Who said Oils and Wine don’t mix
Painting in the Hinterland at Flame Hill Winery Coming up for the Hinterland Plein Air Painters! This friday we are off to explore and paint the views at the fabulous Flame Hill Winery at 249 Western Ave, Montville QLD 4560. This has to be one of my favourite places to visit. Not only is the…
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Great Art Books
What artist doesn’t love to curl up with a great art book or two or three. Here is a list that may be of interest. FIGURE DRAWING Alla Prima: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Direct Painting : Book by Al Gury The Oil Painter’s Bible: An Essential Reference for the Practising Artist New Edition :…
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Plein Air Oil Painters
Unleash your creativity and discover the magic of ‘En plein-air’ painting with the ‘Hinterland Plein Air Oil Painters’. Our Mission is : To bring oil painters together in the Hinterland —sharing brushes, stories, and the life-changing magic that happens when oil paints meet canvas under open skies. Group organiser Sylvie Carter convenes the paint outs…
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Breaking the surface
Portrait of Gold Medal Paralympian Timonthy Hodge OAM I first met Tim Hodge OAM, at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre which is the same pool he competed in, at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He had earlier won two gold medals and a silver medal in the Paris 2024 Paralympics.…
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En Plein Air Essentials
Painting with Oils Workshop 2025 with Artist Sylvie Carter Location : Montville, Hinterland Sunshine Coast Date: Thursday 25 and Friday 26 September 2025 Time: 9.00am – 4.00pm Immerse yourself in the stunning landscapes of the Sunshine Coast as you master the art of plein air painting! This inspiring…
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life drawing
Life Drawing ‘Long Pose’ for members of the Noosa Arts and Crafts Association – Wallace House, Noosa. Wednesday Afternoons 1.00pm – 4.00pm Term 4: 8, 22, 29 October (Note we don’t run during Noosa Open Studios 10 – 19 October 2025) 5, 12, 19, 26 November 3, 10, 17…
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The Wallace Atelier
This week I finished my first ten weeks with an amazing bunch of artists working together at Wallace House in Noosa. I have been thinking for a while about how this group connects so well and what makes our group work. And I came to the conclusion that…
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Life drawing Long pose
(FULLY BOOKED) TERM 3 2025 …. 10 weeks : July 16, 23, 30 | August 6, 13, 20 and 27 | September 3, 10 and 17 2025. Life Drawing ‘Long Pose’ for members of the Noosa Arts and Crafts Association – Wallace House, Noosa. Wednesday Afternoons 1.30pm –…
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Life Drawing Long Pose
‘Life Drawing Long Pose’ for members of the Noosa Arts and Crafts Association – Wallace House, Noosa. Term 2 starts 23 April 2025. Our group is now fully booked. However if you are interested be sure to ask about our waitlist. I will be convening the sessions and…
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Sandakan memories
Portrait of Keith Botterill, Oil on Board 61cm x 61cm My portrait of the young NX42191 Private (Pte) Keith Botterill, of the 2/19th Infantry Battalion, honours the memory also of VX52128 Gunner (Gnr) Albert Neil Cleary (‘Aka Neil’) of the 2/15th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery. Out of…
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Bush blood with Sylvie Carter
Author Rosalind Lemoh, The Gundaroo Gazette, April issue volume 230, 2023. It’s a muggy wet Autumn day on the tail end of March. The grass on the farms stretching along Sutton road is long and brown despite the rain that’s pouring down. Sylvie Carter, artist and former Gundaroo…
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MONARO Memories
Who doesn’t love the spectacular views of the Monaro plains. I’ve painted three works of this region and each one left me with indelible memories of the windswept landscape. On the road to Baroona was a cool ;en plein air’ oil painting study, which I completed in 2023.…
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Missing Painting
READ ON if you want to discover this rather strange and unique story about my now missing portrait. It was going to be my entry in the 2024 Archibald Art Prize along with a number of portrait exhibition opportunities. No More Mysteriously my portrait of the beautiful and…
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Lake And Beyond Exhibition
An exciting Canberra exhibition is for all those lovers of art, nature and birds. SAVE THE DATES Exhibition Runs from 8 September – 20 October 2024 Yarralumla Gallery and Oaks Brasserie, 36 Robert Boden Grove, Yarralumla, Canberra In exactly 20 days from today, I will be hosting the…
