Cocoon Gallery Exhibition Launch: Thursday 4^th November, 5.30 – 6.30pm. All welcome

Tom Gibbs was born in Margaret River, and has always been interested in plants flowers and insects. His home has a big Permaculture garden which is home to flowers, veg and fruit trees as well as native birds and possums, chickens and a beehive. His work is inspired by some of the plants that he finds in the backyard. This body of work consists of acrylic paintings, pencil sketches, prints and photos taken and developed himself of trees and flowers at the organic gardens. Several artworks include calendulas, his mums favourite flower, both depicted in acrylics and used to print combined with coloured inks. Tom likes to sketch in his garden and work on larger works in his light filled kitchen. He likes the Impressionists’ style- particularly Paul Cezanne’s still life’s and Monet’s use of colour. Tom is also a skateboarder and enjoys more graphic designs, collages and printing. He has also produced some carved wooden pieces and pottery that is on display in this exhibition. He hopes eventually to use this love of working with his hands to pursue a career in carpentry.

Arworks are for sale and the community is invited to share in the excitement of the official launch on Thursday 4th November where light refreshments will be provided with the opportunity to meet the artist. RSVP to Email: BettysGarden74@outlook.co

The Cocoon Gallery for Emerging Artists is in the entry to the Margaret River Library and will be on display until 23rd December. The Library is an easily accessible venue.

Until 31st of October, the Cocoon Gallery for emerging artists presents Bethany Collins in her first solo exhibition Stay Golden.

Bethany grew up on a farm around a resourceful and creative family, which taught her not to be afraid to improvise and use imagination to entertain and express herself. This resourcefulness encouraged Bethany to paint without formal training and experiment with different styles and mediums.

Her paintings which often feature feminine and natural subjects are heavily textured with acrylics mixed with modeling paste and offer a restrained but modern color palette of mostly pinks, golds, and browns.

The artist’s recent works are influenced by life’s simple pleasures such as swimming in the ocean, eating delicious fresh fruit, and dreaming of idyllic holiday places.

“I started using just acrylics and slowly began to experiment with a 3D texture as I wanted something that was not only eye-catching but also intriguing to the hand.” She says.

Creating has always been her passion but in 2020, has taken painting more seriously. At the beginning of the mandatory COVID lockdown in WA, Bethany stocked up on art supplies and started to find inspiration in the new slow living phase of life.

The emerging artist has been part of The Hive Margaret River Art Collective for over a year, collaborating in their two group exhibitions. Her art has also been showcased at Fibonacci Art Gallery in Fremantle.

All artworks on display in The Cocoon Gallery are for sale through the artist.

From July 1st to August 31st the Cocoon Gallery for Emerging Artists presents Patrick Wise in his exhibition “Cyber Warriors”.

Art Exhibition Launch: July 8th, 6pm to 7pm. All welcome!

Patrick is a visual artist with a diverse range of artistic experience in drawing, sculpture and print. He grew up in an artistic family in Margaret River and over the years has developed a love of drawing and found a voice for his own style of creativity.

His current direction explores figurative designs in graphic pencil which reflect robotic characters inspired by Japanese anime.

His drawings depict a series of half human, half machine figures influenced by popular culture. He loves creating characters which are suitable for computer games, comics or designs on t-shirts.

Come along to the launch to celebrate Patrick’s achievement in presenting this dynamic body of work on display in the Cocoon Gallery for Emerging Artists. To RSVP, please contact the artist: wise-arts@hotmail.com  or phone 0448 204 575

The Margaret River Library is an accessible venue. You will find the Cocoon Gallery for Emerging Artists in the entrance to the Margaret River Library.

Emerging artist Leanne Barker is holding her exhibition Colours and Landscapes from today until April 30th.

The Augusta based artist has dedicated a good part of her life to painting.

Capturing the beauty her eyes see the artist shares her inspiration in the form of striking colours and strokes.

The emerging artist works with different mediums as each subject lends itself to a different approach.

“I like pastel the most because they are immediate to use and the colours are amazing,” Leanne explains.

My process……………..

                A moment in time

                An idea sparks

                A lens captures

                A brush with colour

                An inspiration shared………..

Colours and Landscapes is her first solo exhibition and will run from March 13^th until April 30^th at the Cocoon Gallery for Emerging Artists.

The Margaret River Library will host an art launch on March 25^th from 6 to 7pm.

For sales or to RSVP please contact the artist on leda2226@gmail.com

The Margaret River Library is an accessible venue.

Emerging artist Rudy Selmes will display his collection 1+1 at the Cocoon Gallery for Emerging Artists from January 8th to February 27th.

Merging his love for art and skating, the 14-year old created art on skateboards.

He uses posca pens and spray paint as his medium of choice, but he also enjoys drawing, screen printing, photography and audio-visual editing.

Rudy’s skills have been highly commended by his art teachers in and out of school and his drawing was awarded the “Best Drawing in Show” at the Margaret River Agricultural Show in 2017.

The young artist continues learning about art and design with his mentor Stu McMillan, and hopes to build on his skills to make a living from design, art and skating.

1+1 will be officially launched on January 14th from 5:30 to 6:30pm.

For information on sales and to RSVP please contact sandox7@live.com.au

The Margaret River Library is an easily accessible venue. 

“I want to be a drawing and painting artist. This is my life. I like to paint animals and people. Painting with my brushes makes me feel calm.” Brooke McQueen

The Cocoon Gallery for Emerging Artists is proud to present Brooke McQueen in her exhibition Animals in Aqua.
Brooke works mostly independently on her fine art projects; her main interest is in photo-realistic painting.
She browses the Internet looking for pictures, then she digitally prints and traces them by hand on her canvas and paints them with acrylic.
With an intensive and empowering learning journey, Brooke is always developing new skills with art instructed sessions. She has her own studio space, and is always developing new paintings.
Animals in Aqua will run from 2nd November until 23rd December.

The Cocoon Gallery for Emerging Artists is located in the foyer of the Margaret River Library and is easily accessible.

In celebration of her current exhibition at the Cocoon Gallery, emerging artist Margaret Affleck invites the community to meet her for a casual event to discuss her art and the creative process that make her pieces so striking and inspiring. RSVP by 21st October to Margaret: margaret.affleck@gmail.com

Thursday 22nd October, 5.30 – 6.30pm at the Margaret River Library

Treasures of nature: an exhibition by Margaret Affleck

1 September – 31 October 2020

Emerging artist Margaret Affleck studied art at high school and used her drawing skills to illustrate her science projects and field studies in Year 12 Biology. However, in her career she followed her love of music, studying in London and Adelaide to become a music teacher.
Now in her retirement, Margaret has resumed her interest in painting and has studied with art teachers in Perth and attended many workshops with interstate and international artists. Margaret has a multi-purpose studio for both art and music.
This selection of watercolour paintings developed from the artist’s love of the native flora of Western Australia reflecting the artist’s desire to establish a connection with her new bush block home in Margaret River.
She has recorded the species of trees and bushes around her home and is currently working on the wildflowers that grow among the Jarrah and Marri vegetation. All works are for sale through the artist.

The Cocoon Gallery for Emerging Artists is located at the entrance to the Margaret River Library and is easily accessible. For the latest open times visit the library blog  here.