HIRANYA RANAWAKE

Hiranya is a Figurative artist practicing full-time, based in Redland Bay. Her prominent body of work consists of stylised abstract figurines, mildly influenced by romanticism and symbolism, which have progressively developed into a sophisticated, unique style. Moody expressive body language and signature colourful line works discuss traditional ideas through a contemporary lens. The imaginary portraits of female identity depict semi-self-portraiture and personal history.

Hiranya’s artistic expressions and techniques celebrate the artist’s cultural heritage enriched by the traditional works of local masters, folklore and the studies of classical Indo-Aryan painting styles.

She has been exhibiting widely locally and internationally over the past seven years and has garnered an impressive base of art collectors across the world. Hiranya is focusing on her own evolution through experimentation and storytelling.

EDUCATION:
• Diploma in Fine Arts by National Art Gallery/Sri Lanka for
Still-life, Life-drawings, Plenaire, Traditional South Asian figure
painting techniques, Sculpture and Museum studies

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS/SHOWS:
• (2025) World Art Dubai – World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE
• (2025) The Other Art Fair – The Timber Yard, Melbourne, Australia
• (2024) The Other Art Fair – White Bay Cruise Terminal, Sydney,
Australia
• (2024) Camberwell Art show – Swinburne University, Melbourne,
Australia
• (2024) Brisbane Rotary Art show – QLD, Australia
• (2024) We dream in Colour – Art Lovers Australia, Group show,
Melbourne, Australia
• (2022) “Forever Summer” – Solo Exhibition, Redland Shire,
QLD, Australia
• (2022) “The Canticle of the Rainbow” – Book launch, Redland
Shire, QLD, Australia
• (2021) “Sense of Place” – Group Exhibition, Waltzing Matilda
Centre-Museum, Winton, QLD , Australia
• (1990-1995) Solo exhibitions, National Art Gallery – Colombo,
Sri Lanka
• (1990-1995) Group exhibitions, National Art Gallery – Colombo,
Sri Lanka
• (1994) “My Heritage” Paintings, Wood Art and Paper Craft
(Solo) – BMICH, Sri Lanka
• (1988) “Life and Culture” – Group Exhibition – BMICH, Colombo,
Sri Lanka

SELECTED AWARDS & RESIDENCIES:
• (2024) Lethbridge 20000 small scale art award – Finalist,
Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
• (2024 The Doyles Award: Finalist, Mudgeeraba, QLD, Australia
• (2022) John Villiers Outback Art Prize: Finalist, Waltzing
Matilda Centre/Museum, Winton, QLD, Australia
• (2021) BigCi Artist Residency, hosted by Bilpin international
ground for Creative initiatives, NSW, Australia
• (1993) President’s Award – Public art project (Mural) – National
Hospital Complex, Colombo, Sri Lanka
• (1993) Gold Medalist – “Figurative Painting competition” – Finland
• (1992) Silver Medalist – “Contemporary life drawing” – Japan
• (1990) Gold Medalist – “Lifestyle painting” – South Asia Region
• (1985-1990) Winner of multiple “Interstate art competitions” –
Colombo, Sri Lanka

PRIVATE ART COLLECTIONS:
Hiranya’s works are collected by the USA, UK, U.A.E, Australia, New
Zealand, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Singapore & Taiwan

SUZ RAINES

After attending a Music Festival in 2020 and participating in a communal painting (auctioned to raise money for the local Fire Brigade) my desire to paint again was ignited after 40 odd years. 

Inspiration & Process 

The creative process begins with travel and photography, hunting out patterns and textures that occur naturally in objects, and faces and nature. I’ve learnt to see, enjoy and reference to create my art. Compositions are often strong with bold cropping and macro design. High chroma saturation is something I’m currently exploring to release emotion or movement into a previously ordinary object or scene. I find beauty in older, vintage items, light reflections in glass and faces that have a story behind them. I am now ready to expand my artistic circle to wider learning, exhibitions and meeting like-minded people. 

