Creative collection Artist Tanya McAllan gets down to earth
FROM HER CHARMING GARDEN CUBBY HOUSE, CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN ARTIST TANYA MCALLAN HAS CREATED THE GREEN PRINT FOR SUSTAINABLE ART
There are a few things you’d expect to find in the back garden of a home in Sydney’s Northern Beaches: a shield of leafy palms, a string of towels waiting patiently in the sun and perhaps a longboard resting to one side. However, in the garden of artist Tanya McAllan the scene is quite different: there are rabbits running between wild thickets, a fairy garden, and a curious cubby house, where the artist turns discarded paint tools into treasures, with the gentle stroke of her brush.
“I noticed that the kids had stopped frequenting the cubby house, so I swept everything into bags and waited for their comments,” says Tanya of her cubby-turned-studio space. “Nothing came. Two weeks later I moved in.” In addition to having a studio of her own, there are other benefits too.
“I love that it’s separate from the house. The kids know that I can’t answer their demands as I’m just too far away. It’s tiny so I have to be super-organised, but if a commission is too large for the space I paint outside in the garden.”
Though diminutive in size, Tanya’s studio cubby has produced a slew of impressive works, which now hang proudly in contemporary galleries (and homes) across Sydney. She recently held a solo exhibition at Hamptons House in Fairlight and has a group show next month at the prestigious Michaeel Reid gallery in Newport.
Tanya came to painting professionally later in life. She enjoyed art in high school, which led to a career in graphic design, however, it wasn’t until her daughter, Elke, now 10, went off to school that Tanya’s love of painting was rekindled (she also has a son Otto, 13, with partner Jonas). “On the first day of school, I swept my daughter through the gates and went off to my first adult art class at Willoughby Arts Centre with Judith White,” recalls Tanya. “Eventually I moved to the Royal
Art Society of NSW. After a while I reduced my design hours and increased my art hours.”
Creating sustainably is the backbone to all of Tanya’s work. From repurposed paints to the old Venetian blinds used in the final stages to frame her work, everything Tanya uses is second-hand. “The process all starts with my deep love of the earth – I want to walk as lightly on this earth as I can,” says Tanya, who’s always on the lookout for materials. “I discovered an easel and some canvases in a local council clean-up and realised this was how I could practise my art and not feel environmentally guilty.”
Tanya rotates between still-life paintings of the Australian bush, nearby seascapes to sweeping country landscapes and the dusty tones of Bathurst. She uses a loose method of combining collage and acrylic, which she learnt under the tutelage of Sydney artist Judith White, to delicately capture places she loves. “I’m not trying to replicate what’s in front of me, but to suggest its beauty with as few brush strokes as possible,” says Tanya, treading as lightly on the canvas as she does on the planet.
“AS SOON AS I SIT IN MY STUDIO I CALM DOWN STRAIGHTAWAY. THEN I START PAINTING, AND IT’S JUST SO EXCITING THAT IT’S REALLY HARD TO STOP”~ TANYA