‘In charcoal there is versatility and forgivingness, a subtlety and boldness, and I simply love using it to draw dogs, and other creatures … ‘
I am an artist and illustrator, living on Gubbi Gubbi land on the beautiful hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, with my husband, little boy, and crazy spaniel, Rosie. I mainly work in charcoal and ink, though am known to use watercolour and pencil, and even have the odd digital dabble from time to time.
Seeing an animal through the ‘lens’ of charcoal is a particularly fascinating process for me. I love the exquisite depth of feeling and expression that can be captured with this most ancient and simple of drawing tools.
Having used charcoal for decades only to sketch the nude model in life drawing classes, or to scratch out a preliminary subject on canvas, I came to discover the potential held within these unassuming sticks of burnt wood, to powerfully render a subject with a depth, atmosphere and complexity all of their own. I discovered the forgivingness of charcoal, its versatility, its subtlety and its boldness.
And I simply love using it to draw dogs, and other creatures.
“Seeing an animal through the ‘lens’ of charcoal is a particularly fascinating process for me.”
My art education was received atelier-style, through my father Robert Berry – a master of Contemporary Realism. From a very early age he trained my eyes to see the complexity of design in nature, and gave me a thorough grounding in the art of re-interpreting that complexity both on paper and in oils on canvas. Although for some years my passion for the environment steered me onto the career path of writer and conservationist, it was motherhood and life in a new land that eventually circled me back to my artistic roots.
That new land was England, from which my family and I have only recently returned after almost a decade.
We lived in the Cotswolds, the heart of rural England, and as you will see from a glance around my portfolio, I found inspiration in the wild and the not-so-wild elements of the bucolic landscape that surrounded me – from the threatened Skylark hovering in the fields I walked each day, to the beloved (and very English) pooch who accompanied me on these walks.
But the gravitational pull of a vastly different physical earth – the wild coastal landscape I grew up in, that shaped my imagination – became overwhelmingly and undeniably strong. I knew it was time to come home.
And here I am.
Packing up my UK studio, then relocating and setting down creative roots back here in Australia again, has taken a great deal of time and energy. But new material will be coming soon! Other exciting teaching projects are brewing this year too, so keep an eye out for updates on my social media.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy having a look around my website. Please do get in touch if you’d like to chat about commissioning a personal piece – I’d love to hear from you. Go to my contact page for more info.
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