Community Involvement 

• Volunteer @ Caloundra Regional Gallery (since 2025)
• Fusion Op Shop, Buderim (since 2022) 

Education & Creative background                                                                                               

• Diploma of Graphic Design, PIT Melbourne 
• Visualizer (pre-digital) Hertz Walpole Campbell Ewald, Melbourne
• Product Designer & Finished Artist (pre-computer era) RJ Studio, Cairns 

Maintaining a creative space at home and my ongoing involvement with Art School Co under the guidance of Jess Le Clerc have allowed me to continually develop as an artist.  Since 2020, I have studied a wide range of artistic mediums while enjoying the freedom to explore and refine my own creative style.  This balance of structured learning and personal expression continues to support my artist growth. 

Awards & Recognition 

2026  

Curators Choice Award, Art School Co Emerging Artists Exhibition (Self-portrait) 

Finalist, Best Painting, Art School Co Emerging Artists Exhibition (Self Portrait) 

2025  

Finalist, The Doyles Art Award  

To see more of Suz’s art, check out her Instagram page @suz.art2020 

Artistic Statement
Culture is documented and rewritten through Art. The Art experience speaks of the past, present and future, drawing together patterns of
threads, referencing all that is significant to the creator and to the viewer. It is in the conscious and unconscious of the viewer that the art experience exists. Contexts of place, story and lived experience of creator and viewer layer to give meaning to a work. As artist, I want my work to both calm and provoke the viewer with gentle questions. Mostly, I seek engagement as though time is standing still. The gaze drifts across the plane of the painted surface and is satisfied. The mass of things, the light, the ambience, the mood, the texture reveal more than one interpretation or a singular joy. An image exists as a pathway to an “other” that the viewer can sense or feel intuitively as altered awareness.

Then story and the idea of culture can be examined. I use the narrative of the Australian landscape partly because of the unique drenching light of our natural environment and partly because of the connection of the land to our collective identity. It is our spirit and our gift. It is our story – our pride and our shame. It speaks with a timeless truth in every language. It asks that we listen and that we hear. It asks that we are mindful of our footsteps. It is a joy to represent our land and its many voices.
Tim Dennis

Artist CV
I studied Fine Art Painting at the SA School of Art in the 1970’s and had a solo exhibition in 1983 in Adelaide. Since moving to Brisbane in 2023, I have been producing landscapes in acrylics, exhibiting at the Royal Queensland Art Society, Et Al Gallery, Artrageous, the Sandgate Art Society and as a finalist in the Lethbridge Landscape Prize 2025. I am currently working towards a solo exhibition in 2027.

Since 2024
2024
Exhibited at Sandgate Easter Art Show – 3 landscape paintings
Exhibited at RQAS Abstraction Art Show – The Destination
Et Al Gallery – Sandgate Art Society Representative Show- The Boat Ramp, Rocky Beach
2025
February – Exhibited RQAS – 6 artist invitation – collection of 8 landscapes –
Bunya mountains panorama sold – $850.00
April – Exhibited Sandgate Art society Easter Show Won 2D First Prize – Jericho
Valley Panorama
May – Lethbridge Gallery Landscape prize – finalist – “Jericho Valley Panorama 2”
June – Open Studio – Sold set of 4 small SA landscapes – $1000, Sold Jericho
Valley Dawn – $1000
July – entered Artrageous 4017 annual exhibition — 2 Landscapes – Sold “Distant Frazer island” $750
August – Finalist in RQAS Abstraction Show – “Orange Light” – sold $250
August – Finalist Queens Wharf Prize – “The Western Window” Sold $450
2026
April – Sandgate Easter Art Show – 2 Landscapes
July – RQAS members Annual Show – First Prize – Granite Form Composition, Sold At my Feet – $450
July / August the Brisbane Gallery Mixed Exhibition – 5 Landscapes, Form and
Flow exhibition – 1 Landscape, Open House exhibition – 3 Landscapes – Governor’s chair Lookout Sold $1500
August – Lethbridge – Tattersalls Landscape Prize – Finalist in the Salon Des Refuses – Bicheno – Force of Nature

For more of Tim’s work check out his Instagram @timdennis157

Erica Aptroot is a Brisbane-based fibre artist who creates richly textured mixed-media textile artworks inspired by nature. Combining intricate hand stitching, meticulous beadwork and individually handmade crocheted forms, her detailed compositions mimic organic structures to create a dynamic sense of movement.

Erica further elevates the layered complexity of her work by incorporating hand-formed sculptural paper clay, shells or seed pods. Bringing together these diverse techniques requires exceptional skill and a significant investment of time. Each component is individually placed, resulting in a deeply dimensional piece that reflects the slow, meditative and meticulous nature of the contemporary creative process. Ultimately, her assemblages evoke emotional depth while reflecting the interconnectedness of natural systems.

