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Tara Schyer has been surrounded by art since childhood, and was taught an appreciation for, and the wonder of, beautiful things in art. While she always loved art in high school, it wasn’t until around 15 years ago that she began to paint. Painting mostly abstract landscapes at the time, it was during a year at VCA that she fell in love with the minimalist and hard-edge style.
 
Tara has a ‘co-existing career’ as a psychologist and has been working in private practice for the last 17 years. Taking the plunge and committing to take her long-held art dreams seriously by studying at VCA was a highlight for her.
 
When painting, Tara works from her home studio in Melbourne. “Having a studio at home allows me to become totally absorbed at any time of the day, and to leave my things everywhere. I can look at paintings as I pass them by dozens of times a week, and it helps to reflect on what’s needed for it to progress. It takes me time to reflect, think, feel and sense what’s next with it. I can be quite messy when I’m in the middle of painting and, at the end, I’m surrounded by the colours and the clutter of the process.”
 
Mainly working with acrylic paint, along with pencil and metal leaf to add texture, Tara likes to layer paint and then strip it back to reveal the colours below. “It’s all about the hidden meanings, depths and representations for me.”
 
Tara’s current work blends the hard-edge and abstract scapes of shape and form, exploring the themes of home and land. She is inspired by buildings, angles and architecture, along with simple colours and grand shapes which can create a sense of comfort or cohesion. “I always search for connection in life and in art and seek to feel and present these visual and emotional connections in my paintings.”
 
See Forman's collection of stunning new Tara Schyer works here!

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At age 35, Carla Coulson switched careers to become a photographer. Since then, she has published three books, been featured in both Australian and international magazines, runs the ‘Carla Loves Photography’ blog, and her iconic ‘Italian Joy’ and ‘Jeune Fille En Fleur’ photographs have become collectable items for fans worldwide.

As Carla states on her website, “Like so many people who dream about doing it, at the end of a bad week in Sydney almost 15 years ago, I actually did it. I left my life to go find the right one for me.”

Carla was living in Sydney and running her own clothing business when she found herself living a life she no longer wanted. After winning ‘Client of the Year’ at her local Thai take-away, she knew that it was time for change. She headed to Italy for a one month photography course, which turned into 6 months. From here, she knew that she couldn’t return to her life in Sydney. She made the decision to spend the second half of her life doing something that she loved and enrolled in a photography school in Florence.

A big break came for Carla when her first story was published in Marie Claire Australia. She pitched the magazine a travel story on Naples that she had completed as a final project at photography school. Marie Claire published it, along with another ‘style’ story she had photographed. These thirteen pages opened new doors for Carla.

It was a dream for Carla to publish a book on Italy, the country that she loved so much. After living in Italy for almost three years, she did just that, publishing her first book ‘Italian Joy.’ These photographs were ‘straight from the heart’ and depict Carla’s deep love for Italy. She also says, ‘many readers connected to my story of leaving my life in Sydney and unbeknown to me at the time of writing, I found lots of women discontented with what they were doing with their lives who related to my story.’

The most important thing for Carla in a photo is emotion. Along with great composition, beautiful lighting, a wonderful subject and background, Carla aims to create photos that make the viewer feel something. Her works celebrate life, joy, moments and her subjects.

The Jeune Fille En Fleur (Young Girl in Bloom) series is shot in Paris where Carla has lived since 2004. The series is inspired by incredible women around Carla, who are ‘so innately beautiful and powerful yet often don’t see it in themselves.’ Through these images, she hopes to inspire women to look within at their own beauty, find their uniqueness and tap into their power.

Carla wanted a life full of love, adventure and passion; photography has led her to that life. She has been pushed out of her comfort zone and the learning curve has been a steep one, but it has also brought her so many wonderful life experiences.

Forman is delighted to work with Carla and showcase her honest, beautiful and empowering images. Find her available works here!

You can also read more about Carla and her work on her website.

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Jessica Anderson works from her home in Melbourne’s east, often leaving her little studio space and sprawling across the lounge room area – usually painting with a movie or some old school tunes on in the background, fuelled by tea and snacks!
 
Jessica grew up surrounded by the green rolling hills of Korumburra in South Gippsland and always loved art. “A lot of my family are creative in their different fields, and I was always encouraged to follow my creative passions. I loved studying art and design at school and uni, and have just continued trying to learn ever since, jumping into workshops and short courses along the way.”
 
After moving to Melbourne and studying Visual Arts and Education, Jessica worked as a secondary Art & Design teacher for ten years. “By the time they reach their teenage years, students often doubt their artistic abilities. For many of them, it takes a lot of courage to step outside their comfort zone, try new things and put their work out there! Watching them do this while they find their own unique style and mature as artists and designers is always inspirational for me. It is so lovely and rewarding to be part of that process with them.”
 
While she always continued to create art, it wasn’t until a period of leave from teaching that Jessica really explored painting more seriously. “It was a time of travel and inspiration, and a chance for me to explore, experiment and create. It was also when I met Forman’s Kara and Nick, which was a turning point for me. They are such amazing cheerleaders for local, emerging artists. Meeting them, along with other artists, clients and creatives along the way, has been a real highlight for me.”
 
