“Follow Your Bliss” joins Carla Coulson’s Jeune Fille En Fleur collection

“Follow Your Bliss” joins Carla Coulson’s Jeune Fille En Fleur collection

Carla Coulson’s latest edition to her Jeune Fille En Fleur series was inspired by and dedicated to her beloved father.

His favourite flower was the carnation. He regularly gifted a big bunch of these old fashioned (underrated IMO) pink beauties to Carla’s mum.

As with all of Carla’s flower wielding, joy dispatching girls this bounding beauty has skipped into our lives when we need a reminder to pursue our dreams and listen to our hearts. To look forward. To hope. To cultivate a life that fulfills our needs.

This new girl is perfectly named “Follow Your Bliss” and this is her story…

 

“The secret to getting what you want in life, finding your people, feeling motivated to get out of bed in the morning, to have a skip in your step, is to follow your bliss.

Following your bliss and what in your heart feels true is not whimsical or irresponsible, it’s deep communion with your higher self and creates profound personal fulfillment, joy, a sense of belonging to a community and to this beautiful world we live in.

You know when you are connected to something you really want because you feel excited, enthusiastic, and you radiate joy, your energy bubbles over and off you go without needing any prompting at all. A heart’s desire gives you a rudder that pulls you along, a clear path starts to form and you know what to do next, you have the courage to keep taking steps, one choice at a time.” Carla Coulson

I hope you find her as beautiful, joyful and life affirming as I do.

I love her.

Kara 

Forman Framing Carla Coulson print

 

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MEET THE ARTIST: KERRIE OLIVER

MEET THE ARTIST: KERRIE OLIVER
This week at Forman, we have the pleasure of sharing a little more with you about the talented Kerrie Oliver, her journey as an artist and her beautifully ambiguous and incredibly deep collection of new artworks.
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Kerrie Oliver was born in New South Wales and obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from COFA, University of New South Wales (now UNSW Art & Design). Whilst she majored in printmaking, she has since expanded her art practice and now primarily focuses on painting. Having recently returned to Australia after living and working on Treaty 6 Territory and the homeland of the Métis (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) Canada for the past seven years, Kerrie and her family are now living in Meeanjin (Brisbane, QLD) on Turrbal Country.
Her work has been shown in Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. 
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Travelling back to the begging of Kerrie’s journey, she worked for many years in a myriad of jobs, but was always dissatisfied knowing she really wanted to find a pathway into the arts. “My artistic journey was first kindled at high school and I dabbled in a few things but it wasn’t until I started in ceramics at TAFE, moving onto Graphic Design that I found my love in Fine Arts.” Many of the fine art departments enticed her, however it was Printmaking that excited Kerrie most as it integrated a variety of art practices. She quickly became captivated by the precision and process.
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At the time, Michael Kempson was appointed Head of Printmaking at COFA and it was he who established the fabulous educational based custom printing workshop, 'Cicada Press'. The students met established artists who visited Cicada Press and got to observe their creative processes etching plates under the guidance of Master Printmaker, Kempson. The bonus as a printmaking student was printing the artists' plates and receiving an ‘original’ print signed by the artist. “It truly was one of those memorable experiences and only now do I realise how invaluable this opportunity was.”
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Kerrie followed on to post graduate studies tackling a Master of Art Administration and in the same year fell pregnant with her first child. “It was quickly evident to me, Art Administration while vitally important wasn’t for me; I completed my first year and deferred.” The next decade was an exhausting but exhilarating blur of raising a new family and only thinking of her artistic practice in the rare quiet moments. Ten years on in Canada, she made a deliberate but tentative return to her art in 2017. “This was when our youngest child commenced full days at school; from this day I was in my studio every day, eager to invest time in my art practice. For the first time I was a full time artist, living my dream. This has been my passion and full-time job ever since.”
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Kerrie's art tools and materials in her studio
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Like many artist who have the courage to move outside of what is familiar, Kerrie didn’t always find it easy translating her skills from one medium to another. “I had a challenging journey as I transitioned from my comfort zone of working on paper (in printmaking, drawing and acrylics) to painting on canvas. Paper is such a comfortable and seductive medium. Working on paper offers me a place of creative ease between periods dedicated to oil painting. Therefore, it is difficult to let go. It often pulles me back in, until the next time I am up to tackling a painting on canvas.”
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Oil painting now equally excites her and sits at the forefront of her art practice. Beginning with acrylics, Kerrie knew she had a hankering to give oil paints a go. She was very nervous and tentative so she enrolled in an online short course at the National Art School with Tonee Messiah. In this course with Messiah, Kerrie learnt a great deal about working with oils and was able to have all her questions about this medium answered. “In some ways I think I was able to understand oils relatively quickly due to my background knowledge of the etching process. There is a balance in my art practice between spontaneous creativity and planning which helps me to achieve a desired outcome.”
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Kerrie's home studio spaces
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Kerrie continues to experiment in her practice and push herself beyond the familiar. Just this year she commenced painting on Italian linen while previously painting on cotton canvas and sometimes board. “I really like the foundation of working on the linen, I think it compliments my palette and painting style. At times, if the painting allows, I will leave some of the linen exposed.”
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Usually starting with a watered-down acrylic to create a wash, Kerrie will then quickly sketch out a rough idea onto the linen using a piece of willow charcoal. Building on this Kerrie will work with a variety of oil paint consistencies to bring her artworks to life.
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“My work is currently exploring the theme of ‘contemplation’. Allowing myself to be contemplative and letting my works sit in ambiguity. This helps me look inward to explore the richness of the things that are obscured day to day but sit within the shadows. Making time to be alone with my thoughts and ideas has become a crucial part of my art practice but equally significant for my personal life.” 
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-Kerrie has been inspired by a diverse range of artists such as Belgium artist Michaël Borremans, British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and American artist Noah Davis to name a few. The book you will currently find on her nightstand is ‘Second Place’ by British-Canadian writer Rachel Cusk. “Cusk has the amazing gift of creating pictures through words. I thoroughly enjoy the practice of conjuring images in my mind from words; Cusk successfully gifts her readers with this through her creative writing. I believe it to be in the conjuring phase of an image, where what seems real can move beyond our interpretation of it.”
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“I now realise for most of my life I have always been an artist, but it has been a journey with many detours. However, I have always been active in absorbing all forms of art which has helped me evolve as an artist through my training and practice. These life experiences and artistic knowledge give me a real energy and passion to accelerate my practice and deepen my understanding of what art means to me.”
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Observing and portraying subtle differences of meaning and expression are key to forming a powerful narrative in her work. The textiles in Kerrie’s art are my personal favourite part. Alive with pattern and texture, closer inspection reveals more detail in each and every artwork. They also have an incredible depth, you can easily get lost in thought viewing her art, there is almost something meditative I find about this series. They are truly stunning and we feel privileged to be sharing them with you.
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You can enjoy viewing all of Kerrie’s artworks HERE and are welcome to visit the gallery anytime to experience them in person.

