Work of Art Participants

Catherine McNamara

Orange/Bathurst

Catherine is an independent physical theatre performer who lives and works on Wiradjuri land, between Orange and Bathurst. She graduated from the University of Wollongong’s B.A. Performance in 2015. Catherine co-wrote the immersive children’s theatre show ‘Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium’ with Erth Visual and Physical Inc. which she toured throughout regional Australia and internationally. She has appeared in several dance theatre works, including cross-cultural works.

For over a decade Catherine has designed and led performing arts programs, which has enabled her to work alongside people with disabilities, children, First-Nations communities, LGBTQIA+ teenagers and people living in aged care.

Catherine Sharpe

Griffith

Catherine Sharpe has an intense interest in the areas of healing, teaching, and creating. She is working towards a space where people can encounter these in a community environment fuelled by compassion and curiosity. A trained teacher and social scientist, Catherine is also a published poet.

Charlotte Haywood

Wilsons Creek

Charlotte Haywood is an experimental interdisciplinary artist based in Northern NSW on Bundjalung Country, who works across the senses. She has cultivated a highly collaborative and process driven practice, working across textiles, sculpture, installation, public art, film, theatre, live art, music, food, linguistics, communities and ecologies. She has exhibited and worked on projects nationally and internationally.  

Cherie Hurley 

Port Macquarie

Cherie Hurley is a visual and performing artist from Port Macquarie. Inspired by bright things and the excitement one feels when the eye catches something striking, she expresses her style of realism through oil paints with detailed strokes and contrasting colours.

Claire E. Peters

Gol Gol

Writing has been a companion to Claire as long as she can remember. She is eagerly awaiting her upcoming picture book release through an Australian publisher. This year Claire’s poetry has been included in literary journals along with some social media success, all while completing middle grade and adult novel manuscripts.

Dayarne Smith

Muswellbrook

Dayarne Smith, an abstract expressionist from Muswellbrook NSW, explores mood and emotion through colour interactions and textural layers in her mixed media works. Her intuitive process begins with spontaneous marks, evolving into deliberate decisions as each painting progresses, balancing intuition and intention to achieve its final form.

Deborah Michell-Smith

Deborah Michell-Smith is a painter from northwest NSW who graduated from the University of Southern Queensland with a Bachelor of Visual Art in 2000. She uses texture, repetition and pattern in her paintings which capture snapshots of life in her region. She enjoys mixing colours to paint moments that reflect a feeling or memory. Her main medium is acrylic on canvas using repetitive brush strokes.

Elaine Camlin 

Wagga Wagga

Elaine Camlin is a printmaker and art therapist based in Wagga Wagga, NSW. She plays an active role in Eastern Riverina Art’s cultural scene by developing accessible programs for creative communication and wellbeing through her business, Unique State Art Space. Her printmaking practice explores the notion that an artist’s hands are tools of implicit knowledge, with works exploring abstract self-portraiture, memory and intuitive mark-making.

Eliza Mary Wells

Harden-Murrumburrah

Eliza’s work explores the combined benefits of creativity, arts and psychology on individual, community and arts industry wellbeing; delivered via lectures, research, workshops, consulting, and creative public projects. She now owns Third Place Studio, a rural Community, Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) practice in Harden-Murrumburrah.

Ginny Reid 

Deniliquin

Ginny is a visual artist and educator who generally paints what she sees with a signature twist. With a Bachelor of Vocation Education & Training and a Specialised Skills Fellowship (07), she sells both her original artwork with a range of beautiful cards and tea towels.

Hayley Ferris

Hayley Ferris is a branding, graphic and website designer based in Central West NSW, specialising in crafting branding and digital presences for small creative businesses. She is passionate about transforming unique stories, personalities, and core values into visually compelling brand identities that resonate with audiences and drive success.

Helene Leane

Dungog

Helene Leane’s art practice, drawing inspiration from the landscape in which she lives, has spanned over a 20 year period. As well as creating artwork, she exhibits at her own gallery in Dungog. Her practice centres on acrylic painting, gouache monotypes (printmaking) and photo transfer works.

Ikuko Fujisawa

Orange

Ikuko Fujisawa was first introduced to traditional Japanese calligraphy at the age of four in Osaka, Japan. Her visual arts practice involves the fusion of traditional forms of calligraphy with contemporary ideas. Using the design elements of calligraphy to express emotion, Ikuko has developed her own style of representation.

