Printmedia

The woodblock print is never a “blank canvas” and this organic nature of the medium is part of what I find so enticing about creating in this medium. In my works the voice of the wood and paper are often empowered to speak through the wood grain and paper fibres in the prints. I have studied and practiced art in a number of mediums, drawing, painting, etching and sculpture, however, I chose to work in woodblock because it is an accessible form and more environmentally and socially sustainable. Making woodblock prints is slow art and it is often small art. Some of my work uses recycled or found wood and most of my paper is handmade from bamboo, mulberry or hemp. In a world of climate change, species extinction, artificial life and rapidly increasing technology, the handmade woodblock print is an age old accessible medium that connects art and people. My woodblock prints demonstrate a number of printmaking techniques including single block, reduction block, multi block, jigsaw block and hand coloured prints.

“I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. My father was a talented graphic designer in the film industry but it was my mother, a gifted amateur artist, who taught me to how to draw. Growing up near the sea at Clovelly, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, my first love was the ocean and seashore. Although I studied art and design at school and University, my life took a very different direction but I never lost my desire to observe nature, be inspired by it and create unique designs from it. When I moved to the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains 25 years ago, I developed a great love for plants and flowers in all their intricate beauty. One of my favourite things is drawing the native plants which I see every day in the bush around my home. I do my best to observe nature and capture what I see in my initial pencil drawings. I then enhance the delicate, intricate shapes, lines and patterns to bring out their magic. By the time I come to the final pen drawings, I have turned natural form into pattern and each unique design seems to flow onto the paper, almost on its own. I then transfer my designs to my computer where I do all my colouring to create the final designs for my cards and art prints. My passion is to create unique, high quality, hand-drawn designs for you to enjoy.“ Lorraine Brownlee is Art Director and Editor of Auspress Marketing and Publishing, a successful boutique company which she runs with her husband Ian Brownlee in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

Hi, I'm Claudia, a dedicated design professional and graphic designer with a deep affinity for the world of print and a commitment to accessibility in design. For over 25 years, I've immersed myself in the art of print design, transforming information into visually engaging stories. My niche lies in crafting comprehensive reports and ensuring consistency through well-crafted style guides. My specialisations are: - Report Design: I thrive on translating complex data and information into visually compelling reports that captivate and inform. - Style Guides: I'm meticulous about creating style guides that maintain design consistency and quality across all your materials. - PDF Accessibility: I specialise in transforming standard PDFs into accessible ones, making information universally available. - WCAG 2.0: I'm well-versed in Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) and apply these principles to create user-friendly, barrier-free designs. Advocacy: I believe that well-designed reports and adherence to style guides not only convey information effectively but also elevate the perception of your brand or message. Design should also be a tool for empowerment and inclusion. I advocate for accessible design practices, pushing for a world where everyone can access and appreciate visual content effortlessly. Feel free to reach out for design collaborations, report projects, or discussions about the importance accessibility in design. Email: info@claudesign.com.au Phone: + 61 417 073 383 Web: claudesign.com.au

Linda Swinfield is a mid-career Hybrid printmaker whose work is now multi- tangent. Her art making career begun as a visual art student in 1979 where she majored in black and white analogue photography and experimental painting at Meadowbank Technical College in Sydney. Since then photography and drawing have remained a constant diary for Swinfield. In 1983 she enrolled in a Bachelor of Visual Arts at City Art Institute (University of NSW) where she majored in Drawing and Lithography. Swinfield completed a Masters of Fine Art at The University of Newcastle in 2010 and it was here that many of the studio based disciplines of her youth merged, particularly photographic media in printmaking integrating drawing, and painting with the gathering of documents, research, text and history as an intrinsic storytelling process. Since graduating from the Masters of Fine Art in 2010 she has been selected for Artist in Residences with Captivate in Western Sydney from 2019- 20, Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery in April 2017, Thirning Villa, Ashfield in 2015, Laughing Waters Road AIR (Eltham Victoria) with Nillumbik Council in 2013 and the Gunyah AIR in Port Stephens, NSW in 2012 where she returned to in February 2016. Additionally she was recently selected for the Swan Hill Print and Drawing Awards, Hidden Sculpture Walk 2018 and 2015, Sculpture in the Vineyards, Nillumbik Prize in 2014 and 2017 and the Laman Street Art Prize in 2013, The Women’s Art Prize in 2016 and held solo exhibitions in the Newcastle University Gallery. In 2010 she was awarded a NSW Marketing Grant, by NAVA. Contemporary printmaking is now the spine of her artmaking processes, most recently she has extended her printmaking skill into photo lithography and developed suites of objects as installation utilizing contemporary processes of laser cutting and digital media. Her work is represented in public and private collections in Australia and Europe.

