Joana Johnston

Joana spent the early years of her career using her artistic flair for creating Boutique Accommodation Properties and innovative Events, catering to the many highly demanding corporate clients in her portfolio.

Feeling the need for a change in direction, she left the corporate world to bring her passion and expertise into her artistic practice and fell in love with art all over again.

I just love working with various mediums such as resin, acrylics, oils and wax, often combining several mediums to add extra intrigue to my abstract creations.

Joana Johnston

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Joana’s passion and expertise clearly shows in Joana’s art and life – with a keen sense of colour and creativity, her artistic style is bold, bright and joyous.

Joana loves working with various medias such as resin, acrylics, oils, encaustic and Yupo sculpture, adding extra intrigue to her abstract creations.

Bev McKinnon-Mathews

Bev McKinnon-Mathews was born and educated in Melbourne, spending time travelling and teaching in Victoria, NSW and London. Bev settled in NSW where she farmed in the North West for 40 years. Since retiring from farming, she has lived in the Hunter Region and now calls Port Stephens home.

I have always been interested in printmaking. After retiring from ceramics (after 35 years potting), the processes and variety of printmaking seemed a natural fit.

Bev McKinnon-Mathews

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After 35 years of ceramic artistry, Bev’s curiosity into printmaking led her to explore etching on aluminium and zinc in copper sulphate, as well as other printing techniques including drypoint , mono printing, relief printing with lino, and collograph. Printing from nature lead to Gyotaku, which are popular sellers in the gallery!

Bev first saw fish prints in Japan and was fascinated by what seemed like a seemingly simplistic process. After researching, she learned it is quite a time-consuming art form but she dived in anyway (pun intended).

The fine art of fish prints was originally used by fishermen to record their catches and has now become an art all of its own. Prints are made with prepped fish (sourced, cleaned, dried, prepped and supported) before being inked onto special paper.

Bev uses her etched plates of seaweed to create the background and is always on the lookout for interesting fish. Stinker (@stinkerfishing ) is a wonderful resource for interesting finds, as are friends who have had unlucky fish in their tanks.

See that gorgeous little seahorse above? Well he was gifted to Bev from a friend after he died in her fish tank, lucky little guy got to be immortalised in her artwork!

Ileana Clarke

Ileana Clarke is an artist, painter, illustrator and teacher who enjoys many art disciplines. Primarily creating in painting and drawing, Ileana sometimes mixes different mediums such as watercolour and ink, or charcoal and wax.

I enjoy many disciplines of art, primarily painting and drawing and using different mediums, such as watercolour, charcoal, acrylic and mixing the mediums. Watercolour is a tricky one, but I find it ideal for translucent light in skies, land or water. I also don’t mind sloshing around with paint that can bring about happy accidents.

Ileana Clarke

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Ileana believes that watercolour, which is the most challenging medium to work with, is an ideal form for capturing translucent light in sky land or water, which is ubiquitous in the beautiful surroundings of Nelson Bay.

Ileana has an Advanced Diploma in Fine Art from Newcastle Art School and a Degree in Fine Art from Newcastle University.

“I have exhibited in solo and mixed shows over the last 30 years. My art education was in Advanced Diploma in Fine Art from Newcastle Art School and a Degree in Fine Art from Newcastle University. A number of art prizes have been won over the years and I am published in ‘International Contemporary Artists Vol IX and X’. At present I tutor at Tomaree Community College and Maitland Regional Art Gallery.”
Ileana Clarke

Anna Webster

Anna is a mixed media artist who enjoys exploring how colours interact – how they work or don’t work with each other to create mood and atmosphere. She is also enjoying exploring the graphic element of art – how an art work comes together as a whole to be pleasing to the eye and mind using line, form and composition.

It’s important to go your own way and find your unique voice, which is one part of what art offers me as a form of expression

Anna Webster, Pathways Exhibition

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Anna’s art includes abstracts, landscape and portraiture.

Anna’s art attempts to capture the essentials of the natural world and express to the viewer an interpretation of how she feels. Anna says that when she paints she enters into a place where day-to-day life recedes and creative instinct takes over.

“Sometimes you have to start big and lay down the composition – large arcs of line and form, colour splashed on with streaks of charcoal leading the eye from one edge to the other.
I am always looking at the overall picture and keeping an eye on what works in terms of form, line, colour and composition.
There are magical moments of letting the art that you are creating ‘speak’ to you and tell you what to do next.”
Extract from Anna Webster artist bio for Pathways Exhibition, June 2021

Ella Clarke

Ella is a textile artist who hand makes all of her products. From bowl cosies to rice packs to tote bags and in between, you are sure to find something useful and unique.