Jane Richens

Bingleburra

Jane Richens is a multidisciplinary visual artist, biodiversity farmer and creator of science and arts events based in Dungog on Gringai Country. Her work merges science and art, spanning sculpture, video, sound and wearables. Inspired by the surrounding dry rainforest, she explores the relationship between human and more-than-human worlds in forest ecosystems. Jane Richens lives and works on Gringai Country.

Jess Plumb

Crookwell/Goulburn

Jodie Munday

Goulburn

A Wiradjuri woman living near Goulburn NSW, Jodie Munday is a visual artist and weaver and has been studying art and building skills for most of her life. She loves working in a variety of art forms including drawing using various mediums, photography, printmaking, pottery, wood burning and a new found interest in painting. Many of her works combine these practices in mixed media forms. Jodie loves to represent nature in most of her work in inspired by, wildlife, flora, and a rural lifestyle and observing patterns that she finds within different environments and using elements her Celtic, Aboriginal and British heritage.

Julia George

South West Rocks

Karen Taylor

Bucca

Karen Taylor completed a diploma of ceramics at Tafe Coffs Harbour in 2023. Her ceramics have featured in the Earth, Thought Fire exhibition in Coffs Harbour in 2022 and in the 20 exhibition at Nexus Gallery Bellingen in 2023. She creates keep cups for her local coffee van and is currently in the process of setting a studio space on her farm in Bucca, with the intention of running small workshops on hand building, wheel work, and slab building. These workshops will be educational as well as a social gathering and a sharing of the love of clay with friends in a farm setting.

Kathy Graham

Broken Hill

As a female, regional artist based in the Far West, Kathy Graham’s practice is deeply inspired by the environment. She explores the juxtaposition of the durable nature of clay with the ephemeral nature of plants. Her work transcends functionality, emphasising the artistic potential of pottery to reflect the natural world and encourage a deeper appreciation of pottery as an expressive art form. 

Keva Abotomey

Wingello

Keva is a musician and music educator working in the Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands. She revels in the power of music to defy social barriers and bring communities together. Keva is currently developing FemHarmonic, a grassroots organisation to educate, empower and connect women across all areas of music making.

Kim Baker

Wagga Wagga

Kim is a mum to two beautiful children, a wife, a believer and the creative businesswoman behind KimBaker.Design. Kim combines her love of creating original art in watercolour or acrylic with digital surface design using Adobe Illustrator and teaching creative workshops. Animals and the natural environment are her favourite subjects, and Kim takes a lifelong learning approach to her art practice.

Kim McClean

Port Macquarie

Kim creates in a variety of media from her Mid North Coast studio. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art and Diploma of Graphic Design. Kim is inspired by the human experience and the capacity we have for joy and beauty. She explores the themes of energy, connection, memory, emotion and nature. Her art has been sold locally and overseas.

Kiri Morcombe

Yass

Kiri is an Independent Creative Producer specialising in live performance. A quiet leader, Kiri has expertise in curation, programming, project management and delivery, planning, audience development, community engagement, strategy, funding, fundraising and grant writing, with specialised artform knowledge in dance and textiles. Kiri is based on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country, Southern Tablelands NSW. 

Leah Dodd

Coffs Harbour

Leah Dodd is a Visual artist living on the Coffs Coast of NSW, creating expressive works that blend abstract and figurative styles, inviting viewers into a world of abstract storytelling.

Leah Szántó

Bega

Leanne Atkins

Dungog

Leanne is a visual artist creating quirky, bright bold inspiring flora themed paintings for the walls of your home or office which provide a sense of motivation and enthusiasm for your everyday life. Leanne’s artist journey started with a passion to draw as a child. She has studied art at TAFE and University with majors in photography and printmaking. In 2013 her business, Annies Art Worx, was born after she completed a Diploma in Graphic Design.

Residing in Dungog, Leanne sells both original artwork and a range of vibrant merchandise designs such as tote bags, coasters, cards and blankets at market stalls in the Hunter Valley & Newcastle regions. Inspiration for Leanne’s designs comes from the everyday blooms in a friend’s garden, a wedding bouquet, weeds growing in the national park.

