Find Out More About the Artists at our
Huskisson Gallery
Our Artists’ Stories
At Shoalhaven Picture Framing in Huskisson, we have a large gallery of artworks created by award-winning international and Australian artists. On this page, you can find out more about these artists – including their origins, their techniques and what led them to develop a passion for art. If you want to see their masterworks, or organise a framing service in Huskisson, be sure to visit us today.
Steve Harris
Steve Harris was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1953 and is a self-taught artist. In 1991, he moved with his wife Karen and two daughters to Australia. He now resides in Jervis Bay, New South Wales.
“Harris has become well known for his impeccably painted still life compositions; His skilful use of light, shadow and space being a hallmark of his approach. He generally tends to depict objects which have an everyday function or have even been discarded, but the work is about much more than simple representation. Harris is a master of understated realism, which in turn evokes its own sense of ‘atmosphere’ and contemplative mood. His works have been described as ‘meditations in light’, which is very much the feeling one has when attending one of Harris’s exhibitions. A type of reflective silence emanates from the paintings and imbues them with a spiritual quality that one would not perhaps anticipate.”
James Ainslie
James Ainslie’s preferred palette is acrylic paint on paper with the occasional use of mixed media. His forte is modern realism, although he also produces abstract art. Ainslie’s paintings resonate with an inherent passion for this country’s unique beauty, particularly the sandy dunes and reflective waters of Queensland and South Australia. His paintings are often a direct result of a location. It is the colours, textures, smells, patterns, in fact the essence of a place that inspires his images
Ainslie was born in SA in 1950 and graduated in art from the South Australian School of Art. He has exhibited throughout Australia and overseas since 1975. Sand and water have always inspired his work, harking back to a childhood in South Australia spent playing around the Coorong and exploring the huge sand tracts around the Murray River. Now living in Noosa, he has turned his attention to the undulating dunes of Fraser Island and the many beaches along the Sunshine Coast shoreline. Ainslie’s annual visits to Broome also ensure that Kakadu and The Kimberley remain strong influences in his artwork.
Ainslie resided as a regular artist at Ayers Rock and was invited to represent South Australia in London with six other artists. He showed at the Museum of Fine Art in Pasadena, USA, with Ainslie Roberts and Garry Duncan. Ainslie won the prestigious Camberwell Flora & Fauna Prize in 1990 and was co-winner of the Barossa Valley Heritage Award.
His work is featured in many prestigious public and private collections worldwide, such as:
- Artbank
- BP Australia
- Reserve Bank of Australia
- Mobil Australia
- William Hancock collection
- San Francisco
- Banker’s Trust
- Diamond Merchants
- South Africa
Ann Dunbar
Ann Dunbar is an award-winning artist born in Hampshire and educated in the UK, now living and working in France full time on her art. For over ten years, she has developed an original style and technique to find her unique expression and signature. The distinctive marrying of techniques on paper together with the elegance and charm of fine embroidery brings enchantment to her compositions inspired by “la dame nature”.
Ann was encouraged by her parents and teachers to pursue her artistic ability as young as thirteen. She was offered a place at Art college after her schooling, but she was then advised by her parents to obtain a teaching diploma which she finalised in 1975. At that time, she won first prize at a competition in Streatham, London, then she attended West Surrey college of Art from 1975 to 1978. Ann taught in schools and colleges for 16 years before she worked as an artist.
Due to her husband’s relocation, she moved to Paris. Making the most of her surroundings, she took part in the famous Parisian salons where she acquired awards and medals. Her art has enabled her to travel the world and she enjoys making a body of work inspired by these travels. Visits to Cambodia, Japan, India and China has broadened her usage of materials, such as gold leaf, interference medium, metal threads and bolder colours in contrast to softer backgrounds.
Oriental art and artists such as Turner and Monet, Redon, and Van Gogh are the principal influencers of her art.
Artist’s statement:
“The effect of light plays an important role in my creations. The enchantment of stitching embroidery on to painted grounds on paper is the magic which brings the compositions alive with rich textural details. The translucent, ethereal backgrounds worked in water mediums provide the atmosphere and the ambiance to the subject.”