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Meet The Artist: Clare Purser

Meet The Artist: Clare Purser
Meet our newest artist Clare Purser! Clare is a landscape painter based in Brisbane, on the shores of Moreton Bay. She works predominantly in the medium of oil painting with mixed media on canvas, board and sometimes paper. Clare loves plein-air painting, fuelled with inspiration from the stunning locations around Brisbane’s bayside. “I find painting outside and being in the landscape an inspiring time to look and absorb deeply.”
She is interested in creating paintings that are evocative, intuitive and express an emotive reaction to the landscape. “I like to follow the direction the painting takes, taking advantage of the pliable nature of oil paint and the many ways it can be manipulated.”
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Her favourite places to visit and paint reach near and far from her local area all the way to her home country New Zealand. Some of these locations include the lush hinterland and mountains of South East Queensland; the Scenic Rim Region, the Glass House Mountains, the beautiful islands in Moreton Bay; Minjerribah Stradbroke Island and Mulgulpin Moreton Island.
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Clare plain-air painting
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-The life and wellbeing of these landscapes have become central to Clare’s work; “The degradation of our coastal environment has been an ongoing concern of my work.” Her art also richly explores the relationship we have with nature. “I'm drawn to the landscape, our relationship to the natural world and a deep appreciation for the beauty and fragility of our environment.” 
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Clare's sketchbooks
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Clare was born in New Zealand in 1971. Her early years were spent across New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Australia. “Growing up in New Zealand, I was in and still am in awe of the raw and direct landscapes of Colin McCahon and Toss Woollaston. I also love the abstract landscapes of Australian Artists like Elizabeth Cummings and Ian Fairweather." In 1996 she completed an Honours degree in Visual Art from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University and she has since gone on to achieve many accolades for her art.
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Small scale artworks
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Clare’s creative process involves making and using photographs, notes and sketches for inspiration and references. “I guess when I'm back in the studio working with oil is the time when ideas develop, so for me plain-air painting and studio work go hand in hand and inform each other.” She has developed her skill though having a consistent art practice and has been a full-time artist for the past seven years.
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We are so excited to share Clare’s expressive and emotive artwork with you. Treat yourself by taking a moment to take in these beautiful artworks.
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You can view all of Clare’s art HERE and as always, we welcome you to come in anytime to experience the art in person.

