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Gunda Briggs

Painter

‘If I can capture that feeling from within:
the essence of inspiration that made me start a painting, it will reflect in my work and perhaps touch the soul of the viewer.’

Inspiration for Gunda Briggs comes from many sources - a beautiful sunset, a rainy day with subtle shades of grey, a bunch of flowers in a vase, the view through a window into her garden…

“It's always colour, which first sparks my imagination. I have a passionate love affair and obsession with colour, which reflects in all my paintings, no matter what the subject.”

Gunda Brigg's preferred medium is acrylics. This versatile medium allows her to go from thin delicate washes, which she often uses in her floral images, to thick impasto techniques.

Although she was not able to have formal training in her younger years, her love for visual art has expressed itself throughout her life in various ways. Travelling extensively to exotic places she became interested in photography. She now uses this as a helpful tool for her paintings.

“Often an image arises out of my imagination and I rely on photos for accuracy of form, shades, light and shadows.”

It was on an extended holiday in Australia where she fell in love with our beautiful country. Besides the sunshine and those endless beaches Gunda was drawn to the flora and fauna in all its colourful diversity.

Eventually she studied ceramics at TAFE collage in Coffs Harbour inspiring her to move to brush and canvas. Along the way she was very fortunate to have two wonderful mentors: The late Allen Jackson who instructed her in traditional painting and local artist Nicholas Daunt, whose abstract colour explosions on canvas she admires enormously. Nicholas taught her to explore and experiment with different techniques and mediums.

What else is important to Gunda? Colour naturally, light, shadow, movement, energy and of course, happy accidents!