Participating Artists
The Pet Project provides employment opportunities, mentorship, resources and ongoing support for regional artists at all stages of their career. Our workshops are facilitated by an established and emerging artist.
Jo Chew
Hobart, TAS
Jo Chew’s practice explores ideas of vulnerability, loss, hopefulness, and longing, often depicting incomplete, temporary, and nomadic structures. Working across painting, collage, sculpture and assemblage, her work responds to personal experiences, while also highlighting the problematic nature of dwelling, housing, and connection to place in contemporary times.
Jo was selected for the 2022 Churchie National Emerging Art Prize and the 2019 Hatched National Graduate Show, she was the recipient of the Zonta Emerging Art Prize at the 2022 Women’s Art Prize, a finalist in the 2022 Glover Prize and winner in 2023. Currently completing her PhD at the University of Tasmania, Jo Chew is represented by Despard Gallery in nipaluna/Hobart where she lives and works. Click here to find out more about Jo.
Jo Chew, Tenderly
Penny Burnett
Dodges Ferry, TAS
Penny Burnett’s paintings focus on our relationship with space and nature. Formally trained in the atelier method at the National Art School in Sydney, Burnett is versed in the painterly gestural language of rendering space. Her doctoral project completed at the University of Tasmania in 2018 examined traditional representations of gardens in order to create an alternative way of perceiving cultivated space. Recently her practice has focused on colour mapping to question how colour can shift both the mood and perception of pictorial space.
Burnett’s work has been exhibited across the east coast of Australia, Malaysia and Korea. She has selected for a number of Australian prizes and residencies including the 2022 Woman’s Art Prize Tasmania; 2021 Calleen Art Award and Ravenswood Art Prize; Muswellbrook Art Prize (2020 people’s choice); and Bay of Fires (2018 winner). Residencies include Glover House -Patterdale and Don College, Devonport; Poimena Art Gallery- Launceston Grammar school; Cradle Mountain Wilderness Gallery and the inaugural Artspace IAa, Jeju Island, South Korea cultural exchange courtesy of Arts TAS, the Dep of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Jeju Foundation for Arts and Culture. Click here to find out more about Penny.
Penny Burnett, …and they are like trees planted along the riverbank
Josh Foley
Launceston, TAS
Josh Foley, (B. 1983) holds a Bachelor of Contemporary Art (Hons) from the University of Tasmania. He has exhibited extensively throughout Australia and has received prestigious awards, grants and residencies. His work is held in many public and private collections throughout Australia, notably, in the collection of the Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, Macquarie Bank, ArtBank & University of Tasmania. Click here to find out more about Josh.
Josh Foley, Houdini
Zoe Grey
Marrawah / Hobart, TAS
Zoe Grey is a contemporary painter who grew up in Marrawah, a remote coastal town on the far North-west tip of lutruwita/Tasmania, Australia. A raw and rugged place, Marrawah faces west, welcoming giant swells and roaring winds straight out of the Southern Ocean. Zoe’s intimate lived experience of this unique landscape and her deep, evolving relationship to that place, informs her painting practice.
Zoe graduated with First Class Honours from the University of Tasmania, School of Arts and Media in 2018. She has exhibited nationally and her work is held in private collections around the world. Zoe was finalist in the 2021 Hadley’s Art Prize and the 2021 Paddington Art Prize and she has undertaken artist residencies on Kind Island and in Finland. She is currently based in nipaluna/Hobart, working out of the Artist Run Initiative Good Grief Studios. Zoe is represented by Despard Gallery. Click here to find out more about Zoe.
Zoe Grey, Linger on the line
Stella Blackwell
Devonport, TAS
Stella Blackwell is a painter based on the North West coast of Tasmania. Since completing her Bachelor of Contemporary Arts at the University of Tasmania in 2008, Stella has been involved in many exhibitions and community projects related to raising awareness about mental health. Stella paints pet portraits with gouache or black ink, using pointilism and hatching to capture her subjects’ characters.
Stella Blackwell, Scruffy
Lorraine Biggs
Falmouth, TAS
Lorraine Biggs is a visual artist currently working in Tasmania. Originally from West Australian she moved to Tasmania in 1993 to undertake post-graduate studies at the University of Tasmania in Hobart ... and stayed.
Painting and drawing make up the major portfolio of her work although she explores sculpture, photography and design projects. Widely exhibited and with her work in many collections around the country such as Artbank, Art Gallery of WA, many universities and hospitals her main focus is the natural world where she explores diverse ecosystems through detailed works. Project based works can take two or three years with immersion into forest, coastal or weather themes often researched through residencies. She has been commissioned for many projects including a diverse range of Art for Public Building projects in Tasmania. She enjoys collaborating with artists from other disciplines particularly musicians and writers. Click here to find out more about Lorraine.
Lorraine Biggs, Shy Albatross
Julian Bale
Kimberley, TAS
Julian Bale has been a professional artist for over 25 years and has always had a keen interest in community art projects. His artwork encompasses a range of styles, mediums and includes many murals and commissions. Julian has owned and operated several arts related businesses and teaching centres. He is currently the curator and restorer for the murals in Sheffield, Tasmania. Click here to find out more about Julian.
