Melbo Me lb ou u r n e Soc So ciet ie tyy o f Wo m men en Painters & Sculptors
CHANGING PERSPECTIVES 117 TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION Wednesday 7 - Sunday 18 October 2026
Online Catalogue
MSWPS aims to connect and provide an empowering network of Victorian Women Artists
The Melbourne Society of Women Painters & Sculptors (MSWPS) acknowledges and respects the continuing spiritual connection with all women of good will who have come before us on this land.
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Melbourne Society of Women Painters & Sculptors The Melbourne Society of Women Painters & Sculptors (MSWPS) is proud to present its 117th Annual Exhibition, Changing Perspectives, 2026. A celebration of the creativity and diversity by contemporary women artists.
home, the Ola Cohn House, continues to be a vibrant hub for life drawing sessions, committee meetings and monthly gatherings. Its leafy sculpture garden also provides the perfect setting for the annual winter and Christmas luncheons.
The Victorian Artists Society in East Melbourne (VAS), will host this highly anticipated exhibition from 7th - 18th October. New works created over the past two years by MSWPS members will be showcased. Disciplines include painting, printmaking, and sculpture, with mediums ranging from oil and acrylic to bronze, ceramic, timber, glass, and more.
Members also enjoy social gatherings at regional and city galleries, paint-outs and workshops. These activities foster lasting friendships and the exchange of ideas, which are so vital for artists who work in solitude.
A hard copy catalogue will be available at the exhibition, and is also accessible online. The MSWPS website provides a platform to promote member profiles, artworks, and events throughout the year. Founded in 1902 by former students of the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, MSWPS has a proud history of supporting women artists through exhibitions, community, and advocacy. Notable past members include Violet Teague, A.M.E. Bale, Ethel Carrick Fox, Sybil Craig and Valda Cuming OAM. The Society remains grateful for the generous bequest of sculptor Ola Cohn, President of MSWPS for 15 years, until her passing in 1964. Her East Melbourne 2
Through its exhibitions, events, and strong community, MSWPS continues to bring women artists together to share their work with audiences across Australia and beyond.
This year’s exhibition will be assessed by a distinguished judging panel.
Dr Catherine Bell & Erika Gofton will award the following Prizes:
Dr Catherine Bell is a multi-disciplinary artist, curator, and Professor of Visual Art in the Faculty of Education and Arts at Australian Catholic University (ACU), where she is also Director of the ACU Melbourne Gallery. Her socially engaged practice explores how modes of care can be communicated through relational and situational forms of creativity. Bell curated the NETSsupported national touring exhibition Fem-affinity (2020–21), which examines inclusive practice as a feminist mode of production. She was awarded a Gertrude Contemporary studio (2020–23) and will present a mid-career survey exhibition, curated by Hamish Sawyer, at Linden New Art in late 2026. She is represented by Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
Annie Davison Oliver Award $2,000.00 Annie Davison Oliver was an active member of the Society for 67 years until her death at the age of 94 in 1997. Not only was she MSWPS treasurer for many years, but she was also a generous benefactor. MSWPS established the Annie Davison Oliver award in her honour. The bequest from her estate guarantees the award in perpetuity.
Erika Gofton is a Naarm-based multidisciplinary artist exploring what it is to be human. She earned her BFA from TAS and continued her studies in London and New York. Her solo exhibitions span Melbourne, Sydney, and Queensland, and she has participated in numerous group shows worldwide. Erika has been a finalist in various prestigious art prizes. A passionate educator, she has taught at VCA and other institutions and founded The Art Room, an independent art school in Melbourne, in 2009. In 2023, she co-founded Parallel Projects, a gallery, with her creative partner, Ilona Nelson.
Valda Cuming Sculpture Award $1,000.00 Valda Cuming OAM served on the MSWPS committee for many of her 25 years as a member of the Society. Valda was recognized for her proficiency in sculpture using range of materials including wood, ceramic and stone. At the pinnacle of her career in 2019, she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to the Arts. The Valda Cuming Sculpture Award was established by MSWPS in recognition of her family's bequest and Valda’s impressive achievements.
Dr Catherine Bell
Erika Gofton 3
Judith Perrey Award Oil/Acrylic $1,000.00
Encouragement Award $300.00
Judith joined MSWPS in 1961 and became a valued life member holding every committee office. As Bulletin editor, she contributed witty and insightful poems enjoyed by members. Her talents extended to the preparation of the Jood Quiz (italics) for the winter and Christmas luncheons.
The newly established MSWPS Encouragement Award aims to encourage young women artists in their ongoing practice. Six young artists will be chosen from their portfolios.
Jo Bennett Award Works on Paper $1,000.00 Jo joined the Society in 1975 and was an esteemed life member. She worked in various capacities on the committee throughout the 1980s and 1990s and was life drawing monitor until late in the next decade. She was committed to fostering innovation and enquiry. We acknowledge our Sponsor and their generous support: Senior Art Supplies
Highly Commended $250.00 each Four Awards are selected at the Judges' discretion.
