Maxine Wade

Maxine Wade has always had an interest in creativity and trained as an Art teacher at Melbourne University, going on to teach in a variety of secondary colleges for 27 years. After operating a picture framing business for five years, she now tutors adults in watercolour, drawing, life drawing and mixed media at many art societies in Melbourne

She has been a member of Australian Guild of Realist Artists (AGRA) for 18 years (2 of those serving as a councillor, as Professional Development Officer), a member of the Watercolour Society of Victoria for 17 years & the Victorian Artists Society. Maxine has won many awards for her work, most recently Commended at the Watercolour Society of Australia (Kenneth Jack Memorial Award Exhibition 2010) and Best Watercolour at the 2009 Castlemaine Art Show, with her work being held in both public & private collections.

She has held many solo and joint exhibitions over 35 years and is currently tutoring at Glen Eira Cheltenham Art Group (mixed media), Glen Eira Cheltenham Art Group (watercolour), McClelland Guild of Artists (life drawing), Malvern Artists’ Society (watercolour), VAS (watercolour), was Artist in Residence at Camberwell Grammar School. She has written several articles on her work for the Australian Artist magazine & has judged many art shows. In 2016, she was invited to be a Guest Demonstrator at Camberwell Rotary Art Show.

Maxine operates her own painting tours (paintED.Tours), travelling with her students to both Italy and France over the last ten years. She published her first instruction book on watercolour painting 'Watercolour Warfare' in 2021, available through mail order on her website.

To view more artworks visit her the website.

Artist Statment

I became interested in exploring watercolour in the early 1980s, after attending an exhibition by Greg Allen. I was excited by the strong contrasts that I didn’t think possible in this medium. I now teach it to adult students in a variety of art societies in Melbourne, including VAS, for almost 15 years now. In addition, I facilitate workshops and give demonstrations both in the city and in regional locations.

I am a qualified teacher (B.Ed. Visual Arts), and teaching Art has always been my profession, working in secondary schools for 27 years. In 2011, I formed my company 'paintED.Tours', leading a total of 6 European painting tours, to Italy and France. Due to the current global pandemic, I plan to offer other tours closer to home.

I have been a member of the Watercolour Society of Victoria for almost 30 years, a society from which I have made strong artist friendships and experienced many enjoyable occasions from regularly attending our monthly meetings. I have exhibited in many solo and joint exhibitions over the years, including Camberwell Rotary Art Show, where I was a Guest Artist twice. I worked as an Artist in Residence at Camberwell Grammar for 2 years. My most recent solo exhibition was in The Eileen Mackley Room at VAS in March 2021, which was successfully received, with pleasing sales. For the second time, I have been invited to exhibit at the Artist of the Year Award 2021 at VAS.

Over almost 40 years of watercolour painting, I still have not lost my passion for the medium. Students still keep me thinking afresh with their questions, and I am always excited to discover watercolour artists, both past and present. Watercolour by its very nature is an ephemeral medium, hard to reproduce and notoriously uncooperative! However, I have learned to let it have its own way—and found that this usually produces a better result than I had first envisaged. No progress is made with a fight!
My teaching necessitates instruction in all subject areas, and that, I have always done. Recently in my own work though, I have been enjoying the fascination of portraiture—an endeavour that is both intimidating and alluring. So, this is a new focus for my work, but I continue to paint mainly boats, architecture, figures, and landscapes.

When spare time was enforced in lockdowns in 2020, I decided to begin a watercolour instruction book, called 'Watercolour Warfare'. Thinking it was unlikely to ever be published, I was nevertheless astonished to actually have it in my hand in October 2020. Beautifully designed for me by the illustrious Gavin Fry, it has 14 chapters and 155 pages, covering all aspects of the art of watercolour. I am currently working on book two.

Copies are still available, through mail order for $45.00 + postage, direct from me at:

maxinewade8@msn.com

Or through my website:

www.maxinewade.com