Featured artists for the month of October are – Rod Ellis and Helen Lloyd

ROD ELLIS

Rod Ellis’s background is in sign writing and graphic artist working in Melbourne, then WA and finally moving to Ballina in the 1981’s. Relying on his skills from the last 40 years, bringing colour and composition into his work, he has progressed into the arts.

‘I have no favourite subject or style, I just paint what I like, usually in acrylics. You could say I have had a paintbrush in my hand most of my life. However, starting painting at an older age brings its own doubts and confidence issues. I decided that if I am going to fail, I might as well do it in spectacular form, so I picked the hardest subject I could and painted it in oil. The reason being, that even if I could maybe make it look like some form of art, I might have a chance. My work varies from day to day, and I am conscious of not becoming stereotyped.’’

HELEN LLOYD

Helen Lloyd is the name behind Sparkling Red Designs. Sewing has been part of Helens life for a very long time, having a tafe course in dressmaking and home furnishing behind her. She has created many pieces along her journey, from a debut dress, curtains, lampshades, cushions and a little bit of upholstery.

 ‘Then I found my way to quilting, which I still do and love. I was searching on Facebook one day looking for patterns and came across a fellow quilter talking about wallets and bags she had been making…. well, that was it for me, I went down that rabbit hole and have never come back. I love the creativity that bagmaking brings, putting different fabrics, textures and colours together, changing small things can have a dramatic impact. I love using vinyls for accents and different hardware also adds to the design. I am now 8 years into my bag making and still absolutely love it. I have an extensive selection of patterns, a little tweak here or there, and another design is achieved, so anything is possible!’

You can find out more about these exhibitors HERE