Celinè DONEGAN

‘The inspiration for my work predominantly comes from the colours and designs in nature. I love to work intuitively and not get too hindered by the constraints of an intellectual/academic approach to making art. My art comes from a personal place and life experiences. I am drawn to making the everyday magical, lyrical, opulent, alive. I hope my work reminds you that the world can be and is a beautiful place and connects you with the heart and soul of life’.

Previous creative endeavours include 6 years in performing arts as principal performer and costume designer for the ‘Great Bowing Company’, (visual/physical and contemporary music theatre company), based in Sydney in the late 80s – early 90s with significant national and international touring. Celine is an expressionist style painter working in oils. Her paintings have been exhibited in South Australian galleries since 2002 and are in collections in Australia, England, Germany, France and Croatia.

Celinè is establishing her studio in Macclesfield, Adelaide Hills, South Australia. In 2007 she completed a study trip to New York, Canada and Europe.

‘I see beauty everywhere from the large to small scale. I photograph locally and when I travel and then do quick, spontaneous swatches to get an overall sense of the colour combinations, design and composition of my works. In contrast my oil paintings take time – utilising the richness of oils to maximise the interplay of colour, impasto, glazing, texture, drawing and palate knife techniques, all of which give a 3 dimensional quality to the surface of the canvas. Creating a painting for me involves a balance between letting go to the organic process of working with my imagination and intuition and marrying the more formal elements of colour combinations, design and mark-making as the painting emerges over time.’

This exhibition at The Convent, Daylesford is Celinè’s first solo exhibition in Victoria.