15 March – 13 July 2025 Book
The City of Greater Bendigo presents Eat.Drink.Art 2025 as part of Fiesta Bendigo, with events and activations across Greater Bendigo celebrating Bendigo Art Gallery’s Frida Kahlo: In her own image exhibition.
27 local artists are exhibiting their artwork across 20 cafes, restaurants, bars and wineries from Saturday March 15, 2025, until Monday May 12, 2025.
With both emerging and established local artists exhibiting their works, some for the first time and others who are well known for their craft.
Greater Bendigo is a UNESCO Creative City and Region of Gastronomy, celebrated for its creative and cultural vibrancy and diverse range of local artisans, producers, eateries, cafes and bars.
You can also head to the Fiesta Bendigo website, to find the Eat.Drink.Art Trail and plot your journey around the different venues.
https://www.bendigoregion.com.au/explore-bendigo/fiesta-bendigo
Alcohol By Victoria
Alium Dining
All Seasons
Beechworth Bakery
Black Swan
Borchelli
Bunja Thai
Cantina
Hoo-gahs
Indulge Fine Chocolates
Nimbus Rooftop
Omari
Peachy
Peppergreen Farm
Shiraz Republic
The Anxious Goat
The Beehive
The Bendigo Club
The Dispensary
Wine Bank on View
Scan here to view the full program of events for Fiesta Bendigo.
https://www.bendigoregion.com.au/explorebendigo/fiesta-bendigo
Scan here to view the artist trail map to explore.
https://embed.alpacamaps.com/journey/7b01a4c2ec99-11ee-8235-02865da2f174/default
Venue:
Beehive Bendigo 18-26 Pall Mall
Email: AmberCollett71@gmail.com
Phone: 0478 677 989
Amber Collet is a local practicing artist working mainly with the figure. Amber has had several solo and group shows, supported by the City of Greater Bendigo.
She teaches art, photography and French to secondary students and in the past has lectured education students in the Visual Arts at La Trobe University, Bendigo. In 2017, she was a finalist in the Norma Bull Portrait Prize and has twice exhibited works in the South of France.
Exhibitions, prizes, and sales of works
2021-24 - Bendigo Open Studios. Also, work in the Bendigo Bank exhibition space.
2022 - Chez Cecile’s, St Girons, France. Solo show.
2017 - Norma Bull Prize, Victorian Arts Society. 1 of seven finalists in the State chosen to display a portrait and folio of works in an exhibition setting.
2016 - September-Generation of Aust. Women Artists’ tracing the history of 3 women artists, all related through their works. Sponsored by the Bendigo City Council.
July - South of France. Group show.
March - ‘Drawing the Line’, a group show curated by Jeff Makin, Run Rabbit Run Upstairs Gallery, Castlemaine. 2015 - Teacher's Show-joint show Latrobe University and ABC radio interview.
Scan to learn more.
2014 - November- Joint show as a part of the open garden festival at Tait Iron Works, Castlemaine-images from the South of France.
June - July-Market Art winter exhibition, Castlemaine Market Building, group show.
2013 - November- Joint show at Lot 19, Castlemaine. May 1st -30th. Customs Wharf Galleria, Williamstown –selected works exhibited.
April Rochester Art Show-Selected artists’ works.
$3000 drawing prize, awarded by Mr Stephen Turpie, Rotary Easter Show, Bendigo.
2013 - Castlemaine State Arts Festival and Artists Market.
2012 - November 7th-21st. ‘Going Solo’ sponsored by the Bendigo City Council. 40 works completed by Amber Sansom, exhibited at Dudley House, Bendigo.
August 1st-15th. ‘Life’, sponsored by the Bendigo City Council. A joint exhibition of works completed by the Bendigo Contemporary Drawing Group run in conjunction with the Paul Guest Prize, Dudley House, Bendigo.
2011-Feb 17th-March 24th - ‘A Snapshot’, is a selection of works from 2010, including portraits, still life, and figurative drawings at Togs Café, Castlemaine.
2009 - March Eaglehawk Dahlia and Arts Exhibition works exhibited.
