For Robyn painting has been a passion which has lasted her entire life. She began painting in oil at the age of eight under the tuition of a well-known artist at the time, Raymond DeCusak.
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After leaving school she began a career in architectural drafting, but many years later she made a decision to study Fine Art at Penrith TAFE and later at UWS Nepean.
In 1993, after six years full-time study, she began a new career as a professional artist, opening a studio in Penrith.
She worked mostly as a muralist, creating three-dimensional optical illusions for many businesses. She also did commissions in many private homes, which took her to Hamilton Island in Queensland and throughout NSW.
After 10 years she made the decision to open her first gallery at Blaxland in the Blue Mountains and concentrate on painting on canvas. She says: “By now I had established a profile in the mountains, and the gallery was a success. A couple of years later I opened a bigger gallery in Ross Street, Glenbrook, which was more of a tourist hot spot.”
She says: “I closed this gallery a few years later when my husband Peter retired and we moved to Queensland. It wasn’t long before I opened a new gallery in Buderim on the Sunshine Coast”. Unfortunately though Queensland was not the ideal place for their retirement and so they moved south.
“I’ve been involved in many exhibitions both group and solo, but I guess the most controversial and publicised solo exhibition was held at The Downing Centre Sydney in 1999 titled ‘Why’ and officially opened by the then, High Court Judge of Australia, Justice Michael Kirby,’’ Robyn said. “This exhibition of six large paintings - the largest being six metres long - endeavoured to highlight the despair of the downtrodden and abused.
“Although my work is mostly realistic, I like to push this realism by experimenting with subject matter and medium. My philosophy for my art is to enjoy the process or journey of each painting, and the end result will take care of itself.” Robyn currently lives in Kianga, north of Narooma, and is a member of The Montague Art and Craft Society Inc.
