Pittwater Artist Trail 2016: Autumn Open Studios weekend
Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th of March, 2016
The highly successful Pittwater Artists Trail enters its 6th year of showcasing local professional Artists from 10am – 5pm on Saturday March 5th and Sunday March 6th.
Since its beginning, in 2011, Pittwater Artists Trail has enjoyed incredible support as it upholds its unifying vision, fostering a grass roots community relationship that inspires a sense of connection, shared stories and sales of quality artworks.
All studios are open the first weekend of each new season in March, September and December and a group exhibition will be held in June.
Mark these dates in your calendar: March 5th and 6th, June 4th and 5th, September 3rd and 4th and December 3rd and 4th
With many of these artists demonstrating how they do what they do over the Open Studio weekends, visitors can see what makes each discipline work and speak to the creators in their creative spaces – a wonderful way to immerse yourself in the creative world.
You may start in the south in Elanora at Karen Pike’s piatings, ritual objects and paintings or Penel Bigg’s studio filled with glorious works made from glass and travel west to Bayview to Allen Goodman’s wonderful paintings and then west through Mona Vale to visit Vicki Ratcliff for watercolours and oils with Pamela Pauline’s Fine art photography featuring in the same place. Or begin in the north and travel south, stopping for some lunch or a glass of wine in any of the numerous cafes and restaurants in between.
Some of the artists are combining to share space this year , a collaboration that features a selection of new Artists in unique pairings including:
Claire / Evan Armstrong – mother and son showcasing oil and acrylic bush-inspired and animal-themed illustrations respectively from their Avalon home studio. At: 20 Bellevue Ave, Avalon
Cindy Goode-Milman / Michele Petrie – popular ocean pool and swim oil painter and figurative ceramicist artist duo in a garden setting purpose built 'she-shed' in Avalon. At: 1/85-87 Avalon Pde, Avalon
Jacqui Giuliano / Sasa Scheiner – yoga practitioner duo with a penchant for earthy based painting and ceramic bowl, platter and sculpture artworks in a bushy Avalon setting.
At: 48 Ruskin Rowe, Avalon - Paintings
Martin Wale / Roberta Landers – design and print expert who creates incredible works with paper alongside textile and block print design artist in The Tin Shed in Mona Vale. At: 122a Elimatta Rd, Mona Vale
Pamela Pauline / Vicki Ratcliff – award winning, globe trotting professional photographer Pam alongside painter Vicki Ratcliff inside her new classroom studio. At: 66 Rednal St, Mona Vale
Art enthusiasts will also be able to see the new works featured by 2016 members such as Tabitha Higgins, a talented award winning jeweller, and another uniquely new addition whose studio is located on Avalon Parade or delve deeper into the wonderful photography of Pamela Pauline, another new artists for 2016.
A sample Michele Petrie's work
A little more about each of the 2016 Pittwater Artists Trail Artists:
Tabitha Higgins
1/40 Avalon Parade, Avalon
I am most happy in my workshop creating one off pieces. What a dream! I have managed to organise my work so that I spend my day doing something that I love. I enjoy the process of working with my clients helping bring to life an idea they have the seeds of. Jewellery can be very meaningful and significant and the personal nature of it is important to me.
Another wonderful aspect of my work is that the pieces I create will (hopefully!) outlast me and could even be around long after I am forgotten. It is inspiring to think I am making something that will continue to bring pleasure to it's wearers for many years to come.
Claire Armstrong - Painter
20 Bellevue Ave, Avalon
Claire Armstrong lives and works from her studio in Avalon NSW. Trained in fine arts at Tafe, she has worked for over 30 years as a professional photographer in Sydney. She has also been involved in mixed media, design and portraiture. Her current works show a passion for the environment in oils or acrylic on wood and canvas. "My art allows me an outlet for my passionately held beliefs and connects me deeply with this country that I love."
Evan Armstrong - Paper Art
20 Bellevue Ave, Avalon
Evan Armstrong lives and works from a studio in Avalon. He studied drawing and design at Enmore Tafe. Evan has been a finalist in the Mosman Art Prize and has had his work hung in various cafe galleries on the Northern Beaches and North Shore. He believes in getting his work to the people and has used market stalls for a means to this end. His work is highly detailed and pulsating,they reflect his passion for nature that was earned when working as a zoo keeper in his early years.