I am an Artist based in the beautiful Blue Mountains, west of Sydney Australia. Being a child of the Mid Century, I’ve held a lifelong fascination with modernist design and hope my work continues to convey that era’s strong sense of optimism, fun and happiness, traits that are somewhat lacking in these current times. On leaving school I trained in drafting and worked for a time in the Australia Square offices of Australia’s foremost modernist architect Harry Seidler. This led to a fascination with the geometric form and modernism which I explored through painting, dance and graphic design. I worked with my husband Timothy for many years in our entertainment company Achieving the Impossible, travelling and performing Magic and Illusion Shows extensively in Australia and abroad. As well as performing, I was responsible for costume, prop and set design as well as using my design skills in publicity and promotional material. Highlights included performing as the opening act for many entertainment legends including – James Taylor, Whoopie Goldberg and Shirley MacLaine. My larger paintings are currently Geometric Abstractions in acrylic. These explore the Perception of Movement, Shifting Planes and Points of Focus. There is an intersection between Op-Art, Hard-edge Geometric Abstraction and Colour Field painting that I love, and my larger works reflect this. As a Printmaker I spent many years exploring the “Reduction Process,” also known as “suicide prints.” I am currently producing Limited Edition Minimalist Block Prints in a Modernist style. Please visit my website or Instagram feed for recent work, news and invitations to Exhibitions & Open Studio Days.

I am an exhibiting artist in printmaking, collage and mixed media holding a number of workshops in these mediums both here in the Blue Mountains ,Greater Sydney and in Ballarat Melbourne. (Creative Collage) My workshops cater for beginners onwards and at times I choose to mix mediums together both in 2D and 3D works such as collage with print mediums.I have a love of box works which allows for the use of the many bits and pieces in one's studio. My overseas residencies include Rigalto Print Studio, Cork Printmakers and the Sidney Nolan Trust with a short guest Residency at the Tyler Print Institute in Singapore.

Mount Victoria based multimedia artist whose practice explores concepts focusing on perception, technology, humanity and nature. My artwork aims to create evocative spaces using a 2.5D relief sculpture layering technique. My formal studies include a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) and Post-graduate Dip Ed (Art & English) from Curtin University. Exhibiting since 1981 my work has been accepted for numerous group exhibitions including the Rick Amor Drawing Prize, National Art Gallery of Ballarat; Gallipoli Art Prize, Gascoyne Arts Prize (2021 runner up) and Blue Mountains City Art Gallery. In 2016 I held solo exhibitions at GalleryONE88 before becoming a partner in the Gallery Blackheath, an artist run cooperative – now closed due to COVID. As a longstanding committee member (former President) of the Mount Victoria Museum, I’ve helped stage and participated in several successful collaborative exhibitions with leading Blue Mountains contemporary art groups (Birdland2 with SLAB cooperative and Black & Blue 2 Blume Illustrated at BM Cultural Centre). Through the museum, I’ve successfully developed/project led several exhibitions including the award winning (MG&NSW Highly Commended) 150th of Railway to Mount Victoria. For the Mt Vic 150th I produced an animated historic photo projection and an oral history touchscreen system. Pop up 150th railway exhibitions for Bowenfels (Lithgow) and Blackheath were also successfully staged. My design work included graphic files for large format print banners, one of which is permanently displayed at Blackheath railway station. As an active management committee member of the Greater Blue Mountains Creative Arts Network, performing the company secretary role (former acting treasurer), I have experience with the logistics for developing and producing group art projects. GBMCAN aims to encourage the building of a stronger arts community across the Greater Blue Mountains by fostering member driven initiatives and building partnerships with other arts organisations and businesses.

