News– Page 3 – FORMAN ART & FRAMING

Jun 01, 2021

MEET THE ARTIST: SALLY HUTCHINSON

Meet our newest artist Sally Hutchinson! Sally is a Melbourne based multidisciplinary artist. She obtained her Diploma of Art and Design at Prahran College (now Swinburne College) specialising in graphic design. Sally then went on to work in advertising, fashion and design studios in Melbourne and London. Her background in graphic and fashion design is evident in her highly textural artwork.

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Left: 'After the Bushfire' Right: 'Floating Away'

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“My artwork reflects things in my life that inspire me; my love of flowers, their simplicity, colour tone & textures as well as the everyday beauty in nature.”

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So much work and love goes into each and every artwork Sally creates. She incorporates her knowledge of textiles, painting, printing, pattern and embroidery into her works. Layering various techniques together, every artwork is extremely labor intensive. Her process often involves photographing her subjects such as flowers, using digital and gelli printing, hand painting her fabrics and finishing with hand embroidery. The detail in Sally’s work is just stunning and her embroidery adds an elegant texture.

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Close up of 'Blue Haven' - 285 x 335mm

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Sally’s works are truly a labor of love. Using flowers from events in her life such as birthdays, Mother’s Day and weddings, she weaves joy and affection into her art.

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“I often recall many happy memories from my paintings as each piece has flowers that I have photographed from my birthday, friend’s birthdays, Mother’s Day or Wedding flowers. As I say my everlasting flowers.”

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Welcome to the gallery Sally! You can view Sally’s artworks on our site here and pop into the gallery anytime to experience them up close in person.

May 20, 2021

MEET THE ARTIST: TANIA BLANCHARD

It is our pleasure to introduce you to our new artist Tania Blanchard! Tania is an Australian artist based in Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast. Her artwork is known for her own signature style, building layers of “impasto dots” reminiscent of a minimalistic and impressionistic scene. This unique method of application gives her paintings a mesmerising effect and an indulgent texture you almost want to reach out and touch.

“I’ve always been obsessed with colour, colour theory and combining it with texture. Texture is something I am very drawn to”

Tania grew up in Adelaide where she obtained a degree in Visual Arts and a diploma in Graphic Design. She has developed and evolved her style over the last decade, practicing her skills and learning to trust her intuition.

In early 2020, Tania made the decision to move from her old studio space and build a large studio at her home that she now works from. Her typical day begins with a Chai Tea, or three, her paint spatula in hand and her dog Millie by her side.

Working with acrylic on canvas, she hand mixes her paints with a thickener to get the consistency she desires. His helps achieve the lush texture in her paintings that she applies in layers with her palette knife. Tania also records every colour she uses in each artwork, which can sometimes be more than 100 different hues in a single work!

“I’ll explore anything and everything. The only thing that stops me doing more work on a piece is time. My technique takes time and can’t be rushed. If I didn’t spend so much time with each painting I truly believe the “Wow” factor would not be there.”

Her inspirations include greats such as Matisse, Mark Rothko and Josef Albers whom she admires for their use of colour and their compositions.

'Gravitation' - 1400 x 1400mm

Tania’s work has been described as hypnotic and emotional. She likes to push colour variants using colour to provoke emotion. Anyone viewing her incredible artwork in person could not deny the effect. You can shop her work here or visit our gallery to experience it in person.

May 18, 2021

MEET THE ARTIST: AUDREY KEARNS

We love local artists and are very excited to introduce you to Audrey Kearns who is a local emerging visual artist based in Hawthorn East. Audrey is currently completing her master’s degree from The University of Melbourne. She grew up in North Carlton, with sojourns in Darwin, Brisbane and Echuca. The external surroundings from her childhood have significantly informed her artistic practice.

Left: 'Tangerine Kitchen' - 430 x 530mm Right: 'Early Fall' - 340 x 440mm

Audrey works in acrylics and oils on canvas exploring colour and shape. Her paintings use texture and organic shapes to imbue everyday objects with a life beyond the ordinary. Showing a deep understanding of colour in her works, she is very methodical in her choice of colours and how she applies them.

