Annette Lodge

Nettie Lodge was born in Australia.

She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Curtain University in Perth, WA in 1979 and was awarded an overseas research grant from the WA Arts Council in 1980 to complete post graduate studies at the Banff Centre of Fine Arts in Canada where she majored in painting.

She returned to Australia in 1984 where she has been working as a painter and a freelance illustrator ever since. She exhibits regularly in Sydney and lectures part time in Illustration at the Billy Blue School of Graphic Arts. She has had several childrens books published which she has both written and illustrated, most recently, BIRD, published by ABC Books, to be released in October 2004.

She presently lives and paints on Scotland Island, NSW Australia.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Traveling has always been a potent source of inspiration to my work and I have often used places I have visited as a theme for my paintings.

The paintings become the journey itself with all its unexpectedness, a parallel road that allows me to reinvent the place in my own way using the symbols and images that have touched me.

The symbols of indigenous animals are an essential element of my pictures. Like characters in a play, they provide the drama for the backdrop, such as the giraffes in Africa, the blackbirds in Ireland, the sloths in Costa Rica and more recently, birds from many different places and dimensions. The symbolism of birds as immigrants is the theme of my new exhibition which will open at the Soho Gallery in Sydney on November 20, 2004, where my new book will also be launched.

I have lived in Pittwater for the past 12 years and built a house on Scotland Island in 2000 (an experience worthy of a Stephen King novel), but, with the pain now forgotten, it is lovely! And Pittwater remains an intrinsic part of me.

Nettie Lodge 2004