AOR Galleries Michelle Wardley

HYPER SALINE BAY COLOURS

"HAMELIN POOL" © Michelle Wardley

Oil on hardboard April 02 14.2 x 17.6cm

$216 AU

"SHARK BAY GREENS" © Michelle Wardley

Oil on hardboard April 02 91.3 x 91.7cm

$3,176 AU

I am a nomadic independent self-taught Australian artist of 5 years & some say I have an affinity with the ocean....

My award winning works are inspired by my personal experiences & each piece is visual & literary reflection of my life as a nomadic Artist. I paint in oils without brushes using natural and recycled high quality materials where possible. Each piece is unique & I exhibit my work independently of the conventional path so that it may have further reaching effects on all that purvey it eliminating the risk of blatant commercialism.

On a subconscious level I like to explore the images from a practical, historic & symboligical perspective. At the moment I have a preoccupation with the symbology & effects of colour as they occur in form & light. The way in which we resonate with colour is an indication of the emotional, physical and spiritual state of the individual. It is such a great tool to tap into the subconscious as everyone can relate to colours. I believe for this reason that each piece belongs to a particular person & is therefore created with intent to energise & affect.

I hope my focus of rekindling our lost connection with the natural ocean environment, facilitates an expanded awareness & respect, encouraging utilization of the principals of minimalism & sustainability.

I began my career at the Station Street Markets in Subiaco, moving on to a home studio in Fremantle. Within the year I thirsted real inspiration so with a bit of coaxing from Beck Shaw, a fellow ocean lover, I left Perth to tour West Oz painting along the way and thats where it started.

I have been artist in residence in Shark Bay since April for the Arts Festival in July. I am now based at Monkey Mia where I have a studio gallery in the visitors centre. I still have my work in at the Blue Duck Cafe in Cottesloe, Indianic Surf on Rottnest Island and at the Wild Fig in Waterman in Perth whilst adding to my online gallery.

All works are naturally inspired from experience, individually hand-painted in oils applied with a palette knife & protectively varnished. They are all Uniquely Framed in Natural & Recycled Materials and I Independently Exhibit all my work steering away from the traditional gallery stuffieness.

My work stems from a grand respect for the natural environment and the principles of sustainability and environmental awareness.

My paintings have hung on my tent, from Rottnest Is to Broome, at festivals and markets all over WA, in Local Art Comps and at many other selected venues around WA.

I paint in oils, all the natural things that inspire me with grand respect for the natural environment, on recycled hardboard.

I never buy new materials, I recycle and all my works are a visual, experiential and literary reflection of my life as a wandering artist dedicated to the natural coastal environment.

Originally, I framed my work in old jarrah pickets, as they were plentiful and popular. I now choose a more individual approach to all my pieces and use a lot of bush wood, drift wood, flotsam and jetsom and crafted frames, gladly avoiding my noisy saw.

As a fourth Generation Girl Guide I have learnt many skills which help me to live an independent existence.

Some say I have an affinity with the ocean. I certainly can't deny my source. I learnt to snorkel at Mettams Pool and Trigg Island and travelled to Rottnest Is several times on school excursions which ended up being the birthplace of my career as a natural ocean artist.

I was born in Bendigo, Victoria and grew up in Melbourne and Moreton Bay, Brisbane in my primary school years, finally moving to Perth where I started my career as an artist, in September 1996, almost five years ago now. I studied TEE art in Year 11 and 12 for fun, never considering myself much good or as a career option.

After graduating from Morley High School in 1992, I enrolled at Muresk Agricultural College for my first real experience of living in a remote area. I worked on a farm in Cranbrook as a farmhand and switched the following year to study horticulture at the Great southern Regional College in Albany. I returned to Perth the following year and started work at a sales and marketing company which challenged my ethics and gave me the confidence and the experience to work with all sorts of people, along with the inspiration to run my own business. I signed up for a small business course at Scarborough TAFE along with a Tarot Course and set to determining exactly what sort of business it was that I wanted to run.

My dream was to become a performing musician and I joined several different bands with varying experiences, finding few people that shared my enthusiasm for success. To fund this dream I needed an income so I turned to my crafty hands to create my first market stall at which I sold my first artwork.

