Annette Tyson
Summer Storm

As Annette Tyson scraped back the many layers of colour in this artwork, a Queensland summer storm revealed itself.

… the silent evening build-up of black clouds cloaking deep blue skies; raindrops so big and heavy that they feel like tiny stones as they hit the skin… the intense humidity of the day relieved… the thirsty land is drenched or… flooded. Watching with awe as lightning streaks across the sky… or will it strike the watcher down below?

We are blessed to live in this country that is so beautiful… but wild and unpredictable.

Image: Annette Tyson, Summer Storm, 2023, oil in cold wax on paper, 38 x 38 cm.

Annette Tyson
Whale Play

Annette Tyson is primarily a watercolour artist but over the last year she has been experimenting with different techniques including oil in cold wax.

This work came about as Tyson was experimenting with layering oil mixed with cold wax and then scraping back areas in geometric shapes.

Whether it was subconscious or by chance, the composition of whales at play appeared, a recognition of these amazing creatures that swim past Bargara every year. This year in particular, they have been in large numbers, and they do appear to play; tail slapping, rolling and breaching as they travel along the coast, returning to the Southern Ocean with their calves.

Image: Annette Tyson, Whale Play, 2023, oil in cold wax on paper, 28 x 28 cm.

Ariella Anderson
Core Sample, come undone

Raw recycled clay was used for the making of this vessel, crushing, grounding and sieving various clay bodies to fine particles. In an attempt to mimic nature's own sedimentary rock formation, the clay dust was layered finely, compressed, and layered again, using oxides as colorants. The contemporary weather events we are faced with are demanding a new and invigorated approach to the preservation and care of our landscape. The constant, continuous process of coming undone has been manifested and echoed in this work, with fine cracks of change giving away to larger outburst of alarming events.

Image: Ariella Anderson, Core Sample, come undone, 2023, clay dust, various oxides, copper glaze, brass stand and display mirror, variable sizes: 10 x 10 cm, 12 x 12 cm, 7 x 7 cm.

Ariella Anderson
Nomad Series

Ariella Anderson’s love of ceramic and its plentiful means of expression is the core of her art practice. Recreating her childhood memories of an arid landscape and the nomad tribes skirting this land has become Anderson’s way to preserve those memories and unveil images internally locked. The nomad tribes, known as Bedouin, have always been an integral part of images and emotions associated with Anderson’s early years growing up in the biblical township of Be’er-Sheva. Moving to Australia decades ago has been the catalyst, framing Anderson’s admiration for those dark silhouettes walking along the hilltops with their herds.

Image: Ariella Anderson, Nomad Series, 2023, white Raku clay, copper glazes, Raku fired with post reduction, variable sizes: 20 x 22 x 25 cm.

Carmel Birchley
Night Beauty

Carmel Birchley’s art journey is mainly focused on using various art mediums to depict the wonders of nature. Inspiration is stimulated by the thrill of finding and photographing the — at times largely hidden — beauty in areas of our local flora and fauna.

The flowers of the Dragon Fruit Cactus are magnificent and true ‘Night Beauties’. Unfortunately, by morning they are already folding. To concentrate on the complex structure of this flowering cactus, Birchley has eliminated colour to enhance the chiaroscuro effect of the whiteness of the large flower against the night darkness.

Image: Carmel Birchley, Night Beauty, 2024, Scraperboard, 33.5 x 46 cm.

Cate Verney
Wallum Wildflowers

Continuing her exploration of the Wallum Heathland, Cate Verney has used natural materials to express the joy of the flowering season in the Wallum.

Wallum Heathland is a vitally important Australian landscape environment between the coastal sand dunes and the bushland, which is in some places being overtaken by housing developments.

The three woollen panels in this artwork have been botanically printed using wallum plants and grasses and then stitched with thread drawings of Wallum banksia, bottlebrush and grevillea. The frame is constructed from primrose wattle and wallum vines.

Wallum Wildflowers is a celebration of the beauty to be found in this fast-disappearing natural habitat.

Image: Cate Verney, Wallum Wildflowers, 2024, botanical printing and thread drawing on woollen blanket, 50 x 110 cm.

Cody Schubel
Path...

