Local painter Amanda Holman has been consistently exhibiting with The Corner Store Gallery for a number of years now. We first discovered Amanda through one of our many group exhibition opportunities, as we do many of our fabulous artists. From one entry comes many, and her popularity has grown exponentially during this time resulting in Amanda’s first solo exhibition Beyond 4 Walls opening this April at The Corner Store Gallery.

Amanda Holman is a truly lovely and warm person, as well as a wonderful artist in her own right. Her quiet and beautiful depictions of the Australian landscape begin with field trips and drives across this beautiful country we call home. Sometimes painted within the landscape, sometimes painted form photographs back in her home studio. Amanda’s studio is the stuff of dreams, located on the ground floor of her home, accessible via a courtyard from the street. It’s here I first played eyes upon the new body of work for Beyond 4 Walls. Take a look and find out more about Amanda’s practice.

Q and A with Monique Fedor

We first discovered Monique Fedor through our Inside This Box Group Exhibition back in 2021. Monique submitted the most beautiful still life painting of a pear on a plate and has been part of The Corner Store Gallery family ever since. Every single painting she sends our way has found a loving new home immediately, they sell out every time.

We are absolutely thrilled to present Field Notes by Monique Fedor, her newest body of work. Exploring her immediate surroundings and the poetry of every day life, Monique paints moments in time with graceful determination and a conspicuous aesthetic.

Studio Visit with Emily Heath

Emily Heath is one of our favourite emerging artists here at The Corner Store Gallery and is fast becoming one of Australia’s most popular still life painters. She’s also, I might add, a hilarious person and we click very well. We first discovered Emily’s work back in 2021 when she was a finalist in our Inside This Box group exhibition. After being invited to join our stable, Emily’s paintings became hard to hold onto as they quickly started walking out the door with their happy new owners.

Emily’s work is beautiful, unique, skilled and deeply personal. Her natural talent and eye for colour and composition are apparent in each and every work. The juxtaposition of traditionally depicted household items against more modern and unusual elements is at once humorous and intriguing. This body of work is an exploration of what it means to be a working artist and a mother and wife in the domestic environment.

Studio Visit with Fleur Stevenson

Fleur’s process is slow and sophisticated, with many techniques, mediums and layers being utilised. Spray paint and stencils feature often, revealing the detailed layers beneath, creating a rich history and story.

This recent body of work was created for our new group exhibition FLORA, on display from September 14th to 24th. The brief was “abstract botanicals” and Fleur has risen to the challenge with a magnificent series of five soft, feminine, mixed media paintings.

I visited Fleur in her Rozelle home studio to see the new work, some final touches and a good overdue catchup!

FLORA is on display from September 14th to 24th with pre-sales launching online at 8pm September 13th.

Q and A with Andrea Hopgood

Hankering for a road trip during recent periods of isolation and lockdown, Andrea Hopgood has created a series of paintings that explore the natural environment and invite the viewer to pause and reflect.

The series of roadside views, symbolise a path forward, a journey ahead, the optimism in “heading out” and the anticipation of returning home.

Throughout a long career of teaching Art in Secondary Schools, Andrea has maintained her own Arts practice from her art studio/gallery in Berwick. Andrea holds weekly classes and workshops and creates works using a wide range of mediums, including; clay, wire, pastel, oil and acrylic.

Meet Misha Harrison

Misha Harrison is our newest exhibiting artist here at The Corner Store Gallery and my goodness I am so excited to have her! Misha's work is so incredibly unique, bold, and just plain funky! I did a Q & A with Misha (over email) so we could all learn a little more about her practice.