Venue: Nimbus Rooftop Level 3/103 Mitchell St, Bendigo VIC 3550
Email: hello@ameliaberrydesign.com
Amelia Berry is a digital artist known for her bold colours and dynamic compositions. With a background in graphic and website design, she blends expressive palettes with clean, modern aesthetics to craft custom, hand-drawn digital artwork full of energy and personality.
Her artwork spans pet portraits, statement pieces, and unique designs, each created to spark connection and leave a lasting impression. Whether for clients or personal projects, Amelia’s passion is creating visuals that capture attention and tell a meaningful story.
Venue:
Alium Dining
17 View Point, Bendigo
Email: hello@littlesweetart.com.au
Phone: 0421 462 654
Inspired by her recent trip to the Philippines and her Filipino-Australian heritage, Anakita’s signature fiesta piece, “Dancing in Bloom,” beautifully captures the joy and vibrancy of Filipino culture. Through her expressive use of colour, she reflects the happiness and positivity of the Filipino people, celebrating the richness of their traditions.
Building on the themes of joy and nature from her Fiesta work, Anakita has created a captivating collection of bright, ethereal landscapes that showcase the wonders of Australian scenery. As a Bendigo-based artist (Dja Dja Wurrung Country) with 15 years of experience in design and fine arts, she masterfully brings the natural world to life with her vivid oil and acrylic paintings, along with intricate pastel, pencil, and watercolor artworks.
Anakita’s art draws inspiration from her adventures hiking and camping across Australia, reflecting a profound connection to its wild places-sweeping vistas, delicate ecosystems, and extraordinary native species. Each brushstroke serves as a tribute to the land, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in its beauty.
Her latest collection features a striking series of semi-abstract landscapes on canvas, showcased at Alium Dining during the Frida Kahlo: In Her Own Image exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery. This unique opportunity allows you to experience Anakita’s work up close, where the textures, colour, and essence of the Australian landscape come alive. Don’t miss the chance to see these stunning pieces in person. Scan to learn more.
Elizabeth Conway Venue: Borchelli
18 Mitchell St, Bendigo
Email: iamelizabethconway@gmail.com
Following the success of her 2024 exhibition The Long Road Home, which beautifully chronicled her year-long journey across Australia, Elizabeth is now embracing a new creative phase with her ‘Fiesta’ theme. After spending months traversing over 25,000 kilometers in her 4WD, capturing the diverse beauty of Australia’s landscapes, Elizabeth has returned to her passion for still life painting. This new series, rendered in vibrant oil on canvas, her artworks draw inspiration from the dynamic celebration of colour, form, and life that the word Fiesta evokes. The works in this series respond to the Eat, Drink, Art program, which aligns with the Bendigo Art Gallery’s Frida Kahlo exhibition, reflecting the bold, energetic spirit of the Mexican artist. Elizabeth has included rich reds and vivid oranges, and her artworks are re-imagined through the lens of festivity, joy and the richness of life. For sales enquiries or to view other artworks you are welcome to contact Elizabeth via email or ask the friendly staff here at Borchelli’s for a business card.
Venue: The Anxious Goat 87 View Street Bendigo
Email: erichardsjones@gmail.com
I was previously an artist and performer who now works a 9-5 with spreadsheets. My work explores memory stored within the body, taking inspiration from pathways started in formative years and worked upon over the decades of dance as a process of becoming. My current ‘body of work’ explores my battle with dis-ease (stage 4 endometriosis) and the pockets of refuge I experience with embodied movement. I am attempting to maintain and re-establish things I had thought were gone through the ritual of painting.
Venue: Alcohol by Victoria 71 Mitchell St Bendigo
Email: emmabuckland@gmail.com
‘’Painting has always been my way of bringing the unseen to the surface—turning emotions, memories, and fleeting moments into something real, layered, and immersive”
Drawing from narratives found in newspaper photographs, magazines, and family portraits, my work explores the tension between memory and reality, often blurring the boundaries between the two. Like Frida Kahlo, I am drawn to the deeply personal as a means of storytelling, where symbolism and fragmented recollections intertwine. Kahlo’s ability to transform pain, identity, and surreal imagery into raw emotional landscapes resonates with my approach to layered, dreamlike narratives.