What is yet to happen? Everything! But a quote, piece of art or anything you create can’t possibly contain everything, which is what this artwork attempts, mocks, makes fun of and has fun with — even if it is all but a whisper in this tumultuous universe. This piece was created with detail so every time you look at it you find something new, different, unusual or fun. The more you engage with it, the more you will get out of it — similar to life itself. How many qualities of life can you find paralleled in this piece?

Image: Cody Schubel, Path..., 2024, printed digital artwork, 84.1 x 118.9 cm.

Dave McColl
Tranquility

Tranquility portrays the beauty and peacefulness of one of the most special places in the world. After a delightful morning spent with some dear friends, Dave McColl was inspired to paint Tranquility. With Coonarr Creek as the backdrop and doing an activity he enjoys; McColl’s approach was his usual loose impressionistic style using oil paints and palette knives. He has captured the peaceful splendour of the morning spent paddling in the beauty of our region’s backyard.

Image: Dave McColl, Tranquility, 2024, oil on canvas, 53 x 43 cm.

Debbie Bennett
Echoes of Home

After travelling alone through Europe for the first time, Debbie Bennett returned home and created Echoes of Home. Crafted from porcelain ceramics and textiles, it reflects Bennett’s deep connection to Australia and explores themes of transience and individuality. Using eucalyptus leaves gathered during her familiar drive from Elliott Heads to her daughter’s farm in Calavos, Bennett created multiple vessels — each unique yet similar. Wrapped in leaves and bound with textiles, the vessels were heat-treated to reveal their prints, symbolising the contrast between the enduring nature of ceramics and the evolving qualities of fabric and natural dyes.

Image: Debbie Bennett, Echoes of Home, 2024, porcelain ceramic and textiles, 30 x 11 cm.

Debbie Bennett
My Journey to Morocco

Debbie Bennett is from Elliott Heads. This year, she ventured beyond her comfort zone to Europe and Morocco, where she immersed herself in diverse cultures, cuisines, and artistic traditions. The ceramic head and mixed media pieces presented here are the results of a transformative two-week workshop and cultural exchange. Created with local clay and fired in a community kiln on the edge of the Sahara Desert, these works capture the essence of Bennett’s journey and the profound connections she made with fellow artists. Through these pieces, she aims to convey the rich experiences and inspirations from her travels.

Image: Debbie Bennett, My Journey to Morocco, 2024, ceramic, textiles, beads, 30 x 70 cm.

Debra West
Nature’s Golden Glow

Debra West has had an idyllic childhood living in Rockhampton, regularly travelling to Yeppoon and Great Keppel Island. She fondly remembers the lazy afternoons laying on the grass with her father, sister and brother looking up at the clouds with awe. Her father would encourage them to describe the animals they saw in the clouds.

This simple family activity has fostered a love of nature and its beauty which can be seen throughout West’s artworks.

Nature’s Golden Glow captures the beauty of the sunrise colours as they filter across the layered clouds and reflect in the still waters of the Burnett River.

By using pastels in her painting, West has harnessed the pure pigments of the medium to illuminate the surface of the pastel mat creating this captivating scene of Bundaberg.

Image: Debra West, Nature's Golden Glow, 2024, pastel, 61 x 48 cm.

Donna Lamprecht
Master of Fate

The convoluted history of mangrove growth was the inspiration for this work by local artist Donna Lamprecht, exploring familiar shapes, twists and turns of the coastal mangrove. For Lamprecht, this is reminiscent of life maps where events lead us in unplanned directions, resilience is tested, and challenges overcome. Working in oils is a new approach for this artist and she uses a warm palette with areas of transparent layers hinting at life above and below the waterline. Thin layers are left in an incomplete and loose state, leaving a sense of history and fleeting memories.

Image: Donna Lamprecht, Master of Fate, 2024, oil on panel, 30 x 45 cm.

Emily Kresew
Scar Tree Suite

Emily Kresew manipulates molten silver to create symbolic shapes and textures. Scar trees can hold a strong connection to First Nations People as they could be made from their ancestors carving out bark for items including carriers, shields or canoes. The scars can also be formed by natural causes such as bushfires or storms, holding this history and story within the tree, encapsulating all that the tree has endured. We all have our own scars, visible or not, and Kresew explores the expression of both beauty and pain through her representation of scar trees with a human connection.

