June 24-30, 2020
Canvassing the garden for inspiration By BELINDA HARRISON WITH a vocal, pint-sized boss determined to ensure his needs are her top-most priority, Wangaratta artist Joelene Mitchell’s dreams of a full-time painting career look like they’ll have to wait until her son grows out of the ‘terrible twos’. “I would love for art to be my full-time job, but Charlie is a task driver and won’t let me off the hook that easily,” Joelene laughed. Joelene has been lucky enough to stay at home for the last couple of years and focus on raising her children with partner Brendan, but said she’d also found time for herself to sneak out to her studio while Charlie was at occasional care or catching up on some much needed sleep. “I’ve also lost myself to some very late nights making the most of the quiet when everyone else is asleep, which has been divine,” Joelene added. Creativity seems to run in Joelene’s family with her father an artist blacksmith who has made incredible works forged out of iron and her mother creating beautiful pencil work in graphite and coloured pencils along with delicate botanical watercolours. “I can recall watching my late grandmother painting still lifes in oil when I was little and I have watercolours which belonged to my great-grandmother framed and hanging in my lounge.” Joelene’s first introduction to art after high school was in folk art. She joined the Victorian Society of Folk and Decorative Artists and attended some of their classes and retreats in Melbourne, even teaching a couple of classes locally before she set aside her paints and focused on first time motherhood to her daughter Grace (now 14).
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YOUR GARDEN
◆ FLOURISHING: Joelene Mitchell snatches time where she can to create beautiful macro florals in her studio around her family duties. PHOTO: Kieren Tilly
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