MSWPS Award $500.00 During the exhibition, members vote for the MSWPS Award which is presented at the Christmas luncheon.
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Changing Perspectives Artworks Angela Abbott
Lynn Banna
Yarraside Bench Springtime Warrandyte Oil on Linen 21 x 15cm $ 580.00
Golden light & wild flowers Watercolour and acrylic ink on paper 56 x 38cm $ 750.00
I joined my students from Montsalvat in a class paint-out by the Yarra when the wattles were flowering. At Warrandyte, riverside, each visit sees change. Once-familiar edges - often rocky - morph into the barrage and the river flow and levels dictate the visual mood. Effect and physical situation. This makes for feelings of respect and appreciation. As a result of this, the public have to weave their activity within the gentle but sure dictates of the forces of nature. On the occasion of this visit, the base of this bench and others, were inundated by river flow!
Golden Light & Wildflowers. There is a particular magic in the way light dances across a meadow, catching the hidden shimmer of nature. This piece was a joy to create, blending the soft flow of watercolor with the rich, textured shimmer of acrylic inks to bring those golden petals to life. I’m constantly inspired by the delicate resilience of botanical forms and the way mixed media allows for such expressive granulation and depth.
Safe Haven Watercolour on paper 56 x 38cm $ 750.00
Awaiting the Model. Life Class Oil on Linen 50 x 41cm $ 900.00
Spotted in the quiet backstreets of Melbourne: a reminder that our local residents come in all colours. There's something poetic about how these Rainbow Lorikeets claim their space right amidst the power lines and pavement.This painting expresses that delicate balance between the textured sanctuary of an old gum tree and the structured lines of the city. Finding the "wild" in the urban everyday.
Awaiting the Model. Life Class, is just that! In this instance, the chair, draped with folded sheet, sat passively through the morning. Alas, no model appeared as scheduled, but my subject was already in existence! I was captivated by the reflected light and the shadows of the chair's rungs and uprights in a room with multi directional lighting.
Angeline Bartholomeusz
Randa Baini
Resilience Acrylic on Canvas Board 76 x 61cm $ 2,000.00
Resilience Oil on Canvas 41 x 41cm $ 1,800.00
This painting is for collectors of landscape and abstraction. This work showcases nature's power and how wind shapes rocks and land. Over time, wind erodes and forms intricate patterns in the landscape creating dynamic textures. This interaction reflects resilience and transformation, much like how our experiences shape our identities. The painting is framed in wood-stained dark brown.
Tea trees, the quiet and resilient natives with white flowers that glow with light, bringing a sense of calm.
View from my window Oil on Canvas 60 x 60cm $ 2,300.00 Old gums leaning a little to one side, silver leaves, grass still damp from earlier rain. Darker in patches where the shadows pool. 5
Vicki Birt
Lulu Clifton-Evans (bylulu)
South of France Oil on Board 24 x 18cm $ 300.00
Nocturne in Violet - Delphiniums painted from life Oil on Belgian linen 90 x 60cm $6,000.00
Bay of Fires Oil on Board 30.5 x 23cm $ 350.00
This painting has been painted from life - which meant buying more than one bunch of delphiniums.
Helen Carter Beryl Black Reclining Model Mixed Medium on Paper 76 x 97cm $ 2,500.00
Pastel Pastel, work on paper 58 x 46cm NFS
This painting was worked up from a twenty minute life sketch using sepia pastel. I enlarged the drawing with charcoal, then decided on the colour palette working with the medium of acrylic, pastel and charcoal.
Cynthia Boyle Sooty Owl Watercolour on paper 56 x 39cm $ 850.00
Artist at Work Acrylic on Linen 97 x 76cm $ 4,000.00
A successful hunt, The huge talons grasp a baby ringtail possum.
After more than forty years of drawing and painting from life, my studio has become a visual record of the people, moments and experiences that have shaped my artistic journey. Some of the sketches accumulated over the years surround me, the subjects I once observed have now turned their gaze upon me as I ponder my next brush stroke. The beloved trolley carries the necessary tools to help shape and determine the art work. This work becomes an observation of the present and a reflection on the passage of time.
Predator Acrylic on canvas 76 x 76cm $ 900.00 The colonial introduction of foxes to Australia unbalanced the ecology, bringing native animals to the edge of extinction, in some cases, tipping them over the edge.
Lulu Clifton-Evans (bylulu)
Christina Cerqueira
Eastern Creek Plein Air Revisited Oil on Board 48 x 39cm $ 1,250.00
Unspoken Sculptural Fine Clay 20 x 8 x 5cm
Painted en plein air and finished in the studio.
$ 777.00 By removing the head and arms, Unspoken redirects focus to the body’s raw architecture. The defined, muscular torso captures a tension between vulnerability and resilience—using the visceral language of the human form to convey a quiet, enduring inner strength. 6
Marion Chapman
Victoria Duggan
Springtime, Hughesdale 2 Acrylic on canvas 60.5 x 60.5cm $ 1,000.00
Happy Frog Oil on canvas 20 x 25cm $ 360.00
Springtime, Hughesdale Acrylic on canvas 60 x 50cm $ 800.00
Happy Frog was painted to keep Hungry Frog company. For my muse.
