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About the Artist - Yvonna de Jong

Yvonna is a Canberra- based Artist  specialising in Australian Nature-Based Painting.

The Joy of Painting

Painting became a passion for me later in life and has now become a daily pleasure that fills me with both delight and challenge.

Feeling a sense of connection with what I am painting is really important, regardless of the subject matter. For me the joy is in exploring and discovering ways of infusing feeling and a sense of aliveness into my work.

Nature-Based Artwork

As an avid Nature Photographer, I love exploring nature, camera in hand and capturing the wonders I see. Each outing is an adventure, be it discovering beautiful birds, animals, flowers, rocks, oceans, clouds, outback scenes and more! All providing wonderful inspiration for me to want to paint them.

My Paintings

I tend to enjoy painting on a large scale, this allows me to become fully immersed in the subject and explore the splendour of being up-close-and-personal with my painting. This provides both myself and the viewer, an intimate perspective of the subject, we don't often experience in real life.

Painting Style

As I enjoy painting a wide variety of subject matters, I find each and every painting will naturally evolve and develop in it's own unique way. The selection of painting techniques, type of brushes and mixing of colours will vary from painting to painting. As I like to immerse myself fully in the painting experience, no painting follows a 'tried and true' method, or distinct 'formula' of creation. I love feeling my way through the painting, trusting this process and enjoying the journey!  

 

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Environmentally Friendly Painting

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These Natural Earth and Mineral Pigments come in a range of 22 different colours.  
All pigments are free from any heavy metals.
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This non-toxic acrylic medium is a world first, non-petroleum-based 'acrylic' medium.
It is Archival and 100% Plant-Based.
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I mix my chosen pigment with the Natural Acrylic Medium and make my own paint!
Luscious, Artist Quality, Non-Toxic Paint. 

Once I discovered many artist paints contain a variety of toxic chemicals, stabilisers, petrochemicals, fillers, toxic preservatives and heavy metals, I wanted to find painting materials that are sourced and produced in ways to create minimal impact on our environment and waterways. After some extensive reserarch I discovered a small environmentally conscious business called - 'Natural Earth Paints'.

I now use their sustainably and ethically sourced natural earth and mineral pigments, free of any heavy metal toxicity. I mix these pigments with their 100% non-toxic, archival, plant-based acrylic medium, totally petroleum free and make my own paints. 

As part of my commitment to making more environmentally responsible choices, I also ensure the wood used to make the frames for my canvases are FSC, sustainably grown timbers. This is to ensure I am not contributing to the felling of old growth forests and destruction of native animal habitats, when creating my paintings. 


Teaching and Art Exhibitions

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Participation in Canberra Community Arts Activities

During 2021 - 2024 I was fortunate to teach a variety of classes through the NatureArtlab Studio, located in the M16 Artspace in Canberra. I taught acrylic painting to mostly beginning students, with the focus being painting bird portraits, as featured above. I also ran some activites teaching people to paint using environmentally friendly painting materials.

I was also involved with several joint exhibition projects with other Artists from the NatureArtlab team. These include:

 March 2022: Exhibition at The Old Barn Gallery in Pialligo

April 2023: Exhibition at The National Botanic Gardens Gallery Space in Canberra

July 2023: Exhibition at The Old Barn Gallery in Pialligo

February 2024: Exhibition at The Old Barn Gallery in Pialligo