Photography: Kate Fitzpatrick
Beyond adding pure decorative colour, art brings life and soul to a home. An original artwork is a heartfelt, handmade expression of a deeply personal process. Displaying pieces you love imparts the artist’s story and tells the world about who you are. Aside from its decorative gains, art has the magical ability to influence on a deeper level, inspiring escapism, connection and contemplation. The question becomes, where do you search for art that speaks to you?
Luckily for us, Australia boasts a wealth of homegrown creative talent who share their view of the world through their chosen mediums. Join us as we step into the studios of 40 of our favourite contemporary Australian artists, uncovering their unique creative journeys and inspirations. From clay sculptures informed by bodily curves to exquisite wall-hung weavings made with upcycled fabrics, it’s an exciting showcase of bright talent whose work will splash meaning and glorious tones and texture across your home. We hope their work inspires you to live more artfully.
1. Leigh Vardanega
The instantly recognisable style of Leigh’s textured paintings is created with many layers of acrylic paint and finished in oil sticks.
When a piece is almost complete, the artist will leave it for a week or two in a visible spot in her studio or home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. “I add a little bit here and there until I just don’t feel the need to touch it anymore,” she says. “Knowing when a piece is finished is a feeling I get.”
To see more of Leigh’s work, click here.
2. Amanda Tye
Based on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Amanda loves to paint her surroundings where the bush meets the sea and towering Norfolk pines dot the coastline.
Her work has the misty quality of salty air and fading memories, offering an emotive interpretation of the landscape. “For me, painting is about escapism and freedom; coupled with music, it
is an obsession,” says the full-time artist.
To see more of Amanda’s work, click here.
3. John Poole
John is a self-taught Sydney artist whose work reads like nostalgic holiday snapshots.
Unconstrained by style or medium, John also enjoys painting abstract landscapes, with happy colours and a loose feeling unifying his vibrant portfolio. “I try to finish a painting in no more than a couple of sessions. Although that is a challenge in oils, the benefits of a sense of immediacy are worth it,” he says.
John’s work is available via bluethumb.com.au.
4. Lauren Jones
Lauren’s quiet vignettes of florals, book stacks and everyday domestic paraphernalia are born from the meditative state the artist harnesses while painting.
“I find joy in the ‘making’,” says the Queensland-based creative. “The outside world melts away for a few hours, and my quiet focus adjusts to the liquidity of the oil paint.”
For more of Lauren’s work, click here.
5. Douglas Schofield
Douglas is a Sydney-based painter and horticulturist who gardens for work and pleasure. His abstract art conveys a physical and personal experience of an everchanging landscape.
“My garden gives a much-needed reprieve from the studio and vice versa,” he says. “The seasons help dictate the ebb and flow of my activities.”
To see more of Douglas’ work, click here.
6. Nikole Ramsay
As an in-demand editorial and commercial photographer, Nikole’s work appears in the publications you know and love (including Home Beautiful). She also sells striking photographic prints with a subject range spanning abstracted aerial landscapes and underwater scenes. “I love translating my inner world and vision into a finished image,” says the Victorian creative, who lives on the Bellarine Peninsula.
“Photography is a beautiful, raw form of self expression that can also be shared and enjoyed by others” – Nikole Ramsay
To see more of Nikole’s work, click here.
7. Kenita-Lee McCartney
“My art is created with the hope of bringing brightness, colour, love and joy into every home,” says Kenita-Lee, a First Nations artist who works on the lands of the Wemba Wemba people along the Murray River in Victoria.
“It reflects my vision of a brighter, more hopeful future – one filled with unity, strength and the enduring spirit of community.”
To see more of Kenita-Lee’s work, click here.
8. Presten Warren
Presten is a South Australian-based Indigenous artist who creates works that foster understanding and celebrate the beauty of First Nations traditions.
Having accrued awards, collaborations and commissions that span the globe, he says, “I’m excited to continue exploring ways to bring Aboriginal storytelling into new spaces and forms”.
To see more of Presten’s work, click here.
9. Emma Stenhouse
Emma is an Indigenous artisan with Ngarrindjeri heritage, who is based in South West Victoria.
She explores her connections to culture and Country through evocative paintings and woven artworks. “The storytelling within Aboriginal culture is very important; nothing is shared without explanation,” says Emma. “When I teach weaving workshops, I always acknowledge those who taught me.”
To see more of Emma’s work, click here.
10. Lauren Freestone
Lauren’s softly hued artworks are inspired by her Wiradjuri roots as well as the country on the mid-north coast of NSW where she was born.
Her father, artist Lee Freestone, has played a vital role in Laura’s artistic journey. “I was lucky to have his creative environment around me growing up,” says Lauren. “It’s been a great bond for us to share.”
