10 Local Perth Artists You Should Know
Often dubbed as Australia’s easiest and most relaxed city, Perth sits in Wadjuk country close to stunning beaches and under consistently blue skies. Naturally in such a quiet but quaint setting, the city and surroundings have their fair share of creative talent. Looking to support local Perth artists? We’ve rounded up ten of the best from Perth and WA you probably already know – and if you don’t, you should.
1. Jos Coufreur: A Collectable WA Artist
Jos with John – one of his many portraits of famous faces.
Jos Coufreur’s work is unmistakeable. Bold, vivant, vibrant: a love of colour and movement is evident in each piece. Jos uses large-scale canvases to fully exhibit the freedom in movement and expression within each artwork. It’s this quality that has earned him countless awards and a place in the hearts of Bluethumb collectors. Throughout his life, Jos has travelled far afield, taking inspiration from different countries; he now calls Mandurah home. Keep an eye out for the famous faces that feature in Jos’s work, as well as his energetic renditions of the Australian landscape, animals and cities.
See the old style architecture of Fremantle’s High Street come to life through Jos’s technique.
Browse Jos’s available work here.
2. Joanne Duffy: An Expressionist Local Perth Artist
A combination of studies and self-taught experience informs Joanne Duffy‘s depictions of the Australian landscape. Unashamedly expressionist in essence, her paintings draw inspiration from her childhood experiences of rural Western Australia and her love of the environment.
Sunchaser by Joanne Duffy
Jo’s intense use of colour swept across the canvas creates smooth movement, reflecting a memory-like, emotive vision of Perth and WA’s landscape. “As an expressionist at heart, key inspirations for my work lie in interpreting the emotional response to memories of landscape, and how this affects our character,” Joanne explains. “The native flora and ancient landscapes are strong stimuli for investigating our senses’ response through colour, texture and movement. It is these remnants of experience which provides the key for interpretation of both personal and perceived experience.”
Storm’s a-coming! Joanna captures the fleeting moment of a turbulent sea in this piece, May Storm, City Beach.
Dive into Joanne’s perspective here.
3. Bradley Kickett: A Noongar Rising Star
Bradley’s original artwork never sticks around for long! Featured: Erosion
The last three years have been particularly fruitful for Noongar local Perth artist Bradley Kickett. Aerial views of fluid, abstract paintings have become a distinctive approach to creativity. They are heavily influenced by his experience of Noongar country – from the oceans to the rivers; the wildflowers and the land from airview, the flow and the shapes of the earth – the elements consistently shape Bradley’s technique. The tales passed down to him from family and the community’s elders ultimately influence and take life in his art. Watch him at work below!
Bradley Kickett Creates an Ocean
Ever wondered how contemporary Noongar artist Bradley Kickett achieves his incredible water effect? He literally creates an ocean on canvas! 🌊Today we're celebrating Bradley's success. He's consistently sold the most artworks on Bluethumb ever since joining a couple of years ago. We're so proud of you Bradley! bluethumb.com.au/bradley-kickett
Posted by Bluethumb on Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Explore more of Bradley’s stories here.
4. Hayley Kruger: A Floral Local Perth Artist
I dream in flowers might seem like it is flora-focused, but it also serves as a reminder of Hayley’s dream to travel to France and experience its rich culture and artistic heritage!
Emerging local Perth artist Hayley Kruger is known on Bluethumb for her love of all things botanical. “My work is an honest, emotional response to the beauty I see in the natural world,” Hayley says. “My paintings make me happy and I want to share that joy with others.” The strong, magnificent architectural form of native Australian plants inspires Hayley’s subject matter. Expect bold colours and shapes playing with light in the composition.
“The movement in this piece is exactly how these delicate blooms of the eucalyptus pyraformis or pear shaped mallee feel to me when they are floating in the fresh spring breeze.” Featured: Simple Pleasures
Explore more of Hayley’s artwork here.
5. Renee Clifton: A Broome Best Seller
Over the past year, Renee Clifton has quickly become one of our best sellers.
Contemporary Aboriginal artist Renee Clifton might be based in Broome, but when Bluethumb HQ is in Melbourne, it’s close enough to Perth to count. Renee’s mother is from the Northern Desert of South Australia and belongs to the Kokatha Aboriginal group, while her father is from the Kimberley and belongs to the Nyikina Aboriginal group. Renee paints mostly about the environment around her related to hunting and gathering through bright colourful compositions. The stories she tells through her art also involve waterholes, bush fruits, land lines and bush animals, to name a few. Her designs are mainly inspired by native flora & fauna near her home and from stories passed down to her by elders.
These desert flowers represent those from Renee’s mother’s country in the South Australian desert. The sold out quickly at Revealed!
Renee was also one of the independent Indigenous artists we featured at our Revealed Aboriginal Art Market stall in 2019. She sold out of art on the day of course!
View Renee’s portfolio here.