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Last Mission
Oil on Board, W 95cm x H 60cm. Excited as my portrait of my late father’s first cousin, F/O James Joseph Battle and his co-pilot F/O Alfred Campbell Briant has been selected in the Gallipoli Art Prize 2024. I was inspired to capture the spirit of loyalty, respect,…
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Chance
In my portrait of Joe, I explore the underlying theme of chance. I endeavored to capture his spirit and character forged in part from his difficult childhood. I wanted to show his relaxed demeanor, inner strength and passion for acting by providing a visual coherence between his past,…
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Rapt – Award Winning Composer
Margaret Brandman is the accomplished Australian pianist and recording artist, accredited piano teacher, award-winning composer, arranger, and music educator. In her portrait, I aimed to capture her energy ‘grooving’ to one of her many engaging Latin-American rhythmical compositions
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Honouring Corporal Ernest Corey
Finalist in the Gallipoli Art Prize 2023. “Ernest Albert Corey, originally from Numeralla, was one of the most decorated men of World War 1 and the only soldier in the British Commonwealth to be awarded the Military Medal four times.”
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My Exhibition Tips
There are a billion and one thing I learnt from hosting my first exhibition. I thought I’d note them all down and share them here. Here is list of what to consider:
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Paintings at the Lake George Winery
We are pretty lucky to have the four seasons in Canberra and where I live in Wamboin NSW. I am looking forward to heading back to paint at the beautiful Lake George Winery. It has the most spectacular views and it just happens to be where I will…
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Exhibition at Rusten
Well exciting news it is now my Final Days – 3 days to be exact of my oil and watercolour exhibition at Rusten House, 87 Collett Street Queanbeyan (Open 10 – 4pm Wed – Sat).
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Last Five Days – Exhibition at Rusten House
Since my exhibition opening, the weeks have flown by and there are now only five days remaining until my Rusten House Exhibition closes its doors.
Rusten House is packed with history and story, so it matched perfectly with my theme of painting the stories and light in…
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QPRC Arts Trail – Lots to see and do!
It’s all about to take off downtown in Queanbeyan over the weekend of the 15 and 16th October 2022. The upcoming QPRC Arts Trail events and gladly my solo exhibition of over 40 oil and watercolour paintings will be part of it. How exciting is that! Valleys Views…
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Launched Valleys Views and Vines Solo Exhibition
Solo Exhibition by Artist Sylvie Carter Saturday the 1st October 2022 was a momentous occasion for me, with my first ever solo exhibition with over 40 landscape oil and watercolour paintings, at the historic Rusten House Arts Centre, 87 Collett Street in Queanbeyan. My exhibition was sponsored by…
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Valleys Views and Vines – COMING SOON
Each week I’m slowly getting more of my painting framed, catalogued, numbered and ready for transport to my upcoming inaugural solo exhibition 30 September – 22 October 2022 at the beautifully restored historic Rusten House Arts Centre, 87 Collett Street, Queanbeyan on the 1st of October. [The exhibition…
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Life Drawing and Painting Portraits Workgroup
I am excited to be soon be convening a new untutored workgroup with the Art Society of Canberra (‘ASOC’). ‘Life Drawing and Painting Portraits’ on Mondays between 1.30pm – 4.30pm. at Studio D, M16 Artspace, 21 Blaxland Crescent in Griffith Canberra. If you are an artist and interested…
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Upcoming Gallipoli Art Prize 2022
It has been a long journey, preparing, researching, then painting, framing and now delivering my small painting ‘Surveyors of Merauke’ into the Gallipoli Art Prize 2022. I reckon if my Dad and his mates were still alive, they would be happy to have a slice of their story…
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Surveyors of Merauke, PNG
I painted the portrait of my late father with his team of surveyors in Merauke, PNG during WWII, aiming to capture the essence of their spirit of loyalty, courage and comradeship during a difficult period in history.