To see more of Lauren’s work, click here.
11. Nicole Slater
Nicole’s arresting large-scale equestrian portraits reflect her deep reverence for horses. Her life is centred around these majestic creatures via her art practice and at Slater Thoroughbreds, the stud farm in Melbourne that she runs with her sports personality husband, Billy Slater.
Nicole is drawn to capture the powerful vitality of her beloved subjects. “I prefer to depict the horse in motion, allowing for a dynamic representation of the flowing mane and tail,” she says.
To see more of Nicole’s work, click here.
12. Jane McKenzie
Jane’s parallel career in architecture informs her precise ceramic studies of geometry and negative space.
The multifaceted creative who lives in Castlemaine, Victoria, prefers to leave nothing to chance when she forms her clay sculptures.
“Often I’ll sketch about 10 different iterations before I come to a shape I’m happy with, and then I’ll do more detailed drawings to scale,” says Jane.
To see more of Jane’s work, click here.
13. Anna Fitzpatrick
Reinterpreting nature and native landscapes, Anna paints with gestural energy and lush colour. Her recent exhibition at Handmark Gallery in Hobart explored Australia’s famed summer highlight event, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
“Painting it took me on an emotional journey through the inevitable agonies and ecstasies of the creative process,” says the Melbourne-based artist. “You sometimes need to go through those metaphysical breakdowns with an artwork in order to create something significant.”
To see more of Anna’s work, click here.
14. Claudia May Bloxsome
Claudia is a Melbourne-based creative who entwines personal narrative with the age-old traditions of weaving and tapestry. Her day job as an interior designer also informs the meticulous process of bringing her wall hangings and wearable art to life.
“There’s a lot of critical thinking in both interior design and weaving,” she shares. “It’s so important to have the ability to react and respond creatively to problems and be able to adapt and change through that process.”
To see more of Claudia’s work, click here.
15. Penny Brooshooft
“I believe a house is not a home unless it is full of things that shout individuality!” says Penny, a former zoologist from Perth, whose vibrant vessels and art bring zesty zing wherever they land.
Working under the name Eclette, with sustainability as a driving ethos, Penny hand-crafts her tactile pieces using 100 per cent recycled cardboard pulp.
To see more of Penny’s work, click here.
16. Louise Frith
To observe an oil painting by Louise is to be immersed in the textures, light and colours of the Australian bush.
“I grew up with a bush backyard with a creek that ran down to Lane Cove National Park,” explains Louise, who now resides on Sydney’s North Shore. “It’s the feeling of being at home in the bush and the constant change in nature that I am most interested in.”
To see more of Louise’s work, click here.
17. Tan Arlidge
With a background in fashion set design and visual merchandising, Tan is well-equipped to create dynamic art.
Since 2015, she has been shaping polymer sculptures with heat to create soft, fluid forms that bring beguiling movement to a flat wall. “My work can be enjoyed from many different angles,” says the artist who
lives in Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
To see more of Tan’s work, click here.
18. Simone Berry
Simone’s distinctive hand-formed clay vessels celebrate the textures and forms of seedpods and other botanical ephemera.
Her studio on Sydney’s North Shore is located near a national park and enjoys a leafy outlook that inspires her endlessly. “The textural inspiration I find in the native flora is deeply embedded in all my work,” says the artist.
To see more of Simone’s work, click here.
19. Natalie Popovski
Natalie is a Sydney-based artist who predominantly paints but also crafts quirky ceramic pop sculptures under the name Austin Flowers.
“I feel I can be more cheeky with Austin Flowers, whereas my paintings still feel a little personal,” says Natalie, whose recent oil series explores the intimate forms of flowers.
To see more of Natalie’s work, click here and here.
20. Ellie Sutton
The rhythmic, sweeping lines of Ellie’s pieces express the interconnectedness of human experience and the delicate threads that bind us.
Ellie, who lives and works west of Sydney in the Blue Mountains, started painting after a chronic illness turned her life upside down. Art, she tells us, is her saviour and true calling. “I am always at my happiest when I’m creating.”
To see more of Ellie’s work, click here.
21. Nicole Nelius
Upbeat and skillfully composed, Nicole’s paintings, photo prints, and assemblages are happy affirmations about the beauty in everyday life. The multifaceted artist also works as a stylist and has a honed intuition for colour and composition.
“Everything I do, from styling to photography and painting, ends up feeling connected without being intentional,” says Nicole.
To find Nicole on Instagram visit @nicole.nelius.
22. Natalie Uhrik
Natalie’s abstract landscapes are studies of spirituality, connection, and the universal search for meaning. “I use art as a tool to calm me,” the Sydney-based painter shares.
