared for an upcoming solo exhibition at Tamworth Regional Gallery, set to open in August 2026.
Maree’s background in environmental science is another significant influence on her work and bleeds into other areas of her life.
“I spent a lot of time outdoors. I was always out in the bush. I had a horse and a dog, and I used to go out on my own when I was a kid. I was deeply connected to the natural environment even as a young child. I might put a tree a fence line or something in occasionally, but in general there’s no reference to people in my work. I think it’s because really, it’s all about the environment. Despite a short career as a park ranger, I never worked for long in the environmental science field and haven’t used my qualifications for a long time, but it informs everything.”
Combined with her personal connection to her subject, this intimate understanding of the environment builds the sense of place you experience when viewing her work.
“I like working towards a show that comes together to give you a sense of how I’m feeling about something and the sense of place. I ask myself, ‘How does that work in the environment? How does it come together?’ And I think you have to be really familiar with your subject to show that.”
Maree Kelly, ‘Violet Twilight‘, 2026. Oil on canvas, 101cm x 101cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
The importance of place translates to Maree’s role in her community too. She is deeply embedded in the Gunnedah community and has done a lot to encourage local creatives to put their work out there too.
One of the main ways she has done this is by managing the art pavilion at the Gunnedah show. While she has decided to take a break next year, she has found this experience extremely valuable and loves to see people who wouldn’t engage with the art world get involved.
“We run an art exhibition during the show in a very rustic old shed. You get people coming through who would never go to an art gallery, but they come to the show. I’m a big supporter of it.”
It also is extremely important for young people in the town, encouraging them to be creative and leading to opportunities that could push them into the arts long term. In 2026, the Grand Champion prize in the photography category was awarded to 11-year-old Elodie, who stumped the judges with a photograph that seemed to deny the laws of physics. Her image, ‘Skywalker’, impressed local Paul Matthews, who is a nationally recognised photographer. He has since mentored her and used his professional connections to secure her a feature in The Australian for her achievement. This sort of encouragement for a young artist could be exactly what they need to gain the confidence to pursue the arts as a career.
Maree is heavily involved in her local RADO, Arts North West, and has been to multiple RANSW programs, like the Work of Art Showcase and Forum in 2024 and the RALLY Assembly in 2026.
Maree Kelly presenting at the 2026 Gunnedah Show opening. Photo by Beatrice Waller.
Reflecting on why arts services organisations like ANW and RANSW are so crucial for her, she said, “They’re a conduit to what’s happening further afield, and they organise a lot of stuff so that we’re visible. I think the visibility of artists is important, and they help with that. It’s also bringing us all together. I think ‘connectedness’ is the right word.”
Maree Kelly is the perfect example of why being a regional artist isn’t a disadvantage. She may face the challenge of isolation, but the intimate connection she has with her subject as a landscape painter who lives and works in place is not something that can be faked. She gives us a true sense of how it feels to actually be in the places she depicts and how regional voices offer a perspective that cannot be replicated by other artists in the sector.
To see more of Maree Kelly’s work, visit her website here.
You can also follow her on social media to see updates on her upcoming exhibition at Tamworth Regional Gallery here.
Written by Beatrice Waller, Operations & Engagement Manager at RANSW