Influenced by German Expressionism and the illustrative painter Neo Rauch, I integrate unsettling, comic-strip elements and ambiguous juxtapositions, creating compositions that feel both familiar and distorted. Kahlo’s surreal yet intimate world mirrors my own exploration of how memory is constructed, warped, and reimagined. My work invites viewers into this shifting space—where personal history collides with collective consciousness, and the past is never quite what it seems.
Exhibitions
2024 - Old Auction House - Group show (Kyneton, Australia)
2021 - Collected works - Solo Show - Ladder Art Space - Hawthorn ( Melbourne, Australia)
2013 - Midsumma Festival 2013 Premiere Event - Group Show - Red Gallery - North Fitzroy (Melbourne, Australia)
2012 - Kyneton Stockroom - Group show (Kyneton, Australia) 2004 - ACMI - In the Mind’s Eye (Melbourne, Australia)
https://www.ejbuckland.info/exhibitions
Venue: Beehive Bendigo 18 – 26 Pall Mall
Email: ceramics.fe.licity@gmail.com
I’ve worked in clay and painterly glazes to tell my stories for 35 years. My process is driven by the joy and freedom of a naïve approach. Inspired by the idyllic life I have created in order to heal; my works narrate the fun and beauty of my animals and nature I share the land with.
Themes and inspiration come to me through stories I’ve connected with like: Alice in Wonderland, the Secret Garden and Narnia.
I create with the user in mind, my work is to be enjoyed, used, lived with and to become part of the owner’s stories. A favourite mug that becomes a daily ritual drink, a mirror or candlestick that brings joy and light from the dark.
Venue: The Shiraz Republic 507 Hamblin Rd, Cornella
Email: grainge@dodo.com.au
Phone: 0478 131 773
Printmaking embodies my main interest in art, closely followed by mixing media materials together. Texture plays a dominant part in the outcome of my work, whether I am creating a woodcut, a collagraph or an etching. I love to incorporate paper on paper, paint, and mixing various media into a piece to build something textural.
Shape and form come together to form figurative compositions in my art. My images become bold and expressive as they pour from my soul, my passion. I envision that the content of my work is visually stimulating, brash in colour, and raw in imagery. I aim to evoke emotions in the viewer that I too feel when viewing the works of my biggest influences, Edvard Munch and Frida Kahlo.
I draw my inspiration from human behavior and the everyday reality of relationships. I wish to capture sensuality – the intimacy of the human figure and lay it bare in my works for all to experience.
Expressing myself through my work liberates me from societal boundaries. No-one can compromise my thoughts in my artwork. I can communicate freely with the viewer and share in the stories of humans interacting, exploring human beauty – which exists in everyone. I’m a passionate art teacher, hoping to inspire young people to follow their artistic dream.
Venue:
Indulge Fine Chocolates
Shop 26 Bendigo Bank Central
Email: gastills@bigpond.com
I moved to Bendigo 19 years ago to be closer to my children and families, and get established before I retired. As a young child I used to sketch caricatures of my family, much to their amusement or consternation.
In my adult years I dabbled in various forms of art which never led anywhere. As I approached retirement, I rediscovered my real passion for drawing of portraits and pets.
I have studied under various artists in Bendigo, and in recent years learned more skills, mediums, subjects and techniques under local artist and tutor, Darren Crothers. I particularly love to sketch subjects I know directly or indirectly – I find it a challenge to draw out their personality while capturing their unique likeness. When in total concentration with sketching, or painting, I find it is the one time that my mind becomes totally clear of all thoughts, so it has become a very relaxing, and healing pastime, for me.
As a creative craft it is also stimulating, challenging, often frustrating, but always rewarding.
I have limited availability for commissions.
Venue: Bunja Thai 31 Pall Mall, Bendigo
Email: heidifranklin.co@gmail.com
Heidi Franklin is a visual artist, teacher, counsellor and art therapist living on Dja Dja Wurrung country in Bendigo, Victoria. Her artworks are inspired by the Celtic illuminations of her ancestry, the Tanzanian batiks of her childhood, and the Art Nouveau movement of the late 1800s.