“I allow myself to channel whatever emotions I have at the time into my work. It’s all intuitive, and I walk away from it in a state of calm.”
To find Natalie on Instagram visit @natalieuhrik_artist.
23. Mitchell Cheesman
When Mitchell was in high school, not that long ago, teachers would endlessly reprimand him for sketching instead of studying.
Now pursuing his art practice full time, the young Queensland-based creative produces impasto paintings of still life settings, with thickly applied oil paint adding dimension to the work.
To find Mitchell’s art visit @curatorialandco.
24. Lucas Wearne of Neighbourhood Studio
Creating in the realm where traditional craftsmanship meets contemporary design, Lucas established Neighbourhood Studio in 2020 and quickly garnered acclaim for his Australian limestone sculptures.
“I start with sketches to get a sense of shape and concept. But once I start working with the limestone, it becomes more of an intuitive process,” he shares.
To find Lucas on Instagram visit @neighbourhood_studio.
25. Kirsten Perry
“I am attracted to flaws and vulnerabilities,” says Kirsten, a ceramicist who lives and works in Melbourne. Her designs echo geometries in nature, with tactile surfaces bearing evidence of her process.
“The objects have an unusual beauty,” she says. “What I imagine to be some sort of living organism from a planet far away.”
To find Kirsten on Instagram visit @kirstenpp.
26. Emily Raubenheimer
As radiant celebrations of Australian bush botanicals, Emily’s paintings feature fluid, energetic lines and playful colour combinations. Before living rurally in northern Victoria, the artist resided in Melbourne and painted abstract compositions. The tree change crystallised Emily’s artistic focus on native flora and her relationship to the wild landscape.
“I enjoy painting flora in situ in nature and then again as still life, switching from the grandeur of landscape to the more intimate home setting.”
– Emily
To find Emily on Instagram visit @the.colour.keeper.
27. Jacob Sarra
“The overarching theme of my art is the journey taken, the different pathways throughout life and the connections made with people,” says Jacob, a Goreng Goreng painter from Ipswich, Queensland.
His artworks are deeply personal explorations of his past, present and future, and his recent introduction to fatherhood has been a powerful creative muse.
To find Jacob on Instagram visit @jacobsarra_art.
28. Karen Napaljarri Barnes
Karen employs flat planes of bright colour and simplified forms to create joyful paintings of wildlife, with a focus on cheeky birds.
The young artist was born in Lajamanu, a remote Aboriginal community on the edge of the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory. Her bold, graphic style has captivated art collectors globally.
To find Karen’s art visit artmob.com.au.
29. Maria Watson-Trudgett
Maria is a proud ‘freshwater’ girl of the Wiradyuri people. The First Nations consultant and self-taught artist paints to strengthen her connection to her Country and culture. Her painting style is contemporary and abstract, using flowing lines and groups of Aboriginal symbols to narrate a story and preserve cultural traditions.
“It’s the way my old people communicated with me, via line and symbol drawings in the ground”, says Maria.
To find Maria on Instagram visit @mariawatsontrudgett_.
Beyond dot painting
Aboriginal art holds deep cultural value and has stylistic diversity. Painting styles and themes are unique to specific communities and regions and may reflect ceremonial designs, symbols of the environment and people, and stories of the ‘Dreaming Time’.
“Some people have a preconceived idea that dot painting is the traditional and the only true form of Aboriginal art,” says Maria Watson-Trudgett, a First Nations artist and consultant. “But that is not the case and is flawed thinking. Our traditional art was drawing in the sand, body painting for ceremony, carving into rocks or trees and marking tools for identification”. According to Maria, “Dot painting is contemporary and emerged in the 1970s with the Western Desert Art movement from Papunya, north west of Alice Springs.”
There are many styles that Aboriginal artists use to convey their stories and cultures, such as dot work, cross-hatching, dub-dub and naïve style. “Aboriginal art is anything an Aboriginal person paints that connects them to their Country and culture and creates for them a sense of belonging,” explains Maria.
For more on First Nations art and how to buy ethically, visit aboriginalart.org.au or indigenousartcode.org.
30. Hannah Lange
Growing up in Sydney’s Blue Mountains on Darug and Gundungurra Country attuned Hannah to the natural environment and her ancestral heritage. The proud Wiradjuri woman captures the fragile intricacies of nature that often go unseen.
“I try not to limit myself to a particular style and just stay true to who I am and what feels right at the time.”
To find Hannah on Instagram visit @hannahlange.art.
31. Christina McLean of Trade the Mark
Trade the Mark is Christina’s evolving creative studio, currently focusing on hand-built and painted ceramic vessels, bespoke art pieces and textile design. Mark-making and clay have been a constant in Christina’s career, as has her dedication to the handcrafted.
