Q and A with Georgia Bragg

We caught up with one of our brand new artists Georgia Bragg before Heart Place, a new group exhibition with Colleen Southwell, Skye Bragg and Maggie Mackellar. Four artists with a shared history of common ground explore connection to place, the concept of feeling at one with a landscape, and the ways these bring them together.

Heart Place is on exhibition from May 22nd through to June 2nd. Online sales launch at 8pm May 21st. We’ll be hosting an informal “meet the artists” Q & A with Graziher Editor Victoria Carey on Saturday May 25th at 2pm, followed by afternoon tea and drinks sponsored by Heifer Station Wines. We’d love to see you there!

Studio Visit with Skye Bragg

Skye Bragg is a silversmith based in Peak Hill and is exhibiting as part of our new group exhibition Heart Place opening this Wednesday. Skye’s work is heavily inspired by nature and in particular the Australia bush. Immaculate silver gum nuts and leaves sit amongst the real thing in tiny cubed shelves in Skye’s studio. Skye is a collector of beautiful things, in particular dried leaves, pieces of bark, seed pods and gum nuts etc. These treasures are dotted through out the studio and provide endless inspiration. Scribbly gum bark is mimicked and emulated in silver using a rolling press. Many different techniques are used to create intricate representations of nature.

Q and A with Colleen Southwell

We caught up with one of our all-time favourite artists Colleen Southwell before Heart Place, a new group exhibition with Skye Bragg, Georgia Bragg and Maggie Mackellar. Four artists with a shared history of common ground explore connection to place, the concept of feeling at one with a landscape, and the ways these bring us together.

Heart Place is on exhibition from May 22nd through to June 2nd. Online sales launch at 8pm May 21st. We’ll be hosting an informal “meet the artists” Q & A with Graziher Editor Victoria Carey on Saturday May 25th at 2pm, followed by afternoon tea and drinks sponsored by Heifer Station Wines. We’d love to see you there!

Studio Visit with Pippita Bennett

Pippita Bennet is a wonderfully clever textile and fibre artist based in the Blue Mountains in NSW. Pippita has exhibited work with us over the past couple of years as part of group exhibitions and art prizes we’ve held at The Corner Store Gallery. I was immediately drawn to Pippita’s work due to it’s uniqueness, attention to detail and quality of work.

Pippita uses vintage and plant-dyed textiles with thrifted threads to create immaculate, stitched landscapes and other scenery. The colours and patterns are stunning along with the textures created by the different fabrics and fibres used. The incredible amount of work that goes into these pieces is evident, Pippita finds the process very therapeutic and finds herself with needle in hand most of the day.

Q and A with Monique Fedor

We first discovered Monique Fedor through our Inside This Box Group Exhibition back in 2021. Monique submitted the most beautiful still life painting of a pear on a plate and has been part of The Corner Store Gallery family ever since. Every single painting she sends our way has found a loving new home immediately, they sell out every time.

We are absolutely thrilled to present Field Notes by Monique Fedor, her newest body of work. Exploring her immediate surroundings and the poetry of every day life, Monique paints moments in time with graceful determination and a conspicuous aesthetic.

Studio Visit with Jane Tonks

This September The Corner Store Gallery is proud to present the newest body of work by local landscape painter Jane Tonks, Refuge. Jane has been exhibiting with the gallery for a number of years and is a very popular member of the local arts community. Jane depicts the local bushland surrounding Orange in great detail with a deep, personal love of the landscape. Her attention to detail, colour and patterns found in nature is extraordinary and the viewer is tempted again and again to look closer and notice the detail.

Refuge is Jane’s first solo exhibition with The Corner Store Gallery and is on exhibition from September 13th to 23rd and we invite you to join us in celebration for the opening on Friday September 15th from 6pm.

Studio Visit with Emily Heath

Emily Heath is one of our favourite emerging artists here at The Corner Store Gallery and is fast becoming one of Australia’s most popular still life painters. She’s also, I might add, a hilarious person and we click very well. We first discovered Emily’s work back in 2021 when she was a finalist in our Inside This Box group exhibition. After being invited to join our stable, Emily’s paintings became hard to hold onto as they quickly started walking out the door with their happy new owners.

