Rediscovering the Passion

For Anne-Maree Wise a well-deserved term break from teaching art at Avila College brought an unexpected bonus. She realised that she had the luxury of time and she spent it rediscovering her first love, which was painting.

Re-energised after a trip to Japan, Anne-Maree got back into her studio and was delighted to find that the ideas and inspiration for her art flowed freely. She found she had not painted with such passion since her university days.

After working steadily she produced an array of new pieces and she decided to take a chance and submit six images to the ‘invitation only’ Red Hill Art Show. She was thrilled when the organisers selected three of her works for the show.

Following the Red Hill Show Anne-Maree received an email from the prestigious ‘Art Edit’ magazine asking if they could include her painting in their Gallery section, needless to say the answer was a resounding yes. Anne-Maree was in fine company as a Charles Blackman piece was also featured in the magazine.

This exposure led to more enquiries and as a result Anne-Maree now has her paintings on display in a store in Brighton and she was invited to exhibit at a new show at the Hogan Gallery. The group exhibition titled ‘Emerging Art Australia’ in Collingwood was very successful and one of the stand out works was a large abstract painting by Anne-Maree. The inspiration for this work was rain on cherry blossoms in Kyoto and the colours and textures in the painting are visually striking.

The curator of the ‘Emerging Art Exhibition’ was so impressed with Anne-Maree’s works that she has extended an invitation for her to have a solo exhibition at the gallery later this year.

Anne-Maree is very grateful for the artistic opportunities that are presenting themselves and she feels re-invigorated in the classroom. The Year 7 to 10 students that Anne-Maree teaches are benefitting from her experience and wisdom as she shares her perspective as an artist with them.  Anne-Maree highly values the support and encouragement of her colleagues at Avila College and feels fortunate to work in such a special environment. For Anne-Maree blending her teaching role and her artistic pursuits provides a perfect balance.