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Emperors of Rome Podcasters
Emperors of Rome Podcasters’ Oil on Linen, 91.44cm H x 137.16cm W. The painting captures the contemplative and storytelling pose of two Australian history podcasters, bringing metaphorically ‘back to life’ the conversations of the Emperors of Rome. These stories and conversations present both the good and the bad…
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Black Swans New Home
My painting ‘Black Swans on Lake Burley Griffen’ oil on canvas painting, found a new home and owner yesterday.
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Taking Action Today
I am passionate about preserving endangered species and the protecting the environment. After listening to a life changing interview on the ABC Radio program I took up the challenge to no longer purchase products that use palm oil in them. I also found that it was so easy…
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Decisions
Just finished my portrait of Caroline Deeble. My challenge was to create an authentic representation of an artist at a critical time in their journey, making decisions for an upcoming exhibition…
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Tells The Story
How fascinating to meet and paint the portrait of Captain Jim Paterson. I highly recommend, when lockdown is over getting aboard the ‘Cygnet’ tour for a relaxing cruise and to hear the stories of Canberra.
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New Portraits Underway
Preliminary sketch of one of my current portrait subjects.
It is amazing though how much thinking goes into a portrait, for example I started planning for one of my portrait projects early in 2021 and only last week, after the Zoom shoot and about four days of…
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Chan
In his portrait, I endeavoured to capture his look of sheer concentration and determination and then skillfully, using quick bold strokes how he allows the watercolour to do its thing.
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QPRC Art Scene
Magically last month, when Canberra was not in lockdown as it was from 5pm yesterday. I was in the right place at the right time visiting the historic Rusten House Arts Centre in Queanbeyan.
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Learning to make paint with pure pigments
Covering everything you need to know about preparing surfaces and mixing paints, plus all the all important safety precautions when mixing glues, calcium carbonate (for gesso mix) and pure pigments.
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QPRC Art Prize Exhibition
What a great experience to have my landscape painting ‘WILD GRASSES AND DUCK AT WINGECARRIBEE CREEK’ hung in the Queanbean Palarang Council Art Prize Exhibition.
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The Art of Teaching Portraiture
Have you thought about painting either still life or portraits? I recently made a great discovery in my art journey and haven’t looked back.
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My passion for Portraits at the NPG
Highly recommend the exhibition now showing at the National Portrait Gallery – Australian Love Stories.
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Duck Takes Flight at Wingecarribee Creek
I recently sat down to paint this swelling creek at Bowral, or should I say half way between Bowral and Mossvale. On a sunny, warm summers day, I gazed across the field of wild grasses and this startled wild duck in flight. It reminded me of the beautiful…
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Plein Air Painting in Bowral
If you are love to explore and spend time surrounded by beautiful gardens and all things historically Australian, then you might like to keep an eye out on my ‘Historic Houses and Gardens’ website page. I have carefully listed just a few of the many spots often included…
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Setting Creative Goals for 2021
With the new year well underway I recognise how important it is to set some new and exciting creative challenges and goals going forward. Here are just a few goals keeping me inspired and growing. I would love to hear yours?
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Journeying with Arthur Streeton
Streeton Exhibition – 7 Nov 2020 – 14 Feb 2021 Limited number of timed tickets now available for extra sessions: 8-10am Friday-Sunday, 5-10pm Saturday. If you already have an untimed ticket, it is valid at any time. Last week I travelled back to see the Arthur Streeton Exhibition…
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Time to be jolly and painting! Xmas Wishes 2020
Time to be jolly and painting! Xmas Wishes 2020
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Conversations with Anne Spivey
I recently met with artist Anne Spivey, an emerging talent inspired to capture a variety of different subjects, including some lovely landscapes with pastels.
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