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Interview by Chris Jollow
So, tell me a little about yourself. Are you
from Narrabri- born and bred?
We’ve lived in Wee Waa since 1968, with a
couple of little breaks away. Before that we
came from West Wyalong and Griffith- around
that area. We had a farm the other side of
Wee Waa. Our children grew up there and it
was home till we moved to Narrabri to retire in
2008.
When did you start producing art works?
I don’t know what year it was, but I went to
TAFE and did the Certificate 4 Creative Craft
and Visual Art course. I finished that and
just kept on going. The year after I left, TAFE
stopped doing art courses, so a couple of the
other girls and I got together and decided to
meet once a week and try and just work by
ourselves.
Robyn Steiger also finished teaching that
year, so she came along our group “Creative
Friends” which meets on Thursdays. We all work
together and Robyn’s quite helpful. The other
teacher was Nancy Hunt, who taught drawing,
so it was a good basis to start.
I’ve done all sorts of creative things over the
years, potting and tie dying, but I didn’t really
start painting until I went to TAFE.
How long ago was that TAFE course?
I think it was 2010, maybe even 6 years ago. It
was a four year course.
How would you describe your paintings?
I’ve tried lots of mediums, but I tend to come
back to watercolours or inks. Mainly I use the
bright coloured inks as backgrounds and then I
paint on top. I like farm scenes and landscapes.
What local artists do you look up to?
I know that we have lots of wonderful artist
here but I do not know all of them. I don't know
if there are a group of artists that get together
other than Creative Friends. Graeme Compton’s
very good, and Nancy’s good too. I also look
up to Robyn Stieger and Judy Nobilo. They are
all very helpful. I learn a lot from each of them.
What about on a wider scale?
I really enjoy Klimt, a Viennese painter, who put
lovely gold in the background of his portraits.
Also William Turner, an English artist who did
wonderful landscapes and seascapes. They’d be
my two top picks.
What are you working on at the moment?
Well, I’m doing some straight watercolours and
also inks- putting them as a background and
mixing them with leaves and flowers. I take
them out into the sun and use them as a back-
ground to paint something else on to them.
And the artworks that you have on display
at Coogle Cottage at the moment? How
long did they take?
Well, I suppose with each of them I was learn-
ing something new.
One of them is acrylic and I learnt about paint-
ing greys. That’s the fire fighting artwork.
The kookaburra is an ink background with paint
on top and the turtle has the same technique. I
seem to do that quite a lot!
Each of them would take about two weeks, off
and on. It’s not full time, by any means!
When you are not painting or being crea-
tive, what else do you like to do?
I’ve got twelve grandchildren and I’m really
interested in them and my family. My husband
and I always have things to do together. We like
to travel. There’s always something to do!
jenny grellman
Under the tutelage of some great local artists,
Jenny's craft is entering a golden age worthy
of Klimpt himself!
photo: john burgess