Local artists and art lovers will have a unique opportunity to watch, listen and learn from a renowned book artist, printmaker and sculptor next month.

Adele Outteridge will be working as Artisan in Residence at the Banana Shire Regional Art Gallery from 18-31 March.

Her stint in Banana Shire is part of the CQ Shopfront Project that has been designed and delivered by the Ideas Distillery with the aim of building the entrepreneurial skills of artists and makers in Central Queensland.

During her 14-day visit Adele will be set up in the gallery working and will be available for people to watch her work or for a chat. Her artwork will be displayed in the room around her creating an exhibition as she progresses.

An artists’ retreat will also be held at Myella Farm Stay on 20 and 21 March. This retreat is open to other artists, but places are limited and booking are required in advance.

A mentorship program will be provided to six local artists who will be afforded specific time with Adele during her residency.

Artists wishing to participate in the mentorship have until 12 February to apply. Bookings for the Art Retreat close on 19 February for local residents before being opened up to those living outside the region.

The retreat weekend will kick off at 9am on the Saturday morning. The group will be walking the land and gathering items to draw and paint. They will divide their time between exploring the surrounding environments, photographing, sketching, taking notes, collecting (eg rocks, fossils, leaves, flowers, feathers, bits of wood) and working in the ‘studio’ writing, developing images from preliminary sketches with any media including collage, reviewing photos, identifying insects and any other critters seen.  The group will then gather all their drawings, notes etc. and bind a book or books (depending on time) using one or two possible structures, a Coptic bound journal and/or a sculptural concertina book.

Adele Outteridge gained her Bachelor of Science from the University of Melbourne in 1967 then worked as an Experimental Scientist with CSIRO. She studied with the School of Colour and Design in Sydney from 1984-88 and returned as lecturer, tutor. She taught at the Ku-Ring-Gai Art Centre from 1983-89. Adele now travels to all states and internationally lecturing and teaching. Her work in artists' books, printmaking, sculpture and drawing has been exhibited widely, is held in private and public collections and has appeared in major publications in Australia and overseas.

The CQ Shopfront Artisan in Residence program in the Banana Shire has been funded by Arts Queensland, the Regional Arts Fund, Flying Arts Alliance, Banana Shire Council and their RADF Program, CQ RASN and CQ University. We also thank Banana Shire Regional Art Gallery and Artisan for their support of this program. With their support we are able to offer this heavily subsidised weekend art retreat.

For bookings and more information visit https://www.theideasdistillery.net/ or contact Banana Shire Regional Art Gallery on 4992 9500.