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Berni Ayreart

Sydney born Artist Berni Ayreart (b.1961 - ) Painter, Printmaker, Book maker, and Photographer.

Berni is best known for her Australian Landscape paintings and illustrating Fauna and Flora. Her landscapes have been described as detailed, alluring, and sensitive, revealing an intimate respect for Indigenous culture, sense of place, an understanding of time and light play. Her works are often enhanced by using nature for added texture when painting au plein air.

Berni spent her childhood years in rural NSW where she enjoyed roaming and discovering her environment. It was the colours and textures she found in the bush, the early morning pastel tones, the light and shadows of the countryside, that drew her to paint from an early age. 

Primarily self taught, Berni learnt painting techniques copying works of Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, Kenneth Jack and other well known artists sitting on the floor of the N.S.W. Art Gallery during school holidays. Noticed by her school teacher, the avant-garde Artist George Balyck, Berni was introduced to the wider world of art, and encouraged to pursue her talent painting landscapes and fauna and flora.

Her weekend roaming's to Art Galleries and about the Sydney harbourside seeking inspiration, Berni stumbled on and befriended several prominent 1970's and 1980's Artists who encouraged her passion for art, with many providing her with their old oil paints and discarded canvases. These artists included James R Jackson, Betty Stevens, Jack Lynn, Peter Kingston, and Luna Park mural artist Martin Sharp. 

Further incidental tuition included Art workshops at the Waverley Woollahra School of Art Sydney, Willoughby Artist's Group, and various Graphic Arts related courses at Sydney University of Technology.

Berni exhibited her first oil landscapes at the prestigious Artarmon International Art Gallery at age 15, where she won an UK Arts Scholarship for a traditional oil landscape: 'On the banks of the Murray'. Other early public exhibitions included: the Sydney Royal Easter Agricultural Show, Hyde Park open air weekend exhibitions, Birkenhead Point Art Gallery, The Rocks Gallery Circular Quay,  Ridge St. Gallery North Sydney, Woollahra and Darlinghurst Art Galleries and regional Rotary Art Shows. 

Suffering a debilitating stroke in 1979 Berni was forced to pursue other career paths and so studied Biomedical Forensic Photography. It was only in 1990 while recovering from an accident and confined to a wheel chair Berni was challenged by a neighbour to take up painting once more. Berni returned to the countryside she knew as a child and began once more to paint in earnest, exhibiting in rural Art shows.

1990-present: notable prizes, multiple public choice awards, and acquisitions including: the ANL Mission to Seafarers Maritime Art Prize 'People's Choice' Award; Melbourne University; RMIT Contemporary Art Prize; Best in Show, Best Landscape - regional Rotary Art Shows; and features in the Australian Artist Magazine. Collections include: Shires of Mitchell, Whittlesea and Darabin. The Kingdom of Tonga Royal Collection, City of Rotorua People's Collection, Blackpool Gallery Collection, Vancouver Canada Expat collection, and in private collectors hands in Australia and overseas. 

Now living between properties on the Bellarine and in Daylesford, Berni paints infrequently, entering the Linden Postcard Show; Rotary Camberwell and Altona Art Shows; Archibald; various Printing Awards; Seymour and TARTS Tallarook Members Art Shows; regional Rotary Art shows; and Select Group Exhibitions both in Australia and internationally. 

Berni is a committed volunteer Arts mentor, teacher, curator and Patron of the Arts. She has provided workshops for VCE Art students, isolated regional Indigenous young artists, and taught those who sought more confidence to pursue their passion for art. 

Berni is a Gov. Advisor for - Arts Culture Heritage and Conservation, and has won two Women's Day Awards for promoting Indigenous Arts and for her work with Youth post 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires Vic. 

Berni is proudly a Gadigal Kamilaroi woman.

 


Education

Printing Graphic Arts and Design

Biomedical and Forensic Photography

Arts Specialist, Exhibitions and Events Curator.

Govt. Arts Culture Heritage and Conservation Consultant.

Patron of Youth Arts.

 


Works by Berni Ayreart

Early Morning Mist Rising
Early Morning Mist Rising
Bernie Ayreart
23cm (W) x 13cm (H)
Acrylic
SOLD
My Country, Kamilaroi Land_Berni Ayreart.png
My Country, Kamilaroi Land
Bernie Ayreart
23cm (W) x 13cm (H)
Acrylic & Paper
SOLD
DSC_0260.JPG
One Tree Hill
Berni Ayreart
110cm (W) x 74cm (H) x 2cm (D)
Acrylic

Not for sale
'Lily Pond' by  Berni Ayreart.jpg
Lilypond
Berni Ayreart
80cm (W) x 80cm (H) x 4cm (D)
Acrylic
$ 3,000.00
DSC_0038_05 - Copy.JPG
Western Victoria
Berni Ayreart
82cm (W) x 80cm (H) x 2cm (D)
Acrylic and watercolour
$ 3,000.00
'Waterhole'.jpg
Waterhole
Berni Ayreart
82cm (W) x 54cm (H) x 2.5cm (D)
Acrylic and water colour wash
$ 2,500.00
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Acknowledgment of traditional owners.

We would like to pay our respects to the traditional owners of the land on which our building stands, their leaders, past, present and emerging.