Cheryl Reed

I grew up in a working-class family with pictures by classic Australian painters like Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts hanging on the walls, prints cut out from coffee table books and then framed. While my parents liked art, art was not something that they encouraged in their children either as a hobby or a profession. It was actively discouraged, and idle hands were soon put to work elsewhere. So, it wasn’t until much later in life, established in a sensible career, that my thoughts and hands turned to art.

As a beginner I started with online classes, anonymous and self-paced, these courses helped me to learn the basics of drawing and watercolour. I also read widely on contemporary artists and art history. Eventually I joined VAS and other local art societies and met a welcoming and encouraging community of artists. I started with life drawing and watercolour, then added sketchbooking and urban sketching, before venturing into oil painting.  Setting out to learn all I could about oil painting, I was lucky enough to stumble into Lee Machelac’s class and what I think will be a lifelong journey into portraiture – human and animal.  But life can take many paths. While I continue with portraiture, I am also exploring other subjects in oil and looking for to what the future will bring.