Hungry Frog Oil on canvas 20 x 25cm $ 360.00
Margaret Christianson Gathering Acrylic on paper 50.5 x 67.5cm $ 760.00
I chose to work with a limited colour palette to camouflage the frog. By blurring the background I could maintain the frog as the focal point and let the contrasting eye, tongue & foot colour draw the viewer in.
Gathering was painted at Murrumbateman, inspired by the kangaroos gathering in the landscape around us. I was interested in capturing the animals as part of the landscape rather than separate from it, using layers of colour, mark-making and movement to convey the feeling of being there.
Anne Finkelde Paperbark Forest Mixed media on paper 56 x 76cm $ 2,800.00
Katherine Cosgrove
Paperbark forests have distinctive, layered, peeling bark, and this artwork reflects those qualities through rough, torn and layered surfaces. The overlapping trunks, branches, undergrowth and leaves echo the way the collage itself is constructed. Organic fibres and actual paperbark contrast beautifully with layered watercolour, creating dramatic textures, shadows and depth.
Botanical Wonder V Copper, golden foil on hard wood 42 x 28 x10cm $ 1,200.00 "There is a crack, a crack in everything that's how the light gets in", Leonard Cohen. Botanical Wonder explores brokenness and light through delicate botanical forms crafted in pure copper. Inspired by nature’s resilience, the work reflects how beauty can emerge from imperfection, fragility, and change. Through fractured forms, texture, shadow, and light, the sculpture invites us to see brokenness not as an ending, but as a place where light enters.
Dina Goebel Irony Specimens: Lion's Mane Resin, 3d-printing, pigment, glass 26 x 13 x 13cm $ 625.00
Forest Song Copper, glass, ink on board 90 x 60cm $ 2,700.00
Irony Specimens: Moon Jellies Resin, 3d-printing, pigment, glass 26 x 13 x 13cm $ 625.00
In this piece, I feel deeply connected to nature - a gentle, peaceful moment held within the forest. Birds and dragonflies move through the air like soft notes, creating a delicate rhythm. It is a dance of harmony, where nature unfolds in beauty and stillness, inviting us - humans - to be part of its living, breathing song.
Marine forms are presented like preserved specimens. Created using synthetic materials, they embody a paradox: we attempt to conserve fragile ecologies through the very processes that contribute to their destabilisation. 7
Elizabeth Moore Golding
Karen Hopkins
Judy: musician, composer, activist Oil on Linen 60 x 60cm $ 1,500.00
At the Forest End Handmade natural paints on canvas 121 x 61cm $ 2,700.00
Judy is a passionate activist, and as I found out when she came to my studio, also a musician and a composer.
At the Forest End - a visit to the native forests near Warburton inspired this painting. I wandered through ancient Victorian forests alive with rich scents, colours, wildlife and birdsong, arriving at the threshold of an area of illegal logging, The sudden silence was devastating —a thriving ecosystem destroyed, leaving behind a landscape stripped of life. I have strived to capture this experience using handmade natural paints I have made from charcoal collected from the area, wood ash, earth pigments and gum arabic.
Janine Good Butterfly Effect Gouache on Meirat handmade paper 31 x 18cm $ 720.00 My current body of artworks are informed by the drama observed in my garden, a haven for diverse bird and insect species. Merging imagery with distortions of scale captures the pathways of their lives. Small works are framed within a black box to accentuate both fragile subject and paper medium.
Kate Howard Forged Grace Bronze plated copper 72 x 43 x 29cm NFS
Hakea Wings Gouache on Meirat handmade paper 45 x 33cm $ 720.00
Forged Grace is an experimental work made by hammering, filing and soldering copper off-cuts. Industrial leftovers expressing light and grace. The work was then electroplated in bronze, oiled and waxed.
My current body of artworks are informed by the drama observed in my garden, a haven for diverse bird and insect species. Merging imagery with distortions of scale captures the pathways of their lives. Small works are framed within a black box to accentuate both fragile subject and paper medium.
Globe Post-consumer glass & crystalware, pianola paper, copper, solder, waxed patina. 32 x 32 x 32cm $ 5,200.00
Karen Hopkins
Globe is constructed from post-consumer glass and pianola roll paper. Its light illuminates quotes from Rachel Carson and David Suzuki, and images of endangered species and other insects. The piece aims to intrigue with its structural form and provoke thought on the fragility of our interconnected ecosystems.
Against the Tide Ceramic sculpture and plastic beach detritus. 18 x 67 x 10cm (includes plastic beach detritus) $ 350.00 Against the Tide is a handmade ceramic penguin sculpture dragging a trail of found discarded beach detritus. Part of a new series of works exploring our relationship with the environment, the work reflects the growing impact of human consumption on the natural world. The penguin becomes both a vulnerable creature and a symbol of resilience— burdened by the waste we leave behind, yet continuing to move forward. As an artist, I feel a responsibility to be a witness to environmental change and, where I can, give it a voice. I hope this work will encourage reflection on our shared responsibility for the natural world.
