annetteallman BIOGRAPHY

artist’s statement

Annette was born in Wellington, New Zealand and migrated to Australia 30 years ago. She has
painted throughout her life, but seriously since 2000. She has had eight solo exhibitions and many
group exhibitions.

Annette is well known for her whimsical figurative paintings, which reveal a passion for distinctive
bright colours and movement. Her figures frequently dance or fly across the canvas as they tell
stories from days of old in new and vibrant ways.

Many of her paintings also portray a quirky aerial view, with distorted perspective and rounded
horizons. This is a hangover from her days of flying a Cessna in the Northwest of Western
Australia. Flight and the birds-eye-view are common expressions in Annette’s paintings. “Whenever,
we rise above things we can become more informed, more free to choose, more joyous.”
Annette is also a passionate reader and storyteller. When her children were young, she preferred to
make up stories as she tucked them into bed rather than read from a book. Her work draws
heavily from mythology and folklore.

<br>Annette also paints portraits and in 2006 she was selected as a finalist in the Shirley Hannan
National Portrait Awards, in NSW. However, Annette believes that it is her figurative work that
gives others the most pleasure. “I like to paint uplifting portrayals of life, of love and the spirit, I
am drawn to the lighthearted and I try to leave people feeling better off for having crossed my
path or my paintings. For me my art is about being a psychologist with a brush.”

In 2010 Annette was the winner of the prestigious Mandorla Art Award, a National art prize for
religious art with her work “Caring in a Competitive World.

Annette worked as a clinical psychologist in Perth Western Australia for more than 25 years. Her
work as a clinical psychologist has informed her painting and vice versa her painting and love of art
was incorporated into her clinical practice. “I ran my own art gallery in Perth for three years before
moving to Hobart. My clients would walk through my gallery on their way to a consultation with
me and it was surprising the number of clients who discovered their inner creative self.”

She now works as a fulltime artist in Hobart, from a studio with spectacular views of Hobart and
the Eastern Shore. “My work has changed since I moved to Hobart, I now live with a birds-eye
view and I have a greater appreciation for nature, as I witness the sun rise and set and all the
amazing weather patterns in between. It has been liberating for my art after living in the high
density flatland suburbs of Perth.” She is currently working towards an exhibition which honours
trees.”

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