WHERE THE LIFE OF ART IS LIVED, AND FABLED PAST MEETS VIBRANT PRESENT

Angela paints a wide variety of subjects in oils onsite at Montsalvat, both outdoors or in the studio she shares with artists Don James and Adam Frith.

Dr Jo Cannings’ professional background in the arts includes being a visual artist, actor and dancer including roles with the Australian Ballet Co., Melbourne Theatre Co. and ABC.

Multidisciplinary artist Carmen Tuke is a talented, creative soul. Tuke regularly travels to various locations across Victoria to paint en plein air landscapes. Tuke is also an innovative musician and maker of musical instruments including a wooden harp and a gong.

Ryo Yamauchi is a photographer and printmaker. She works with photogravure, a technique that combines photography and etching. Her practice evolves through the gesture of collecting and pressing - a primitive act of contemplating time, experience and knowledge.

Eltham North-based artist, Rochelle van der Merwe, has been a fine art and portrait photographer since 2013 and a contemporary collage artist since 2020.

Born and raised in a small Zululand town in South Africa in the mid-70's, she found solace and beauty in books, and the surrounding wild beaches and bushveld, a constant whilst growing up in a political landscape she could never make sense of.

Known predominantly for her work on the Blacksmiths' Tree in Strathewen and the Homefront Sculptures in Greensborough War Memorial Park, Amanda has worked for the past decade as a public sculpture designer and Creative Director managing complex art projects. She often works leading a team of highly skilled artisans including blacksmiths, wood carvers, glass artists, ceramicists and filmmakers to realise her designs. Placemaking and celebrating local stories are central to her design process.

Adele O’Shea is a couturier that specialises in bridal and special occasion wear for women.

Adele practices intricate, labour intensive techniques to create artful, elegant, one of a kind gowns, custom made for those who want something just a little bit different.

Adam created the business; “Don’t Punch Judy” (Arty and Inclusive) to bring traditional fun back to communities This work included Puppets, Clowning and Musical Therapy.

Her work begins in the potter’s wheel and is then manipulated, cut and reassembled to evoke a quiet and subtle abstraction. Making and reinterpreting objects is her focus. She pays particular attention to the form and proportion, the profile or outline of a vessel and the interconnectedness between the interior and exterior

Jean-Paul was carving totem figures in chalk early in his childhood. It was fostered by an Arts based Steiner Education and encouraged by his grandmother Nancy Paterson, the painter. His love of sculptural portraiture was further focused at Montsalvat by Matcham Skipper, who also inspired his philosophical inquiry into the Arts and History. His observations and translations into clay give a gentle rendition of the human face.

Born in 1956, son of Matcham Skipper, Damien has lived at Montsalvat since he was very young. An artist and musician, he was offered a place at the Gallery School in Melbourne. Damien gained a Diploma of Fine Art from Preston Institute of Technology in 1981. 

Adam is a tonal oil painter, teacher and resident artist at Montsalvat. He is an avid follower of the works and methods of Max Meldrum and associates.

A tonal oil painter and teacher and resident artist at Montsalvat since 1992. Don has been practicing and teaching the principles of tonal realist painting for many years. Don learned his craft from Shirley Bourne O.A.M and Alan Martin.

An award winning Designer, Gold and Silversmith whose work is timeless and unique. Born in London, Jeanette trained for 9 years as a Gold and Silversmith in England, Germany and Australia. She is an award-winning jeweller whose work can be found in public and private collections worldwide.

Kevin White is an internationally renowned ceramic artist educated in England and Japan. His current research focuses on interpreting the porcelain traditions of Japan and the Japonisme seen in British ceramics of the 19th century.

Mary moves straight to her canvas without preparation and transports those images, allowing them to evolve and take form. She enjoys illustration and would love to continue work in that field. She trusts that will manifest if need be. In the meantime she continues projecting onto canvas what her inner world wants to express. 

Shinobu Kobayashi was born in Japan but started his woodworking career in Australia in 2002. He plans to create more art pieces while inspiring others to learn traditional Scandinavian and Japanese woodworking skills in a beautiful heritage area...and all over the world.

Simon is an established, highly regarded goldsmith who specialises in the creation of unique items of jewellery and other precious objects. Many of his most valuable and unusual pieces have been commissioned by connoisseurs and are held in notable private collections. 

Sue is passionate about fabric. Working from her sewing studio in the glasshouse at Montsalvat, she fuses colour, texture, drape and form to inspire creation in the making ofclothing, cushions and soft furnishings.

Susan Reddrop is a sculptor and glass artist, trained in Sculpture at the Victorian College of the Arts and in Glass at Monash University.