The natural environment, particularly native flowers, is what predominantly inspires Jessica’s work. She loves the life and movement that they represent, especially when layered in rambling compositions. Using acrylics, she builds the painting up in layers. “I love creating artworks that people can get lost in and see something new each time they look at it, whether it be textures, shapes or glimpses of hidden colours. It brings me so much joy to imagine my works hanging in people’s home as something that they can enjoy, and hopefully get a little lost in, every day.”
 
 
Check out Forman’s collection of Jessica Anderson artworks here!

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A Melbourne based painter and sculptor, Jess Merlo’s distinctive works feature organic shapes, natural textures and earthy tones.

Jess has always been interested in art. As a child, she was always keeping herself entertained through arts and crafts and later in her teen years, she would often sit in her room painting and drawing until the early hours of the morning. ‘In my final year of high school, I took art pretty seriously and thought I’d give it a crack at university, as it was the only thing I could see myself doing in the future.’

Jess discovered her style and conceptual interests while studying Fine Art at Monash University. ‘Studying at university was the best thing I did for my art as it pushed me to explore other realms, artists and movements, which helped me practise excessively, expanding my work to organic abstraction and sculpture.’ Surprisingly, Jess never liked sculpture until she undertook a compulsory sculpture unit as part of her studies. She found so much joy in it that she decided to adopt sculpture as a key part of her practice. Since graduating in 2017, Jess and her work has gone from strength to strength and she is busy with commissions, fairs and exhibitions both in Australia and internationally.

Jess works from her garage studio in the North West of Melbourne. She aims to keep the studio an inspiring space, full of art books, sketchbooks, plants, rocks and other found objects that hold unusual shapes. ‘I make all my work in the warm, sunlit garage, typically (and stupidly) barefoot, blasting music. A long day in the studio for me requires a great playlist, coffee, snacks and sound-cancelling headphones to keep me in the zone.’

Natural environments typically inspire the organic forms in Jess’ paintings and sculptures, including landscapes, vegetation and rock formations that have been eroded and organically shaped by the ocean. She also finds inspiration from visiting countless galleries, reading books and researching other artists who challenge conventional art boundaries. ‘Artists like Hans Arp, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Matisse and Picasso have always been a big inspiration for my paintings in particular. In addition to these amazing artists, I also find the works of Lucio Fontana and Robert Ryman breathtaking.’

When in the process of creating a painting, Jess usually starts by drawing hundreds of shapes and later matches multiple forms together on scrap paper to find the composition that works. When she sculpts, however, she typically has a very loose plan, as she finds the forms often make up their own mind as she works.

Through her art, Jess aims to challenge conventional artistic constructs and encourage a thought-provoking experience for the audience. She also wants to challenge herself through her art, by learning new skills and techniques and working with new materials.

She describes her current work as an exploration of artistic boundaries, ignoring the distinctive line that separates painting from sculpture. ‘Through a lot of experimentation, I am trying to form a hybrid that blurs the line of typical artistic specialisations. By adding textural layers to my paintings and creating works that don’t quite fit in either painting or sculpture constructs, they continue to question conventional artistic rules.’
 
See our range of uber cool Jess Merlo works here!

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Cate Maddy’s Melbourne home studio is surrounded by bushland, clearly inspiring her stunning, layered artworks. Her studio is full of the things that inspire her: vases of native flowers, collections of pebbles, bird nests, drift wood, broken wood and any object that takes her fancy. “I couldn’t live without my collections. My computer of course is also a necessity as well as my phone to take photos of plants as I am walking the parks and bushland.”

Cate has always been interested in art; her whole family are creative in different ways and were brought up to be curious about the world. “I can remember creating a collage of a rooster in Grade 1 with a huge tail made out of hundreds of tiny pieces of paper, when most of the kids probably used about 5 pieces of paper. I remember the satisfaction I felt on completing that even now.”

Cate studied Graphic Art and worked in Advertising for 12 years before going back to study Visual Art at TAFE, followed by a Fine Art Degree at RMIT. While at university, she won the Siemens Award -  a travel scholarship which she used to go on the RMIT Art Tour to New York. ‘That was certainly a highlight and very exciting to go to a city literally dripping with Art.’ Last year, Cate was a finalist in the Kennedy Prize in Adelaide and spent a month studying painting in Venice. She has now exhibited in every major city in Australia, along with several Regional galleries, exhibited in London and sold work internationally. “I think a big highlight for me has been connecting with people on Instagram from all over the world through our art, our pets or whatever is interesting to us. I have been surprised and humbled by that.”

Cate starts a work in acrylic paint, then builds up the layers with oil paint, aiming to create a sense of movement and variations of texture. When discussing her inspirations, Cate describes colour as her passion; with its limitless variations, it is always a source of inspiration for her. “I am inspired by the natural world, especially native flora at the moment. I love Abstract Expressionism and colour work, abstraction and Naïve painting. I love house plants and Indian rugs and paper lanterns – anything bohemian really. Oh, and my kittens of course! They are always getting in the way and making me laugh in the studio.”

Cate describes the underlying theme of ‘relationships’ that run through her works. “My paintings are actually about relationships, believe it or not. We have relationships with everything in this world, so sometimes I might be talking about the relationship we have to nature or maybe a relationship with a person that could be proving a joy or problematic. I like the term ‘expressionism’ because it talks to the way we express ourselves. I express myself through my art in a physical way with big brushstrokes, bold colour, harsh areas and soft moments. My work is emotional and tumultuous like life itself.”
 
See Forman’s collection of stunning Cate Maddy works here!

 

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