Vanessa Barbay
My name is Vanessa Barbay. I developed my current painting techniques during my PhD in the painting workshop at the Australian National University from 2009-2013. My practice-based research investigated animal death through the creation of the ‘shroud’, an image of individual animals created by their own decomposition. In conjunction with the practice component of the project I produced a dissertation exploring the traditional representation of animals by Aboriginal painters in Western Arnhem Land using sacred ochres in rock shelters and on bark. I continue to produce shroud and ochre paintings while also working in oil paint, charcoal and watercolour. For further information go to laomedia.com
Randall Sinnamon
Randall Sinnamon is determined to amuse and challenge his audience with opportunities to reflect upon themselves and the social world in which they live. Sinnamon uses sculpture, painting and printmaking as a means to express a continuous and passionate investigation of nature and humanity. His preference is not to state the aim of his work, thereby leaving it completely open for the spectator’s personal interpretation.
Olivia Alexander
Olivia Alexander is a contemporary artist who was born in London but grew up in Australia. It was there she found a passion for the rugged coastal landscapes and oceans that are now her artistic focus.
In 2001, she began to pursue an artistic career and undertook nine years of art training, eventually specializing in mixed media. Olivia uses unique techniques in a combination of acrylics, inks, watercolours, mineral pigments and gold leaf to create paintings in contemporary abstract.
Her aim is to capture the spirit of the ocean and coastal landscape using an alchemy of mixed media, design elements and formed compositions inspired by the natural world.
Exhibiting extensively, Olivia Alexander has received nine international awards in recognition of her work. In 2022, she
has been nominated for the Palm Art Award in Germany, and
a Silver medal from the Society of Arts, Sciences & Letters in Paris.
Olivia was one of 10 international artisans selected for inclusion in the Artsy Shark ‘Artful Holiday Gift Guide Dec. 2021’. Olivia’s artworks are owned by private collectors in many countries and since 2003, she has exhibited or been represented by galleries and curators in cities such as Paris, New York, Chicago, Rome, Bologna, Sydney, Kolkata and Singapore, to name a few.
She works as a professional artist from her Gold Coast studio in Queensland, Australia.
Thomas J. Brown
My name is Thomas J. Brown. I am an aboriginal man from Wreck Bay Aboriginal community. My Community is located on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. My mother is the GUNDENGARAH people (Blue mountains). My father is the WALBUNJA tribe (South Coast) Yuin people. I am a Plover Totem through my fathers line. My passion for my artwork comes from the strong Aboriginal cultural beliefs and from my family. My strong ties to my Traditional Country, is continuously strengthened and amplifies my cultural identity as an Aboriginal person.
I then construct and generate in my mind a visual medium that illustrates the views that I believe represents those significant issues. I believe that my voice as an artist and as an Aboriginal person produces artwork that is impartial, but more importantly authenticated evidence. My artwork is a personal journey of the past and current lifestyle of my family, my community and my people.In my artwork, I utilise shells that I find on the beach in my traditional country. The beach is post traditionally (Summercloud Bay) which is on the front step of my house. It is during my journey in creating my artwork, that I am able to enlighten and further illustrate the struggle of my people since the colonisation of Australia in 1788.
I do believe that the shell work strongly envisions and more notably, depicts the significant ties of my people to our traditional country. On completion of my artwork, the shells that were chosen from Summercloud Bay visually portray their own splendour to the extent that each shell showcases its own beauty. My sense of belonging and connection to my Traditional Country is prominently exhibited. I truly believe that consumers will be given an insight in identifying and recognising the significant issues that are continuously affecting Aboriginal people in Australian society today. Overall, I believe that it is the artworks striking beauty that entice consumers and therefor enriches the life of the receiver.
John Brown
Born Sydney 1952
Studied Landscape painting mediums under Brian Stratton Bankstown TAFE 1969 - 1973
Diploma of art national art school Newcastle majoring in painting 1973 - 1977
Part time teacher in Sculpture child art at Newcastle TAFE 1978 - 1981
Post graduate art diploma in painting Newcastle University 1982
Moved to the Shoalhaven in 1986
Has continued to exhibit in solo group shows throughout the region.
John paints from home in his studio at Woollamia.
His works are a mixture of influences of many artists over the years.
In the late 1960’s it was the feeling of isolation in Drysdale’s landscape paintings.
During the 70’s large colour field abstract expressionism works by the new American artists Pollock de Kooring were a major influence.
The lyrical line of Olsen are the draughtsmanship of Whitely inspired in the 1980’s
His paintings then involved into a series of works entitled “Bird series” Which has continued to re-emerge in the later years.
The “Road series” was inspired by Lloyd Reese “Road to Berry”
I feel at the moment I am cycling back to the beginning, back to a basic energy.
