Ania Zmijewska ARAS

I studied painting for five years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons). My oil paintings have won several awards – most recently, the first prize at the 2022 Hunters Hill Art Prize, for the painting “Reflections on Art (Dr Kasia)” and the Guy Warren Prize at Lane Cove’s 2021 artXtra for "After the rain". My work hangs in private collections in Australia and overseas.

Shortly after I moved to Australia over 37 years ago, I spent two years in Albany and the remote community of Exmouth in Western Australia. The Australian light and colours had entranced me as soon as I arrived in Australia, but I was especially awestruck by the unique beauty of North West Cape.

This experience led to my intense interest in interpretation of local landscapes and flowers, and it affected my colour palette dramatically. I abandoned the subdued, wintry tones of Europe and have continued experimenting with vivid hues of yellow, orange, red and blues ever since.

I am particularly interested in the effect of light and texture in nature and the interpretation of that bewitching effect.

I have always enjoyed painting en plein air and believe in the importance of working from nature. Not because i want to copy it, but to feel the elements on my face and hands and to keep both spiritually and physically in touch with the landscape around me.

I was delighted to be elevated to an Associate Member of the Royal Art Society in May 2021. I’m also a member of the Lane Cove Art Society.