Linda Nolan

Ganmain

Linda Nolan is a passionate multifaceted artist, endeavouring to saturate the community with the health benefits of art and creativity in our lives. Gallery owner and tutor of art within her country region, her major achievement to date has been 40 images in watercolor called ‘Awakening Needs’, a box set of affirmation cards for all ages, representing our human needs in visual impressions and written word.

Lizzie Horne

Arts North West

As printmaker, painter and writer, Lizzie Horne exhibits regularly and has been shortlisted for art prizes including the Australian Monoprint Prize, the WAMA works on paper prize, the Swan Hill Print and Drawing Prize, the Peebles Print Prize, Inkmasters and the Stanthorpe Prize.

Lucy Frost

Port Macquarie

Lucy Frost is a multidisciplinary artist and performer. Originally training in the UK as a set and costume designer, her career spans over two decades and across the globe. As a circus artist she has performed in Berlin, Tokyo, New York and at major festivals such as Glastonbury and the National Theatre in London.

As a visual artist Lucy has collaborated with many community groups and organisations, and was recently nominated for a NSW museum and galleries award. Behind the scenes, Lucy is the co-director of Port Macquarie’s Tortuga Festival, a daring new arts festival for the Mid North Coast.

Lucy Smith

Bathurst

Madeline Williams

Dubbo

Makushla (Kush) Bourke

Kalaru

Maria Shaw

Orange

Maria Shaw is a Ceramic Artist residing in Orange, NSW on Wiradjuri Land. Maria creates intricate sculptures using handbuilding techniques to reflect aspects of nature in particular flora. Clay naturally embraces the textures crafted by her hands, to develop a depth to the poetic surface of the sculptures. 

Megan Gilbert

Broken Hill

Megan Gilbert is a multidisciplinary artist and sewist working on Barkindji Country in Broken Hill. Her practice ranges across landscape painting, pottery and textile design. She is the founder of Moogie, a slow fashion brand that champions size inclusivity and environmental consciousness. Across the various mediums Megan works with, there is a consistent playfulness with a bold use of colour and shape. Megan’s practice is built on a strong ethos for eco conscious consumerism, which is supported by thorough research into all used materials. A keen upcycler, Megan assures no materials are thrown out and turns every scrap into gold.

Mel Anderson

Deniliquin

Mel Anderson is a visual artist and teacher based in Deniliquin, NSW. She is a multidisciplinary artist working with clay, photography, and cyanotypes to tell the stories of her heart and create spaces for others to do the same. Through the gestalt of storytelling, her workshops use creativity as a tool for connection, wellbeing, and personal introspection.

Melanie Horsnell

Candelo

Melissa Mylchreest

Shoalhaven Heads

Melissa is a designer, illustrator and author working across books, illustrations, maps and more. With a deep interest in nature and an explorer’s spirit, she brings a blend of creativity, education, mindfulness, fun and adventure to all projects, aiming to realise a concept in its most memorable form.

Merri-May Gill

Moree

A calm, creative powerhouse, tempered with country practicality and a well-developed sense of fun: Merri-May Gill documents rural life, or the intriguing world of dogs [told by their people], in her films. Beautiful cinematography, coupled with interesting life-insights, will leave your glass feeling half-full and your heart even more so.

Michèle Jedlicka

Delungra

Michèle Jedlicka is a filmmaker, photographer, and writer. The work that she makes focuses first on story; always story, and exercising her imagination. She is interested in people and, despite what divides us, she looks for the things that we all share. After many years, she feels that she is finally finding her creative voice.

Narelle Whitham

Deniliquin

Narelle Whitham is a self-taught, multidisciplinary artist from Deniliquin, passionate about empowering those with unseen disabilities through creativity. After an unforeseen illness, art became her lifeline, driving her to inspire others to embrace art for healing and showing how creativity can bring opportunity, connection and purpose during difficult times.

Nina Magrath

Cootamundra

Nina Magrath is an emerging visual artist who loves colour, pattern and investigating the stories that connect us. She is currently exploring printmaking and applications for her designs on other mediums. Collaborating with others is a big part of her art practice and one of her favourite aspects of her profession.

Penne Fraser

Tamworth

Penne Fraser is a textile artist and arts worker from regional NSW. She blends modern and traditional textile techniques with storytelling, crafting narrative driven works that explore themes of nostalgia, memory and the environment.

