Malua Bay artist Dorothy Whiteman has painted and drawn most of her life, working in oils, inks, acrylics and watercolour.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Largely self taught, Dorothy has found art has been a journey of discovery.
She says she really learnt to look at the subject during anatomical drawing classes taken at East Sydney Tech, acquired the skills necessary to flesh out and finish a painting at a friend’s studio in Nowra, and her early interest in folk art led to an appreciation of design, pattern and form.
When she arrived in the Batemans Bay area, Dorothy mainly practised plein air painting that is out-of-doors in front of the landscape or subject – and she often still does.
But in 2014 Dorothy joined the experimental media classes run by artist Beth Monahan and through her found a whole new way of using materials and looking at art.
“Beth’s classes opened up doors in art that I didn’t even know were there! It was exciting and allowed me to do whatever I wanted,” Dorothy said.
Dorothy also enjoys the immediacy of collage using found, natural objects such as shed snakeskin and leaves collected on walks out to Pretty Point Reserve to construct her artworks, or newspaper cuttings to build up a wry commentary on the art world.
A recent exhibition by Dorothy at The Gallery in Mogo featured a large, black and orange geometric abstract painted on foil; a collage of handmade paper soaked in coffee of different strengths and torn into interesting shapes, appropriately titled ‘Coffee Time’; a colourful ink study of a strutting cockerel, called ‘The Boss’; and glowing, acrylic paintings of forests, trees and the morning sky.
The playful side of Dorothy’s art and personality also comes out in her small figurines and carvings in stone and wood of local wildlife and the occasional feline.
More examples of Dorothy’s work can be seen at The Gallery in Mogo
The Gallery is a co-operative venture of CABBI, a society open to local arts and crafts practitioners.
People interested in finding out more about CABBI should drop in to The Gallery, Mogo or phone 02 4474 2243.