ARTISTS:

Miranda Summers

@mirandajoysummers

Miranda Summers is a multi-disciplinary artist born in Melbourne and raised in Sussex, England, with a background in both art and theatre production. She worked as a Theatre Prop Maker for London’s West End, Opera Houses and Television before moving to Sydney and pursuing a career with Opera Australia. Alongside her theatre career, Miranda is a passionate oil painter exhibiting with several galleries in Australia, showcasing her unique and distinctive style inspired by the Australian landscape. In 2023, she is set to direct Otello for West Australian Opera and prepare for two upcoming solo art exhibitions, demonstrating her versatility and dedication to both the art world and the theatre industry.

Artist Statement:
“Inspired by Australia’s World Heritage Listed National Park, The Blue Mountains, Miranda presents this newest series of impasto oil paintings, ‘The Blue of Distance’, a symbol of mystery and wonder, evoking a sense of yearning and reminding us of the limitless potential of our imaginations. This brilliant hue is a visual representation of the infinite possibilities of the future and a call to embrace the unknown with courage and hope. Whether it’s a distant horizon or the depths of our own imaginations, the blue of distance inspires us to reach for what lies beyond, to dream big, and never stop exploring,” Miranda Summers. Miranda’s artistic approach combines Impressionism with Contemporary Landscape Painting, utilising negative and positive space to create an interplay between foreground and perceived distance. This dynamic technique reduces spatial distance and invites the viewer to engage with the present moment, questioning their own perception of the landscape and ‘The Blue of Distance’.”

 

Ceilidh Matheson

@ceilidhmathesonart

“In my art, I like to create pieces that brighten up a space and bring joy to the audience. My preferred medium is acrylic although I sometimes work with watercolour. I use mostly blues, greens, and pinks. The blues symbolise the feelings of calm and stability, greens show growth and harmony whilst the pinks add a little playfulness and kindness as well as drawing in the eye of the audience.

The ladies in my art are strong, powerful and inspirational, just like the women in my own life. I create my art with the aim for it to mean something different to everyone who views it and for it to be beautiful, busy, and full to reflect everyday life.”

 

Maria Demetriou

@mariademetriouart

 

Maria Demetriou is an artist based in Hertfordshire, England. She seeks to empower, inspire and connect to her audience through her work. Her concepts are thought-provoking and encourage the viewer to reflect on who they are and where they fit in this world.

She is extremely passionate about mental health and believes that art is for healing ourselves. She hopes that her pieces give others the voice she struggled to find for so long.

 

Pauline Maddocks

@pauline.maddocks

Hertfordshire-based artist Pauline Maddocks gained a BA HONS from St Martin’s London in Fashion and Textile design, after which she enjoyed an extensive career in the fashion industry both as a designer and then buyer with an international fashion retail company.

Upon moving to the Chiltern Hills, she has rekindled her love of painting and now paints the natural world in an abstract manner.

She has exhibited and sold at several Contemporary Art Fairs as well as galleries in London and the Home Counties. These include The Broadway Gallery Letchworth, The Boomer Gallery London, Open Studios and a forthcoming exhibition at The Brick Lane Gallery, London.

Clients who collect her work have commented: “Pauline’s work is wonderfully abstracted, colourful and totally free”; “we are Pauline’s biggest fans and have collected her work over a period of years”.

Artist’s Statement:

“Like most people, I am very perturbed by the destruction of ecosystems around the world, especially using ‘dirty mining’. Mining in environmentally sensitive areas of the planet has caused untold devastation to flora and fauna. The growing demand for copper which is used in wind turbines, batteries, and solar panels, if not managed responsibly, has the potential for new adverse environmental and social impacts. The growing demand for copper, lithium, and cobalt to attain renewable energy quotas worldwide in 2050 exacerbates the problem.

My paintings focus on the destruction of flora, and I have titled the works “man v nature”. You can often find copper, gold, silver and cobalt paint and inks in my paintings and often the flora is diminished or obliterated by colour and form from other areas of the composition.

I very often forsake brushes and handle paint and inks which enables me to create movement on the canvas. I use several ways of applying paint: a skin massager gives a great chaotic swirl, a dog brush linear fluidity. I build my work up in layers, often completely obscuring the layer beneath. I have been known to sand back paint to reveal the layer beneath. Although some new clients see only the visual aspects of colour, texture and form in a painting, they are usually delighted to hear of my journey to attain it and the narrative of the reasoning behind it.”

 

Julie Gregory

@juliegregoryart

“Swirling representations exploding with ozone colours applied with varied brushstrokes and textures meld with a shimmering use of light to elevate Northumberland’s wild coastline that crackles with energy and vitality.