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Penny Amberg

Penny creates magical sculptural pieces using copper wire from her studio – The Alchemist’s Workshop, ‘looping’ a single piece into forms of beguiling hanging sculptures, baskets, organic forms and amazing bird feeders.

The copper and brass pieces made by Penny are woven through a knitting process that has been used for thousands of years to make baskets and other objects. Inspired by Ruth Asawa, Penny has developed a range of sculptural and functional objects that can be used indoors or out. Unlike other metals, copper and brass will not rust in the coastal environment but develops a patina ranging from pale green to turquoise blue depending on climate and chemical reactions.

The Alchemist’s Workshop is a place where all sorts of chemistry aims to capture the imaginations of people, taking something ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary, sometimes in a way that cannot be explained.

Penny Amberg

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Penny has been involved in cultural activities for over forty years. In that time, she has worked on a variety of materials including painting, leather, wood and acrylic resins.

Sally Walker

Sally discovered she could be an artist in the 1990’s, which opened the door to a creativity within her that keeps on growing.

Sally initially started as a painter, then began to explore the world of coloured glass around 2005, harking back to her memories of being a child in church wondering why there were lines through the stained-glass images. This fascination continues today and is evident in the way that sally explores the translucency, line and form in glass.

2021 and blessed to have my own glass studio and now understanding the ways of stained and fused glass. Still enchanted by the colours that change as light emanates through it, I get to play with it in my respite time.

Sally Walker

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Sally’s dream is to be able to support herself to create full time without losing the pleasure of creation. She endeavours to make from instinct or intuition which is why Sally calls her art occupation 5d Glass Art.

“Fused glass can be a fickle form of creation. So much can go wrong from a technical aspect and fabulous things can happen in the transformation processes.”
Sally Walker

Kimberly Swan

Kimberly is a visual artist and illustrator now living in Maitland. Her biggest inspirations are the natural environments of the world and its flora and fauna. With some background education in graphic design, Kimberly is also influenced by graphic trends, street art and more underground and unpolished emerging artists.

Art is the only way I know how to make sense of the world and to also find peace within it.

Kimberly Swan

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Working in a variety of mediums such as acrylic, inks and watercolours, Kimberly often combines them together with other drawing mediums to create unique works. She doesn’t confine herself to one particular medium and enjoys the creative freedom of working without boundaries.

Kimberly has studied natural history illustration, graphic design and arts through universities and TAFE and practices art in various mediums leaning towards acrylics, inks and drawing mediums often mixing the mediums together. Kimberly is inspired by nature and her natural surroundings. Often using bold colours and incorporating graphic elements to create unique and dynamic pieces.

Kimberly has showcased her work in exhibitions in Cooks Hill, Newcastle, Nelson Bay and has won various awards for her illustrations and artworks. Her creative processes involve a mix of scientific studies, creative experimentation and intuitive abstraction.

“I work on all types of surfaces but I’m always drawn back to working on paper, enjoying the versatility and portability. I appreciate the process of stripping ideas right back to basics before moving forward onto canvas or board.”
Kimberly Swan

June Wheen

June is a Ceramic Artist working mainly with stoneware and porcelain clays, occasionally using paper clay for sculptural pieces.

June’s pots are fired in an electric or gas kiln to temperatures above 1200 deg C. She makes her own glazes which are food safe.

I am inspired by fellow local artisans and others I encounter during my travels. My art continually evolves from these influences, as well as the marine surroundings and scenery of beautiful Port Stephens.

June Wheen

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Most of June’s work is wheel thrown, or hand built. She uses a variety of decorating techniques, ranging from slip sgraffito carving, printing or pressing onto clay surfaces, under glaze or glaze on glaze.

June’s work includes thrown bowls, cylindrical forms, manipulated thrown pieces and free form, often with carving or cutting away.

June has a Degree in Creative Arts from Charles Sturt University (Bathurst) and has taught Art in TAFE and Secondary Schools.

“I hope the satisfaction I gain from making pots reflects in my work and brings similar pleasure to those who acquire them.
Working with clay is a continuous learning process, I cannot envisage my life without it.“
June Wheen

Janet Mackintosh

Janet Mackintosh is a mosaic artist based in Port Stephens, NSW. Having dabbled in mosaic over 15 years ago, Janet has since returned to the art in the last 2 years.

Her interest in mosaic art has deepened through her travel experiences and study of ancient history.

I love working with colour and am often inspired by the beauty of the natural world.

Janet Mackintosh

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Janet works primarily in vitreous glass but has also used smalti and marble.
Janet is continually amazed by the seemingly limitless possibilities of mosaic, which span the traditional and the abstract. She loves mosaic’s tactile elements.