Teachers at the Canning Arts Group

Robyn Lowry

Perth born and bred, Robyn grew up amongst an old fashioned rose garden that created the setting for the floral art for which she later became known.
 
While completing her Diploma in Art & Design at Fremantle TAFE, Robyn worked as a landscape gardener, to have a break from study and to be 'amongst the flowers'. Strangely, while supplementing TAFE studies with a private teacher (Cynthia Trotter), Robyn's most disliked subject matter was flowers...obviously a love/hate relationship was just beginning!

While a member of The Alfred Cove Art Association, her floral painting was amongst a collection of work by the group to win the World Wide Dale Rowney Art Competition, judged in London.
 
In 2006 Rob won the International Art Magazine World Art Competition (63 countries competed) for floral art and subsequently wrote articles for this magazine and for The Australian Artist Magazine.
 
Her acrylic paintings have been sold to government bodies, corporate establishments and commercial businesses. In 2007 a large triptych was commissioned for Saint John of God hospital in Subiaco (for their new restaurant) and they also purchased very large prints of her Kimberley landscape series for their cancer ward.
 
Ten years of teaching and exhibiting in displays and competitions led to Robyn being 'discovered' by Linton and Kay Galleries. After six years of full time painting, Robyn's work was enthusiastically represented by Gallery 360 Hay Street, Applecross Framing and Fine Art, Applecross, Fusion Gallery, Mandurah and Artwork Framers, Mandurah. Through sales from these galleries, Robyn’s floral paintings have sold throughout the world.

After establishing herself in the commercial world by working from home in a small studio for 6 years, Robyn has now retired from commission work. Her work can still be found in the galleries, but only when she is producing art and not enjoying her retirement in Mandurah.  

Robyn is now pursuing her main love of teaching and is currently teaching at the Canning Arts Centre. Robyn teaches all mediums in private and commercial classes, and regards teaching as the most rewarding part of all her artistic endeavours because she can pass on her knowledge to others.
 
Robyn says:
 
"If the drive and passion is within you, nothing can prevent you from achieving your goals. I feel very privileged that I have had the opportunity to work and teach in a field that I love."
 
Click here for Rob's Art & Design webpage.

 

John Ilmenstein

John was born in Sydney in 1960. He worked for Hanna Barbarra animation studio in the early 80’s and became the manager of the camera department. John left after working 4 years with them.
He then traveled Australia as a landscape and portrait photographer, settling in Perth to start a business as a supplier of hand painted mallee roots to many souvenir shops, locally and interstate.
He went on to train at Claremont School of Art, then achieved a Bachelor in Visual Arts at Curtin University, majoring in painting and drawing.
He has worked with various councils on public art commissions and held numerous classes and workshops with community groups including adults and youth.
He has taught at Liddelow Homestead for 13 years and joins us in the last term of 2007 as a drawing teacher for children.

Richard Lane

(Guitar, vocals, Keyboards, Harmonica)
From The Stems 1983-1987, reformed 2003-2009

The Stems formed in 1983 when Richard and Dom Mariani were introduced. The band went on to support the likes of The Saints and The Triffids and also undertook several national and international tours, alongside the band like The Hoodoo Gurus and Radio Birdman, to name but a few....

The band has released several albums, with The Rolling Stone magazine nominating them in the top 100 Aussie Albums of all time. The Stems were also invited to perform on the final episode of Countdown.

Besides Richard's busy schedule with The Stems, he also embarked on a solo career in 2008 and is currently working on recording a new album. Richard has also been teaching guitar in Margaret River, and on moving back to Fremantle in 2009 has joined us here at the Canning Art Centre to teach guitar on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Gwenda Brennan

Gwenda says of her art:

I grew up at the beach at Shoalwater Bay and now live in the Perth Hills. Nature is at the heart of my work and I mostly like to create organic forms. I enjoy throwing and then adding on to the thrown form, and continue to explore anything relating to my environment.