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Meet the Artist: Lara Karasavvidis

Meet the Artist: Lara Karasavvidis
We couldn’t be happier to be welcoming Melbourne based artist Lara Karasavvidis to our gallery. Lara’s recent work is inspired by coastal landscapes. This seed of inspiration was planted fifteen years ago in the beautiful coastal town of Port Fairy where her family have a house. A love that has only strengthened over the years travelling back and forth from Melbourne. While she has amassed thousands of photos and years of inspiration from these trips, it is only in the past few years, initiated by the endless time provided by lockdowns, that she has translated this into a body of work. Her evocative description of the Port Fairy landscape as “magical and moody, harsh but peaceful” mirrors the mood of the stunning artworks from her latest collection.
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When asked about when and how she first became interested in art, Lara shared that she “can't remember a time when I wasn't interested in art. It has always been a part of my life, ever since I was a child. Many of my parents' friends were and still are artists and I loved being in their studios, enthralled by their work and curious about their tools of the trade.” At the age of twelve, she asked her parents if she could do extra curricular art classes, so they sent her to a life drawing class run by one of their friends. Amusingly, young Lara had no idea what life drawing was and got an enormous shock when the model took off her dressing gown! Thankfully, she found that she loved these classes and continued to attend life drawing class every Sunday morning until she was twenty-one, regardless of what post party state she was in! “While my subject matter is no longer nudes, one of the longstanding lessons I took from this experience was the discipline of returning to the same subject again and again and finding new ways to see and interpret it.”
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One of Lara's photographs of Port Fairy
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By the time she started tertiary study in fine art in 2003, Lara was confident in drawing and painting, but a Diploma of Visual Art at Swinburne enabled her to broaden her skills across a range of art forms including photography, digital imaging, video, sculpture, painting and printmaking. She then went on to complete a Bachelor of Fine Art in Printmaking at the VCA between 2005 – 2007. “This was an incredible time in my creative journey and it was here that I found my visual language. Guided by the most wonderful technicians and lecturers I learnt so many specialist skills including etching, aquatint and lithography and was pushed to interpret concepts in ways that were new and challenging for me.”  
 
Lara has taught art in a secondary school over the past 12 years, this too has enabled her to constantly build her skills. “I can't count the hours of professional development I have attended after looking at my subject list and realising I have to teach sewing, wheel throwing or darkroom photography - none of which are my fortes! You have to be a jack of all trades and sometimes fake it til you make it. Just don't tell my students!”
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Sneak peek of Lara's sketchbooks 
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One of our favourite things to learn about from our artists is their individual purpose of why they create and what they try to achieve through their art. Lara explains that her reasons for making art are twofold. “Firstly, my aim is simply to create pictures. Pictures that draw you in to explore up close but set a mood from far away. Pictures that suggest depth but remain flat, that create a stillness and calm. Pictures that an audience can connect with and feel moved by. I hope my artwork does all of these things and when creating each new piece, these are the ideas that I think about. 
 
Secondly, amidst the juggle of running an art department at a secondary school and raising two children, my Friday studio day is a respite in my week, a time when I focus on one thing and decompress. It brings me joy and grounding and fills my cup for the week ahead.”  
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Details of Lara's process. Lino cutting and artworks in progress
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This latest collection of artworks are a combination of drawing, painting and printmaking. Lara’s creative process involves frequently referencing photographs as she enjoys moving between representation and abstraction. She pulls apart aspects of the forms, colours, spaces and textures experienced in nature and brings them back together again to create a mood or sense of a place. Her sketchbooks are full of small drawings, paintings and collages, where she’ll flesh out ideas before taking them into more complete works. She also works digitally to reimagine and combine photographs with drawings or hand made textures.  
 
