INSPIRED BY NATURE
Brenda Stone has enjoyed a massive year career wise. She has been in high demand creating and designing custom pieces for corporate and residential spaces across Australia, as well as having her work displayed on a grand scale at the Townsville Airport.
THEocean, the movement of the waves, beach and patterns in nature is what inspires Brenda Stone to produce her hugely sought-after artwork.
Brenda’s coastal inspired art – which often depicts aerial-like views of the ocean, waves and land – has secured a huge following and she is humbled that people love what she paints.
“I want them to feel like they are transported to the place that I have represented through my paintings,” she tells NQ Weekend. “The ocean and water refresh me and is a source of life for all who experience it.”
Brenda has created hundreds of original pieces in Australia and overseas in the past 15 years.
She is in high demand to design and create custom pieces for corporate and residential spaces.
Her stunning artwork has brought new life to a range of settings across Townsville, including the 17sq m Flinders Splash resin artwork for Flinders Lane, the ocean-front views of
Mariners Residences, recently refurbished business and local schools.
Brenda also produces art for more intimate spaces in people’s homes.
Another major piece she can include in her long list of major works, includes a statement artwork at the revamped Townsville Airport terminal.
Brenda’s vibrant entry statement piece will be seen by the airport’s 1.6 million passengers annually. The work, which uses free-flowing resin in bright, tropical colours, is displayed on a terminal corridor wall between the refurbished check-in and baggage reclaim areas.
It covers two large spaces, with one panel measuring 76sq m and the second measuring 77sq m.
Townsville Airport general manager
Brendan Cook says Brenda’s work celebrated the tropical landscape and climate, for which the North Queensland region is so well known. Brenda says her vision for the artwork at the Townsville Airport was to create an aerial-like abstract painted with resin, which represents Townsville’s vast and famed environment.
“Our location is a paradise for all who travel here, from tropical Magnetic Island to our iconic pink volcanic rock,” she says. “This mural will act as a way-finder, leading visitors through our region’s gems.” The original artworks were created using the artist’s method of pouring with spoons.
The mother-of-two young children says it is a “huge honour” to have her art displayed at the Townsville Airport.
“Being commissioned to paint two custom artworks for the Townsville Airport renovation and have my artwork covering 150sq m of wall inside the terminal where more than a million people will walk past each year is pretty epic,” she says. “As well as being a huge achievement, I see it as a great reward for all my contribution and participation here over the past decade in the arts community.”
Brenda, who is a 2007 graduate of James
Cook University’s Bachelor of Visual Arts, acknowledges 2022 has been a massive year for her.
Besides being commissioned to paint the two artworks for the Townsville Airport, she has taken the plunge into digital art with her paintings, as well has been commissioned by Australian and local companies to paint custom artwork.
“NFTS (non-fungible tokens) allows me to reach a global market with my artwork where perhaps I couldn’t before being based in Townsville,” she says. “NFTS also dramatically changes the forecast for any artist as you receive royalties for every digital asset sold and on sold perpetually.
“This is a complete game changer. I have had much success in this industry over the last six months.
“What sets my NFT collection apart from others is the utility I have added to each of my digital artworks. Going beyond the artwork, adding additional value in the form of real life experiences, which the owner gets access to once they purchase the NFT.”
In August this year Brenda released her Accessible Abstracts Collection on objkt.com on the Tezos Blockchain. This collection is
Brenda’s signature abstract pieces especially designed for her journey into NFTS.
Brenda credits a snowboarding accident in New Zealand almost eight years ago for inspiring her to work full-time as an artist.
“The fall – it was on the first day of a sevenday ski trip – put me out of a job for six weeks, allowing me to paint every day,” she says.
“I found when I committed my full attention and focus to my artwork, it really grew.”
Before the accident, Brenda worked at Gloria Jeans and only painted part-time.
The resident artist at Drill Hall Studio considers 2016 a pivotal year for her as that is when she quit her job at the coffee shop and took the plunge to do her artwork full-time.
“That was the start of my professional art career,” he says. “My dream is coming true every day.”
Brenda says she loves the spontaneity of creating each piece of art.
“Watching the paints move and dance around the canvas,” she says.
“Each artwork is a combination of oil-based and water-based paints and the textures/ patterns they produce when they react. I can control the colour palette but not necessarily the end result.”
Brenda says her motivation to create art is born two-fold.
“How I feel when I am doing what I love to do (creating art), and seeing how people respond to what I create are my two motivations when it comes to my art,” she says. “Whether a person does art professionally or for fun, art is a tangible way to express feelings, struggles, emotions and desires.”