Art2Muse

Natalie Sherring lives in a secluded yet central part of Newcastle, on a hill, off a street in a one hundred year old terrace house overlooking Newcastle harbour. This area has inspired many artists before her including Margaret Olley, Mathew Perceval and Brett Whiteley. Margaret Olley would comment that the tremendous size of boats entering the harbour were like strange cities appearing and changing the landscape. The Rosalia represents the constant activity of boats on the working harbour.

Sherring has taken much inspiration from her surroundings over the years and is interested in the relationships of animals and characters that are sometimes real, imagined or gleaned from books. Tawny and Tuna is about the odd friendship of her adopted cat called Tuna who has befriended a Tawny Frogmouth owl. The owl has remained close to the house and has come to symbolise protection and a watchful eye over the past seven years. The owl hooting and the boats tooting their horns create other wordly comforts.

Bruder Mouse was painted after reading Peter Carey's The Unusual life of Tristan Smith. Bruder Mouse was a costume that the physically deformed Tristan Smith would wear to entertain people, the facade made him feel powerful and wonderful even though the costume tore at his skin.

The character of Henry originated from a teddy bear that her husband’s Great Grandmother gave to him as a child. Henry has been repaired and remodelled many times and has taken on a life of his own through Sherring's paintings.

Sherring is passionate about creating artworks and teaching art and has gained a great deal of inspiration from the imagination and purity of mark making of children’s art. Much of her artwork is about attaining a subconscious level of the mind where creating images isn't controlled by the conventions of what has been learnt. Her colour choices are vibrant, pure and heavily textured created by numerous layers of paint which suggest many more stories hidden within.

Solo Exhibitions

Aug 2007 WELCOME HOME Forsight Gallery Cooks Hill
Oct 2005 TWINKLE IN COLOUR Newcastle Art Space Parry St
Jan 2004 BLUE AUSTRALIA Back to Back Galleries Bull St
Oct 2003 THERE’S A TIGER IN THE CHAPEL Taburlaine winery Pokolbin
Nov 2002 Sculpture of the month Maitland City Art Gallery
Feb 2002 Maitland City Council Chambers Foyer, High St Maitland
April 1999 THICK RED PAINT John Paynter Gallery Hunter St Newcastle
July 1998 BONGO AND THE ROCKERS Cornucopia Gallery King St Newtown
Jan 1998 WORKS ON PAPER & CANVAS Back Bar Gallery Oxford St Paddington
April 1997 NETTY BLUE Cornucopia Gallery
Sept 1996 WATT ST CAFE Watt St Newcastle
April 1995 A NICE MENU Watt Space Gallery II Watt St Newcastle

Prizes

Sept 1995 HIGHLY COMMENDED Newcastle University Aquisitive Art Prize, university
acquired 'Owbilga want to win' (painting on canvas)
Aug 1992 HIGHLY COMMENDED Reg Russom Drawing Prize

Commissions

Dec 2002 50m X 4m Artwork for the Performing Arts Newcastle, facade, Hunter St Newcastle
April 2001 Steel frame banner design submission, Newcastle Council gateway project
May 2001 T Shirt design for Lake Macquarie Art Gallery First St Booragul
Dec 2000 Art Banner Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery
Sep 1999 Bar Beach Mural Project Newcastle City Council
Mar 1999 Autumn & Spring Street Banners Hunter St City West Newcastle Council
Sep 1998 Painting shop signs & designs Nambucca Bookshop Cafe Nambucca Heads
Aug 1997 Installation in mixed media vacant shopfront Hunter St Bicentenary Art Event
Jun 1997 Schematic design Nctle Bicentenary Events Corp. Frederick Ash Building
Aug 1996 Painting signs and artworks Cafe Mondo The Junction

Education

2006 GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN EDUCATION VIS.ART Newcastle Uni
2000 02 FURNITURE DESIGN CERTIFICATE Tighes Hill TAFE
2001 Australian Red Cross Senior First Aid
1999 Workplace Training Category 1 - WEA Hunter
1995 GRADUATE DIPLOMA (Painting) - Newcastle University
1993 94 BACHELOR OF ARTS VISUAL ARTS
1990 92 ASSOCIATE DIPLOMA IN FINE ART - Hunter St TAFE
Major PAINTING / Minor PRINTMAKING
1988 Higher School Certificate Lake Macquarie High School

Exhibitions

April 2008 INTERPRETATIONS Coal River Precinct John Paynter Gallery
July 2007 SMALL Back to Back Galleries Bull St Cooks Hill
July 2006 THE GOLDEN SADDLE PONY CLUB Newcastle Art Space
Dec 2005 Tenants Exhibition Newcastle Art Space
Oct 2004 THE MAGIC GARDEN Newcastle Art Space Parry St
Nov 2004 POSTCARDS FROM NEWCASTLE John Paynter Gallery
May 2003 Baine Marie & the Loose Meats show, John Paynter Gallery Newcastle
Nov 2002 Furniture Design final year exhibition, Tighes Hill TAFE
Dec 2001 Collectors Choice Von Bertouch Gallery Laman St Cooks Hill
Oct 2001 Grind Art Auction for Ron Hartree Art School Darby St Cooks Hill
Dec 2000 VON BERTOUCH GALLERY Laman St Cooks Hill
Nov 2000 THE DOG SHOW PCL Exhibitionists Elizabeth St Strawberry Hills
Aug 2000 N A S (Newcastle Art Space) Parry St Newcastle
Feb 2000 ROCKET ART AUCTION Donated works fundraiser
Nov 1999 WATT DECADE Selected graduates over 10 years of Watt Space Auckland
St Newcastle works toured regional galleries including Broken Hill
Aug 1999 THE WORD Lovett Gallery Laman St Newcastle
Mar 1999 STEEL WORKS A REGENERATION Lake Macquarie Art Gallery
Aug 1999 ICED NOVOS PCL Exhibitionists Elizabeth St Strawberry Hills
Mar 1997 Installation in mixed media, vacant shopfront Hunter St Newcastle
Dec 1996 LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY Lake Macquarie Art Gallery
painting outdoors on donated yacht sails
Dec 1996 WHAT'S FOR CHRISTMAS Watt Space Gallery
Nov 1996 MUSIC AND WORDS Watt Space
Sep 1996 EROTIC NEWCASLTE II Neo Gallery Crown St Newcastle
Aug 1996 SEEING ART IN WINDOWS Hunter St Newcastle
Mar 1996 WATT'S NEXT Watt Space
Dec 1995 STRONG PCL Exhibitionists Elizabeth St
Sep 1993 MIX Gallery I Watt Space

Community Involvement

Nov 2002 Art fair day, Laman St Newcastle
Jan 2002 Library holiday art workshops
Dec 2000 Judging Emerging Artist Award Lake Macquarie High
Dec 2000 School Banner Project Lake Macquarie Art Gallery
Dec 2000 Cultural Stomp Face Painting
Sep 1998 Interactive Art Sculpture Newcastle Fringe Festival
Aug 1998 Experimental Drawing workshop Newcastle Region Gallery Pavilion
Jun 1998 Experimental Drawing workshop Lake Macquarie Art Gallery
Sep 1997 Bicentenary Charity Ball Painted 9 metre wide mural for charity auction

Related Employment

00-03 Maitland City Art Gallery, casual gallery attendant
98-current Ron Hartree Art School, casual art teacher