Solas Text and Design combines the skills of book designer Cathy Campbell and book editor/writer Scott Forbes. HOW WE CAN HELP: Develop book ideas • Design and layout • Manuscript assessment • Editing (both structural and copy editing) • Cover design • Photo research • Corporate publications • Promotional materials • Magazine design and sub-editing • Proofreading • Stationery design (calendars, diaries and notebooks) • Preparation of files for self-publishing (ebook and print) PAST CLIENT LIST INCLUDES: Lonely Planet • Bloomsbury • Hardie Grant • Murdoch Books • Penguin Lantern • Australian Geographic • Discovery Channel • Reader's Digest Books • HarperCollins Publishers • SBS • Time Life • Simon & Schuster • Insight Guides • Thames & Hudson • Bertelsmann • Random House • University of South Australia • National Library of Australia Publishing

Judith Martinez Estrada is a Spanish-Australian visual artist, designer and researcher. Judith has exhibited in Australia and overseas. She has been artist in residence at Alfred University, New York, Megalo Print Studio in Canberra and was the 2019-2020 recipient of the State Library of Victoria, Rick Amor residency at Baldessin Press Fellowship. She has a Bachelor of Design and Master of Philosophy in Fine Arts from UNSW, where she is currently a PhD candidate. Her research and creative practice explore the retelling and recreating of biographies through archival investigation and memory studies.

The Blue Mountains Cultural Centre showcases innovative, diverse, distinctive and creative cultural programs for enjoyment by residents of, and visitors to, the Blue Mountains. Located in the heart of Katoomba the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre encompasses the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery, Katoomba Library and Into the Blue, an interactive exhibition that explores the history and natural landscape of the Blue Mountains. Visitors can also enjoy the viewing platform that takes in stunning panoramic vistas of Katoomba and the Jamison Valley. Opened in 2012, the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery features major touring, curated, regional and local exhibitions. Its Altitude Exhibition Program is dedicated to showcasing artists who reside in the Blue Mountains Region. The Gallery also hosts many quality exhibition programs such as curator and artist talks, educational workshops, gallery tours and outreach programs. The Cultural Centre also hosts school holiday programs for kids, pop-up art activities, artisan markets, performances, and a wide range of community related events. The Blue Mountains Cultural Centre also features a Gallery Shop and Café, both of which aim to highlight local makers and produce. The Shop stocks a wide variety of quality Australian made gifts, books and homewares, with a focus on artisan products designed and made here in the Blue Mountains. The licensed Gallery Café has a particular focus on quality, locally produced ingredients. You can enjoy freshly roasted coffee, delicious cakes, and a seasonal menu while overlooking the magnificent Jamison Valley.

Karen is an Artist, Storyteller and Transpersonal Art Therapist. Her art and writing focuses on the ethereal and spiritual, with the aim to inspire. Karen produces her own offerings including products, online courses, kids art classes, and more. ART, PRODUCTS & COURSES WEBSITE www.karencurran.au

 OTHER As a transpersonal therapist Karen provides transformational guidance for those who wish to travel the inner journey and explore the root cause of complexities, grief, trauma and effects of anxiety or other issues, and turn them into an inner strength. THERAPY WEBSITE www.karencurran.com Karen’s private clients are mainly women and children - her services have a feminine and spiritual focus.