6. Casey Thornton: An Introspective Artist
Casey’s self-portrait, Introspection, depicts her ongoing experience with anxiety and embraces solitude as a means of respite from the worries of the world.
Based in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region, contemporary oil painter Casey Thornton excels in the figurative. Her profound interest in techniques of the old masters and modern-day hyperrealist painters equally influence her approach, in which she strives to capture an authentic representation of her surrounding environment. With a body of work that is well-known for her insightful portraiture, Casey has begun to explore still life of late, all the while keeping an uncanny attention to detail and keen observation on the subject at hand.
Taking Flight was shortlisted as a gallery finalist in the 2019 Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Art Award.
“The key challenge in artistic practice lies in seeking out that authentic voice within, and finding the story only you are able to tell,” Casey explains. “That’s a lifelong goal which I’m constantly working towards, one piece at a time.” Casey’s work invites us into a moment of pause and reflection; “a respite from a constantly ‘switched on’ world.”
Honey and Porcelain #2 is an ode to the inherent beauty of quotidian objects.
Browse more of Casey’s life-like work here.
7. Craig Hammersley: A Photographer with Perspective
This Lone Gum Tree in Canola Field stands just north of Perth; here, it is captured at sunrise.
Born in Perth, Craig Hammersley now lives in Mandurah, where as an almost annual finalist to local competitions, he has gained a healthy reputation for his landscape photography. Craig’s interest in this medium has been evident since he was a teenager, and has flourished with study and travel to various continents of the world.
This aerial shot of the Salt Lake at Shark Bay makes for a heavenly abstract!
Check out Craig’s portfolio here.
8. Helicopter Tjungurrayi: An Art Centre’s Leading Artist
Helicopter Tjungurrayi working on a piece.
Although Balgo is not his home country, Helicopter Tjungurrayi can be found at the Warlayirti Art Centre every day. At heart, Helicopter keeps the stories of his ancestry alive through his painting. “Telling my story, it’s my life, my country. My father country, my grandfather country,” he explains. After travelling across desert lands as a means of survival, Helicopter recalls his country and reconnects with his ancestral family left a long time ago by way of creation. This has become common among many of the elders at Warlayirti Art Centre, who visit their traditional lands through painting.
Wangkartu is the country Helicopter is from and is named after the tjurrnu (soakwater) in this place. The dots are bush tucker; fruit trees, apple trees and other food.
Meet Helicopter in our recent interview, click here to find out more about Warayirti Art Centre’s success in the online art world during lockdown or click here to discover more stories from Indigenous art centres.
9. Sarah Abbott: One to Watch
Amazing art, adorable dog – Sarah Abbott is perfect for Bluethumb!
Sarah Abbott may have only been with us since February this year, but she’s already become popular with collectors across Australia. Starting her studies in fine art and transitioning into interior design, Sarah delved into a creative career in design for just over a decade before coming full circle back to her artistic roots. Her recent reconnection with art has allowed her to create with purpose and continuity. Inspiration still comes from design and architecture, along with nature, plants and travel, altogether forming a graphic, bold style that is a joy for a viewer to observe.
Urbanisation rekindles with nature in Sarah’s local cafe courtyard. Featured: Nine Seeds Sunday
“I’m always drawn to how we co-habit with nature in an increasingly urban world,” Sarah says. “We try to tame it in our gardens, in planters, but it always has a mind of its own, it’s own agenda, to reach for the sun… The interplay of light, plant life and colour create a vivid, harmonious scene that celebrates nature in all its glory and reminds us that life will find a way.”
Fishing Boat Harbour by Sarah Abbott.
Dive fully into Sarah’s work here.
10. Jimmy Donegan: A Living Legend
Jimmy Donegan with one of his award-winning Pukara Rockhole paintings. Credit: The Advertiser
Jimmy Donegan’s family links throughout the Pitjantjarra lands give him a strong tie to country. This ancestral narrative is the backbone of his art. Jimmy grew up as a bush baby in country around Blackstone and Mantamaru and has continuously settled himself between Kulka and Blackstone ever since. His work is notably rich in colour and composition through dot work and line. In 2010, Jimmy won the 27th Telstra Award (The National Indigenous Art Award); since then, his work has become highly prolific amongst collectors and rightly recognised for its story. A great deal of symbolism lies hidden in the dots.
Pukara Rock Hole is in sandy country, where the Desert Heath Myrtle is said to grow in abundance.
Visit Jimmy’s profile here, or click here to discover more collectable artists on Bluethumb.
Perth’s talent doesn’t stop there; you can find the complete list of gifted artists in the Perth and WA area by clicking here. Alternatively, check out our picks of local Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane artists!
Some stunning paintings here. Thank you.
Such beautiful art works . Stunning vibrant works.
I’m happy to say we managed to buy one of the Jimmy Donegan Pukara Hole paintings and feel very lucky!