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Forging Friendships Through Art



Returning to the Art Trail this year are three artists- Alison Lindsay, Sue Findlay and Angela Davies- who all hail from the UK, finding each other through MHOS a few years ago. They have formed a small community of Creatives and regularly meet to paint, laugh, eat cake, inspire and motivate each other. After a brief hiatus and various house moves, the trio are back to share their work again. For these artists it's about participating, meeting people and an enjoyment of the process.



I met the artists at Alison's fabulous studio just off the main drag in Glen Forrest. As with so many studios, I have driven past without suspecting that down a long driveway or behind an unassuming façade, someone is creating beautiful art, which they are happy to share with the world.



Alison Lindsay has a lifelong love of art and creativity which began as a child in England, and continued throughout her journeys to other countries and environments. After dabbling with acrylics in Zambia she moved to Australia 12 years ago and started to take her work more seriously, finding a mentor, and beginning to explore different media, including oils, acrylics, and watercolours, producing both drawings and paintings. She enthusiastically explores different media and techniques with which to expand her skills as she responds to both the beauty and challenges of life.

Alison's inspiration comes primarily from nature and her daily life, and she draws on the diverse and beautiful environments she has travelled through or lived in. She is currently working on large-scale paintings of birds with wonderful atmospheric backgrounds, and also enjoys the contrast of painting small, finely detailed work such as her series of delicate miniature paintings on teabags.

You can find Alison in her studio, which is a large bright space on the mezzanine floor of her home, removed from the busy-ness of family life and work, offering a sanctuary of creative exploration and artistic expression for herself and others.






After a sea change to Mandurah via Rockingham, Angela Davies has returned to the Hills area, resuming her creative friendships, and preparing her semi-abstract paintings for Open Studios.

Angela's lovely paintings feature rocks, trees and hills, with a nod to magical, other-worldly landscapes.


Born in the UK, Angela began painting for pleasure, working primarily with pastels, and after moving to Australia in 1986 took up painting. She was inspired by the new landscape she encountered- the space, the colours, the lifestyle, the big skies, and especially the Hills- and depicting these replaced her previous cityscapes.

Training at Midland TAFE, then Curtin, Angela worked with ceramics and discovered a fascination with metal. Her work as a nurse ran side-by-side with her work as an artist and Angela brought the two together whilst studying Art Therapy. Like so many artists, she realised that creative expression is absolutely essential for mental health.



Angela has developed a process of manipulating and controlling the popular paint-pouring technique, so that she can add layers, working back into her mainly acrylic paintings with stencils and stamping to express something elusive and personal. Her monochromatic work invites the viewer to stroll through layered and textured landscapes imagining an ancient narrative.



Sue Findlay will be the second guest artist at Alison Lindsay's studio, sharing a love of nature and the environment, but naturally expressing it in her own style.

After first participating in Open Studios in 2019, Sue discovered that she loved the whole process of being part of something so closely aligned with her ethos of a creative community, sharing her art with others- both in the making and in the end product.

From the age of 4, in the UK, Sue only ever wanted to be an artist, developing her diverse skills through work at a printing company, and as a graphic artist. She created a YouTube channel and wrote a book on resin art, and in 2018 became a full-time artist, using her knowledge of the printing business to put her wonderful designs on functional products such as trivets, mugs, chopping boards and coasters.



Above anything else Sue Findlay loves to draw and paint animals and describes her style as realism with personality.

Sue works with with layered textures, expressive marks, and palette knives, and her art is full of warmth and country charm. Her latest work features earthy tones and textured surfaces, created using unconventional tools such as kitchen spatulas to achieve layered effects and movement.







A spirit of experimentation and enthusiasm is evident through the work of all three artists, on show at 8B McGlew Road, Glen Forrest. This mutual support and encouragement is central to the success of Mundaring Hills Open Studios, not only for a short time in October, but throughout the year.

 
 
 

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