Signed with a crown

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Signed with a crown

Another of our future Waterbrook Bowral Residents is the enormously talented Maria Kroon, who lives here in the Southern Highlands. Born and educated in the Netherlands, Miel, as she is better known, started her career as a pre-school teacher. But art was never far from her mind, and her creativity with the little children encouraged her to pursue her studies in art.

During 30 years in Australia and 10 years back in the Netherlands, Miel painted and studied with many professional artists, including Alvaro Castsgnet, Helen Cottle, Lucy & Barry McCann, Charles Sluga and many more. As such, she has developed a great variety of themes and styles as well as the ability to create using many mediums. Miel has exhibited many times in the Wollondilly Shire, Macarthur region and, of course, the Southern Highlands. Many people who visit her showings can’t believe the same artist is responsible for all the works, so diverse are the styles. Miel always signs her surname on her artwork as a crown, which is what “Kroon” means in Dutch.

Once a year, Miel and a friend go to her home in Sydney to paint – “We put tarps throughout the entire living space of the apartment, we get up in the morning, paint, have lunch, paint, have dinner, paint and then go to bed. We do this everyday for the week, and we absolutely love it” says Miel.

As in previous years, Miel will participating in the very popular Southern Highlands Art Trail, which will be held over the weekends of 7th-8th and 14th-15th November 2020.

Through the photographers lens

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Through the photographer’s lens

“I have been a photographer for most of my life. In that time, I have always worked from an intuitive perspective rather that from an intellectual one.”

Ashley Mackevicius discovered photography at the age of 15 while still in high school. With a darkroom set up in the laundry and a hunger to experiment and learn, this newfound ‘hobby’ soon overtook more mundane pursuits such as homework.

In 1975 he enrolled at Prahran College of Arts majoring in photography, where he studied under icons of Australian photography such as Athol Shmith, Paul Cox and John Cato.

Needing to make a living Ashley Mackevicius turned his skills to commercial photography where a career spanning 40 years blossomed. Gaining numerous awards including ‘Australian Photographer of the Year’ his commercial work ran in parallel to his artistic work. “My aim is to challenge the viewer to see beyond the object as a ‘thing-in-itself’ through the  manipulation of scale and the abstraction of recognisable forms.”

Ashley recently spent a day photographing inside and out of the old school buildings at our Waterbrook Bowral site. The results are an array of tonal emotions that are atmospheric, melancholy and invite contemplation of the past lives of the buildings and the people that inhabited them.

The images are available as large, framed prints (as seen above) or as a collection in a hard-cover book of which we have a copy of at the display residence.

Ashley has a permanent gallery and studio at the SHAC in Robertson and it is well worth the visit!  Please contact Lizzie at Waterbrook if you are interested in viewing or ordering the book.  hello@waterbrook.com.au

Home in the Highlands

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Home in the Highlands

When you visit our beautiful new display residence, your eyes will be immediately drawn to the amazing artworks adorning the walls. A great number of them are the works of renowned local artist, Elizabeth Young who has called the Southern Highlands home for the past 13 years.

Elizabeth says, “My art represents my feelings for the constantly changing natural environment of the Southern Highlands. The dramatic changes brought about by four very distinctive seasons, as well as the different moods and feelings created by these transitions of nature in the Southern Highlands, have inspired these works. I particularly love the starkness of the Winter landscape with silhouettes of naked branches against the sombre greys, the beautiful colours of trees dressed in their Autumn glory and the beginning of nature’s new life in Spring. The sight of the magnificent mist descending like a veil over the landscape, creating an ethereal and romantic atmosphere, is the most wonderous joy that I experience living here in the Highlands.”

When creating her artworks, Elizabeth uses her eyes as a camera, and her emotional responses to capture whatever she sees. The result shows the dramatic impact that the local landscape has on her in a variety of different styles, from impressionistic and abstract through to linear and realistic.

All of Elizabeth’s artworks on display are for sale, please speak to Joanna when you visit for a pricelist, or contact Elizabeth directly through her website www.elizabethyoung.com.au where you will be able to view a full gallery of her stunning work.

Highland Skies

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Highland Skies

Upon entering our display space in Station Street, Bowral, your eye will immediately be drawn to the two magnificent artworks that are now hanging on our walls. The large canvases, capturing the atmospheric skies of the Southern Highlands, are the work of local Bundanoon artist, Del Cooley.

Del obtained her degree in Fine Arts from RMIT University in Melbourne. Twenty years ago, Del and her husband moved to the Southern Highlands, where she has continued to create and exhibit her stunning artworks. Her style has evolved over the years, but the core of Del’s talent lies in her abstract scapes. Del says exhibiting has always been first and foremost for her, and the painterly abstract qualities of all work has meant many successful showings in Sydney and Melbourne.  Del also has a love of teaching and has inspired many students locally.

Del says she is inspired by a “feeling” rather than something she sees. She starts with blocks of colour and then the painting just takes on a life of its own. The process takes a long time, sometimes months, as when Del finishes a painting, she’s happy at first, but as time passes, can’t resist adding some finishing touches.

We love to host visitors in our display to enjoy Del’s work as much as we do! Her works, Infinity and Highland Sky await or visit Del’s website, www.delcooley.com.