She has collaborated with top Australian fashion labels and lifestyle brands, producing unique pieces that sing with her signature style.
To find Christina on Instagram visit @tradethemark.
32. Hannah Cooper
Hannah’s handwoven works represent countless hours of a slow and methodical process that begins with the artist naturally dyeing her thread using foraged botanicals and natural ephemera.
The self-taught weaver works on a large loom from her studio in the Southern Highlands of NSW.
To find Hannah on Instagram visit @sundaywoven.
33. Ash Holmes
Ash is a fourth-generation artist who paints layered abstracts informed by colour psychology, nature, and notions of home. “Its interpretation is open to the sensitive eye and imagination of others,” says Ash, also a co-founder and creative director of Hake House of Art on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. “People often feel or see different subjects in my work that I haven’t considered.”
“I’m conscious of the energy that goes into my work, as it reflects outwards like a mirror. I’d like to offer the most authentic energy I can.”
– Ash
To find Ash on Instagram visit @ashholmesart.
34. Emma Sheehan
Beautiful domesticity and poetic tablescapes are core themes in Emma’s lavish paintings, reflecting her formal training in art curation and interior design.
“I deliberately use a wild harmony of bright colours and pattern mixing in my works to instil a sense of joy within the viewer and to bring a space to life,” she says.
“Art can be seen as a vital layer of colour, pattern and texture that brings a space to life.”
– Emma
To find Emma on Instagram visit @emmasheehanartist.
35. Annie Hawkins
When Annie walks into her Sydney studio, the scent of oil paint fills her with immense pleasure. The self-taught painter captures the Australian landscape’s breathtaking light, texture and tones in a realistic, soulful way.
“I spent most of my younger years trailing behind my grandparents through the bush and soaking up all that nature could offer,” Annie shares.
To find Annie on Instagram visit @annie_hawkins_ah_interiors.
36. Rachel Rae
Rachel’s vivid ocean-themed paintings speak of her reverence for the Australian coastline, where lush colour and sunny memories swirl in harmony.
“I want to transport the viewer to smell the salty ocean, feel the breeze, hear the waves, and to want to dive into the artworks,” says the Sydney-based artist.
To find Rachel on Instagram visit @rachelrae_art.
37. Kerryn Levy
Kerryn’s clay sculptures are organic expressions created by the traditional hand-building processes of pinching, coiling and slabbing. “When working on new designs and forms, I will often refer to images of the human body – particularly in states of movement like dance – interesting shaped trees or rock formations, and even fruit or vegetables,” says the Adelaide-based artist.
To find Kerryn on Instagram visit @kerryn.levy.ceramics.
38. Jennifer Rosnell
Jennifer’s painterly sunbathers, vintage ferries and fish market vignettes are a response to her surroundings on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The graphic designer and art teacher also explores portraiture and life drawing and is regularly recognised in highly regarded art prizes.
Regardless of the medium or subject matter, Jennifer’s creations radiate a quiet kind of joy.
To find Jennifer on Instagram visit @jenrosnell_art.
39. Kass and Lauren Hernandez of Crossing Threads®
Established by the Hernandez sisters in 2015, Crossing Threads® is known for crafting woven formations inspired by nature, expressed in rich, grounding colour palettes.
Made with upcycled fabrics and natural materials like Australian Merino wool, the duo’s highly textural creations can be found in homes, public spaces and Australian galleries.
To find Kass and Lauren on Instagram visit @crossingthreads.
40. Laura Reid
Laura’s love of ocean pools is palpable in her award-winning, sun-soaked photography, as is her passion for taking photos.
“I know it’s the right time to press the shutter because my heart starts to race with excitement as I see the magic happening before my lens,” says the Sydney local who released her debut book, Aura, in 2022.
To find Laura on Instagram visit @laurareidphoto.
How to buy Indigenous art ethically
Purchasing an artwork by a First Nations person represents more than just decor for your home. It is a time-honoured reflection of their connection to family, culture and Country. Sourcing artworks from unethical operators can be damaging to both the industry and the livelihood of Aboriginal artists.
As a buyer of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and products featuring reproductions of their artwork, you can play an important role in ensuring artists get a fair go. An art dealer, gallery or retailer that is operating respectfully will be transparent about its relationship with an artist, so do your research and ask questions like, ‘Who is the artist and where are they from?’, ‘How does the artist get paid?’, ‘How did the artwork or product come to be in a gallery or store available for purchase?’. And if the piece is a reproduction of an artist’s work, ask ‘How are royalties or licensing fees paid to the artist?’.
Also, find out if the art dealer or seller is a signatory of the Indigenous Art Code, which was created to ensure the ethical conduct of art dealers and fair treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. Visit indigenousartcode.org to learn more.
