Last year I had the privilege to be invited by @simonehaag to paint a mural in one of their design projects in Sorrento. A beautiful house buy @jostarchitects What I love about Simone is how differently she thinks about interior. They know exactly how to mix bold art & statement pieces, textures & colours, and still make a home feel like a home. To quote something I read recently: "People need art in their houses. They don’t need Bed, Bath and Beyond denist-office art. They need weird stuff.” [Ezra Croft]. If you like that, then Simone is your woman. For this…

The most magical night! Thank you to each one of you that came out to our opening of ‘Lores’. No stories are told in solitude and the show wouldn’t have been without you. Feeling full of love and gratitude ❤️ To @b.ecsmith for being the best friend and fellow artist someone could ever have wished to be on this journey with. To @kerensa_diball @myfwarhurst and @solfoto.portrait for your performances that made the night, thank you from the bottom of my heart. To @novacancygallery, for the opportunity to show our work at your amazing gallery. Now excuse me while I go…

A beautiful write up on the Design Files today: ‘We tell ourselves stories in order to live,’ wrote Joan Didion in 1979. It’s an oft misquoted line, used to validate the human connection to storytelling, rather than to critique the delusions we wittingly commit to. Narrative is a knotty concept these days, filled with optimism and hope, but also with danger. In the wrong hands, stories can do damage. This conflict is what drives a new exhibition from Charlotte Swiden and Bec Smith. The two painters have joined forces on ‘Lores’ to explore narrative, myth-making, creativity, and knowledge transfer through…

So excited to be featured on Hunter & Folk this week! "Opening at Melbourne’s No Vacancy Gallery on 15 February 2022, Lores ruminates on creative life in lockdown while expanding on the stories that connect us. Melbourne-based artists Bec Smith and Charlotte Swiden's collaboration unfolded through the city’s harsh lockdowns. Now in 2022, the collection of works created purposefully for the exhibition pose a reflection on this challenging time and how creativity — despite the odds — thrived. Bec and Charlotte first found each other’s practice through social media. They discovered an alignment of creative motivations and personal values plus a shared approach…

Our catalogue for Lores is now available from No Vacancy Gallery website. Sales open 8am Thursday Feb 10, first in best dressed!

Delighted to announce the exhibition 'Lores' with Bec Smith & Charlotte Swiden at No Vacancy Gallery in Melbourne, February 14-27, 2022 What are the stories we tell our children and ourselves, and where did they come from? There are tales we have outgrown, and there are those that tell us more about ourselves than we are fully prepared to acknowledge. During times of uncertainty which narratives can we rely upon? Charlotte focuses on generating her own stories in her work. She does this by drawing on the respect and love for our natural world, holding nostalgia for stories that were once celebrated in ceremony and ritual.…

So excited to be part of @moderntimesau upcoming group exhibition ‘Chromatic Retreat’. Featuring works by 17 artists, the show is opening with a real life opening night (!!) Thursday 1st of July 2021. "The black and white palette is moody, evocative and nostalgic. Chromatic Retreat showcases the work of 16 Australian artists exploring their practice within the limits of a largely achromatic palette.  It is fundamentally abstract. It suggests rather than describes. And it has a long history in art – for reasons that range from the conceptual, to the technical to the spiritual, artists have long experimented with the power of removing…

I’ve realised that it’s easy to be fixated on outcome, output, and deadlines, at least when you are trying to turn your creativity in to something to live from. With my painting, I’m trying to keep it in a sphere where I have room to play, fail, try new things, and not restrict myself too much by the expectations of myself or others. I’m hoping that by doing so, I’ll do better work. This week I had the pleasure to be interviewed by my good friend Kate Stokes aka Coco Flip. Kate and I have known each other for a long time…

An in-demand designer and painter, Charlotte Swiden is sharing her art in the public space for the first time as part of a new Melbourne art trail. In partnership with The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, we speak to her about the lasting impact of public art and the importance of contributing to a good cause. So wonderful to see this article about the UooUoo I painted in support of Royal Children Hospital Foundation and their 150 Anniversary art trail. Very thankful to have Broadsheet as my sponsor on this adventure. As a little bonus I created a colouring in of the…

The RCH 150 Anniversary Art Trail is finally going live! You will find my UooUoo in the Fitzroy Gardens the 20th Jan - 21 March. 100 artists will be featured across Melbourne and Geelong. I'm so immensely proud to be part of this exhibition supporting The Royal Children's Hospital and Foundation, helping to raise funds and change the future of paediatric healthcare in generations to come. The sculptures were all painted during winters first lockdown restrictions. Blue Event Productions doing an incredible job keeping us all on strict painting schedules in small groups to stay covid safe. This is the…