Tricia Hunt Nemo Reimaged Watercolour conte pastel on paper 42 x 30cm $ 500.00
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Tricia Hunt
Megan-Jane Johnstone
Life Drawing at Ola Cohn Watercolour conte pastel on paper 42 x 30cm $ 500.00
Autumn Silhouette Collage on paper 40 x 28cm $ 600.00
Christine Huntley-Harris
This collage composed of unique gelprint papers captures the transition of autumn through contrasting layers. Textured, organic shapes in crimson and earthy brown evoke falling leaves and decaying foliage. Overlaying this warm backdrop, the stark black silhouette of barren branches introduces structure and stillness, reflecting nature's quiet withdrawal before the coming winter.
Kakadu wetlands Monoprint on paper 44 34cm $ 700.00 In my monoprint, I wanted to capture the feeling of tranquility and stillness of this beautiful NT wetland scene.
Tethered Shadows Collage on paper 33 x 23cm $450.00
Escarpment Ubir Monoprint on paper 57.5 x 41cm $750.00
This monoprint paper collage is inspired by the poetic nature of shadows, capturing the inherent beauty, rhythm, and artistry of the natural world. By framing nature as a living poem with unique patterns and sounds, the artwork aims to inspire a deeper emotional and spiritual connection to the natural environment.
The inspiration for my monoprint, came after a sunset trip to Ubir in the Kakadu National Park, where the ochre rock escarpment reaches up from the vast landscape below, still vibrant green from a very wet season.
Denise Keele-bedford Sue Jarvis
Garden Medley Monoprint collage on Paper 34 x 29cm $ 550.00
Colours of my garden - Autumn Oil on Canvas 76 x 122cm $ 5,200.00
The work is a mixed collage of mono prints based on my garden foliage. It incorporates different papers and layering.
A panorama depicts my mature garden where plants intermingle and colours overlap. To maximise intensity, I placed the colours side by side. The work then visually harmonises when seen fom a distance.
Hello Maggie Mixed Media, Collage, Silver Leaf on Paper 35 x 30cm $ 500.00
Dress Ups in the Artroom 1 Oil on Canvas 94 x 68cm $ 4,200.00
Hello Maggie is a tribute to the magpies living in my yard. The warbling sounds in the mornings are a joy to hear. They are inquisitive and playfully move in and around the garden plants.
Identity was the theme for a workshop I conucted with young people. Images were taken after they dressed up in costumes. Images were manipulated, in this case to heighten colour. Much of my work evolves from the study of everyday life in diverse communities.
Annee Kelly Sarlat, France Watercolour on Cotton paper 37 x 26cm $ 720.00 9
Annee Kelly
Jude Marganis
Brachina Gorge Watercolour on Cotton paper 55 x 75cm $2,500.00
Floral 1 Oil on stretched canvas 61 x 61cm $ 890.00
Maureen Loughran
I always have vases of flowers or greenery on a bench or table somewhere in my house, mostly picked from my garden. Like most people, I'm drawn to them by their beautiful colours , shapes and contrasts, so it seems natural for me to include them in my paintings.
The Channel Cape Paterson Pastel on Paper 56 x 60cm $ 750.00 Lovely sunset reflections off the water.
Jan Martin
Cloud Splendour Cape Paterson Acrylic on Canvas 64 x 94cm $ 1,200.00
Summer Sunset, Lakes Entrance Watercolour on Paper 56 x 72cm $ 2,200.00
Clouds were so spectacular - I had to paint them.
The late glow of bright yellow sunset creates an interesting and dramatic image of the trawlers in the Lakes Entrance harbour. The translucent effects of watercolour, a limited palette, semi-silhouetting of the vessels create the drama I see here.
Beatrice Magalotti Anthropogenic Photogravure 35 x 64cm $ 650.00 This work explores the juxtaposition of unrelated images, layering dissimilar visual elements to create a composition that transcends their original contexts.
Flow Serpentine & Victorian Ash base 41 x 14 14cm $ 650.00
Late Afternoon Buoys Watercolour on Paper 72 x 56cm $ 2,200.00 The late afternoon light illuminates the buoys as they await to go top sea to be cast out with the nets. The mirrored reflection is made up of many abstract shapes connected with merging curved lines. I have used many layers of glaze in this watercolour.
Kath McCann
Carved from stone, Flow captures a fleeting moment of continuous movement, transforming a dynamic action into a static form.