At the Station Street Markets, Subiaco (late 1997), 13 small thumbnail oil paintings on hardboard framed in wooden fence pickets were displayed and priced at $6 and to my surprise they sold! I now sell the same works for 6 times that price.

It was a small idea with no research and little than a couple of day's thought, which turned into an inspirational career.

In early 1997 I opened my home studio gallery in Fremantle, while also running my weekend market stall. I participated in many local festivals such as Earthfest and the Rottnest Is Festival.

I took a short break over at Rotto to do some live works, hanging them outside my tent as I completed them. Interest grew and it became a viable option to travel and paint. I moved to Madora to live with friend Rebecca Shaw, who inspired me to close everything down and travel with my art.

I started at Rotto for sentimental and practical reasons, fine tuning my set-up and learning to dive. In the four months I spent at Rotto I discovered a lost intimate relationship with the natural marine environment. I left Perth in May 1998 in an old Ex-Army Landrover to head north and beyond.

Visiting Cliffhead, Shark Bay, Monkey Mia and Coral Bay before settling into Exmouth for 11 months to explore the Ningaloo Reef, I took on a job to start up a Youth Club in Exmouth as the local Youth Co-ordinator while also participating in an Ecological Survey of Tantabiddi Lagoon as one of three founding members of the Oceanwise Foundation a marine research and education group. After cyclone Vance hit Exmouth I moved on to Dampier to work as a volunteer at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). I was lucky to attend a field trip to map Ningaloo lagoon for two weeks aboard 42 foot Catamaran Sail-A-Way. We briefly explored the Dampier Archipelago and the Burrup Peninsula and I moved on to Broome stopping at Eighty Mile Beach. After participating in the SHINJU MATSURI festival, I did the Staircase Markets at Town Beach and at the Courthouse Markets and lived at Cable Beach Caravan Park where I was able to get into surfing and fabulous, endless sunsets. I headed south for the hot season stopping in at Eco beach and then moved on to Cape Keraudren and was confronted with my fourth and fifth Cyclone John and Ilsa. I spent he millennium at Red Bluff, which I stayed at for a month, swimming with the big fish and strengthening my connection with nature in true cave woman style.

I arrived back in Perth in early January and found a base in Trigg, just down the road from where I first took my first look underwater. I participated in my second Rottnest Festival in March and lined up having my work at the General Store and then at Indianic Surf Shop.

I appeared at the Hillarys Art and Craft Fair in April and in May 2000 held my first exhibition since returning. and subsequently followed on with an in house exhibition at the Blue Duck Cafe during July.

Approached to appear on Channel 9's Postcards WA in July 2000, filming commenced on the day I found out I had won my first art Award at the City of Stirling Art Awards.

I moved to a new place in Trigg where an excellent ocean view and plenty room to create major works thanks to some timely opportunities. During this time I started running workshops and did some voluntary work with monitoring inshore waterways and bird populations. I also lined up two north of the River Venues in Fred and Friends Dome Cafe Kalbarri, Geordie Bay Store, The Wild Fig Cafe Waterman and Core Surf Hillarys.

I was invited to enter the Hale Art Exhibition in September and also the Fremantle Harmony Festival in October. I was also invited to demonstrate at the Vic Park Art Awards and I entered two pieces. Surprisingly, they awarded me the $1000 People's Choice Award at the end of the exhibit for the piece New Moon Sliver, Wedge Island Lancelin.

From November to January 2000 I became artist on board the Leeuwin day sails and took more interest in a life on the sea.

In February 2001 I had my last Perth exhibition at the Fly By Night Musicians Club in Fremantle, accompanied by fellow musicians Mukwa Marimba, Kenny Bartley and Friends, The Ghawazee Girls and Dave Lee. The proceeds from the door benefited the improved access and Marine Awareness program on Rottnest Is.

I left Perth in late March 2001 and here I am in Monkey Mia. Who knows where I will end up next.

I am an independent artist and exhibit and market my own work. My ethics lie in promoting a sustainable existence with our fellow environment and its inhabitants with respect, sustainability and awareness.