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​MICHAEL READ              [email protected]
 
From early years I pursued a casual but untutored interest in art practice, one unaffected by my architectural training. I took up pastel painting in the 1980s after a short CEA course, seemingly the most expedient way, along with photography, of furnishing our house with affordable, original paintings or prints. This activity ceased when I ran out of wall space.
 
After retiring from professional activities in the early 2010s I returned to art, attending pastel classes with Linda Finch through Boroondara City Council’s Community Arts’ Program and life drawing classes with Liz Martin. I am a current member of the Pastel Society of Victoria.
 
I joined the Elgin Artists this year, so this is my first exhibition with the Elgin Artist and includes landscapes from my early and later periods of painting.
RON MULLER                   [email protected]
 
After retiring from my ‘real job’, I revived my boyhood interest in art. I soon found my natural medium in water colour as it seemed to best suit my inclination to express the light, atmosphere and beauty of the natural environment, especially the Australian landscape. Not surprisingly, I was influenced by the work of Hans Heysen and the Romantic tradition, especially JW Turner and Romantic poets. The light of early morning and late afternoon are for me, ‘the magic hours’ and I seek to often interpret subjects with the aim of creating ‘visual poetry’. 
  
Art can be a rather solitary pursuit and I have enjoyed the balance of teaching and taking workshops, especially overseas in Tuscany and France. After doing a demonstration for the Elgin Artists in 2014, I joined the group not only to paint at the studio but to enjoy the stimulation of socialising with like minded people who find continuing satisfaction in the creative process. For more information about my background, images of my work, awards etc, please refer to my website: www.ronmuller.com.au
LIZ MONTGOMERY                   [email protected]
 
I have been painting for a few years now, and since joining the Elgin Artists in 2015, not only have I had much fun, education, encouragement and expansion of horizons in art, but the chance to socialise with a greatly diverse group of artistic people. In all that time I have had the opportunity to exhibit along with the group in its annual exhibitions, even despite the difficulties incurred because of lockdown.
 
This year, my work depicts four subjects in oil paint, of which three are capturing the landscape of my much-beloved Central Australia after a recent 2-week trip there. The fourth work shows a single Strelitzia flower – I have always been fascinated with blooms.
 
In the watercolours, differing scenes are shown. One is of the original spring which became the core of the settlement later known as Alice Springs, which were also done on my trip to Central Oz. The other four watercolours are of subjects which have been of interest to me, and I have enjoyed putting the paint to paper. 
JENNY MOLES     AM                [email protected]  
 
I have been a member of Elgin Artists and exhibited annually with them for ten years. I expect this will be the last time I exhibit with the group as I am planning to move to Canberra in coming months.
 
My art work is quite diverse in terms of medium and to some extent subject matter: I have previously shown life drawings, landscape paintings, the figure as landscape. and more recently paper collages, and collage and ink drawings. I especially love drawing in charcoal and pastel.
 
For this 2025 exhibition, I am showing three recent and three considerably older life drawings. These are products of ongoing attendance at life drawing sessions over many years. The older drawings are a product of longer poses than the more recent casual evening sessions allow. For me, life drawing continues to be both challenging and educative. 
PETER JONES                            [email protected]
 
I took up botanical art on my retirement some 20 years ago. The precision of the watercolour medium had unexpected benefits, controlling the dyskinesia which goes with Parkinson's. When the brush was held, the shaking diminished.
I soon became involved with landscape painting which led to many happy hours in Melbourne and Italy.
 
I joined the Elgin Artists' Group in 2017 and have enjoyed their company ever since. Diverse interests and backgrounds lead to good conversation along with the painting, wine and travel.
 
The two paintings I have selected to exhibit, reflect the enjoyment I have experienced in Venice and Tuscany...life long memories.. what a joy!
DAVID JELLIE                                     [email protected]  
 
I have recently returned to painting after quite a while writing. One of the paintings in this exhibition – Mountain landscape – I did especially for this exhibition but all the other paintings were done some time ago. Two of them have not been exhibited before.
 