Jude Marganis
Winding channel of sea Watercolour on canvas 30 x 40.5cm $ 345.00 Watercolour and seascapes create a fabulous combination of shapes and forms for my inspiration. Many trips to Tasmania and Victorian coastlines have filled my imagination with deep blue and shadowy shapes as twilight turns to evening. Followed by lit reflections and dark verticals for anchoring. This painting of the Northeast coat of Tasmania with reflections and evening light cast shadows is my heart place. The work is on canvas and watercolour and framed in natural wood. Ideal hanging conditions will be out of direct sunlight.
Floral 2 Oil on stretched canvas 61 x 61cm $ 890.00
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Kath McCann
Vicki McInnes
Pale ribbon of light Watercolour on canvas 30 x 76cm $ 865.00
Blue Vase with Quinces Oil on Canvas 50 x 50cm $ 1,900.00
Pale ribbon of light was inspired by early evening drives through Central Victoria on our way home. Dreamlike states are particularly pleasing to my heart and eye, and deep shadows against light allow my eye to create stories or rest and meditate. The Australian vegetation of sage, deep green , amber and soft blues create the background for the citron yellow slash to play across the land. Watercolour on canvas granulates and flows deliciously to create unstructured shapes and forms. I love to use larger brushes and a limited palette of four colours. The artwork is framed in natural wood on canvas and will suit an environment away from direct sunlight.
The objects of my everyday are my subject; objects which represent constancy and familiarity, along with an indication of the rhythmic shift and return of the seasons. Here I use a large vase from my collection; statuesque and unchanging with ripening quinces at its feet. The copper bowl balances with its dark and warm tones. My aim is to convey quietness and to ask the viewer to pause, to contemplate, to see.
Linda McEwan Honey Bees Watercolour and Textiles on Paper 66 x 48cm $ 500.00
Margaret McLoughlin Jardin Majorelle with Dove Gouache on Paper 66.5 x 62cm $ 1,110.00 The variety of colours, textures and shapes of these succulents was astounding, many of which we grow in our Yarra Glen garden, hence my delight.
YSL house with gardener Gouache on Paper 51 x 41cm $ 960.00
A tribute to our wonderful hard working bees. Love your work.
Ladies of Style Watercolour and Textiles on Paper 56 x 63cm $ 1,500.00 A fun work to make you smile. We all know someone who fits the images of these stylish ladies.
Vicki McInnes
I was highly inspired by this wondrous, colourful, succulent garden in Marrakech. The gardeners, pots and building all reflected the natural sunlight, textures and patterning which excited me.
Anne Melloy Laval Stream Iceland Watercolour on Paper 38 x 29cm $ 650.00
Blue Vase with Peaches Oil on Linen 36 x 28cm $ 840.00
Sundown on the Mitta Mitta Watercolour on Paper 34 x 53cm $ 1,150.00
While the objects of my subject are easily recognised, the selection, arrangement, observing and recording that is still life painting, imbues a far deeper meaning. I enjoy not only the process of painting itself, but also the connection I feel to the things I choose to paint and the embedded stories of time and place. I have often used this blue vase: its curves divide the composition, and are echoed in the roundness of the peaches. The fruit provide a play of warm against cool tones.
A beautiful meandering river in North Eastern Victoria.
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Dr Janice Mills
Carole Milton
TYILS: The Burning Morning Haze Oil on Canvas 90 x 90cm $ 1,650.00
Hastings Marina Oil on canvas 50 x 61cm $ 2,750.00
The early morning sun on this particular day was more like a sunset. It foretold a weather event on the way, warning of storms and heavy rain. The beauty in this case holds some aspects of fear to come. On seeing this scene I was compeled to render it in oils so that I could share this amazing view with audiences of my work.
Carmel O'Connor Subdivision Acrylic on linen 122 x 90cm $ 940.00 The Landscape painting titled, Subdivision uses scale, value and colour to define buildings as symbols. The subject matter juxtaposes clumps of buildings and other house shapes as random forms to describe a typical twenty first century Melbourne city.
The Path to Never Never Oil on Canvas 50 x 50cm $ 390.00 The Path to Never Never: This painting is a recent version of a much larger painting completed in 2022. It depicts a local rural road with the sunlight streaming across it in the early morning. The composition invited the viewer to look into the scene and to magine where this road may take them.
Liz Charlotte Millsom
Bricks, Mortar and The Holy Ghost Acrylic on linen Acrylic on linen 122 x 90cm $ 960.00 Bricks, Mortar and The Holy Ghost combines modernist theories of observation, imagination and memory to present an image of Carmel’s experience of travelling the Hamilton Highway on many occasions. Carmel was fascinated by the quaint buildings flanking each side of the main road through the small towns.
Roo Intaglio print with watercolour on paper 68 x 67cm $ 500.00 The kangaroo is the original species the dingo would prey on. Dingo packs would prey on the small and weak, enabling larger and healthier kangaroos to continue breeding to sustain the food chain. Keeping herbivore numbers down increases more grasslands to grow creating more food and habitat for smaller native species to thrive. Preserving thriving ecosystems.
Lisa O'Keefe A Face Amongst Others Acrylic on Canvas 25.3 x 20.3cm $ 980.00 A face, an expression glimpsed in passing and which lingers on in the mind.