Misha Harrison explores materiality and process through intricately cut and assembled plywood artworks. Still life, portraiture, and abstraction are rethought and reimagined into contemporary formats. Each work comprising of carefully cut and layered plywood, painted with vibrant colours juxtaposed and highlighted with textile inlays and stitching.

q and a, studio visitMadeline Young3 September 2021The Corner Store Gallerymisha harrison, artist, interview, Q and A, studioComment

Podcast Interview for Art Wank

Exciting News! I was recently interviewed for the fabulously funny podcast Art Wank hosted by Julie Nicholson and Fiona Verity. It’d always a little nerve wracking but these ladies are so down to earth and hilarious I felt instantly at ease.

This really is a fantastic podcast for artists and anyone interested in the art scene with amazing artists, creatives and curators being interviewed. I’m in fantastic company among people like Fiona Barrett-Clark, Ken Done, Michael Reid and Amber Creswell-Bell! It’s a good one to listen to in the studio, on walks or long drives. Give it a listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

q and aMadeline Young25 August 2021podcast, podcast interview, art wank, interviewComment

Studio Visit and Interview with Melanie Vugich

There have been a few OMG moments in my l career since I opened The Corner Store Gallery in 2014, and one of those moments was when Melanie Vugich (THE Melanie Vugich) contacted me about exhibiting here at The Corner Store Gallery! I’ve been a fan of Melanie’s work for years and I am so excited to be hosting her for her first ever solo exhibition in Australia Familiarity.

Melanie’s work is instantly recognisable from her distinct textural painting style. The work seems to vibrate with energy and life, you can imagine Melanie’s skilful hand moving across the board. Her subjects are quite personal and in-still a sense of comfort, joy and “familiarity”.

I visited Melanie and her sister Lisa at Mel’s home studio in Bronte recently to see the work in person and learn more about the process and inspiration behind these stunning works.

Familiarity is on display at The Corner Store Gallery from June 23 - Jul 3 2021. The catalogue is now live on our website with Pre-sales launching at 8pm Tuesday June 22nd via our website.

We’d love you to join us to celebrate the Opening Night of Familiarity on Wednesday June 23rd from 6pm, all welcome.

studio visit, q and aMadeline Young20 June 2021Melanie vugich, still life, interiro, painting, painter, studio, interview, Q and AComment

Studio Visit and Interview with Tim Winters

Tim Winters in a legend of the local art scene here in Orange. It was an absolute dream when Tim expressed an interest in exhibiting at The Corner Store Gallery. Ridgeway will be Tim’s first solo exhibition in 6 years since his retrospective show The Poetry of Space at the Orange Regional Gallery in 2015.

Ridgeway is open from May 19th to 29th at The Corner Store Gallery with the Opening Night Celebration on May 19th from 6pm, exhibition to be opened by Margarete Lamond. Pre-sales launch online at 8pm May 18th.

Madeline Young15 May 2021The Corner Store Gallerystudio tour, studio, studio visit, Tim winters, interviewComment

Get to Know Orange with Madeline Young

The Orange region in NSW sits smack dab between Parkes and Bathurst, due west of the Blue Mountains. It’s one of those rolling-green-hills kind of places, where every postcard vista looks like it’s been painted in watercolours. With the help of Orange360, we sat down with local artist, gallery owner and coffee fiend, Madeline Young, to get the low-down on everything Orange. Brace yourself for orchards. Lots of orchards.

Written by James Shackell

Studio Visit with Ingrid Kwong

studio visitMadeline Young24 November 2019The Corner Store Gallerystudio, stusio visit, ingrid kwong, landscape, painting, painter, little scapes, interview Comment

Studio Visit with Colleen Southwell

I visited Colleen at her AMAZING home studio just outside of Orange. Colleen’s also a garden designer, and quite a good one at that… Her studio is located in a gorgeous corrugated iron shed in the back garden that she shares with her husband. Dried flowers, grasses, berries and seed pods are scattered throughout the room providing inspiration and a beautiful neutral colour palette. Colleen tells me she works in monotone to draw your eye to the pattern, texture and structure of the plants she interprets.

We talk horticulture, history, inspiration, collecting, technique and materials, enjoy….