In smaller artworks, Lara sometimes creates a base layer in lino print and then paints over the top, while larger works usually start with drawing. She uses acrylic paint mixed with medium to slow the drying time, so she can scratch into the surfaces with an etching needle. Repetitive detail and mark making is not only a huge aspect of her work but one of her favourite parts as she finds the process meditative. “Apart from my trusty etching needle, I create this detail through pencil, pen, posca, pastel and old paintbrushes, drawing away at the surface methodically. I believe that drawing and making marks are a universal primal experience for human beings. Whether in the dirt or with a pen, the physical expression of drawing just feels natural and good! Hopefully that expression is also communicated through the work.” The marks and textures in her work are like a gift that keeps on giving when experienced up close. Lara has a special talent of capturing a mood within her art. Viewing her artworks from day to day, this moodiness can seem to change, much like the magical tides and coasts that inspired them.
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Apart from coastal landscapes, her artistic influences are constantly evolving depending on what she’s working on. The key artists that she often finds herself going back to again and again however, are Agnes Martin, for her meditative line work and neutral colour schemes, Alberto Giacommeti for the felt and gestural qualities of his drawings, Pablo Picasso for his abstraction and Luc Tuymans for his monochromatic explorations.
 
Recently, particularly since Covid, Lara has been extremely grateful for the community of artists that she has reconnected with online. “We bounce ideas off each other, share our hints and tricks and promote one another, leading to exhibitions and opportunities. In a time in my life where I can't always get out to openings etc. this group of artists have been instrumental in motivating me to continue practicing my art.” This makes us so happy to hear as it reflects some of the things we believe strongly in at Forman, supporting artists and being a space that provides inspiration where everyone is welcome. We can’t wait to share Lara’s latest artworks with you. We hope you enjoy them as much a we do! 
 
You can view all of Lara’s artwork HERE and even better, you can experience them in person by dropping into the gallery anytime.

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MEET THE ARTIST: SOPHIE WITTER

MEET THE ARTIST: SOPHIE WITTER

Sophie Witter is inspired by scenes and objects of domesticity. A mother of four children and working from her home in Tasmania, she is driven to paint by the desire to escape into another world; a world where magic and mermaids still exist, a world where she draws on the remembered spaces from her colourful childhood as well as the domestic objects that surround her. 

Sophie paints with a certain pace, mixing colours directly on the canvas and limits her palette to primary colours to simplify her process. This is evident in the five gorgeous new works she has created for Forman, including a light turquoise kitchen scene titled “Put it on the list.” There's a sense of nostalgia to this artwork, pastel colours suggestive of 50s decor and the clock, a reminder of passing time. The pale yellow outside the window could be a sunrise, the scene depicting the moment you wake, walk to your kitchen and make coffee. Stillness before the rest of the house wakes. It captures something we can all relate to. Sophie describes her distinctive style as expressive, colourful and varied,

“I try to respond to what I see and allow this to very subjective process, and reflective of my mood, thoughts and feelings, not just what is in front of me. I like to paint in a loose and immediate way and mix my colours as I go, often on the canvas. I do not try and plan my works too much and let the process lead the way.”

 

There is a naivety, or a candour, to her loose lines and scratchy brush work, some only suggestive of form with a flick of the brush, while others are representational of vases, jugs, washing machines or a fruit bowl, for example. Looking at her work, one can sense the artist creating order from the chaos of life and dispelling the notion that art and life are mutually exclusive.

“I am very interested in dual processes such as making art and raising children, making art and working as a social worker, making art and trying to work on the important relationships in my life.”

While Sophie loves to paint un-interrupted in her studio, the reality of her domestic life, home life and work life mean this is an elusive concept. Instead, she tends to paint where-ever and whenever she can – the kitchen bench while her partner cooks, for example!

“I cannot be precious about where I paint or the conditions I need as these are often unattainable. Hence the kitchen table when I am not at the studio.”

Her dream is to participate in an Artist in Residence program, where she can focus on creating a complete body of work in a beautiful, inspiring place, away from the responsibilities and distractions of daily life. When she does get to her studio, located in one of the most beautiful parts of Tasmania, Verona Sands, she enjoys immersing herself in nature and walks on the beach to nourish her creativity.

“There is something calming about getting away from home, and closer to the nature, that enables the creative process.”   

Colourful, bright, optimistic and busy, Sophie’s work is process-driven and un-planned, depicting interior and exterior landscapes that we know will resonate with you! You can view all of Sophies gorgeous artwork HERE and pop into the Forman gallery to experience them in person.

 

 

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