Vulnerable Intaglio print with watercolour on paper 83 x 75cm $ 690.00 The dingo plays an important role in the natural environment, an apex predator keeps systems in balance and provides the survival of natural species. However due to the colonisation of Australia which led to cattle and sheep farming, the dingo is seen as a pest and a threat to farmers livelihood. Therefore, being trapped, poisoned and killed, heightening the extinction of our native species. We need to find a solution and change perspectives on preserving our native lion.
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The Theatre of Lost and Found Acrylic on canvas 97 x 76cm $ 3,200.00 Every so often, a word, a scent, an image will bring back long forgotten memories. They belong to the past but reenter the present, either to be retained and carried forward or, once again, forgotten. One way or another, they are part of the theatre that is our present.
Phoebe Parsons
Robyn Pridham
Kindling Terracotta 15 x 8 3cm $250.00
Natures' Blossom Oil on canvas 92 x 60cm $ 2,000.00
Kindling is a response to a longing for the innocence and wonder of childhood, and the effort to protect that spark.
Robyns' work is a celebration of the textures, colours and forms found in nature.
Ann Ramsdale
Pip Bronze 11 x 10 x7cm $ 1,250.00
Rhododendrons in Ginger Jar Oil on Canvas 40 x 30cm $ 450.00
My work is shaped by an unhurried, peripatetic childhood with extended periods living offgrid in remote environments. This upbringing fostered a deep love of plants and animals and an attentiveness to ecological entanglements. My understanding of humans as part of nature is a perspective that underpins much of my practice.
Hydrangeas in Ginger Jar Oil on Canvas 61 x 61cm $ 750.00
Leigh M Rees
Margaret Picken
Older-lisque Oil on canvas 65 x 80cm $ 1,250.00
Kelp Gull over McMurdo Sound Oil on stretched canvas 60 x 90cm $ 850.00
This is a parody of the classical odalisque genre. I have used a 'glamorous' version of my self portrait to express the spirit we older women still feel.
The beautiful Antartica. Abundant with bird animal and sea life is an amazing, beautiful area of our earth. Hopefully it will remain so.
Nature's Tapestry Oil on canvas 76 x 50cm $ 1,250.00
Estuary Oil on stretched canvas 75 x 100cm $ 1,400.00
While painting en plein air in Bright, Victoria on a spring day, the sun shone brilliantly throwing a lacework pattern across the whole area. It was such a stunning sight I reworked it on a big canvas at home.
Estuary is imagined from an area in northern Australia. Our estuaries, full of bird life, fish and bounty provide our country with beauty and the ability to live off the land. We are indeed fortunate.
Robyn Pridham Night Garden Acrylic & mixed media 30 x 30cm $ 450.00 The evenings are often a time of contemplation of the transient and enduring aspects of life. 13
Jo Reitze
Jennifer Scholes
Two Trees, Cloudehill Pen on Paper 79.5 x 62cm NFS
Can’t wait for the Summer of Tennis Acrylic & ink on canvas 102 x 102cm $ 2,500.00
My pen drawing captures a similar aspect of untamed Cloudehill with lyrical mark-making. The two majestic trees dominate the composition with their dark patterned trunks, scribbled foliage and linear branches. Foreground plants and grasses contrast with the dramatic darks beneath the trees and white sky, inviting the viewer to wonder.
Searching for Shells Acrylic & ink on canvas 80 x 80cm $ 1,800.00
Cloudehill in Spring Oil on Linen 122 x 91.5cm NFS
Fern Collage on board 60 x 60cm $ 750.00
My joyous oil painting celebrates an untamed aspect of Cloudehill Gardens in spring. Rough hewn bluestone steps lead to a path passing two majestic deciduous trees with vibrant new foliage. Beyond, pink or rose camellias and rhododendrons are glimpsed through the branches inviting the viewer to explore and wonder.
Collage of painted paper on round board.
Filomena Roberts
Collage of painted paper on round board.
Annemarie Szeleczky
Rain Collage on board 60 x 60cm $ 750.00
Ying Tang
Keep Clear Acrylic on canvas 81 x 56cm $ 1,500.00 In Keep Clear the colourful pink and blue people are partially covered by the yellow crossing lines which are also a bit jarring. Still not quite the original idea, the next one Keep Clear 3 has turned out orange and black! Who knows the colours and form of the next one? Keep Clear 4.
First Contact Acrylic on canvas 122 x 51cm $ 1,800.00 First Contact is a painting that morphed from the idea of Keep Clear which was imagined from a roadwork sign (black with a yellow cross) at a dangerous intersection. I remember noticing the sign and immediately seeing people being divided and having to keep clear of each other. (I had intentions of painting the yellow lines at the end, but then I couldn’t bring myself to do it.)
