Thea Bourne

After a career as physiotherapist, I took up Art in 1986. I progressed from evening college, through TAFE, to university, where I completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts [with Honours] at UNSW.

Although I had a very successful exhibition of paintings early in my artistic career, the sensitivity and drama of charcoal seduced me so, that for almost 2 decades I used hardly any colour at all, but explored and exploited the versatility of this slow-burned wood.

That the subjects of these drawings were shells from an Aboriginal midden, was not by chance – the resurrection of these shells, with charcoal, from their charcoal-rich grave, had a profound influence on my art.

It is only fairly recently that I have started to connect the shells to their surroundings – places where water and land interact – and where the use of colour is unavoidable.  I am enjoying this journey and know this ride will take me to interesting places, both in the landscape as well as in my art.