Visit the first home off Elvina Bay South jetty. Michelle McDonald has opened her home as an art stop. See her hot glass works, and artists Dianne Watts, Penelope Wise, James Gardiner and Joy Purvis.
- See Michelle McDonald’s bio
- See Dianne Watts’ bio
- See Penelope Wise’s bio
- See James Gardiner’s bio
- See Joy Purvis’ bio
- See Barry Macdonald’s bio
Emerging Elvina Bay potter, Judy James, will join the artists displaying a few pieces of her work.
Bios: artists at this stop
Artist Michelle McDonald commenced working with hot glass 4 years ago after attending a workshop under Vivien Polnow, Sydney College of Arts.
Michelle is interested in transforming glass into pieces that are both useable and beautiful. She is particularly committed to 
using recycled glass.
Dianne Watts was born in the small farming town of “Milla Milla,” on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland and later resided in Papua New Guinea for 17 years.
Scotland Island has been her home since 1985. Here she interprets the natural beauty and rhythms of life on Pittwater in pen and ink on paper, synthetic polymer and oil on canvas. Life 
drawing inspiration comes from the natural beauty of the model and the skill of fellow artists.
Dianne had a solo exhibition of works in acrylic, ink, and pencil in 1974, Lae, Papua New Guinea. Since 1985 she has exhibited in Scotland Island community events. She was 1 of 3 artists in the “Island Trio” exhibition in 2008.
Artist Penelope Wise has lived on Scotland Island for 30 years. Her paintings reflect her love of this environment.
Penelope has painted in both oil and watercolour, and is constantly fascinated by 
the effects of light and weather on the landscape.
Penelope was born in the UK. She studied art in London before moving to Australia. She has exhibited in various group exhibitions and works at the Museum of Contemporary Art as a volunteer guide.
Penelope’s group exhibitions include “Island Trio,” a community exhibition, Lane Cove Art Show, and Scotland Island festival shows.
James Gardiner is an architect, sculptor and academic. He is director of Faan Studio based in Sydney, which engages with the world through blurring the boundaries between disciplines and challenging the way we make and create. James has a broad range of ongoing projects and experiments, from balloon inspired lighting, prefabricated buildings, constructed reefs and the Villa Roccia project for the world’s first ‘3D printed’ house.
James is a currently completing a PhD, at RMIT University, investigating the design and construction implications of ‘3D printing’ buildings, which integrates innovative digital design techniques and construction scale additive fabrication (construction 3D printing).
His work has featured in exhibitions, magazines and books internationally, he has been interviewed on national radio and his work has been included in a recent documentary in the UK. James gives regular public lectures, currently teaches masters design studios at University of Technology Sydney and is the recipient of a number of awards and scholarships for his work in architecture and design.
His current sculpture explores the tension between the natural and man-made, playing with perception and assumption while taking influence from 3 main natural phenomena: coral, bones and erosion.
Joy Purvis took up art after retiring. She is part of a life drawing group that meets regularly in the boatshed of Trincomalee.
Joy also attends watercolour classes with Max Peet on Scotland Island.
Artist Barry William Macdonald was born in Sydney. In 1980 he graduated from St George Art Technical College. He studied Fine Arts under Peter Upward and Brian Dunlop.
Barry worked as a commercial artist and silk screen printer for 6 years. His love of the bush comes from years of bushwalking in both the Royal National Park and Ku-ring-Gai Chase. His 
landscapes capture the light and various moods of the bush and often incorporates the human form with dramatic results.
Barry specialises in oil and dry pastels on paper and also works with oils, acrylic, pencil, pen and ink. He has won art prizes for both his traditional and contemporary works. He has participated in exhibitions with Greg Hansell, David Brayshaw, Kasey Sealy and other established artists.
