Anne O'Leary

I was born in Sydney and grew up in Canberra but have now loved living in Perth for the last 38 years, 17 of those years living in the beautiful Perth Hills. I came from a very musical/artistic family and have always been intrigued by artistic creativity in all its forms.

I love playing my violin, taking long walks in the forest, hiding in my studio and experimenting with various textiles and art forms – natural dying being my favourite.

Over many years I have experimented and enjoyed many art forms, for example learning multiple musical instruments (5), garden artistry, mosaics, resin art, Ebru Art, printing etc. Life is fast, crazy, hectic and stressful at times. Since moving from inner City Perth 18 years ago, to the peace of the Perth Hills I have discovered the flip side to that crazy life. Why didn’t I do this sooner! The love of my surroundings in Gooseberry Hill led me to discovering different ways of showing off aspects of the beauty within our WA native surrounds. I wanted to somehow express the beauty that I saw and finally found a way of expressing that intrigue and wonder and hopefully having other people see what I see.

All my prints evolve from a deep love of my natural surrounds and the abundance of beauty it constantly provides through each season, Winter being my favourite. Our surrounding native trees and bushes with their leaves, nuts, flowers and bark provide me with endless hours of joy and challenges in discovering different ways of showing off their intricate beauty. In 2022 I was very honoured to be awarded the first prize winner in the category of capturing the Kalamunda local surrounds, in the Zig Zag Gallery Art Exhibition and Awards. My winning exhibit was an installation of naturally dyed silk and mounted cotton rag paper, with a book matching print. With the stillness of the boards and movement of the silk, I felt this installation projected ideas of place; the history and future of place, the perpetual and the changing of place, and the strength and transience of place. The prints on cotton rag paper are beautifully mounted enabling them to be hung in any direction. Each print is completely unique.