Julia

Julia Lester has had prolific 30 year career in television and Radio. Her last 10 years as ABC classic FM drive host is the position she is most remembered for.
Julia used to act along side my father in the 1970s when my father ran a successful SA theatre company Troika. I have therefore known Julia all of my life and it was important for me to capture my knowledge of her personality - her warmth, her wisdom, her talent, and of course that chocolatey, velvet voice.
During our sitting we spoke of family and love. Julia sat knitting as we spoke and I tried to incorporate that task into my application and technique. My mother tells me "it looks like you have knitted her in bouclé!".

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Marieka Hambledon is an Adelaide based portrait artist whose work explores the human condition. Hambledon grew up in an artistic household and started painting from a young age. She began her university studies in film, before transferring into a fine art degree and then eventually studied graphic design that lead to a successful 10-year career.

With her parents involved in both theatre and counselling, Hambledon was drawn to painting different characters and exploring what it means to be human. Hambledon’s art practice is primarily in acrylics to achieve her distinct dotting style. Her technique is inspired by the pointillists, utilising colourful dots and optical blending to achieve a photo realistic appearance.

Hambledon’s work is in many private collections in Adelaide and Victoria, and a commissioned work was offered as the prize for the Howard Twelftree Award in 2016. In 2019 Hambledon was a finalist in the Kennedy Award, and a semi-finalist in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. Most recently, Hambledon was a finalist in the 2020 Bluethumb Art Prize and the SBS Portrait Prize.