I don’t seek to depict realism in my painting. In fact, I continually strive to become more abstract – but it is difficult to achieve.  It is a battle between the eyes and the mind.  I quite deliberately exaggerate shapes and colours not so much to change the nature of what I am painting but to express my feeling of what I am seeing. Like the Impressionists, I seek not to render the landscape, but the sensation produced by the landscape.
 
I love the solitude of painting but I also love the companionship of my fellow Elgin Artists.
RON HUNT                               [email protected]
 
For as long as I can remember I have drawn, written poetry and painted using a variety of media.  I have had studios in Manton Lane, Melbourne, Appleton Street Galleries, Richmond, and now work in the Elgin Artists studio in Elgin Place, Hawthorn.
 
I was short listed as a finalist in the Clifton Art Prize and was the Director and Editor of the film “This is Chadstone” which won the Grand Prix at the Milan UNESCO Film Festival. 
 
I have worked on Commission and have exhibited with Emerald Hill Artists and The Elgin Artists.
 
I currently paint with Egg Tempera, Oil and Charcoal, as shown in the Exhibition.     
LOUISE HILLS                       [email protected]
 
My artistic journey started when I finished my secondary education and went to the RMIT Art School for two years. I then trained as an art teacher and spent the next 5 years in state and private schools. I also worked as an art therapist in a psychiatric facility. After many years moving between Victoria, South Australia and New Zealand I decided to return to art classes.
 
These comprised adult education classes in watercolour in Melbourne and Adelaide, a week with Tony Smibert in Tasmania, and several courses at the Central School of Art in Adelaide, and then joining the Adelaide Art Society, where I enjoyed many life drawing sessions. Following these courses I exhibited with the Pastel Society, Adelaide Art Society and at the Adelaide Masonic Exhibition, and now with the Elgin Artists.
I currently enjoy working with coloured pencil and other drawing media, as seen in this exhibition.
IAN CUNNINGHAM               [email protected]
 
This is my fifteenth exhibition with the Elgin Studio which continues to provide stimulus and pleasure.
 
It features landscapes started en plein air and finished in the studio done on our last three excursions to Taggerty, Paynesville and Port Fairy and also at Saltwater Creek, Moama and Mount Hotham. I am provoked to attempt to capture scenes that feature unusual light or balance or depth or mood or emotion.
 
I am a retired surgeon and currently battle to convert 40 hectares of off-grid pasture back to native grass and woodland with near zero emissions.
TIM COURTNEY                      [email protected]

My background in Industrial Design has fundamentally shaped the way I engage with the world, especially when it comes to creative pursuits like drawing and painting. The discipline instilled in me a habit of seeing everything through the lenses of form, function, and, most importantly, human experience. It goes beyond simply making things look good or work well - it's about understanding how people interact with objects and spaces, and what those interactions reveal about both the design and ourselves.
 
My interest in art, particularly drawing and painting, stems from the same foundation of observation. When I pick up a pencil or a brush, I rely on the skills I honed as a design student: looking closely, questioning assumptions, and interpreting what I see in a way that feels genuine.
 
I don't hold my finished works too tightly. For me, the value lies not in producing a flawless drawing or painting.
DEE CLEMENTS              [email protected]  
 
Membership of The Elgin Artists group has been life changing for me.  We have brought each other artistic companionship and inspiration. We are a diverse group but we enjoy painting together in our studio, in our Country and overseas.

Personally I have always enjoyed drawing and painting but more so since retirement. A Stroke sixteen years ago fortunately did not affect my preferred hand. I have experimented with oils, acrylics, charcoal and watercolour but my current medium is soft pastel. I usually work in my garage at Barwon Heads where the fine dust and mess does the least damage.

It has been an honour to be President of this loosely knit group over recent years and to help coordinate our artistic activities and excursions. 
GORDON CARTER           [email protected]  
 
I have been engaged in producing ‘art’ since retiring from work some 14 years ago, including printmaking (etching and lino cut) and oil painting. The last 8 years have been spent in the studio of the Elgin Artists where I have been able to develop my painting of different subject matters, including still life and animals.

I predominantly favour ‘still life’ such as flowers, plants, vessels and objects using the mediums of oil and watercolour, although in this selection I have concentrated in oil.