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The Alchemy Collection / Katy Jade Dobson

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A blog post!? How very 2011. If you’re a long time follower, you will have clicked through to this blog page before! For years this was my favourite place to be to talk about my own artwork and my journey as an artist, and all the other artists and things that I love. But where did blogs go? I decided to blow the dust off of this page and lovingly bring is back to life. What better way to start off my jottings than with a new collection. This new work is a very loved body of work, put together with ideas from the past and the plans for the future. I have mixed different timelines together for this one, and I feel that the overall look of it looks both a little different, but also very much like my work all at the same time! The Alchemy Collection ‘This collection came together like streams towards an estuary, in a meeting of multiple timelines. From my classic animal portraiture with a display of prismatic colours, …

It’s been a few years…

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What has happened since 2020? That was the year the world stopped, and for me writing blog posts stopped entirely. My last post on this blog was back in 2020, the year I took myself from being a managed artists to an independent one. Following almost a decade of blogging my art journey, after initially setting up this page as part of a university project, I then an almost 3 year hiatus from writing. Why did I stop and what’s been happening since?? One reason I stopped writing blog posts was because of taking on the management side of my artwork and how it meant that I immediately wore every hat that the business entailed. I went from working with a large team, to deciding to work alone! I wasn’t just the painter and artist anymore, I was the admin, the technician, the graphic designer, the packer and shipper. The other reasons is the slow, painful death of blogging! It pained me to watch the social media landscape turn away from blogging, (and pained me …

The Droplets Series / A collection of new artwork available now!

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I am so proud to be showing you the start of a new body of artwork that I have been working on, an ongoing series of paintings called Droplets. This work is incredibly meaningful to me and symbolises some really important changes moving on in 2020.  This type of artwork has been something I often toyed with in my mind, but never executed onto canvas. I was recently called to produce this work and the effects personally were somewhat cathartic. The paintings within the Droplets series balances on the ridge between parallels. The surrealist scenes of wildlife and nature blend between areas of calm, and intermittent chaos. Using traditional application of oil paints, with no digital intervention, this artwork toes the line between contemporary and traditional art. My subjects amplify the natural world as you have never seen it, bringing together the bountiful nature of life on Earth, and the fine line between abundance and pain. There is a bitter sweetness to these paintings, an acidity to the delicate paintwork. With these subjects steeped in …

Original Painting Auction to Raise Funds for WIRES

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I have a piece named ‘SOS’ up for auction on eBayin aid of WIRES (NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service) which is currently in crisis due to the bushfires raging through Australia. WIRES actively rehbailitate and preserve Australian wildlife, and will be inundated and working tirelessly at this time. 23 people have lost their lives, 12 million acres of land has been devastated, large scale evacuations are taking place, and half a billion wildlife has perished. They fear that the worst is still to come. In many rural areas, volunteers are working with little resources, risking their lives and health to keep the fires at bay and keep people safe. Teams are working to help slow moving wildlife and get them to safety, treating burns and wounds and caring for them when they have nowhere to escape. The original painting is based on a well loved piece named Glory which celebrates the bountiful abundance of out beautiful natural world. The gold leaf droplets symbolise the nourishment that nature gifts us. This abstract and surrealist piece …

My Decade in Review!

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I took this time to reflect on the past 10 years, and I started writing about it privately, and thought what the hell, share it with the world! So here are the last 10 year in almost Tolkein-esque like detail (minus the elves) Enjoy! 2010 I was 21. This was the year I graduated with a BA Honours in Fine Art. A course that has incredibly little to do with what I do now, but probably valuable in terms of the theoretical side of art, which I excelled at for the essays. Ironically, studio time and physically creating the art was not my forte on this course. I completed the final half of my final year at University, a 10 000 word dissertation on how the studio environment affects the outcome of the art. I also struggled with crippling anxiety, panic attacks almost on a weekly, sometimes daily basis, and the impending dread of post-university life. Once graduated I got a job back in my hometown, and would get the train on weekends to visit …

2020 Announcement!

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If you’ve been following my work all this time (and it has been a while now since I started this blog) and you have kept up to do date recently on my artwork, then you may have noticed a bit of a change. After 5 great years with Wishbone Publishing I will be changing direction and working and trading as an independent artist. This has been a couple of months in the works in order to keep the transition as smooth as possible! Joining Wishbone was life changing for me and my work, I had hustled and grafted for almost 2 years before reaching out to Wishbone for representation, and the way they managed my work for the next few years was life altering. Alongside this fantastic opportunity they became family. Jack began working there around the same time that I signed, and he is now one of my best friends and stuck with me for life. (Sorry Jack.) As 2019 began to draw to a close I knew that a change was in order …

Women’s Art – Inspiring female artists from around the world – #1

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The art of women is not a category of its own. The art of women through history and around the world is part of the tapestry of art history in its own right, blended in and out of the more predominantly highlighted male artists for sure, but is there and is bold and vital. Highlighting female artists in particular as a series for blog posts is to take up that extra bit of space that women have been denied, to give that little bit of internet over to the women and fill up that space with what they have to say and create. Researching artists for this little segment on my little blog has been the biggest pleasure and more important personal work than I first anticipated. To be able to step closer to the women whose work I admired from afar and take a closer look at their ‘why’ and ‘how’ has been dreamy. I had to open the first of the series with my own favourite, kicking off with 4 very different artists, …

Monthly female artist appreciation

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Every month I am going to showcase the work of a number of female artists from around the world. For a number of years now I have inadvertently been compiling a list of inspiring female artists. What is the point in having such a rich and amazing list without sharing and showcasing with as many people as possible the inspiring work and voices of women from so many backgrounds. I hold this tiny art space, in this little corner of the internet and while I hold your attention I would like to bring forward female creators, their work and their words. From famous and known globally to women who create for fun and love of making. Every first day of the month starting next month will be to showcase and pass the mic to female artists. If you have any suggestions, or want to submit your own art, please email katyjadedobson@mail.com

Working from home with a baby/toddler – Adapting.

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As a little human moves from infant, to baby to toddler, the way you parent changes and adapts alongside. Fitting in work alongside this is quite the juggle and means your work life is also under the same pressure to adapt. Only the adaptable survive according to Darwin, and at times I didn’t think my career could survive. It wasn’t until I let go of structure (something that would always be a challenge for me) and expectations, and more importantly, my previous style of working. I have been self employed and working from home since my early twenties. Before this I worked in bars/restaurants/office/warehouse/shop fronts and back. This level of freedom was something I had aimed for, worked for and achieved with many sacrifices along the way and I appreciated every second of it, and enjoyed each day of feeling free. So when a baby came along this freedom was gone. In Reuben’s case he did not want to sleep. He has been a curious, energised and spirited soul right from being an infant, one …

Book! A collection of collections – Katy Jade Dobson

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I have a book! For over two years this has been in the works. I knew very specifically how I wanted this book to look and feel. It was going to house years of artwork after all. The title Phosphenes comes from the name for the sensation of spots of colours and light that you see when you rub your eyes. A phenomena of seeing without light entering the eye. A title that inspired an earlier collection, and a word I find truly beautiful. At a huge 224 pages, simple hardback cover design with coloured hot foil pressed lettering emblazoned on the front and spine, aesthetically making this book a perfect coffee table book. Inside, the content design (by Ash Dowie) is sleek and minimal to offer more attention for the intricate and boldly colourful works that my signature style focuses on. It is separated into chapters and subchapters to collate my varying subject groups and styles as well as focuses on materials and colours also. I have introduced each chapter with my thoughts and …