Rhonda Nadasdy
I am one of many artists living in the Yarra Valley. My two and three dimensional artworks are inspired by the drawings and paintings of the children I have taught over my many years as a primary classroom and art teacher. I have always appreciated the children’s spontaneity and their “show-no-fear” attitude towards their artmaking.
I am drawn to the children’s use of vibrant colours, bold lines, peculiar shapes and quirky patterns, all of which communicates to me, a sense of joy, freedom and energy. I reinterpret these drawings to try to capture the essence of the children’s energy, applying my own ideas and techniques. I am also influenced by other artists’ ideas and their techniques, experimenting with these to develop a range of artworks in different mediums and art forms.
While colour makes a bold statement in my two dimensional paintings in particular, I am currently investigating the concept of layers and what they might cover or reveal. I prefer to use acrylic paints in combinations with found printed texts and images or my own hand-coloured or printed papers.
 towers birds trees |
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 beach houses |
 houses cream |
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The theme of Joy is carried through to my ceramic sculptures. These too are inspired by children’s drawings and the colours they use. I prefer to use white earthenware paper clay and underglazes.
I feel excited when people connect with my work, smiling with surprise and delight. I sense that my art reconnects these people to some other joyful moment or memory, perhaps a childhood memory, and so the cycle of inspiration continues.