Image: Emily Kresew, Scar Tree Suite, 2024, silver oxidised, steel wire, 25 x 17 cm.

Emma Woodbright
Bundaberg I: Piece by Piece – Mapping Home

This work is part of a series of mini cyanotypes and maps of the Bundaberg and wider region. Using a simple representation of a map of Bundaberg, Emma Woodbright depicts roughly where each plant was collected. By capturing these tiny plants, Woodbright aims to document the places she lives and works in from a different perspective. This has allowed Woodbright to explore and get to know her local area in minute detail.

Every street and area has dozens, sometimes hundreds of tiny plants, so each visit is different. And each cyanotype of these plants is a one-of-a-kind object, no two are exactly the same. Woodbright feels this reflects her perception that our experiences of the world are everchanging and often unrepeatable.

Image: Emma Woodbright, Bundaberg I in series: Piece by Piece – Mapping Home, 2024, cyanotype and map on paper, 84.1 x 118.9 cm.

Georgia Haupt
Magna Potentialitas

This film was born out of the frustration of being commended for having ‘magna potentialitas’ or ‘great potential’. Reflective of potential energy — an object on the edge of a cliff is riddled with potential energy —and yet context places that object on the verge of a great fall.

Georgia Haupt wanted to allude to the different extreme places our mind and imagination can quickly place us in. Haupt wanted to reflect on the downfall of childhood dreams as people grow and are encouraged to be realistic.

Dancer/Choreographer: Clare Dark.
Director/Videographer: Georgia Haupt.

Image: Georgia Haupt, Magna Potentialitas, 2023, digital film projection.

John Andersen
Awaiting the Storm

John Andersen enjoys painting landscapes from memory and imagination. His works vary from impressionist, semi-abstract, to full abstract.

Awaiting the Storm is painted partly from memory of the seascape around southeast Victoria where he spent most of his working life, and partly from his imagination. Using a minimal colour palette of tonal values, Andersen captures mood and atmosphere.

Image: John Andersen, Awaiting the Storm, 2024, acrylic, 97 x 75 cm.

Judith Hopwood
Red Brow Finch

Judith Hopwood is a lover of birds and fascinated by the textures, colours and patterns of their feathers. She works in watercolour as it is a free and natural medium that has a life of its own. Hopwood lets the paint create its own patterns in areas and has control for fine detail in others.

The Red Brow Finch is a favourite as they are such peaceful, quiet creatures living in harmony with others but such a splash of vibrant red. This local beauty, shy but with stunning red, timid but curious of humans.

Hopwood’s delicate watercolour conveys the personality of the bird and summons the viewer to engage with the subject in a close and personal manner.

Image: Judith Hopwood, Red Brow Finch, 2024, watercolour, 30 x 35 cm.

Judy Blackshaw
Melaleuca Boardwalk

Bundaberg and its surrounds have many similar places as the one Judy Blackshaw depicted in this work, where you can go for a relaxing afternoon walk and suddenly all is right in your world. The tall but often flimsy looking melaleuca trees scatter bark along the pathways, creating a shaded haven, giving a feeling of being a million miles away from city hustle and bustle.

Below the boardwalk a small stream ripples in the gentle breeze, fluttering the leaves of the waterlilies. Blackshaw used alcohol inks to try to attain the fluid effect of the water and vibrancy of the waterlilies. Her aim in this piece is to share with the viewer the feeling of peace and serenity to be found in these precious areas of the environment.

Image: Judy Blackshaw, Melaleuca Boardwalk, 2024, alcohol inks on paper, 21 x 30 cm.

Judy Blackshaw
Brown Gumnut Twig

Sometimes a small object almost trampled underfoot deserves our attention. Just a twig, underneath where multiples abound, repays closer consideration. We can admire the curves of the buds, the hardiness of the branch. We wonder if any flowers still bloom above. As we look around, seeking its source, we become enmeshed in the tranquil environment of Australian bush, which may be only a tiny pocket nearby to our home, as this twig lay. Judy Blackshaw took it home and placed it on her desk, the eucalyptus aroma surrounding her every time she entered the room, reminding her of that short stroll in the park.

