About Joanne Bingham
Having enjoyed a successful career in the United Kingdom as an artist, illustrator and art tutor, Joanne has been building her reputation within Australia as an accomplished and experienced artist. She has had a number of solo exhibitions and been invited to enter many group exhibitions, recently having some success, winning both of her categories in the 75th Annual Art Awards, staged by the Cairns Art Society. Although she specialises in animals, her portfolio includes people, food, landscapes and flowers. Jo is a member of Artists@Work, a collective of creatives working out of a building in Sheridan Street, and she teaches Watercolour Painting from there every Saturday. It operates as a gallery, studio and teaching space for 14 artists and is a great place to chill out and enjoy some great art.
She began her art career in graphite, watercolours and oil paints, learning through mistakes and successes, honing her skills, trying different brands of paint, brushes and surfaces in order to achieve the most lifelike and realistic portraits that she could. The discovery of the versatility of coloured pencils is a fairly recent and exciting one, and she is still pushing their boundaries with every new picture to find out what they can do. Jo’s most recent works are experimental pen drawings, still based in realism, but full of life and colour.
“With great excitement Bear’s portrait finally arrived today, and I could not be happier! He is most definitely larger than life and I love it! He makes me smile every time I look at him. Sandy, owner of Bear.
The thread running through each new medium is one of quality and consistency, each one lending itself to new and innovative techniques. Coloured pencils and graphite can be layered, blended and used with other media to produce a wide range of textures – particularly suited to fur and eyes. Pen and ink allows for spontaneity and definition, bringing a contemporary and illustrative finish to pictures. If you are unsure which medium or style you are looking for, take time to browse the gallery and pick out which ones particularly appeal to you.
Jo is still a member of Art Connect Inc (in Maleny), a not-for-profit organisation supporting excellence in the arts, and was one of the artists featured in Open Studios Sunshine Coast 2021. Having recently relocated to Cairns she is enjoying exploring her new home and finding out what creative outlets and activities Cairns has to offer.