Having lived on the Northumberland coast all my life my artistic senses are honed by its gritty beauty and its amazing light. Seasons, skies, and sea all play an important role in my art and the source material is endless. With no formal art training but plenty enthusiasm, I have nurtured my artistic skills over the years soaking up any chance to learn through many sources and absorbing new techniques and mediums. Mixed media and a looser impressionistic style lets me tell the story I am unable to say in words.”

 

Simone and Trishana McDonald

@aristocratiquegallery

Simone:

“As an Artist, many would say their passion for art is important above many things, but for me, I love Art because it represents people in life, the love for people makes me want to produce art, to suit their mood for the day, for example, art speaks volumes to us. I create art to bring out the best in people as well as respect them when they are lonely or sad. All these moments make up life itself, connecting everyone together.

However, one of my most special mediums is acrylic paint, because for me it always gives everyone a sunshine feeling.”

Trishana:

“I, Trishana McDonald, am an abstract and texture artist from Kingston, Jamaica. My love for art started at a tender age which has propelled me in different areas of artistry, such as TV production makeup, where I work with Jamaican celebrities, as well as on production shoots on set. I feel art deeply and I am greatly inspired by nature and textures. I work with different tones, colours, acrylic paints, plaster mediums, and texture paste to achieve the desired look. As with nature, I connect art with the human nature, emotions, and feelings in order to allow others to experience love through my art.”

 

David Roberts

@artbydavidroberts

David Roberts, (born 1986 in Kenya) is a painter, draftsman and printmaker. His artworks focus on the fleeting patterns, light and interactions of the natural world. Graduating from the University for the Creative Arts in the UK, David moved to Florence to study Fine Art at Firenze Arti Visive, Italy. He then studied at the Pratt Fine Arts Centre and the Gage Academy of Art, in Seattle, USA.

Artist Statement:

“My technique is a process of development using not just one medium but incorporates papers, paints, inks and beeswax. These build the painting. Each of the layers are fragile and allow me to play with colour, translucency and light.”

 

Tolani Olajide

@tolzholmes

Tolani Olajide (1993) is a Nigeria self-taught artist living and working in Lagos, Nigeria. A B.SC graduate in industrial relations and personnel management.

Tolani has rekindled with his childhood passion for art and officially makes it a professional career. His works are currently centred on mysticism, philosophy, enlightenment, and truth.

He chooses to explore the fundamentals surrounding the reality of man, most especially the spiritual veil that shadows the physical plane. Tolani will go further to illustrate using “colours, symbols, figures and records”, the relationship between the integral spectrum that shapes our reality and how it influences our actions, faith, culture, and overall way of life.

His works are a product of self-expression and his ability to perceive ideas intuitively while making some semblance of it manifest on canvas.

 

Vilde Eskedal

@vilde.eskedal

Vilde Eskedal is a Norwegian artist working with visual art and performance. The works explore the meeting between the spontaneous and uncontrollable, and the time-consuming and meditative, mixing different techniques and materials. Organic movements and shapes are portrayed in bright and artificial colours, combined with figurative elements and drawings.

The themes explored in this series of paintings is the shift in our interaction with space during the pandemic, through lockdowns and quarantines. How do we fill the space around us, and do the objects we surround ourselves with touch us back?

 

Margaret Coxall

@margaretcoxall

Margaret Coxall is intrigued by what is beyond or behind the seen world and uses a combination of paint and line to achieve this. Born in Tasmania and now located in Western Australia, Margaret has lived in many locations including Malaysia and the United States. Many of Margaret’s works are in private and corporate collections throughout the USA, UK, Asia, and Australia. She has had twenty two solo exhibitions (including three in the USA) as well as Australia. She was selected by both Golden Artist Colours and Silverbrush to act as an artist educator. Receipt of a Centennial medal from the Australian Government for her services to the visual arts was a particular honour. She enjoys exploring different techniques, subject matter, and materials and loves to share with her students.

Artist Statement:

Known for her use of vivid colour, and contemporary feel for the landscape, she says “I am inspired by the mysterious and complex qualities that are in the world around us. To act as a foundation for my work I use the colours, textures and lines which are drawn from a lifetime of sketching my travels”.

The liminal paintings reflect transitional movement through space and time. Blurred edges transitions movement from one state to another, or the recording of ancient rocks. Subliminal messages are conveyed that are seen and not seen.

The shapes and spaces between buildings of the urban life are so varied in different locations. Northern houses are closed against the outside while those in the south throw open their doors and windows. Formal spaces suggest a need for order and formality, whilst those of the south suggest an open joyous life. What is going on behind those windows and doors which are points of transition between two dimensions? Facade is exactly what its name indicates, but the passages between are important connections.