Blackshaw attempted to portray this simple and quite innocuous object similarly, in an almost monochromatic palette, with subtlety, and without too much detail. To achieve this outcome, Blackshaw utilised alcohol inks as her preferred media, so that the image and the background blend calmly together.

Image: Judy Blackshaw, Brown Gumnut Twig, 2024, alcohol inks on paper, 17 x 17 cm.

Kate Victoria Neal
Turtle Park Bargara

This artwork is a playful animated representation of the Turtle Park at Bargara where Kate Victoria Neal, as well as many others, gather to spend time with family and friends. Neal wanted to create an artwork that people can relate to and be reminded of their own personal memories.

Neal has a background in Graphic Design, she specialises in digital artworks and acrylic on canvas. This digital illustration was created on her iPad in a program called Procreate.

This is one of Neal’s most detailed artworks so far with many different layers of detail. She plans to create more artworks that represent known areas of the Bundaberg Region.

Image: Kate Victoria Neal, Turtle Park Bargara, 2024, digital illustration, 53 x 74 cm.

Kate Niblett
Forest Floor

The forest floor with its decay, leaf litter and fungus is rarely seen as beautiful scenery. We gaze upward at the beautiful canopy but rarely gaze at the forest floor which provides its essential nutrients. Yet, if we take the time to examine the forest floor, it has its own beauty, organic shapes and textures.

As a feltmaker and fibre artist, Kate Niblett engages the audience through the use of complex texture which expresses her emotional reaction to the natural environment.

To create visual effects, Niblett dyes wool, yarn and silk which are then transformed through the wet felting process. Her use of natural fibres includes merino wool, silk, alpaca wool, jute and recycled textiles which are then woven, moulded, shaped, burned and torn.

This work is the first in a series of forest floor works which Niblett is currently creating.

Image: Kate Niblett, Forest Floor, 2024, felt, 37 x 37cm.

Kerrie Doolan
Clayton's Vista

Kerrie Doolan has had a rather
non-linear artistic journey, briefly paused by parenthood and caring for a child with special needs. In 2016, whilst teaching the Arts in South-East Queensland and having finally embraced her true creative calling, Doolan’s creative spirit blossomed with the Escape exhibition, where she sold seven of ten paintings from her acrylic Portals series. Doolan’s latest work, Clayton’s Vista, depicts her inner child’s view of her new home — Cordalba. This new multimedia style is inspired by all of Doolan’s favourite facets of the arts. She aims at expressing her subjects as joyous celebrations of the soul.

Image: Kerrie Doolan, Clayton's Vista, 2024, multimedia on canvas, 100 x 100 cm.

Kevin Dekker
A Splash of Coffee

Kevin Dekker is a visual artist working with metal, wood, ceramic and stone to create imaginative, unique and thought-provoking art. While enjoying his daily black coffee, Dekker became transfixed with the idea of capturing and recreating the movement of poured coffee using a typically rigid material, steel. This piece is hand-forged from Corten steel plate into the shape of a coffee cup. Each individual droplet has been formed, welded, ground and textured. A very specific style of coffee pot was sourced to ensure the "pouring" was visible when viewing the piece, to add to the feeling of moving liquid. From the grounds to the cup, this is "Metal in Motion."

Image: Kevin Dekker, A Splash of Coffee, 2024, corten steel, ceramic and glass on a blue gum base, 36 x 36 cm.

Larissa Dabrowski
Gyre 1

Larissa Dabrowski is a painter and sculptor, passionate about the Australian Landscape and the stories it has to share. Her sculptures utilise recycled medium, plaster and fossicked unique items — these materials are fused together using various techniques to create a three-dimensional representation that aims to share the narratives of what they once were and their new-found potential.

Gyre 1 draws its inspiration from bold archaeological constructions and mountainous landscapes, represented not only in form but in the material used to depict these elements. Somewhat imposing in its structure, parallel lines create a topographical component that softens the piece.

Image: Larissa Dabrowski, Gyre 1, 2024, reclaimed timber, spring steel, concrete, plaster, modelling paste, enamel paint, acrylic paint, gloss varnish, 48 x 20 x 27 cm.

