|
Hello – I’m Robyn. I am an artist who started painting in the early 70’s. – when art was really taking off and Sydney galleries were frequent and very successful. My father was a well-known, professional artist and I was fortunate to inherit his painting genes. However, everything I learned, I learned from observation and constant hard work – never having been formally trained. I have now been painting professionally for over 50 years and never a day goes by without my gratitude for being able to work and build a career in the profession I love. A lot has changed for me since I first began to paint – when I held my very first exhibition in Sydney at Geo Styles Gallery in Hunter Street. The most notable thing is more control over the use of my brush and the increase in observation of nature along the way – the endless subtleties it presents in each moment. |
|
I have always loved venturing to ‘hidden’ places. I visited many ‘ghost’ towns when they were still undiscovered – Yerranderie, Joadja and Blinman being some. It is the main reason I took up bushwalking and ventured out in my small 4-wheel drive to distant sand dunes along hidden beaches. It was why I embraced the Burragorang Valley after a visit to Yerranderrie – a move which saw an enduring relationship with the beautiful flooded area for nearly 45 years. Once home to a thriving, close community, valuable indigenous history and inspiration to past artists of high reputation, the township of Burragorang was mostly dismantled and allowed to flood between 1958 and 1960 and the remains now lie at the bottom of the Warragamba Dam – Sydney’s water supply. Always I am inspired by the magnificence of nature – its complexity, beauty, and the awesomeness of life itself. My wish is to impart some of that beauty on to canvas – to bring some of these hidden areas that people can’t visit into their homes. A few years ago, I started snorkelling and witnessed the magnificent world beneath the water that we do not normally see. We look out across steely grey or a flat blue ocean not realising the beauty that lies beneath and the strange inhabitants of that watery blue world. I fell in love with it and although not a great swimmer/snorkeller I decided I wanted to paint this strange world. I have been painting underwater paintings now for some years, have a go pro and underwater camera and a few contacts that share their awesome photographs with me. As an addition to my painting for seventeen years I also conducted workshops throughout Australia now concentrating on Plein Air painting holidays for Travelrite. I find this very fulfilling; my life being enriched by being able to help others on their art journey. While we may be inspired and influenced by others, I would say to artists on the same journey as I am, be yourself, be authentic and be original, following your own path both in life and the creative process. |
|
Awards
|
1984 - 2000
1984 -1st Castle Hill Show (abstract) 1984 - 1st Prize Penrith Show 1985 – 1st Prize any medium, Penrith Show 1980’s – 12 Highly Commended at various Penrith Shows 1987 – Major Award Blackheath Rhododendron Festival 1988 - 1st Prize Penrith Show 1989 - 1st Prize Blackheath Rhododendron festival 1990 – 1st Prize landscape, Penrith Show 1991 – 1st Prize landscape Penrith Show 1993 – 1st Prize Penrith Show 1990’s – Three times finalist Australian Artist magazine Art Challenge |
2001 - 2015
2010 – Four times finalist Australian Guild of realist Artists AAL Competition 2010 – 1st Prize Australian Artist Magazine – Seascapes Rivers and Lakes 2012 1st Prize Australian Guild of Realist Artists AAL competition 2012 – Commended Australian Guild Realist Artists 2012 – Packing Room Art Prize- AGRA Gold Medallion 2013 – Finalist Artist Challenge no 54 2015 – Certificate of Recognition – AGRA. |
Exhibitions, Residences & Collections
|
Exhibitions
1977 – Geo Styles Gallery - Sydney 1978 – Prouds Art Gallery Sydney 1979 – Collier Galleries 1980 – Collier Galleries 1993 – Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens 1984 – Rainsford Gallery 1985 – Collier Galleries 1986 – Geo Styles Gallery Sydney 1987 – Collier Galleries 1988 – North Shore Gallery Sydney 1989 – Mitchell State Library – Sydney 1990 – Geo Styles Gallery 1991 – Painted Moon Gallery – Katoomba 1992 – North Shore Gallery 1995 – Noella Byrne Gallery 1996 – Boyd Gallery – Camden 2000 – Gap Bluff Centre – Watson’s Bay – Sydney 2002 – 2003 – Boyd Gallery 2005 Boyd Gallery 2010 – Katoomba Fine Art 2011 – Invited Exhibitor KWASS – Seoul, Korea 2011 – Katoomba Fine Art 2012 – Invited exhibitor with KWASS – Parliament House 2014 – Lost Bear Gallery – The Hidden Landscape 2016 – Lost Bear Gallery – Wild 2018 – Lost Bear Gallery - Burragorang the Lost Valley |
Residences
1996 – Artist in Residence – Ayers Rock Resort 1997 – Artist in Residence – Ayers Rock resort 1998 – Artist in residence - Coconut Beach Rainforest Resort 1999 – Artist in Residence - Hinchinbrook Island Resort 2003 - 4-day workshop Blackwater, Qld 2004 - Art in Action – Tutor – Kurrajong 2004 – Artist in Residence – Ayers Rock Resort 2004 – New Zealand Art School – tutor 2005 – Art in Action tutor – Kurrajong 2009 – Jenolan Caves Resort – Artist in Residence and Tutor 2009 – Great Lakes Art Society – tutor – Forster NSW 2010 – Mitchell College of Arts – Bathurst – tutor 2011 – Mitchell College of Arts – Bathurst – tutor 2012 – Art in Action – tutor: Kurrajong 2012 – Mitchell College of Arts – Bathurst tutor 2013 – Royal Art Society – Sydney 2017 – 2026 – 8 Two-week painting holidays as a tutor for Travelrite International – throughout Australia. |
Collections
Penrith AH&I Society Advisor to President George Bush Sydney Water Sydney Ports Barclays bank Penrith City Council P&O Resorts NSW Premiers Office – Neville Wran Japanese Consul Societe generale – French Bank Prime Minister Haughey – Ireland P&O Australia Great Southern Railways – Indian Pacific Nikki Lauder Collection Cambridge University U.K. Greg Mortimer – adventurer Cradle Mountain Lodge |
Publications and TV
|
Publications
Australian Artist magazine, Feb-March-April 2013 – 3-part series, Aspects of Water Artists Palette No 10 Katoomba Fine Art Catalogue – 2011 exhibition Katoomba Fine Art Catalogue – 2014 exhibition Practique des Arts – Quality French magazine – Nov 2014 Australian Artist magazine – October 2015 (40 years of Alla Prima Painting) Australian Artist Magazine – November 2015 (Luminosity and Texture) Creative Artist magazine – November (Some Form of Addiction) Australian Artist magazine 2017 – special feature – Sharing an Exploration on Canvas) Australian Artist magazine 2018 – How to Travel with Oils Blue Mountains Life Magazine – December 2017. The Lost Burragorang Valley. Australian Artist magazine 2019 – Creating an Adventurous Art Life Hard Cover Book 2017 – Paintings from Burragorang, the Lost Valley |
Television Appearances
The Great Outdoors Compass FCTV – Australian Lives Sydney Weekenders Denise Drysdale Show |