I also enjoy clay sculpture and tend to make abstract /simplified body forms, as we humans are such interesting subjects. I commenced pottery lessons at Canning Arts Centre in 1991 and have been a member ever since.

I Completed a Diploma of Visual Art and Craft, specializing in Ceramics at Perth Central TAFE in 2004. In recent years I’ve been teaching pottery at the Art Centre, with classes of students who have had no previous experience, through to advanced students. During these classes we explore wheel throwing, hand building, sculpture, glaze technology and different firing techniques.

During my training years I attended numerous workshops with both overseas and local Ceramic Artists. Now that I am teaching I find the information gained through these workshops has proved beneficial for my students… so many little tips one picks up along the way.

I am passionate about clay as a medium to work with, as there are so very many possibilities from the making through to glazing and firing….. endless learning and great fun.

Canning the Arts Centre provides a wonderful facility in which to work and meet with like minded people.

Danica Wichtermann

Danica has been a tutor at the Canning Arts Centre for the past 2 years, teaching children's Pottery, Adult Pottery Classes and Pottery Plus Activities for people with Disabilities.

I completed my Diploma of Education as well as Bachelor Arts at Curtin University.

Currently Danicas is working on pieces for exhibitions to be held around Perth. For further information please check her web site.

www.rediscovering.com.au

 

Kerrie Adame

Kerrie studied her Bachelor of Arts Degree (Visual Arts) at Monash University in Victoria, Australia; majoring in painting and print making.

Kerrie is married with 2 girls and 2 grandsons and her family have lived in Singapore, Malaysia, Karratha, Mandurah and Gladstone on the central coast of Queensland. They have lived in Perth for 5 years. Kerrie's paintings have become a documentation of her travels and she has found an endless source of inspiration from the various landscapes and environments from which they have lived.

Kerrie's paintings are often large canvases using acrylic paints, or works on paper using mixed medium; layering paints, inks and pastels. They are realistic in form but convey a strong spiritual and emotional pressence. Whether it is painting inspired from the harsh, unforgiving landscape of the north west Pilbara, with its ageless creations of rocks and gorges, or the calm, reflective waters in a marine scene, Kerrie's work looks beyond the surface and interprets her scene with a strong use of colour and feelings.

Kerrie started teaching painting and drawing classes at Karratha TAFE College in the early 1990's and has conducted various workshops in painting landscapes, still life and portraiture. Kerrie has found teaching to be extremely inspiring and rewarding. Teaching enables her to share and encourage each and every student to develop their own special individual talent and to express themseleves through art.

Kerrie has exhibited her work in numerous exhibitions around Australia as well as having successful solo exhibitions. Here in Western Australia Kerrie won the "Award of Excellence" in the Mandurah Art Festival Exhibition for 3 consecutive years in the late 1990's. Kerrie has won Highly Commended and First Prizes in painting in various exhibitions in the State of Western Australia. Her paintings are in private and corporate business collections in Canada, England and across Australia including Alcoa in Perth.

Kerrie is now finding more time since her girls have grown, and have become independent, and is looking forward to the future to self indulge in her passion of painting and teaching. Kerrie believes the creative mind can never be tamed. It will constantly recreate all that it sees.

Jo Haynes

Jo has always had a love of art, with interests ranging from technical drawing and architecture to the fine arts.
She learned technical drawing at TEE level and completed a number of architecture units at Curtin University. Having completed a Bachelor of Science Jo was offered tutoring work at Murdoch University. She really enjoyed teaching and continued to do so for many years. During this time Jo also learnt computer art skills and worked as a freelance graphics artist.
Recently Jo was inspired by other artistic family members to pursue drawing and painting again. Having rediscovered her passion for art, she completed many classes in the past year. After just two terms of classes she entered an art competition and won six awards, also obtaining the “most points award” in the drawing/painting category. Very happy with this success, she is now pursuing her learning in this area in a variety of visual art media, styles and subjects. She has since sold several paintings and has commissions for others.