Shelley Pisani
Arts Manager | Creative Producer | Curator | Visual Artist
Current Project
If Trees Could Talk
Joolie Gibbs, Bronwyn Davies and I have known each other as curators and artsworkers for many years. With Joolie and Bronwyn stepping away from full time work a few years ago, they both got back into their visual arts practices with avengeance after years of helping other artists to achieve their career goals and exhibitions. Then the three of use identified the common threads between our practices - we are all inspired by native flora and the bushlands and forests that surround where we live. We started catching up online and dreaming up a project that became "If Trees Could Talk".
Each of us in inspired in different ways to respond to the theme.
We are working towards a collaborative exhibition with some exciting side projects emerging for some of us. We are researching and creating independently from our home studios and through our travels, catching up online and finding opportunities to get together and collaborate in person - where the real magic happens.
Mt Barney Lodge Residency
In January 2024, Joolie, Bron and I were privileged to have been sponsored to be Artists in Residence at Mt Barney Lodge in the beautiful Gold Coast Hinterland. Hosted by Innes and Tracey Larkin in Boolamoola Homestead on the property, we settled n for 5 days of exploring bushland, learning local stories, sharing creative skills and planning the future exhibition outcome of If Trees Could Talk.
Joolie is an experienced paper maker. She brought some pulps with her and we created a new pulp onsite from blades grass. All of us became obsessed making paper to include in our work.
Joolie also showed us how to create natural ink, boiling up iron bark and mistletoe that we each included in work we created during the residency and bottled up to take home.
Each of us played with printmaking including soft carve Lino and gel plate.
Most of our time was spent planning over breakfast on the deck, walking through the property and surrounding national park, testing concepts, taking photos and making journal entries.
I created a banksia print from a specimen collected on a walk with our host Tracey, and a print of a crabapple tree that is near the original homestead on the site. It was used as a hitching tree when visitors would come to the property in the early days.
I also experimented with paper clay impressions of bark, leaves and seed pods.
I have recently completed two pieces that were inspired by a lemon scented gum and mountain ash that I photographed and drew whilst on the property, that includes the handmade papers and inks made at the residency.
Such an inspiring landscape and group of women to be with - a magical place.
Thank you to RADF Bundaberg for also supporting my participation in this residency. The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Bundaberg Regional Council to support regional arts.
