BIOGRAPHY
Dr Sylvia Ditchburn is a visual artist. She is well known for her bold and colourful paintings inspired by Australian Landscapes of the North Queensland tropical rainforest environment and the rich red earth and blue skies of the interior. Essentially an en plein air painter Sylvia is a peripatetic artist crisscrossing the Australian continent from Townsville to Broome, Alice to Adelaide, and beyond in search of subjects for her art and returns to the studio for refining her work after en plein air safaris.
CV
ART EDUCATION: PhD James Cook University, Townsville, Qld Australia 2000, Master of Creative Arts JCU 1st class 1992, Graduate Diploma Museum Curatorship JCU Distinction 1988, Diploma Fine Arts TAFE Townsville 1984-87.
ART AWARDS: Over 55 art awards – 1987 Suncorp Queensland State Award -Painting, 1994-97 JCU Australian Postgraduate Research Scholarship, 1997-98 Appointment to Arts Qld Cultural Advisory Council to the Minister Qld Govt, 1988 Australia Council Visual Arts Creative Board Project Grant – Rainforest and Metaphor, 2011 Qld Govt Premiers Encouragement Award, 2013 Townsville City Council Art Award -Visual Artist, 2013 Arts Queensland Culture Champion Wall of Fame, 2016 T150 Community Grants Past in the Present.
PAST EXHIBITIONS: 2022, Art+Mind Brick Lane Gallery, LONDON, 2021 Mapping Loam Island on the Ross, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, TOWNSVILLE, 2008 Australian Landscapes Tomsk Regional Gallery, Siberia, RUSSIA, 2008 OLYMPIC Fine Art 2008, Beijing, CHINA, 2008 Art on the Wild Side, Framed Gallery, DARWIN NT Australia
STATEMENT
In my recent Water Series with Lotus, I am interested in fleeting surprises of the moment like passing insects, birds, tonal passages, and varying surface textures of smooth, rough, and amorous. Composition and colour space are critical and my aim is for the viewer to explore and enjoy the painting.