Working primarily with paint and ink, Heidi weaves historical, cultural and mystical imagery together with meaningful moments derived from nature, literature and everyday life. Strong linework and high-contrast compositions emphasise the bold and visionary nature of Heidi’s artistic viewpoint, while vivid limited palettes enhance the storytelling aesthetic of her work.
Venue: Omari
Bendigo Botanic Gardens, 27-32 Hamelin Street White Hills
Email: ivan@ivansun.com
Latidos de Mexico at Omari Bendigo is an exhibition that features contemporary Mexican artists as well as a new collaboration between local artists Ivan Sun and Amanda Peluso.
Ivan's oil painting studies and Amanda's pen drawings of marigolds and dahlias are incorporated in photographic works featuring Mexican artist Lizette Vieyra's Catrina Dolls. Ivan is a Victorian multimedia artist who has exhibited works at galleries from St Kilda to San Diego. In 2024 he extended his creative range by curating the Robots are Coming exhibition about the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the creative communities, and delivered it as a digital time capsule of artworks and artist statements to the City of Greater Bendigo. Recently he has also completed a digital multimedia experience House of Loong for the Golden Dragon Museum. He is curating several Fiesta-themed exhibitions from March to July 2025. For more information go to http://fiesta.bendigo.life
Amanda Peluso is a visual artist and graphic designer based on Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung Country in Central Victoria. Through her paintings and drawings, she captures the intricate beauty of the natural world, evoking the emotions from intricate botanical studies and the landscapes she encounters. Her work encourages a closer look at the details that surround us, offering a moment of reflection on the natural world.
Venue: Black Swan 117 McCrae St, Bendigo
Phone: 0432 547 244
My name is Jade Tanner. I have lived and worked in Bendigo for over 20-years and love everything Bendigo has to offer. I am a critical care trained nurse who works at the local hospital. Art is a way for me to find peace and add a calmness to my life and is a real contrast to my hectic and demanding job as a nurse.
Bright colours, birds and flowers are something that I love and therefor incorporating them into my paintings seemed logical. As an artist I have not had any formal training, however, have been painting for as long as I can remember. My work is bright, whimsical and meant to be fun.
Venue: Peachy 73 View Street Bendigo
Email: jemimalotika@gmail.com
Jemima is an emerging fine artist of Congolese-South African heritage. She is deeply en-gaged with themes of memory, identity, and emotion. Her work merges past and present experiences, using ballpoint pen, mixed media, and sculpture to confront and highlight social issues impacting marginalized communities.
After a break from fine art, Jemima has returned with a renewed passion for storytelling through visual imagery, seeking to create powerful narratives that resonate with viewers.
Jill Reid Connors
Venue: Peppergreen Farm
40-44 Thunder Street
North Bendigo
Email: jjreidconnors@gmail.com
Phone: 0488 798 890
My art practice constantly evolves, from jewellery, basketry, gardening, and painting; in watercolour, acrylic, oil and mixed media.
I also work with paper mache.
More recently my focus has been on creating contemporary installations.
As a seemingly innate fossicker, my joy is in finding ‘treasures’, organic & inorganic - colourful seeds, broken shells, bones & rusty drums & tins from the Bendigo bush, which are used in a variety of ways in my art practice.
My aim with my paintings & installations is to invite the viewer to explore the work, & the un-derlying notions.
Large installations can be viewed by visiting my home studio any time.
Venue: Hoo-gahs Shop 10 Fountain Court Bendigo
Email: john@killiecrankiewines.com
Photographer/grape grower/court jester/winemaker with a passion for everything that delights the senses.
Inspiration for my works come from my local surroundings and some more recent overseas travels.
The joy of photography for me is not the staged photograph but more the snapshot that captures the everyday moment.
Exploring the abstraction of architecture is also a regular theme.
Lately I have found my works are exploring the vibrancy of life and abstraction of movement.