Emily’s work is beautiful, unique, skilled and deeply personal. Her natural talent and eye for colour and composition are apparent in each and every work. The juxtaposition of traditionally depicted household items against more modern and unusual elements is at once humorous and intriguing. This body of work is an exploration of what it means to be a working artist and a mother and wife in the domestic environment.

Studio Visit with Jo Fernandez

We are absolutely thrilled to present to you the first solo exhibition by talented local artist Jo Fernandez Mostly Cloudy. Jo has been exhibiting through The Corner Store Gallery for several years since 2019, she is a full time, self-taught artist living just outside of Orange in the beautiful village of Millthorpe. Surrounded by picturesque views of rolling green hills and the lush, Central West landscape, Jo has no shortage of inspiration and subject matter. The ever-changing and tumultuous climate and weather patterns of late have provided a magnificent skyscape for Jo to recapture on canvas in her home studio. She paints and draws meticulously on the canvas, having learnt tips and tricks along the way from attending multiple workshops and short courses.

This magnificent, dramatic body of work Mostly Cloudy is sure to impress, with the exhibition open to the public from November 23rd to December 4th. Pre-sales launch online at 8pm Tuesday November 22nd and we’d love you to join us for drinks with the artist from 6pm Friday November 25th.

Studio Visit with Fleur Stevenson

Fleur’s process is slow and sophisticated, with many techniques, mediums and layers being utilised. Spray paint and stencils feature often, revealing the detailed layers beneath, creating a rich history and story.

This recent body of work was created for our new group exhibition FLORA, on display from September 14th to 24th. The brief was “abstract botanicals” and Fleur has risen to the challenge with a magnificent series of five soft, feminine, mixed media paintings.

I visited Fleur in her Rozelle home studio to see the new work, some final touches and a good overdue catchup!

FLORA is on display from September 14th to 24th with pre-sales launching online at 8pm September 13th.

Studio Visit with Liz Wickramasinghe

I’ve been a fan of Liz Wickramasinghe’s work for years now! I found her via The Design Files and have been following her magnificent practice ever since with keen interest. Liz first exhibited with us back in 2020 as part of This Place, a group exhibition which was a huge success.

Liz is one of six artists exhibiting as part of our next group exhibition FLORA opening September 14th. FLORA launches online at 8pm September 13th with doors open September 14 - 24. Join us for Opening Drinks on Friday September 16th from 6pm and meet the artists.

Q and A with Andrea Hopgood

Hankering for a road trip during recent periods of isolation and lockdown, Andrea Hopgood has created a series of paintings that explore the natural environment and invite the viewer to pause and reflect.

The series of roadside views, symbolise a path forward, a journey ahead, the optimism in “heading out” and the anticipation of returning home.

Throughout a long career of teaching Art in Secondary Schools, Andrea has maintained her own Arts practice from her art studio/gallery in Berwick. Andrea holds weekly classes and workshops and creates works using a wide range of mediums, including; clay, wire, pastel, oil and acrylic.

Q and A with Colleen Southwell

I still pinch myself every time I think about the fact that The Corner Store Gallery was the first ever space to exhibit Colleen Southwell’s work back in 2018. It took some convincing on my behalf for Colleen to brave the public sphere (she’s very modest) and boy-oh-boy am I glad she did. Colleen’s first exhibition sold out before Opening Night and her career as an artist has been on a steep upwards trajectory ever since.

I’m extremely proud to say that Colleen Southwell is a local Orange resident, a true regional talent. Her work is instantly recognisable and unique. The painstaking attention to detail and fine skill demonstrated is something to be revered. It is impossible to view Colleen’s work and not be impressed.

In Safe Keeping is Colleen’s newest solo exhibition and we are so excited to present it to you this November 17th to 28th. Pre-sales launch via our website at 8pm November 16th. Colleen will be in the gallery for most of the exhibition period if you’d like to pop in and meet the artist in person!