Maxine Harwood
My Lovable Mabs

Maxine Harwood’s art practice is an ever-evolving journey to capture the essence of human expression. Initially working in watercolour, she now explores charcoal, pastel, and oil painting to bring depth to the faces and emotions portrayed. This piece draws inspiration from a World War II love letter penned by a soldier in the trenches to his wife, Mabs. The heartbreaking words, filled with longing, led Harwood to imagine a fusion of the soldier’s letter and the photo he cherished — a tribute to enduring love amidst the turmoil of war.

Image: Maxine Harwood, My Lovable Mabs, 2024, mixed media on canvas,40 x 50 cm.

Michelle Gray
Echinacea

Michelle Gray is a flamework glass blower and sculptor using a mixed gas torch. Gray has been working in the medium for over 20 years, having learnt from several Venetian masters.

She has a background in botany and is inspired by the diversity and adaptability of our native flora, which influences and inspires many of her works.

Gray works over a 1200^oC gas flame, which melts the Italian glass so she can sculpt, shape and blow forms.  Glass works must then be put into a kiln at 525^oC for a number of hours, then slowly brought back down to room temperature.  This process is called annealing and is required to ensure the glass remains strong and durable after working in the flame.

Image: Michelle Gray, Echinacea, 2024, handsculpted glass, 25 x 30 cm.

Morgan Everett
Resinate

Resinate is a handmade floral dress consisting of over 380 real pressed flowers encased in resin. Each flower was individually poured, drilled and assembled to create this piece, which fits snug on the mannequin.

Morgan Everett has been crafting with resin for 10 years now, creating a variety of things, but this is the first dress she has made. It is so special to be able to create something that can last a lifetime, whilst highlighting that beauty really is all around us.

Image: Morgan Everett, Resinate, 2023, resin and dried flowers, 150 x 35 cm.

Natalie Hall
Nielson Beach

Nielson Beach explores the natural beauty of the local coastal landscape through the use of bold colour, light, shadow and brushstroke rhythm. The focus of the work is on the resilient palm trees that stand proud as the guardians of the headland of Nielson Beach lookout, capturing the dynamic interplay between these robust trees and the expansive sunlit ocean beyond. The piece invites the viewer to experience the beautiful solitude and natural splendour of Nielson Beach.

Image: Natalie Hall, Nielson Beach, 2024, oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 76 x 76 cm.

Natalie Hall
The Basin

The Basin by artist Natalie Hall, focuses on the connection between the natural beauty of our local coastline where the land meets the vast tranquil ocean. Through the use of vibrant brushstrokes, colour, light and shadow, the work celebrates the gentle coastal curves and reflective waters which allows an escape from the every day. The artwork invites viewers to immerse themselves in the calming landscapes that surround our region celebrating their natural awe and wonder.

Image: Natalie Hall, The Basin, 2024, oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 76 x 76 cm.

Robert Andrews
To B? Or not to B?

Robert Andrews’ artwork To B? Or not to B? is a mix of satire and seriousness used to address the desire by some billionaires to find and populate Planet B, as a replacement for Planet A (Earth). The urge to find this new planetary home is due to increasing concerns on Earth caused by over-population, pollution, depleting resources and human-induced Climate Change. Do we deserve Planet B? Or do we deserve what the astronaut in the artwork has found?

Image: Robert Andrews, To B? Or not to B?, 2024, mixed media, 17.6 x 12.6 x 3 cm.

Rosemary Anderson
Springtime Birds

Rosemary Anderson has always loved nature and living near the bush and the sea. Her latest work celebrates the bird life in her local area. She sculpts in stone, metal, wood and clay and this piece represents just some of the birds that visit her garden.

Image: Rosemary Anderson, Springtime Birds, 2023, sandstone, limestone, wood granite base, 35 x 35 x 17 cm.

Vivien Hillocks
Under the microscope

This work continues Vivien Hillocks’ artistic investigation into the natural environment; looking now at the microscopic level. The pigments used in the piece are from Daniel Smith’s mineral marvels range, and mirror the variation of colour and shape seen as we magnify a drop of water.

Whilst this work is not from a specific sample, inspiration is drawn from the artists long career in the scientific field. When seen under a microscope, the smallest grains of sand show surprising details and colour variation while organic fragments tangle their way throughout.

Image: Vivien Hillocks, Under the microscope, 2024, watercolour and ink on paper, 45 x 60 cm.