(The booking period is now closed for this event, put you can still get tickets at the door)

As part of the 2024 Warrnambool Storytelling Festival, Kathryn Ryan is joined by a panel of fellow artists to discuss ‘The Creative Life’, presented by the Warrnambool and District Artists Society.

Kathryn Ryan has been practicing and exhibiting as a professional artist for over 35 years, with the last 20 years full-time in her studio. Growing up in Southwest Victoria, she completed her Fine Art Degree in 1986 at Warrnambool, before moving to Melbourne where she completed her Honors degree at RMIT in 1989 and continued her studio practice and exhibiting. Having consistently exhibited for over 25 years, with leading Galleries in Melbourne and Sydney, her work has also been acquired for significant Public Collections including Parliament House Collection, Canberra; RACV Collection; The Macquarie Group Collection; Artbank; Warrnambool Art Gallery; Hamilton Art Gallery; Deakin University; Australian Catholic University & Private Collections in Australia and Internationally.
Kathryn has been a Finalist multiple times in major Australian Art Prizes including: Finalist 3 times for the Wynne Prize for Landscape, Art Gallery of NSW & 8 times finalist in the Salon des Refuses, Wynne Prize. In 2015 The Warrnambool Art Gallery held a major 20-year Survey show of her art practice. The exhibition ‘A Quiet Place' surveyed Paintings and Drawings from 1995 – 2015
Her artworks invite us on a personal journey to connect with nature and within. Moody, atmospheric oil paintings of Southwest Victoria, reveal her very deep intimacy with place. They convey a level of depth and luminosity achieved by patiently developing meticulous layers of glazing over many months. After several decades based in Melbourne & living in the UAE: Dubai & Abu Dhabi, Kathryn is now based in Warrnambool.
Her most recent solo exhibition was with Nanda Hobbs Gallery, Sydney Sept - Oct 2023 kathrynryanartist.com

David Higgins is a professional artist, designer and educator. His experience has been centered around ecological approaches to art and design in both its meaning and production. He has a Master of Arts Degree entitled “Ecological Art, Holistic approaches to the new”, faculty Art and Design, Monash University. David works across art disciplines and styles. His main current creative output specializes in silk painting, sculpture and drawing. His career has taken him to work and exhibit in Japan, USA and China, he has lectured extensively at university level and had many aligned commissions, projects, exhibitions. A career spanning over 45 years.

Some highlights of his career include:
1980-1986 - Resident Artist for the Zoological Board of Victoria, Australia.
1986-1987-1990 - Australian Animal Postage Stamps.
1991-2006 - Deakin University, Lecturer in Sculpture, Graphic Design, Drawing.
1997    - Ecological Art and Design, Master of Arts, Monash University.
2016-2024 - Silk Painter Professional Instructor, Silk Painting Master in conjunction with SPIN (Silk Painters International) USA.
2014-2017 - China, Changchun International Sculpture Symposium Participating Artist two times.
2016-2018 - USA, Arrowmont Arts and Craft School, Silk Painting Workshop Instructor.
2003   - Exhibition Ecological Illustrations Mira, Japan.
2006    - Exhibition Kyoto Art and Design University, Exhibited at EH Bank Kobe, Japan.
2008-2011 - Painting & Textile Exhibition Ashiya, Japan.
2013       - Illustration and Textile Design, Okura Hotel, Tokyo, Japan.
2014    - Sky Canoe, Palmer Sculpture Biennial, Adelaide Festival.
2018    - Establishes Nirranda Arts Studio, Great Ocean Road, Australia.
2023    - China, Beijing, trip 2 months: 3 x Textile Painting and Fashion Exhibitions, teaching lectures at 2 x Universities.
His Art Studio is located at Nirranda in the south west of Victoria.       artofdavidhiggins.com

Shari Nye grew up in the artistic community of Eltham in Melbourne, Australia, in the heart of a flourishing alternate lifestyle movement amongst mud brick houses, the Montsalvat artist colony and the Australian bush. Shari spent her younger days exploring the natural beauty of the bush and commenced painting and working in ceramics as a teenager; subsequently establishing a highly successful ceramic business. Later she went on to study at four different art schools: Monash University – obtaining a BA Ceramic Design, RMIT, Painting at Latrobe Street College of Art Melbourne and The Arts Students League of New York. Her ceramic works are held in private and public collections throughout the world. Now painting full time, Nye has won awards and collected in private and corporate collections.

Nye’s paintings are connected to the land and are evocative landscapes rather than prescriptive. She explores its power and presence though her personal language of shape, colour and mark making, relying of expedition’s on country and memory associated with her extensive time spent in the landscape. Alongside her painting practice, Shari Nye is the Principal Director of Warrnambool School of Art where she runs foundation painting and drawing courses and promotes the artistic life in Warrnambool, the seaside city where she lives now. sharinye.com.au

Tim Walker, now happily retired, specialised as a professional artist in depicting Warrnambool, working from Allansford to Illowa, and from Thunder Point to Woodford. Over 28 years, he produced and sold around 400 watercolour, gouache or acrylic paintings depicting local homes and gardens, buildings, streetscapes, and bird’s eye views of Lake Pertobe and Stingray Bay. He found the city full of paintable subjects. Tim became known as street furniture due to his habit of working on site, and particularly enjoyed his encounters with innocent bystanders - people often provided amusing reminiscences. Tim is looking forward to sharing his stories with you.