Julian Bale, Mural Painting
Nicole Hutchins
Zeehan, TAS
Trained as an artist, skilled as a maker and passionate about design, creativity is Nic’s sweet spot. Graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting Major) at UTAS in 2012 was just the beginning of the creative journey, which continues today with a new found passion for Graphic Design.
“As an artist, I’m interested in portraiture, people, animals, and the inanimate objects that tell us about a person. I am fascinated by colour theory, tone and what negative space can achieve. My work is primarily 2D, I paint and I sketch on canvas, card, and paper. I have painted with oils and acrylics, and my most recent works also use hand cut stencils and spray paint.”
Born and raised in NSW, Nic now calls Tasmania home, with detours via Canberra and Mount Isa; as they say “The journey is as important as the destination”. Click here to find out more about Nicole.
Nicole Hutchins, Sofia
Cheryl Rose
Burnie, TAS
Burnie based Palawa Artist, Cheryl Rose, endeavours to portray her Cultural Connections to Land and Sea. Cheryl uses various mediums, ranging from, oils on paper, acrylics and Printmaking consisting of Linos and etchings.
Cheryl has facilitated workshops for Community Members, including Elders and Youth. Her art communicates her passion for story telling through her work. Her objective is to maintain community connections throughout these sessions.
Climbing scaffolding, in a bid to undertake Mural paintings along with another artist, nine metres high under the Helipad at the Mersey hospital, Cheryl was able to, not only overcome her fear of heights, but also to have her work displayed in the public arena. Click here to find out more about Cheryl.
Cheryl Rose, Untitled
Louisa Harding
Dodges Ferry, TAS
Louisa Harding graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2021. She makes art that helps her understand her personal experiences and perceptions of the world we live in, with a focus on mental health and women’s issues relating to ageing.
Louisa is interested in developing new artistic techniques and has explored a broad range of studio disciplines including painting, analogue photography, drawing, printmaking and ceramics. Click here to find out more about Louisa.
Louisa Harding, Ben the Rat
Janine Poke
Railton, TAS
Janine Poke is an artist based in Railton, Tasmania. In 2022, Janine was the winner of Mural Fest with her work A Generous Gift.
“I was very grateful to have the opportunity to participate in Mural Fest 2022. Winning was the highlight of my year. Sharing this with my daughter and passing on some skills to her was very special to me. I have experienced many ups and downs in life and art has always been my therapy. I'm inspired by family moments, our love for our pets, and the ever-changing landscape of Tasmania.” Click here to find out more about Janine.
Janine Poke, Cockatoo
Jason Ball
Burnie, TAS
Jason Ball graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Degree in Contemporary Arts in 2019. He has exhibited at Burnie Regional Gallery and the Powerhouse Gallery Launceston, Tasmania.
Jason Ball, Essendon Legends
Donnalee Young
Swansea, TAS
“My art practice stems from my interest in community arts where the focus is on people sharing their creativity and sense of place and identity to help communities thrive. I also enjoy the meditative affect of painting and drawing so the process for me is more important than the product which is just as well as I don’t earn my living as an artist, but occasionally as an artsworker. My current arts practice focuses on climate change and the degraded landscape which links with my background in environmental management. There is so much great subject matter here which I find inspiring and fun to experiment and learn with despite the heavy subject”.
Donnalee Young, Tree on Postcard
Jenny Groves
Trial Harbour, TAS
“My work focuses on many years spent in Arnhem Land and the Central Desert, specifically the importance of rocks in the storylines of the first nation people.
Arriving in Trial Harbour has added to that passion for working with rocks, partly through the ever-present mining industry but also the lack of story associated with my present environment. I have called my studio space…’Open studio at maynpatat’ as that is the palawa name for this area. There are boundary markers in the form of petroglyphs nearby and the granite boulders and other rock entities scattered over the region leave me wanting to honour the associated stories that have been lost through colonization. As Tyson Yunkaporta states in his book ‘sand talk’ … “They (Rocks) know things learned over deep time”. As sentient structures, the rocks keep secrets that cannot reveal themselves to the human intellect but can be explored through my art practice”. Click here to find out more about Jenny.
Jenny Groves, Untitled
Lee-Ann Walters
Smithton, TAS
Lee-Anne Walters is an emerging artist who enjoys drawing with graphite. She is exploring drawing with pastels and painting in acrylic. Lee-Anne enjoys drawing wild animals and her family dogs, and has explored landscapes. She has been drawing since late 2021, and finds it relaxing. She would like to progress to combine landscape, animals and people in her work. She has gained confidence in her work by attending art classes conducted by local Smithton artist Fran Joyce.
As a member of the Smithton community, Lee-Anne contributes as a Police Officer, a board member of Rural Health, a committee member of Community Road Safety Partnership and the Smithton Saints Basketball Committee.
Lee-Ann Walters, Coco