The visual art industry is pretty brutal, and the pandemic has made it even more difficult for practicing artists to work at their craft. One solution: Open your own gallery. The Orchard Street Gallery gives us the opportunity to exhibit our own work, and importantly, a chance to support our extended community of artists and as-yet-unknown local and indigenous artists.

My own work has always been drawing based, and always inspired by natural forms. I love to look at plants, insects and animals up close, and drawing the human form is my happy place.

For many years I earned a living as a graphic designer, but gained a Master of Studio Arts and Master of Visual Arts from Sydney Uni’ as a mature age student in the print media faculty of the SCA campus in Rozelle. It was there I learned the finer points of stone lithography, which is a challenging process invented in the late 18th century. The image is drawn onto a luscious creamy limestone surface, which is the main attraction for me. Other printmaking processes include etchings, aquatints and linocuts, but since moving to the Southern Tablelands of NSW I’ve started to produce 3D works using up-cycled plastic coated wire.

Waste not want not.

Bob Withers is a multidisciplinary artist and designer. His work for the past two decades has included drawing, painting as well as graphic design and illustration. Media of the work extends from small drawing, paintings and 3D work. Much of his work takes inspiration from the local environment which has been the light industrial streets and architecture of Sydney’s Inner West united by a keen eye for the mood and feeling of a place and moments in time. The work often reveals an underlying beauty locked within subject matter that would normally be overlooked or regarded as ugly. Mundane objects like power lines, industrial chimneys and road signs take on new life as monochromatic ink and paint urban scenes filtered with an eye for abstraction, reducing down the scenes into simple shapes and colours, at times distilled to pure abstract works or typographic interpretations of the world he sees.

www.bobwithers.com.au

Thomas Jackson is An Australian artist and illustrator who was born in Bolton, U.K.

Moving to Sydney, Australia as a child, he was instantly drawn to the natural wildlife of this new country. Fascinated by the local animals and landscapes, he drew inspiration from his new home, as well as scientific plant and animal specimens, entomology and taxidermy.’ Today, Thomas puts a modern take on ‘Natural History Illustration’, painstakingly creating smaller scale works for galleries and translating these into large scale public murals.

www.thomasjackson.com.au

Caitlin Withers is a member of our artist community by birthright.

Her photojournalistic style has been honed by international travel and documenting the small quiet vignettes of everyday live.

Her talent lies in making people feel comfortable in her presence, her images gathered under a respectful gaze.

More recently she has refined her subject matter by documenting the birthing experience of families, representing the ultimate in trust between artist and subject.

In this way her subjects allow her to share their most profound journeys into life and parenthood.

www.crmwstudio.com

Studied art at Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education Sydney 1978-81 Ameneiro began exhibiting professionally in 1981 and has shown his work regularly in group and solo shows since
 he works primarily as an artist-printmaker incorporating his drawing practice across the areas of etching monotype and lithography

Tony Ameneiro was the winner of the National 2007 Fremantle Print Award, and was also twice chosen by the Print Council of Australia as their commissioned print artist. 
A three time finalist in the Dobell Drawing Prize Art Gallery of NSW (2003 06 & 2012) he was represented in 2005 at the Biennale Jogja VIII in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and in 2014 in the International Print Biennale (UK). 
He has printed professionally for several prominent Australian artists including Tracey Moffatt and Ben Quilty.


His work is held by several major institutions including;
 British Museum London UK, National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of NSW 
Queensland Art Gallery, Art Gallery of South Australia and State Library of Victoria.

www.tonyameneiro.com