Featured Artist Sylvia Ditchburn

Painter Sylvia Ditchburn captures the Australian landscape in bold colors. To see more of her work, please visit her website.

 

 

The bold and colourful acrylic and gouache works I create are the essence of my art. I am formally trained with four art degrees: Diploma of Fine Arts, Distinction in Museum Curatorship, first class Masters and PhD at James Cook University Townsville NQ.

 

 

I like to call myself a plein air painter in love with the Australian landscape. I had a desire to paint and create art from an early age and have been painting and exhibiting my work for more than thirty five years as a professional artist.

 

 

As a colourist, when I came to tropical north Queensland, I became passionate about the environment with its abundant lushness and fecundity. There is so much diversity in Australia; the tropical rainforests, the Great Barrier Reef near Townsville north of Queensland where I live and the richness of the reds in the dramatic desert interior are all my inspiration.

 

 

I have travelled extensively on art safaris criss-crossing the continent in search of subjects for my art. Fieldwork is very rewarding as I can put more feeling into my art. I have to work quickly because of the changing light and this forces me to be spontaneous. My work ends up being full of energy and colour.

 

 

I take photos for reference and complete the work in my studio. I also create larger studio work on canvas and paper from ideas, concepts and images I have gathered on my excursions.

 

 

Art Studio Residencies are very exciting experiences. I have been fortunate to have been accepted for several residencies including Red Gate Gallery in Beijing, Foshan China, Arthur Boyd’s Bundanon Trust in Nowra, Mulgara Gallery at Sails in the Desert, Uluru central Australia, Radisson Tree Tops and Port Douglas to name a few. These residences have enabled me to extend my vision and experience other cultures, especially in China.

 

 

I have exhibited my art widely throughout Australia and internationally in Russia, Beijing, New York and Paris with more than 55 solo shows and many group shows. My work is represented in collections throughout the world and I have received over 50 art awards.

 

 

I have been invited to judge several art competitions in north Queensland and I have my own boutique gallery, Sylvia Ditchburn Fine Art in Townsville, that features my art and that of local artists. I hold occasional themed group shows and teach plein air painting during the winter months to small groups.

 

 

My work is about capturing a sense of place and Australia is a country full of colour and wonder.

 

Syliva Ditchburn invites you to follow her on Facebook, her Gallery Website and Youtube.

 

 

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