Alita Knaggs

Alita Knaggs is a mixed media artist, working mostly in landscape. Alita has been involved in visual arts most of her life, and now paints from her Port Stephens home studio after a career in education.

I endeavour to capture qualities of the landscape. For me it is an immersion of light, colour and texture and then the challenge as I respond and represent that pace in my chosen medium”

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THE WONDERFUL WORKS OF ALITA KNAGGS

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Alita Knaggs exhibited at Artisan Collective Port Stephens as our July 2020 Feature Artist before being invited to join as a full-time exhibiting artist soon after.

Primarily a contemporary landscape painter, Alita is inspired by her beloved environment, in particular the coast and forms of Fingal Bay.

Having studied at Alexander Mackie CAE (now COFA) in Sydney, Alita subsequently taught Visual Arts at high schools for many years. Until 2017, she was Head Teacher of Creative and Performing Arts at Tomaree High School in Port Stephens.

Now pursuing the development of her own art practice, she works in a variety of mediums, including oil, acrylic, gouache and mixed media.

William Dodds

‘Contemporary Australian Artist’

William is an Australian contemporaryseascape artist with a passion to capture the power, colour, and romance of the ocean in oils. Growing up in Port Stephens and being surrounded by the ocean William and his wife Edwina and their three children love the sea. An avid Kitesurfer, Surfer and Stand up Paddleboarder he can be seen regularly around the local beaches.

I am a self taught artist with what I would call an ‘impressionistic style, incorporating brush strokes and the natural vibrancy of God’s creation.

William Dodds

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Prue Sailer

Prue is a Port Stephens-based artist working in a range of traditional drawing and painting media. She has exhibited regularly over the past 15 years in commercial and public galleries, both locally and interstate. Her works are held in private collections within Australia and overseas and have been published in Australian Geographic.

The natural world is a constant source of inspiration and and is at the heart of my practice. My drawings and paintings are rendered in accurate detail, capturing the character of the subject and reflecting the fascination and respect I have for all wildlife, particularly Australian native species.

Prue Sailer

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While Prue has a lifelong interest in creating art, her formal artistic career began with the completion of a Fine Art Degree, followed by Honours and a PhD in Natural History Illustration (NHI) at The University of Newcastle, where she currently holds the role of Lecturer in NHI. Her doctoral research explored the visual world of animals. Drawing on scientific research into animal vision, she presented an interpretation of the way selected animal and bird species might see their own habitats, according to what is currently known about their visual systems.

Prue’s formative years were spent in and around Canberra, where her appreciation for wildlife and natural environments began. The natural world continues to provide the inspiration and motivation for her practice and underpins her teaching in NHI. Recurring themes in her work centre on aspects of nature that are often overlooked, the conservation of Australian native species and habitats, and concerns about humanity’s impact on the natural environment.

“I am truly fortunate to be able to combine teaching with my studio practice, where I continue to create new works for exhibitions and commissions. While the Newcastle, Port Stephens and Hunter regions provide a wealth of inspiration, I am also looking forward to travelling throughout our extraordinary country more often, to collect resources for future work.
My paintings are exhibited locally and interstate, and are found in private collections in Australia and overseas.”
Prue Sailer

Maria Hine

Maria is a painter and sculptor whose works come straight from the heart. Maria’s artistic pursuit developed later in life and has a rich cultural background. Her painted works are very much expressionism, emotionalism and abstracted responses to colours from Australia, South Italy, the sun and the sea.

I enjoy the process of carving and using Hebel, it comes naturally to me.

Maria Hine

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“In my sculpture practice I utilise different materials seeing 3D form and femininity with curvature and shape.. I’ve studied arts all over and have gained a diploma in Fine Art – Newcastle TAFE and degree in Fine Art – Newcastle University.
I have taken many classes and most notably Foundry Metal Casting at Tighes Hill TAFE and Max Meldrum Method in oils with Pablo Tapia. I have exhibited my works in group exhibitions and solo and was part of a multicultural exhibition in Australian Maritime Museum Sydney.”
Maria Hine

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.

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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More about Ileana

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

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