Penny Craig

Dharawal Country

Penny’s art practice is a journey of self-discovery, a way of navigating time, looking slowly & becoming the subject. Through her art, she delves into the subconscious, engaging in, intimate conversations with self. Each piece is like a personal navigation point and a way of understanding and expressing nuances she find in unspoken, fleeting moments. Art is a path towards self-acceptance, self-love, a defiant act & a small revolution.

Rach Viski

The Rock

Rach Viski leads Minta Viski, a graphic design and digital art agency. She is a forager of meaningful connections, a navigator of complex structures, and a storyteller from Regional NSW who implements findings from curious conversations into bold, visual abstractions.

Rachel Shaw

Shoalhaven Heads

Rachel Shaw is a wood carver based on the South Coast of New South Wales, known for her distinct approach to working with salvaged and reclaimed wood. Drawing from her background in Interior and Graphic Design, Rachel creates sculptural art pieces that celebrate nature’s raw beauty. Her fresh approach to traditional craving methods, shapes and forms has led to features of her work in contemporary style magazines and successful solo exhibitions. Alongside her artistic work, Rachel leads Conscious Carving Workshops, where she teaches mindful carving techniques to support mental well-being through creativity.

Rebecca Cutler

Ganmain

Interested in art from an early age, Rebecca Cutler considers herself to be a multidisciplinary artist. Mostly self-taught, her work utilises various mediums such as printmaking, painting, felting and eco-printing. She applies these techniques to various substrates including paper, leather, ceramics and natural textiles to create wearable art, functional items and 2D and 3D artworks. 

Rebecca Rath

Pokolbin

Rebecca Rath is a Hunter Valley-based artist specializing in oil painting and drawing. After beginning her artistic journey at Hornsby TAFE in 1992, she pursued a BFA (Hons) at UNSW 2000, blending practical experience with academic rigor at COFA. For over 20 years, Rebecca has been a professional artist, with a focus on en plein air painting and drawing. Her work, characterized by energetic, intuitive mark-making and rich textures, has been exhibited both in Australia and internationally, earning recognition for its dynamic expression and deep connection to the natural environment.  

Samantha Lovejoy

Calliope

Shani Nottingham

Cowra

Sharon De Valentin

Griffith

Sharon De Valentin is an encaustic artist blending ancient techniques with contemporary innovation. Inspired by nature, she crafts her own medium from locally sourced beeswax and damar resin, fusing them with fire. Her paintings and sculptural works reflect sustainability principles and embrace unpredictability in their unique, sensory-rich expression.

Sharon De Valentin

Griffith

Sig Peters

Sivonne Binks

Mathoura (Yorta Yorta)

Sivonne Binks is a multidisciplinary artist and freelance creative. Professionally she supports regional organisations and businesses to bring their communications to life, delivering compelling and beautiful content for a range of audiences. Sivonne is passionate about using her art to discover and share unique histories, stories and perspectives.

Sue Checinski

Parkes

Sue Checinski is a wildlife artist who blends observation with creativity and allows us to appreciate the intricate beauty of wildlife and the special bond we share with animals. Through her artwork, Sue aims to foster a greater appreciation for the natural world and its wonders.  Each piece is a tribute to the creatures that inhabit our surroundings.

Susan Fell

Mullumbimby/Byron Bay

A Northern Rivers contemporary textile artist, Susan Fell (MVA) has presented solo and group exhibitions in regional galleries. Known for her unparalleled natural dye process using leaves from various eucalyptus species to colour her shibori, Susan is regularly an invited presenter to prestigious international textiles festivals, most recently the UNESCO International Festival of Plants Ecology and Colour in Antananarivo Madagascar. 

Suzanne Whiteman

Meerchaum Vale

Suzanne started performing at the age of three and has not stopped. She is a socially engaged multi-disciplinary artist from the Northern Rivers and the Director of Alstonville Studio. In a lifetime devoted to dance she has expanded her practice to include filmmaking, creative arts, music and writing whilst also working in creative recovery and disability arts.

Tahni Strooband

Moree

As a Moree-based artist, Tahni specialises in creating mixed media equine and animal sculptures, primarily replicating clients’ real-life horses from photographs. Her practice is centred around her love for animals, aiming to capture the unique essence and spirit of each subject.

TC Overson

Portland