Denise Barry - Painter
122 Whale Beach Rd, Whale Beach
A seasoned devoted grandmother, born and raised in Sydney, I have a lifelong passion for painting. I trained at the National Art School and over the years have attended many master classes with artists like John Coburn, Stanislaus Rapotec, Michael Johnson, David Rankin, Fred Cress, Guy Warren, John Firth-Smith and others. I have exhibited extensively over 35 years, often curating.
My working life began in fashion and design, then Art Therapy and currently in Art Teaching. My painting form has evolved, the unknown spirituality of nature always excites me, expressed in an abstracted style with light, movement and patterning often present.
“Belonging” and “Identity” have been recurring themes in my work which includes creating a game to discover and investigate these themes.
Jacqui Giuliano - Painter
48 Ruskin Rowe, Avalon
Jacqui Giuliano is a practising artist who combines her visual arts practice with the healing arts of yoga, meditation and shiatsu.
Jacqui has a background in architecture, community and cultural development, and has worked and taught in Australia and overseas in the areas of architecture, communication drawing and design.
Jacqui combines her influences in art and design, yoga and spirituality into her artwork with particular reference to spirituality and connections to nature. This desire to express the essence of nature is depicted clearly in her landscape works, which are abstract, personal and impressionistic. Her works are a fusion of paint, wax and collage using various media to capture the richness of Pittwater.
Roberta Landers - Textile + paint images in gouache and/or ink
122a Elimatta Road, Mona Vale
I am a textile artist and designer and I create original patterns, designs and pictures reflecting on the simple and complex, the cultural and contemporary, the whimsical and the unusual.
I design and make hand block printed noren and stretched linen as well as paint images in gouache and/or ink. I also create, embellish and decorate boxes, cards and other ephemera. Come and see. Workshops held monthly at the studio.
Helen Mackay - Painter
103 Central Road, Avalon
Having spent almost half of my life here in Sydney, I feel that this is my home, and that I am now a visitor when I go back. When travelling to England, it is almost as if I have a passport to travel back in time, back to the world of my past, and of the English history that I learned as child. Of Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and Lord Burghley. This is manifested in the body of work as I have been studying the depictions of women in the 15th and 16th century, painted to show their position in society and their wealth. The focus on jewelry and fabric acts as a catalogue of power and position, whilst constraining and restricting them both physically and emotionally. They are still viewed as objects to further family ambition and alliances. The work is on lino, either cut or etched, with a very different result.
By contrast, in my life here, I have focused on the natural world and the fragility of the environment where I live, in Avalon. I have a small domestic life and I look at the animals and objects that resonate with me. I am producing a series of images that portray the local birds, the seagulls and crested terns on the beach where they are earthbound, the magpies as they strut impressively along the handrail of my deck and the cockatoo with its extraordinary crest and playful nature, and its bizarre and eccentric flight as it jerks its way through the bush and drops in on the veranda. My cats that are endlessly sculptural and create a series of fluid forms, and their response to this arcadia, and the incessant mocking of the cockatoo. These images are either lithographs or etchings. The birds are such an important part of this environment, and although they may be considered commonplace, to me they are extraordinary, they are the 99%. This precious delicate equation that I see every day, and its sum is happiness.
Cindy Goode Milman - Painter
1/85-87 Avalon Pde, Avalon
Cindy’s 15 year art obsession with ocean pools and ocean swims is conveyed through her signature oil on board paintings. Using a limited palette, her free flowing expressive style and focus on tonal contrast, create artworks that capture the essence of Sydney’s unique saltwater playground she terms soulful. Cindy partners with ceramic sculptor Michele Petrie in her Avalon Parade studio.
This purpose built studio dubbed the ‘she shed’ was featured on global design blog Houzz and was filmed on channel 9 Morning show attracting attention due to its sensational features such as garden planted roof, ocean themed design elements and multi dimensional space (converts to dining room and massage room)!
