Dr Marian Quigley

I’ve lived in Phillip Island/San Remo since 1987 and initially pursued my love of writing, becoming a founding member of Ibis Writers. More recently, I’ve concentrated on painting.

After losing confidence in my painting ability at art teacher training college, I didn’t paint for 40 years.  I left secondary school teaching to pursue my interest in writing and literature, gained a PhD in English and ended up teaching Media and Communications at Monash University.   Early in my retirement, local artist John Adam, the tutor of a watercolour painting class I attended, renewed my confidence.  I rediscovered my love of painting!  I returned to acrylics and began exhibiting my work in 2009.  I’ve since exhibited at Brunswick Street Gallery, Richmond; Quadrant Gallery Hawthorn; Cambridge Studio Gallery, Collingwood; AGRA Gallery, Camberwell; Who Gallery, Malvern; Town & Country Gallery, Yarragon; Muse Gallery, Beechworth/Milawa; Meeniyan Art Gallery; Mingara Gallery, Cowes and ArtSpace Wonthaggi.

I gradually developed a distinctive painting style incorporating vibrant colour, minimalism and hard edge abstraction.  My formative influences include the Post Impressionists such as Gauguin; the simplicity and bold design of Japanese woodcuts and the organic, flowing line of Art Nouveau.  My subject matter includes portraits, seascapes and more recently, iconic Melbourne landmarks including the Skipping Girl Vinegar sign and Luna Park.   The migration series which I began in 2015, was inspired by my parents’ stories concerning our migration by sea in the 1950s and was developed in response to the ANL Maritime Award theme ‘Humanity’s Relationship with the Sea’.

After winning a number of awards in local exhibitions, I began entering national award exhibitions and have been selected as a finalist in some of these, including the Portia Geach Memorial Award (2017) and the ANL Maritime Award (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019).

My paintings can be purchased online at Bluethumb Art & Art Lovers Australia via the link below.