Rhonda Owen is an Award Winning Australian Artist.
Nature and all it’s wildlife are both her inspiration and her teacher. References are made during her extensive travels around the country as en plein air sketches and snapshot photography. Rhonda interacts directly with the environment and it’s inhabitants and it effects her art profoundly.
Upon return to her studio Rhonda’s love of realism and surrealism is reflected in her work. Rhonda’s observance and eye for detail is led by the subject to where the painting takes her, sometimes with delightful surprises. Working in Acrylic paint allows the fine detail present in almost all her work and gives her subjects, including birds and animals a character and personality of their own whether as a single creature or in a group setting .
Rhonda enjoys many different surfaces to paint on but prefers the texture and luxury of linen canvas and the extra dimension of beauty it brings to the final painting. A strong desire and ambition for self improvement and continual learning drive Rhonda to be quite prolific at a very high standard of quality.
Recent Career Highlights and Exhibitions include:
Solo Exhibition Malvern Artists Society Gallery 2022
Kinglake Virtual Art Show 2021 online
Knox Virtual Art Show 2020 online
Mornington Art Exhibition 2020 Rotary of Mornington
White Horse Art Show 2019 rotary of Boxhill
Camberwell Art Show 2019 Rotary of Camberwell
Group Exhibition 2019 Malvern Art Society. Malvern
Camberwell Art Show 2018
Group exhibition 2018 Arvy’s Gallery Olinda
Bayside ArtShow 2018
Whitehorse Art show 2018 Rotary of Box Hill
Warranwood art show 2017. Rudolf Steiner WarranWood
Warrandyte Art Show 2017. Rotary of Warrandyte
Group Exhibition 2017 Arvys Gallery
Knox art show 2017 rotary of Bayswater
Warrandyte Art show 2016 Rotary of Warrandyte
Knox art show 2016 Rotary Club of Bayswater
Exhibition 2016 Red Gum Gallery Olinda
Group Exhibition 2015 Arvy’s Gallery
Certificate of Achievement for drawing Nature and Natural History illustration 2018 Newcastle University
Solo Gallery Exhibition Malvern Art Society May 27/28/29 2022
Link to a piece. a Journalist : Janice Mills wrote about my Artwork /Solo Exhibition.
https://creartivelyspeaking.wordpress.com/2022/05/28/a-little-birdie-told-me/
This week at the Malvern Art Society gallery
1297-1299 High Street, Malvern. Victoria
Rhonda Owen
It was my pleasure last night to attend the opening of Rhonda Owen’s solo exhibition at the Malvern Art Society gallery. Rhonda has a lifelong passion for all things feathers and furred, which is obvious in her beautifully detailed paintings.
Rhonda draws her inspiration from her photography and en plein air sketches of wildlife and domestic animals from around the world. As I spoke with her, she described how she uses her images for inspiration to create artworks with unique compositions by taking only the idea and rearranging her animals to reflect their characters and personalities. As an emerging artist, it is not always obvious to see a clear style, but this is not the case with Rhonda’s work. She has definitely indicated in this prolific exhibit of paintings that she is on track to an identifiable look that engages viewers. On close inspection of her work, another important aspect is the care she takes to ensure that the anatomy and features of every creature is correct to the smallest detail, which if you know a lot about a particular animal, makes her work so much more appealing.
Rhonda’s exhibition is only on this weekend, May 27th to 29th 2022, so I urge animal and art lovers to attend to check out, and purchase a piece to enhance your home or office. Artworks like these also make wonderful gifts if you know someone who has a passion for the world’s wild animals.