Michele Petrie - Ceramics
1/85-87 Avalon Pde, Avalon
Having trained as an art teacher, Michele’s passion for clay has spanned more than 50 years. She has continued her studio practice in many cities and towns across Australia and in the US and has exhibited widely. For the coming year Michele will be teaming with expressionist painter Cindy Goode Milman in her wonderful “She Shed” studio in Avalon.
The spirit of the Northern Beaches influences her life and her work both physically and emotionally. She tries to encompass this spirit in her work with reference to the whimsy, playfulness and the colour it brings to our lives. The constant and ever-changing vista of the ocean and bay fires her imagination, nurtures her creativity and makes the fantastic seem possible!
Pamela Pauline - Fine Art Photography
66 Rednal Street, Mona Vale
Having grown up in the wide open spaces of Wyoming in the USA, and since lived in eight countries on five continents, I have spent my life documenting through photographs the richness and diversity of the world’s people and its landscapes. An award winning associate member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AAIPP), my photography continues to evolve and change. Through vision, creativity and photographic techniques, my photographic journey has explored portraiture, wedding landscape, architectural, travel and fine art photography.
Today, Mona Vale is where I call home and live with my husband and three teenaged children. Surrounded by such natural beauty, every day feels like a new photographic adventure. Big dramatic skies often feature in my work, something we have an abundance of on the Northern Beaches. I have exhibited in India, the USA and Australia, most recently at Juniper Hall in Paddington where I was offered as solo exhibition as a Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize Finalist.
Vicki Ratcliff - Painter
66 Rednal Street, Mona Vale
Constantly inspired by the way early morning light reflects and transforms, Vicki has focused her paintings in the natural world. Her subject matter of late has been the early swimmers at Mona Vale pool.
“My work reflects a love of my local rock pool and the wonderful characters that share each morning with me. I am inspired by the warmth and strength of each of them, their love of life, camaraderie and their age defying beauty.”
Allen Goodman - Painter
3 Bimbimbie Place (via Annam Road), Bayview
Allen Goodman is an artist living in Bayview on The Northern Beaches. He is also a talented leadlight artist having completed many commissions over the years. He enjoys working with acrylics, watercolours, pencils and inks and has recently introduced a palette knife into his art works, creating a more abstract form. Having travelled extensively Allen draws inspiration for his art from all around the world and within Australia. Allen is especially inspired by his images of the Pittwater area including beaches, waterways, boating and outdoor activities.
Coco Elder - Ceramicist/painter
35 Chisolm Ave, Avalon - Paintings, ceramics
Coco’s practice draws on the Australian bush, primarily from the local surrounds of Ku-ring-gai National Park. She focuses on either the macro or micro perspective, often zooming in on botanical forms, or vistas of escarpments, to reveal a journey of geological formations and flora, via details that deal with the intricate texture and essence of place. By using an engraving tool to incise into her oil paints, the raw board or primed surface is revealed as a rhythmical contrast. Via this process, she is able to bridge both drawing and painting practice. The spirit of place unfolds.
“ By carving back through the surface, I’m able to create another layer, one that is more playful, and a gestural expression of the form and place”. This form of sgraffito is also applied to her simple slab forms in creating her ceramic vessels.
Penel Bigg - Flameworked glass sculptures, jewellery
11 Wesley St, Elanora Heights
Past Artist of the Month Penel Bigg makes works that will light up your rooms. Glass - glowing colours, fluid forms, beautiful beads, molten magic!
Penel melts rods of glass in the flame of a large burner and then uses heat and gravity and a few special tools to create all manner of lovely things. From beads that will be made up into gorgeous jewellery, to intricately patterned perfume bottles, to fantastical creatures, every day in the studio is an adventure.
For over a decade Penel has been learning about glass, experimenting with a wide variety of techniques and slowly developing her own personal and very idiosyncratic style. Inspired by both the natural world and the world of her imagination she appreciates the serendipitous nature of molten glass, often letting the glass lead the dance rather than trying to impose her will on it. Classes and workshops are held regularly at the studio.