Karen McDougall
Venue: All Seasons 171-183 McIvor Road Bendigo
Email: k.mcdougall252@outlook.com
Phone: 0407 800 578
I have always felt the pull of creativity in one for or another. As an educator for the past forty years I often found the profound impact of teaching could be enhanced by weaving art into the fabric of learning.
I now find myself being rejuvenated through the art medium of acrylic paints. Transitioning from classroom to canvas, the act of creating abstract art has emerged as both a therapeutic and challenging endeavour.
I find that acrylic paint, with its versatility and vibrancy, allows for spontaneous expression and experimentation. Each stoke of the brush serves as a reflection of emotions and thoughts.
https://www.instagram.com/art_by_karenlee/
Venue:
The Bendigo Club 22 Park Street, Strathdale
Email: contact@kerrylbrown.com
Multidisciplinary Artist - Visual Explorer
A visual artist and designer, passionate about the Australian landscape, with a love of quirky, mid-century décor.
Bendigo-based artist Kerry L Brown proudly lives, works and creates art on Dja Dja Wurrung Country, in Central Victoria. Kerry is inspired by the natural environment, often using colours from the local landscape in her artwork. Working in the field, or from photographs she takes in the field, Kerry creates intuitive interpretations of a scene or moment, all the while carefully composing her works in a unique stylethat is at times bold - with a confident, illustrative and unexpectedly textural style which is visible to the viewer on closer inspection.
You can view the artist’s work on her website: kerrylbrown.com or follow her on social media (Instagram or Facebook) @KerryLBrownArtist
Kim Lowe Venue: Cantina
66 Pall Mall Bendigo
Email:
kim@2-inspire.com.au
Bendigo based visual artist, Kim Lowe blends her traditional painting skills with a career in marketing, bringing about a perfect marriage of her two passions.
Working in watercolour, acrylic and digital mediums, Kim’s style is sketchy, colourful and contemporary.
Inspiration comes from her surroundings and Kim is passionate about capturing the beauty of local Bendigo history, urban landscapes, pet portraits and even finds something special about abandoned buildings.
Well established in the Central Victorian arts community, Kim enjoys supporting other creatives and is passionate about bringing people together through art for happier, healthier communities.
Her Wellbeing Art Classes run weekly in Bendigo and are popular with local residents wanting to learn new skills or techniques and connect with other creatives. This exhibition includes artworks created by Kim and her members of her class, 2inspire Creatives.
Meg Doller
Venue: Wine Bank On View 45 View St Bendigo
Email: megdoller@live.com.au
Phone: 0409 508 101
Meg Doller, a contemporary visual artist living and working on Dja Dja Wurrung land, has been creating and exhibiting for more than 20 years. Meg describes art and words as ‘persistent’ elements of her life. She creates works across disparate themes, methods and subject matter, taking inspiration for her mixed media, photographic, print, textile, collage and word-based works from personal experiences and her immediate environment. In recent years, Meg has explored waste as both theme and material in her visual arts practice. Meg strives to interpret her geographic and individual place in the world through her art making.
She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Victorian College of the Arts), Diploma of Studio Textiles (RMIT TAFE) and a Graduate Diploma of Education (La Trobe University). In addition to teaching art, Meg has experience in delivering workshops and project managing community art projects and events.
Venue: The Bendigo Club 22 Park Street Strathdale
Email: Stacey.ballard@cbchange.org
Phone: 0492 977 561
Paul is a Bendigo based artist living with disability who has explored his artistic practice for over 15 years. His process is intuitive and perceptive, drawing inspiration from many sources, including nature and the world around him. Paul’s work is expressive and often abstract in nature. His favoured mediums are drawing and painting, frequently utilising pastels and watercolour paint. Paul’s watercolour explorations showcase his fluid, organic style, while pastels allow for bolder, more brazen impressions.
Paul attends DONUT Studios, a community focused creative space in Golden Square offering disability supports, where he explores his artistic pursuits.
Venue: Cantina
66 Pall Mall Bendigo
Email: hello@paulazetleinart.com.au
Paula Zetlein is an artist living in Central Victoria. She has a Bachelor of Visual Arts and a Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary).
