Michale Kolbe

This will be my third and last exhibition in Gloucester which I am so looking forward to. My journey started in 1995 following a trip to Zimbabwe where I purchased a small metal bird made from scrap which stirred my creativity. Phase one began with simple but appealing sculptures which were saleable and well received.

Phase two some years later was instigated by posts by Harriet Mead, an exceptional English sculptor. My work took a turn, creating sculptures from old tools which were extremely popular.

Phase three began in March this year after spotting a sculpture made from square metal rod. I took to the idea with a vengeance and some of the results surprised even me. What I love about these is the reflective light from the varying surfaces. Forging and shaping the metal is challenging and so rewarding. So, the learning curve continues.

I am proud to have exhibited my work as far afield as Darwin, Alice Springs and Brisbane, as well as many other galleries in Australia. A high point for me is having supplied and sold multiple works through Gannon House Gallery at The Rocks in Sydney and also Francis Keevil Gallery in Double Bay, also in Sydney.

Rachel Saunders

I am a printmaker with a difference, my prints are my own photos transposed and transformed into unique pieces, the composites evoking a new sense of place or becoming illustration to as yet untold stories. I was raised in a creative family in the UK, my mother was a musician and my father was our family photographer. I learned later in life that my grandfather and his brother had run a photographic business before I was born, so having been given a camera at the age of 6 I unwittingly began to follow in family footsteps.

In 1983 I moved to rural Australia and fell in love with the bush, the light, the open expanses and the huge skies of the landscape west of the Great Divide. In 1995 I attended the Sydney College of Fine Arts attaining a BfA in Visual Arts and on leaving, took up work in a photographic studio as an assistant. This led to my later becoming a professional photographer working in some of the major advertising studios in Sydney. Life’s path then brought me from the city to a rural property near Gloucester, NSW. This move renewed my passion for capturing the beautiful landscape and it’s both wild and domesticated inhabitants with a greater connection to it’s ever changing weather patterns, cloud formations & the differing lightfall of the seasons.

My subject matter has changed little from when I was a child, I still love photographing animals, landscapes & plants, as well as capturing and transforming the built & constructed environment into pictorial artwork. I like to combine images to create new scenes with a visual intricacy that can tell new stories, after being inspired by an accidental ‘double exposure’ in the darkroom some years ago. My works here reflect a love for printmaking and have incorporated a process in my work that produces a printerly effect of crisp outlines inspired by Japanese woodblock prints and the work of Cressida Campbell an artist whose outstanding work I both admire immensely.

I take my photos using both my Nikon 35mm digital slr camera, and my iphone, processing through Adobe Photoshop as I have for years now. All the images used are my own and none have been created using AI technology. I treat each piece as an artwork and print on archival museum quality fine art paper with archival ink to enhance the depth of the image and add quality and longevity to what may otherwise be considered ‘just a print’. I am also a painter and sculptor willing to try my hand at most things creative. This is my third exhibition in the Gloucester Gallery, where I was Gallery Director for five years from 2015.

Rachel Saunders exhibition listing:

1989 'Size Isn't Everything' Arthaus, Sydney, NSW.

1991 'Dissonance' Arthaus, Sydney, NSW.

1993 CoFA Student Exhibition Arthaus, Sydney, NSW.

1994 'No Sign of a Carat' CoFA Gallery, Sydney, NSW.

1994 'Circuits of Pleasure'  Arthaus, Sydney, NSW.

1994 Graduating Students Exhibition, Sydney, NSW.

1995 'Clever Girls' Cofa Gallery, Sydney,NSW.

1995 Womens Showcase, Studio Showcase, Drummoyne,   NSW.

1995 Crossings, Arthaus, Newtown,NSW.

2005 'Pix from the Stix’ competition, Gloucester Gallery, NSW.

2012 Coordinator and exhibitor for Pixel Studios commercial Photography studio annual 'in house' exhibition.

2013 'Pix from the Stix' photography competition, Gloucester Gallery, NSW 1st prize 'Lie of the Land' category

2013 Gloucester Art Trail, Buckets Way Motel, Gloucester, NSW

2014 'Pix from the Stix' photography competition, Gloucester Gallery, NSW. 1st prize 'Lie of the Land' category and overall winner.

2014 ‘Max Dupain reinterpreted’ group show exhibitor, Gloucester Gallery, NSW.

2015 ‘Double Take’ solo exhibition Gloucester Gallery

2017 'Pix from the Stix' photography competition, Gloucester Gallery, NSW – Prize winner.

2018 Gloucester Art Society Spring Group exhibition

2019 Gloucester Art Society Portrait Prize exhibition

2019 Gloucester Art Society Spring Group exhibition

2019 ‘All Around Us’ – Group exhibition Balmain Watchhouse

2020 Gloucester Art Society Spring Group exhibition

2021 ‘Country Days, Country Ways’ joint exhibition with John Andrews.

2021 Gloucester Art Society Spring Group exhibition

2021 Gloucester Art Society Portrait Prize exhibition

2022 Gloucester Art Society Spring Group exhibition

2022 'Pix from the Stix' photography competition, Gloucester Gallery, NSW 1st Prize 'Lie of the Land' category

2023 Gloucester Art Society Spring Group exhibition

2023 Dungog Arts Society annual exhibition 1st Prize Photography

2023 Great Lakes Art Society UtB&BtD group exhibition

2023 C Studios Group exhibition – Newcastle

2022 'Pix from the Stix' photography competition, Gloucester Gallery, NSW - 1st Prize

2024 Gloucester Art Society Spring Group exhibition

2024 Dungog Arts Society annual exhibition 2 nd Prize Photography

2024 'Pix from the Stix' photography competition, Gloucester Gallery, NSW -1st Prize - NYN category

2025 Dungog Arts Society Tops exhibition 1 st & 2 nd Prizes Photography

2025 Gloucester Art Society Spring Group exhibition