Karen Pike - Jewellery, ritual objects, paintings
12 Kalang Rd, Elanora Heights
Unlike many jewellery designers I rarely begin with a concept, draw it and then create it – or recreate it! I work very organically – it may start with a component or a symbol or a number - I start building straight away and the piece evolves. Aesthetics are supremely important to me, my pieces must be beautiful, but the energy must also be right. I may remake a piece several times until it feels good.
Art, healing, mystery and the magical - these are the things that I attempt to infuse into my jewellery and ritual object making. It is a bringing together of my life experiences and my joys. Each of my pieces is individually crafted, made with great love & attention to its beauty and energetic nuances and is as absolutely original & unique as the person who will own it, each tool is imbued with sacred power.
Julie Hickson - Paintings, archival prints
3 Cecil Rd, Newport
Northern Beaches artist Julie Hickson has spent the last 8 years cutting hundreds of stencils and experimenting with them in her paintings. The resulting technique is a personalised hybrid of printmaking and painting with a distinctive graphic quality. Her subjects feature Australian botanicals, coastal and kitchen scenes and the canvas sizes vary from small to large. There is a range of archival prints and other goodies made under the moniker pod & pod.
Wendy Grainger - Paintings
8/79 Foamcrest Ave, Newport
Oh how I love to paint, after years of working it's great to be able to spend as much time on your art as you like. Having spent 20 years as a florist I am still fascinated with flowers, their variety, beauty and vast array of colours, complexities, textures and structures, a bloom can give so much pleasure.
Over the last year I have been creating large blooms on canvas but lately am back to smaller drawings in ink and water colour washes. This year I have been fascinated by the grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) they are so old and majestic and a perfect subject to draw and paint. After a travelling holiday across Australia I have collected lots of subject material that I have begun working on.
Nada Herman – Paintings
62 Chisolm Ave, Avalon
Nada Herman has been painting professionally for over 25 years, having over 50 solo exhibitions. Her work has been collected by admirers throughout Australia as well as the world. The thick application of vibrant coloured oil paint creates bold energetic paintings.
Nada is the third generation oil painter in her family. ada exhibits from the historical family home "Hybrasil" in Avalon where the Hermans have painted for over 60 years.
Robyn Park - Silk painting, encaustic, mosaics
3 Delecta Ave, Clareville
After retirement following a 40 year career as a midwife it was time to start a new creative life. My first project was to mosaic a memorial to my family in the garden where I have lived for nearly 70 years.
Then I discovered the vibrant colours and interesting patterns of silk painting, and love to share the adventures of silk painting with people in my "art garden" at Clareville.
Katarina Wells - Ceramics
55 Hudson Pde, Avalon
Katarina's aim is to express a sense of balance and harmony through her work. She hand builds her pieces over a period of a few days, to allow the clay to stiffen sufficiently, before adding more coils. This slow process fosters an organic growth, allows for time to step back and observe where a piece intends to go.
Terra Sigillata, a natural finish containing very fine clay particles, provides a sensual, tactile surface for much of her work. For many of her outdoor sculptures Katarina uses iron and copper finishes, relishing the rich patinas that develop when exposed to the elements. Inspiration is found in the natural world - the colours and textures of rocks, seedpods, wasp's nests or shark eggs found on the beach.
Katarina grew up in Austria and moved to Australia in her early twenties. In 2000 she completed a studio ceramics course at Brookvale TAFE. She has been exhibiting her work since 2007.
Elfriede Bartnitzky - Paintings
55 Hudson Pde, Avalon
Elfriede's canvases are characterised by strong form and colour laid down in blocks over a textured background. It is her personal voyage to unlock the beauty of the Australian landscape which is reflected in most of her work.
Helen Mackay - Lithographs, etchings, linocuts, paintings
103 Central Rd, Avalon
Having spent almost half of my life here in Sydney, I feel that this is my home, and that I am now a visitor when I go back. When travelling to England, it is almost as if I have a passport to travel back in time, back to the world of my past, and of the English history that I learned as child. Of Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and Lord Burghley. This is manifested in the body of work as I have been studying the depictions of women in the 15th and 16th century, painted to show their position in society and their wealth. The focus on jewelry and fabric acts as a catalogue of power and position, whilst constraining and restricting them both physically and emotionally. They are still viewed as objects to further family ambition and alliances. The work is on lino, either cut or etched, with a very different result.
