ABOUT

BIOGRAPHY

Sylvie Carter is a contemporary representational artist based in Canberra, Australia. Sylvie specialises in painting landscapes and portraits, working in oils and watercolour.

Living in the bush for many years has instilled in Sylvie a deep sense of respect for all nature, its beauty and unpredictability. In her landscape paintings she looks to capture the memories of the place including its light, subtle tones and shapes. In her portraiture work, she enjoys capturing the authenticity and passion of her subjects and their back-story. She prefers to paint from real life, using the sight-size technique, over a few sittings.

Sylvie started her artist journey creating large figurative clay sculptures at high school in Canberra and whilst she has always been fascinated in art and art history, she did not pursue her interest formally in painting until 2007, when she attended evening classes in watercolour at the Australian National University School of Art and Designs’ Centre for Continuing Education.

In 2013, Sylvie began painting with oils finding inspiration in the work of artists including Hugh Ramsay, Tom Roberts, Nora and Hans Heysen, Clarisse Beckett, Esther Gwendolyn “Stella” Bowen and Arthur Streeton, as well as American artists John Singer Sargent, Thomas Eakins, Edward Hopper and Norman Rockwell.

Sylvie is a full-time professional artist. When she is not painting outdoors or in her home studio, she enjoys making short films, travelling, and learning to speak Italian.