Her arts practice is based predominantly in drawing and painting. Raised in Central Victoria she has always drawn inspiration from the natural beauty of her bush surroundings, fostering a deep connection with nature. Her creative process involves immersing herself in the natural environment, observing botanical subjects to explore and capture a moment in time. Capturing a moment in time has now extended to the still life painting genre. Paulas still life paintings focus on the joy of displaying cut flowers and a collection of cherished objects. Portrayed through vibrant colour and pattern.
Pauline Robinson
Venue: Bunja Thai 32
Pall Mall Bendigo
Email:
pacrobn56@gmail.com
I originated from Condobolin NSW. After getting married and having 3 children we moved to Bendigo in 2001. I have worked many years as a nurse and painted in my “spare time”. An early visit to a Dudley house art exhibition held by Bendigo Art Society was a turning point. I became a member and at times served on the committee. We have held many art shows, conducted workshops and art demonstrations benefiting our members and the wider community.
Bendigo has many talented artists in their own right. I’ve watched their skills develop over time. Personally, I like to use acrylics, cut up and paste photos, enjoy scratch card and flow art. Oil and watercolour are mediums to try a bit harder at. I get inspiration from many artists. Abstract, contemporary works, traditional oil, acrylic and etchings.
Since retiring visiting many galleries when over seas was a truly amazing experience. Seeing the art face to face was a wonder. I can’t promote the pursuit of art enough, the enjoyment and even the sometimes “frustrating hiccups” that can challenge us along the way!
http://www.bendigoartsociety.org/pauline-robinson.html
Venue: Beechworth Bakery 158 High Street Bendigo
Email: shocking4026@gmail.com
Phone: 0429 093 616
Sharon divides her time between her studio and teaching part-time in a primary school art room. As an artist, she creates vibrant, abstract florals with bold patterns and bright colours. Currently, she works with acrylic paint, layering it and then drawing over the top with oil sticks. Her pieces are built up with layers and underpainting, creating a thick, textured finish. Sharon is inspired by the uninhibited creativity of children’s art, where colour choices and marks are made without hesitation. She works from her studio and gallery space at 63 King St, Bendigo. The studio is open by appointment.
Email: soma7.artist@gmail.com
Prolific creative who struggles to be confined to just one style - and is a branding marketing nightmare.
Venue: The Dispensary 9 Chancery Lane Bendigo
Email: stacey.ballard@cbchange.org
I love painting nature. Flowers are my favourite subject. I find nature helps me to progress with my healing. I love to paint in oils and acrylics. I started using oils 6 months ago.
I paint while I am at Donut Studios where I get all the support I need plus I can use the materials there. I didn’t know how to paint with oils until I came to Donut Studios. I have improved so much since I started painting. Painting makes me happy.
Venue: Black Swan 117 McCrae St Bendigo
Email:
tonyworland@outlook.com
I am a Central Victorian Artist. I love birds and keep a variety of large parrots.
I believe art must come from the heart and with a story of place and time.
When creative experimental inspiration I paint abstracts usually focusing on texture. This is a rare event for me allowing me to explore novel arrangements of texture, light and colour.
My favourite artist is Meredith Woolnough based out of the Central Coast NSW. Her work is poles apart from mine, in materials and technique, however her use of light, texture and colour is amazing.
My main artistic output is acrylic paintings of Australian birds in their iconic setting’s. All these paintings must reflect a regional, memory to me and come with a story. My waiting list of paintings will keep me busy for quite a while. Somehow, a feral goat has snuck into a future arrangement.
DISCLAIMER This publication is funded by the City of Greater Bendigo. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the details at the time of printing, neither the City of Greater Bendigo nor any featured individual or organization accepts responsibility for any inaccuracies or misdescriptions, whether by inclusion or omission. This publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For information on or acquisitions features in the publication, please contact the artist directly. Some portions of the artwork may not be fully visible due to layout constraints and publication requirements. In some cases, images may represent a detailed section of the artwork. This publication was designed by Creative Director Steven Stanley from Modart Design.