By contrast, in my life here, I have focused on the natural world and the fragility of the environment where I live, in Avalon. I have a small domestic life and I look at the animals and objects that resonate with me. I am producing a series of images that portray the local birds, the seagulls and crested terns on the beach where they are earthbound, the magpies as they strut impressively along the handrail of my deck and the cockatoo with its extraordinary crest and playful nature, and its bizarre and eccentric flight as it jerks its way through the bush and drops in on the veranda. My cats that are endlessly sculptural and create a series of fluid forms, and their response to this arcadia, and the incessant mocking of the cockatoo. These images are either lithographs or etchings. The birds are such an important part of this environment, and although they may be considered commonplace, to me they are extraordinary, they are the 99%. This precious delicate equation that I see every day, and its sum is happiness.
Marian Purvis - Paintings, drawings, prints, photography
13 Surf Rd, Whale Beach
I am an enthusiastic artist who responds to visual or auditory stimulation by creating an artwork; a drawing, painting, photograph or video to make the experience part of me.
Geoff Searl - Botanical sculpture and jewellery
27 Albert Rd, Avalon
These unique and beautiful sculptures and jewellery, comprised from many hours work, are the creations of Geoff Searl. “I love making these, really enjoy the work that goes into each one.”
Geoff attended the National Art School at East Sydney Technical College, Darlinghurst in the late 1960s. His initial studies were in General Design, later specialising in Industrial or Product Design. The latter required detailed prototype models and this `hands on' facet of the design process was to become Geoff's forte.
Geoff uses only the spent fruits and pods, mostly of the local native trees, (plus a few from interstate). These are ‘grafted' onto bases - segments of trunks like banksia, which possess in themselves, sculptural qualities. The results are surreal `new botanical species', which look like they could have been gathered by bush regenerators working in the vicinity of a billabong inhabited by bunyips.
Sasa Scheiner - Ceramics
48 Ruskin Rowe, Avalon
Nature has a big part to play in my current body of work. My work has pure sensual shaped forms inspired by the sea and rock forms. They have an entirely unique surface resulting from years of technical research using various aggregates and ash glazes. The shapes and surfaces invite the viewer to engage in a tactile response. Using both light and dark iron clays I create a varied palette. Whether gas or electric firing leaves its atmospheric effect on the final surface. I continue to explore new firing effects.
The Open Studio weekend is well sign posted and brochure and maps are readily available from the local cafes/shops as well as the website www.pittwaterartiststrail.com.au.
So come out and follow the Open Studio trail, make a weekend of it by inviting friends and family outside of community – just to experience Pittwater!
STUDIOS by location
Elanora Heights
Karen Pike, Penel Bigg
Bayview
Allen Goodman
Mona Vale/Newport
Roberta Landers & Martin Wale, Vicki Ratcliff & Pamela Pauline, Julie Hickson, Wendy Grainger
Bilgola/Avalon/Whale Beach
Claire Armstrong & Evan Armstrong, Tabitha Higgins, Cindy Goode-Milman & Michele Petrie, Jacqui Giuliano & Sasa Scheiner, Coco Elder, Nada Herman, Robyn Park, Elfriede Bartnitzky & Katarina Wells, Helen Mackay, Geoff Searl, Denise Barry, Marian Purvis
ARTISTS by medium
Ceramics - Coco Elder, Katarina Wells, Michele Petrie, Sasa Scheiner
Glass - Penel Bigg
Jewellery - Karen Pike, Penel Bigg, Tabitha Higgins, Geoff Searl, Robyn Park
Paintings - Karen Pike, Vicki Ratcliff, Roberta Landers, Julie Hickson, Wendy Grainger, Claire Armstrong, Evan Armstrong, Cindy Goode-Milman, Jacqui Giuliano, Allen Goodman, Helen Mackay, Coco Elder, Nada Herman, Elfriede Bartnitzky, Marian Purvis, Denise Barry
Photography - Pamela Pauline
Textiles - Roberta Landers, Robyn Park
Paper Art - Martin Wale
Sample of Roberta Landers work