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“I often mix them myself or use specialists such as Porter’s Paints to achieve the pigment I desire. This helps me convey certain styles or eras that I aim to communicate.”

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Using bold palettes that often favour oriental hues, she forms tonal relationships in her compositions. Her style is known for using clean lines and colour-blocking giving her artworks a retro edge.

While creating her artworks, she reflects on her own experience of the Australian landscape and uses everyday objects as reference points. Like all artist, Audrey has many artists that inspire her both Australian and international, from throughout history to the present day. These include Cuban American artist Carmen Herrera and Ukrainian-American artist Janet Sobel.

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“Among Australian artists, I particularly admire Margaret Preston and have had an affinity since childhood for both Vincent van Gogh and Henri Matisse and their dedicated quest for expression through colour and form.”

Audrey’s creative process is very labour intensive, it often takes weeks for her artworks to reach their final form.

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“I prime my own canvases by using a thick texture paste with a palette knife before applying several layers of liquid primer. This creates smooth yet textured details and adds a dimension to the space of the painting. I build further upon their texture by underpainting, often in bold colours.”

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Audrey has developed a style that is inherently her own, full of texture, clean lines, beautiful colour and retro vibes. You can shop her artworks here.

May 06, 2021

'BEAUTY IN BALANCE' - CARLA COULSON'S NEWEST GIRL IN THE FLORAL ARMY!

We are thrilled to introduce you to THE BRAND NEW MEMBER of Carla Coulson’s Young Girl In Bloom collection!

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You are probably familiar with Carla’s flower wielding Floral Army as we love it so much here at Forman. Carla created the series with the aim to inspire women of all ages to love and believe in themselves and she has nailed the brief!

Now let’s hand it over to Carla to tell you all about her new girl ‘Beauty In Balance’….

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'Beauty In Balance'

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“In balance there is beauty, harmony and the things that man and womankind have been searching for throughout time. When we feel beauty, it’s a love rush of pleasure to our senses and a lift to our spirit that changes everything.

Balance is a place of harmony deep within us, we feel our internal shapes, form and feelings sit lovingly together and when we are in this place we are rock solid steady, we have the sum of two equal parts working for us and it allows us to go further without pushing against life.

This girl was photographed in Paris in the 6th arrondissement with a big bunch of lilac to remind you whenever you feel out of harmony all you need to do is take a step in the opposite direction to find the beauty of balance within you.”

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Ahhhhh, the harmony and balance that we all crave is online now. Please follow the link to discover Beauty In Balance here.

Apr 29, 2021

Mother's Day 2021

The day we get to show our love and appreciation for our mother figures is almost here! We’ve created this gift guide for you by curating a selection of artworks to suit all the amazing mums out there.

If you order by May 2nd we’ll get the artwork to you before Mother’s Day or you can pick up in-store.

To be gifted an artwork chosen by a loved one is such a special gift. Spoil her this Mother’s Day with these gorgeous original works.

For the mum that takes great joy in her garden, these gorgeous floral artworks by Rachael Little bring comfort and cheer without even requiring watering! Shop her works here.

We've created collections to make it easy for you to shop in accordance with your budget. You can view our artworks under $500 here and under $1000 here. And If you feel like splurging on an incredible piece of art, you can find our large scale artwork here.

These Carla Coulson prints inspire women to look within at their own beauty, find their uniqueness and tap into their power, a beautiful gift for any mum! Shop them here.

For the jet setting mum who is now an armchair traveller. These beautiful works will take you around the world to Europe and back again. Shop this breathtaking collection of prints here.

When abstract is her thing, these playful treats by Laura Thomas will satisfy her lust for colour. Shop Laura’s work here.

For when you want to blow the budget, these incredible works pack a huge visual punch and make an extraordinary gift, like this one by Tania Blanchard. You can shop our range of large scale artworks here.

Happy browsing and have a wonderful Mother’s Day with your loved ones!