Erica’s distinctive style extends into wearable art, earning her prestigious selections into World of Wearable Art (WOW) New Zealand three times, alongside features in five regional Australian exhibitions, including the Ekka.

She has most recently exhibited her artwork at The Loft Gallery (Redcliffe) and Et Al Gallery (Sandgate) and actively seeks new exhibition opportunities. Discover more of Erica’s recent work on Facebook (Enzaa art / Erica Aptroot) and Instagram (@enzaa_art).

Painting is the means by which I can emulate poetry and try to evoke a relaxed and meditative mood when you view my paintings.

I paint in acrylics which as well as being rich in colour lend themselves to being used as a wash and giving the painting a translucent effect.

I enjoy painting in both realistic and contemporary styles. Colour is a big drawcard to me, whether the scene is colourful itself or I add my own bright interpretation of the subject matter. Street scenes, landscapes and foliage all lend themselves to using colours not usually associated with the subject matter. I use colours to define shadows or shapes that are not the traditional choice

The backgrounds are an active participant in the overall effect of the paintings. I will paint over paintings that may not be working and leave part of the first painting to become involved in another story.

Anne Hayes

Anne Hayes was born in 1965 in Sydney. In 1992 she completed a Diploma in Commercial Art, majoring in Illustration and furthered her skills with an Advanced Diploma in Visual Communication in 2007. She now works as a freelance illustrator and designer, and has been
exhibiting her botanic art since 2011. She received a Gold medal for her exhibit at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Botanical Art and Photography exhibition in 2024 in London. That same year she was awarded the Celia Rosser medal for her painting, Waratah, in The Art of Botanical Illustration exhibition in Melbourne. She also won first prize in the BASA CanAssist exhibition in 2023. She has just been awarded first prize in the Natives Plants of Queensland section in the Botanical Art Society of Australia’s current exhibition at the Royal Queensland Art Society, Gold Coast. She has won a Celia Rosser Honourable Mention award at the 2022 TABI exhibition and also People’s Choice award. A finalist in the Waterhouse Art Prize in 2022 which saw her work chosen as the main image for the travelling exhibition and used in all promotional materials.

She has exhibited in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Art Gallery of New South Wales and Museum of Sydney. She is a contributing member of the Florilegium Society Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Her work
has appeared regularly in the Australian Geographic magazine and in their Art Calendars. She exhibits regularly with TABI (The Art of Botanical Illustration) in Melbourne, Botanica in Sydney, BASA (Botanical Art Society of Australia), and the Waterhouse Art Prize.
Her work is held in the Victorian State Library collection, the Hunt Institute, the New York State Museum, as well as the Florilegium at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia.

Megan is a Brisbane‑based visual artist dedicated to creating vibrant acrylic paintings inspired by local and unique landscapes, flowers, and natural forms. Her style blends bold colour, expressive brushwork, and impressionistic influences to capture the energy, movement, and atmosphere of the places she paints.

Megan’s art has been shown at the Port Macquarie Regional Art Show, the Southside Art Markets, and various online Brisbane group exhibitions, where she continues to refine her style and art practice. She was a finalist for the Art World Studio Gallery Landscape Prize in 2019, an online finalist for the Lethbridge 20000 in 2020, and an online finalist for the Rotary Art Show in 2026.

Megan shares new paintings, works in progress, and insights into her creative process through her website and Instagram. Her practice is supported by formal qualifications in Environmental Science, Graphic Design, and a Master of Business Administration, which together inform both the visual and professional foundations of her work.

Website: meganstanleyart.com

Instagram: @meganstanleyart

Art has always been a passion of my life, even while my professional journey led me into engineering, valuing structure, precision, and connection to nature and beauty, at heart, however, I am an artist.

By creating different types of acrylic paintings and sculptures I explore form, movement, and emotion—often blending technical discipline with intuitive expression. Each piece is created with patience, passion, and respect for the process, reflecting both my analytical background and my deep love for art.

My love for art spans from fine art to abstract, including portraits, landscapes, birds, and animals to various clay sculptures including idols which I prepare every year for lord Ganesha/Ganapati festival.