About
My Story
I'm Charlotte Wensley, a 2D abstract mixed media artist, whose singular constant in life has been creating in one way or another, having been surrounded by people creating, making and building things all my life; with an engineer, a painter, a photographer and a ceramicist among close family members.
I was 4 years old when I created my first large expressive work on the living room wall, having been left unsupervised with only a limited supply of paper and a box of crayons. I've been exploring art making as a way of responding to the world ever since.
I spent hours as a child absorbed in drawing, and it was the only subject at school I really loved, and by my late teens, with a little encouragement from a wonderful high school art teacher, I began experimenting more boldly, trying my hand at sculpture and large-scale painting.
I went to art college in my twenties and there, studying fine art, I found a love of mixed media and collage along with methods of construction, being exposed to metalwork, woodwork and silversmithing as part of my degree. I began paper making and experimenting with image transfer techniques using my landscape photographs in my early paintings.
I emigrated from the UK to Australia in 2001 and reengaged with my oil painting practice, but quickly learned that Queensland humidity seriously impacts the drying time of oil paints (and I'm too impatient), so began my journey with acrylics and mixed media.
Printmaking is a fairly recent addition to my arts practice, and my learning is ongoing.
Global wanderings, predominantly through Europe, Asia, New Zealand and Australia, have infused my visual aesthetic with a love of rich and vibrant colours; texture and ornament; structures and forms; and the contrast between natural and constructed environments.
These days, I live and work near Noosa, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, where the vibrant coastal landscape and beautiful natural bushland continues to fuel my creativity.
My work is held galleries in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, has shown at the Affordable Art Fair in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, and has been recognised with a number of awards and finalist placements - most recently a win at the Royal Queensland Art Society Members Show (2024) and the Eclectica Art Awards (2023). You can find my full qualifications and training here, see my exhibition history here, or view my awards and recognition to date here.