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Twilight Watercolor on paper 104 x 134cm $ 1,500.00
Peta Tranquille Residual Vintage 35mm slides, mirror, timber and artist pigment 56 x 20 x30cm $ 1,350.00 Residual reflects an ongoing interest in what remains when experiences can no longer be fully retrieved. Fragments of information persist, detached from the larger narrative they once belonged to, leaving gaps that cannot be filled. Rather than presenting memory as a complete and reliable record, the work considers recollection as a collection of traces, associations and remnants.Hovering between archive and absence, Residual explores the tension between preservation and loss, and the ways meaning can emerge from what is left behind.
Peta Tranquille
Steph Wallace
The Ruins 35mm vintage slides 50 x 50 x 50cm $ 1,850.00
Migration Clay, Glaze, Oxide 41 x 23 x 23cm $ 2,600.00
Noesis explores memory, cognition, and problemsolving in the absence of full mental imagery. While recalled photographs often leave behind discrete objects rather than visual scenes, narrative remains essential and is constructed through logic, association, and personal formulas. Using puzzles, cubes, grids, and modular systems, the works consider memory as something assembled or intuitively known rather than visually recalled.
Migration references the endangered Bogong Moth and its annual mass migration, traversing great distances to the cool elevations of the Victorian High Country. To the artist these creatures act as allegory for endurance, persistence and transformation. This humble yet important species represents an embedded connection to the landscape, bearing generational witness to upheaval, change and renewal.
Karen van Ulzen
Steffie Wallace
Picnic spot Acrylic on canvas 77 x 30cm $ 750.00
Storm Light Oil on linen 41 x 51cm $ 1,800.00
Birch Cloisonne Acrylic on canvas 77 x 30cm NFS
Winter Sunset Oil on linen 61 x 122cm $ 4,500.00
Maxine Wain
Both these paintings focus on the shifting illumination occurring when the sun and moon highlight the reflected light on the surrounding clouds. In Storm Light, the sun’s light is intense and dramatic while in Winter Sunset, the light cast by the moon and the setting sun is more subtle.
Survivors ll Aerated Concrete; Mixed Media 67 x 60 x 21cm $ 950.00
Tessa Wallis
The Rise Acrylic on Canvas 79 x 54cm $ 850.00
Flight of Fancy Glass 45 x 78 x 0.3cm $ 800.00 Flight of Fancy imitates a group of colourful birds flying in formation. Each bird is made of glass with permanently fused bright colours. A great deal of practice, patience and experience was required to cut and paint the glass birds by hand.
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Tessa Wallis Kissing Fish Glass 15 x 65 x 60cm NFS
A special Tribute Exhibition will honour the life and work of Joyce McGrath (1925–2025), a respected painter and valued MSWPS member since 1990.
Kissing Fish is a sculptural glass composition inspired by fish and seaweed in a pool. Great patience is required to cut, texture and colour the glass, create moulds and set up for fusing or slumping. I enjoy creating “movement” to increase the play of light coming through the glass.
In addition to the exhibition, visitors can attend live artist demonstrations on: • Wednesday 14th October Dina Goebel @11am
Tas Wansbrough Studio Moth Australian Red Gum 35 x 15 x 11cm $ 650.00
• Saturday 17th October Steph Wallace @1.00pm
A moth slips through the studio door during its brief opening, drawn towards the lights as Icarus was drawn towards the sun. When it cannot be returned to nature, it remains within the studio, eventually becoming a permanent petrified guardian of the artist’s space.
Path of Arete Carrara Statuario Marble with Harcourt Granite Base 44 x 18 x18cm $ 9,870.00 Carved from statuario Carrara marble, Path of Arete examines the artist’s pursuit of technical skill and the challenge of translating an idea into form. Arete, a Greek concept of excellence through the fulfilment of potential, describes an ongoing process in which mastery remains unattainable.
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In conjunction with our Annual Exhibition at VAS, our archivist, Robyn Pridham, has curated a special display on MSWPS and its members at the East Melbourne Library, 122 George Street, East Melbourne, 1 – 31 October. The display of artefacts and sculpture featured in the Library glass cabinets is an opportunity for the society to reach out to a wider community, to highlight a selection of memorabilia and historic items from the MSWPS Archives. Included in the display is the work of two of our current members, sculptors Tas Wansbrough and Kate Howard. An artwork by Ola Cohn from her early practice is a feature.
