10 Local Adelaide Artists You Should Know
We’re continuing our local artists series with a visit to the great southern city of Adelaide! Home to crazy food concoctions such as pie floaters, Kitchener buns and the AB (which is really just a renamed HSP), Adelaide is Australia’s fifth largest city and has a thriving arts scene. This city holds a special place in Bluethumb’s heart, with half our team living and working there – including our co-founder Ed!
We’re seizing the opportunity to showcase 10 local Adelaide artists worth knowing. Get up close and personal with them below.
Katie Wyatt
Katie with her two most popular styles – landscapes and textured florals.
One of our top 10 best sellers, Katie Wyatt is known for her textured impasto landscape paintings. The Adelaide local is sought after by designers and interiors-obsessed folk alike, including The Design Files, and has friendly service down to an art. Her luxurious landscapes explore Adelaide’s stunning coastline and allow you an escape to the sea – whether it’s close by or not!
Ross Morgan
Ross hard at work in his studio!
Inhabiting a land of whimsy and nostalgia, Ross Morgan has a work available at every size and price point, and is particularly popular for those looking for art for their kids rooms. The Adelaide local wields both a brush and pencil to create his spectacular artworks, with a particular fondness for pattern and repetition in his larger pieces. Dive into his fantastical world with artworks celebrating all the best childhood tales and characters, including magical Alice in Wonderland rabbits, adorable dens of woodland foxes and much more.
Donovan Christie
Donovan Christie made a splash when he first started painting, winning the Channel 9 Young Achiever Arts Award in 2016, and he hasn’t stopped turning heads since. The self-taught artist has been a finalist in some of Australia’s biggest prizes, such as the Waterhouse Art Prize, Parklands Art Prize, Lethbridge 10000 and the BSG Small Scale Prize. Still young, he’s well on his way to a notable career and one of our most collectible artists. Donovan’s highly detailed and technically skilled works explore nostalgic locations around Adelaide, particularly dated signage and fast food stores. Perhaps you’ll recognise some of the places!
Lise Temple
Late Autumn Vines hanging in the shed with wines.
Abstract landscape painter Lise Temple lives just outside the city in a country town to the north. Lise’s expressive paintings convey all the beauty and wildness of the Australian countryside, covering all the seasons, from the gorgeous glow of summer to the cool calmness of winter. Her rich use of colour results in dynamic artworks that leap off the canvas – quite literally in some, where her textured use of thick paint results in an almost sculptural element.
Mike Barr
Mike is always happy when he’s in the studio!
Mike Barr paints to inspire the soul. His atmospheric streetscapes and beachscapes not only capture the look of a location, but also the feeling it inspires. Join Mike as he gets drenched in rainy cities, blustered about on windy beaches or admires the glow of traffic at dusk. Let your mind wander and enjoy a moment of reflection as you contemplate his moody Adelaide scenes.
Alex Frayne
Photographer Alex Frayne has quite a career behind him. With a few short films, a feature film and two books under his belt, the man is nothing short of prolific. His love for film goes back to his childhood, when his 8mm camera was his most prized possession, and it’s still strong today. On Bluethumb he has an extensive portfolio of one-off photographs and limited editions, all of which use the power of film to precisely articulate the emotion of atmosphere and the beauty of the mundane.
Sheree Wright
Sheree Wright describes her work as Tonal Realism – detailed representations of life as it is. Her speciality is capturing the fractions of time we spend underwater, and the interplay of light and water to create refractions.
“Most of the inspiration for my paintings come from times spent at Carrackalinga, a small rural town nestled on the coast amongst of the Fleurieu Peninsula. Water plays a huge part in my paintings, which hold memories of past and present experiences in the way children play or has a soothing healing affect for the viewer.”
Tim O’Shea
Tim O’Shea won the Inaugural Gallery M Open Contemporary Prize in 2016. Photo: Instagram.
Another award-winner calling the City of Churches home is Tim O’Shea. Adelaide born and bred, he held his first sell-out solo exhibition in 2005 and hasn’t looked back since. With plenty of accolades to his name, Tim’s work showcases the best of an urban environment that borders on the beach, alternating between the two locations in his light-hearted paintings. In his words, “my paintings and drawings are a tapestry of moments experienced, memories captured and unforgettable accounts of travel. They are based upon the experience of seeing real places and real things.”
Amber Gittins
Amber Gittins creates gorgeous and uplifting floral abstracts!
Nature-obsessed and colour crazy, Amber Gittins is an abstract artist living and working in Adelaide. Her vibrant paintings are exploding with joy and optimism and we find it impossible to feel sad when around one! Drawing her inspiration from nature, she “loves to depict life and growth, showing beauty through the colour palettes and representing light and movement with my brushstrokes”.
Miranda Lloyd
Taking a sneak peek inside Miranda‘s studio is like taking a walk in Australia’s flora and fauna!
If you’re a fan of texture, look no further than Miranda Lloyd. Passionate about texture, her paintings are rich in thick applications of paint and colour. Another artist who feels connected to her natural surroundings, her signature works put trees and flowers front and centre. And she’s not just an artist – multitalented Miranda has also written and illustrated a few children’s books!
Alice Kleinig
Alice Kleinig is a painter, printmaker and mixed media artist who grew up in the Barossa Valley and now resides in Adelaide, South Australia. She works with a variety of mediums and materials and has a passion for building texture and highlighting mark making in her works using a range of methods and processes. Alice enjoys experimenting with a variety of mediums and themes. In many of her abstract landscape works she takes influence from the natural landscape and everyday scenes around her, and transforms her own photographs into abstract works with a focus on colour and texture. She also enjoys working with the human form and delights in experimenting with techniques and new ways to use and apply paint and ink.
Discover more Adelaide inspiration with our Artists from SA page.
Hi Anne,
Thanks for your enquiry! Some quick recommendations would be:
– Colleen Stapleton: https://bluethumb.com.au/colleen-stapleton-colleen-stapleton
– Roz McQuillan: https://bluethumb.com.au/roz-mcquillan
Please email the team at help@bluethumb.com.au for more suggestions.
Thanks,
Grace @ Bluethumb
Good Morning,
I’m trying to establish the name of the artist who paints river/redgum landscapes. He was formerly a graphics artist, I believe, and has an enormous painting hanging in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel, Adelaide.
Is anybody able to assist with his name?
Thanks
Ross Martin
Please disregard my query. His name has just come to me, Gary Duncan.
Thanks
RM