2026 Participating Artists Angela Abbott
Jan Martin
Randa Baini
Kath McCann
Lynn Banna
Linda McEwan
Angeline Bartholomeusz
Vicki McInnes
Vicki Birt
Margaret McLoughlin
Beryl Black
Anne Melloy
Cynthia Boyle
Dr Janice Mills
Lulu Clifton-Evans (bylulu)
Liz Charlotte Millsom
Helen Carter
Carole Milton
Christina Cerqueira
Carmel O'Connor
Marion Chapman
Lisa O'Keefe
Margaret Christianson
Phoebe Parsons
Katherine Cosgrove
Margaret Picken
Victoria Duggan
Robyn Pridham
Anne Finkelde
Ann Ramsdale
Dina Goebel
Leigh M Rees
Elizabeth Moore Golding
Jo Reitze
Janine Good
Filomena Roberts
Karen Hopkins
Jennifer Scholes
Kate Howard
Annemarie Szeleczky
Patricia Hunt
Ying Tang
Christine Huntley-Harris
Peta Tranquille
Sue Jarvis
Karen van Ulzen
Megan-Jane Johnstone
Maxine Wain
Denise Keele-bedford
Steph Wallace
Annee Kelly
Steffie Wallace
Maureen Loughran
Tessa Wallis
Beatrice Magalotti
Tas Wansbrough
Jude Marganis
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Past Winners Annie Davison Oliver Award 2025: 2024: 2023: 2022: 2021: 2020: 2019: 2018: 2017: 2016: 2015: 2014: 2013: 2012: 2011: 2010: 2009: 2008: 2007: 2006: 2005: 2004: 2003: 2002: 2001: 2000: 1999:
Sue Jarvis Anne Finkelde Marion Chapman Lucy Fekete Vicki Sullivan Gwendoline Krumins Sue Jarvis Susan Sambell Beatrice Magalotti Jo Reitze Anna Hamnes Mariette Perrinjaquet Fiona Bilborough Gillian Lodge & Roz McQuillan Annee Kelly Ev Hales Louise Foletta Zoe Amor Nell Frysteen Micheline Jones Angela Abbott Louise Foletta Lyndel Thomas Gwen Batiste Jo Hannan Margaret Cowling Nell Frysteen
2025: 2024: 2023: 2022:
Steffie Wallace Carole Milton Sarah Anthony Jenny Scholes
Jo Bennett Award Works on Paper 2025: 2024: 2023: 2022:
Jo Reitze Jo Reitze Carole Milton Ying Tang
MSWPS Award 2025: 2024: 2023: 2022: 2021: 2020:
2019: 2011: 2010: 2009:
Vada Cuming Sculpture Award 2025: 2024: 2023: 2022:
Judith Perrey Award Oil/Acrylic
Peta Tranquille Kate Howard Beatrice Magalotti Gillian Govan
Anne Finkelde & Cynthia Boyle Janine Good Tessa Wallis Beatrice Magalotti Cynthia Boyle Erica Wagner, Margaret Picken, Elizabeth Moore Golding & Anne Melloy Elizabeth MooreGolding Annie Finkelde Ev Hales Betina Fauvel-Ogden
MSWPS Sculpture Award 2021: 2020:
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Suzanne Kaldor Beatrice Magalotti
Past Winners Constance Wu Award 2018: 2017: 2016: 2015: 2014: 2013: 2012:
Susan Sambell Elizabeth Moore Golding & Sue Jarvis Roz McQuillan Vicki Sullivan Margaret Gurney Annie Finkelde Heather Ellis
Danks Trust Award 2018: 2017 2016: 2015: 2014: 2013:
Jan Martin Jo Reitze Barbara McManus Nell Frysteen Celia Beeton Heather Ellis
Mabel Pryde Prize 2008: 2007: 2006: 2005: 2004: 2003: 2002: 2001: 2000: 1999: 1998: 1997: 1996: 1995: 1994: 1993: 1992: 1991: 1990:
Betina Fauvel-Ogden Mariette Perrinjaquet & Jean Carson Gray Maureen Slatter Maureen Slatter Jean Carson Gray Heather Ellis Mariette Perrinjaquet Judith Perrey Joan Richard Rosemarie Curry Janet Matthews Joanne Miles Valda Cuming Judith Perrey Nell Frysteen Nada Hunter Jo Hannan Judith Perrey Josephine Bennett & Mariette Perrinjaquet 19
Award Winners 2025 2025 Judges: Kelly Gellatly and Joanna Bosse
Annie Davison Oliver Award
Valda Cuming Sculpture Award
Sue Jarvis, Study of Gulsen Ozer
Peta Tranquille, Misaligned
Judith Perrey Award Oil/Acrylic
Jo Bennett Award Works on Paper
Steffie Wallace, Morning Storm
Jo Reitze, In Kamesburgh Gardens 20
Award Winners 2025 Highly Commended Louise Foletta, Italian Memories Beatrice Magalotti, Let’s Dance Kath McCann, Wind is Stilled Anna Mandoki, Childless Cat Lady
Ron Smith OAM Encouragement Award
Victoria Duggan, Cubby and Sunset
MSWPS Award
Anne Finkelde, On Any Day
Cynthia Boyle, And there was no Bird Song 21
2026 MSWPS Committee Members President Vice-President Hon. Treasurer Secretary Bulletin Editor
Denise Keele-bedford Tori Duggan Janine Good Beatrice Magalotti Leigh Rees
Committee
Vicki Birt Katherine Cosgrove Louise Foletta Kate Howard
Archivist
Robyn Pridham
Melbourne Society of Women Painters & Sculptors Inc. Reg: A0018899R | ABN: 58535630811 41- 43 Gipps St, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002
www.mswps.com.au
@mswpsmembers