Janet Luxton. Australia

Janet Luxton. Australia
Janet luxton parrot art

I have been drawing and painting since I was very young growing up in New Zealand. Always I kept coming back to birds. After some years earning a living as a draftsman and graphic designer, then building a boat and sailing it to California via Tahiti and Hawaii I moved to Australia building a small winery and etching studio 130 kilometres from Sydney. It was a revelation, the bird life in our region was extraordinarily abundant ranging from tiny wrens to majestic eagles. We also lived with a large community of parrots and cockatoos. Once we had the studio up and running I was able to spend a delightful ten years etching and printing the locals. It was a great privilege to live surrounded by so much fascinating wildlife.
My etching and printmaking continued through a period running our own galley in Sydney then we succumbed again to the siren song of winemaking and a country life surrounded by parrots and other birds so built another winery and studio in South Australia. During this period I decided large oil paintings would better express what I am trying to say about wildlife and it’s precarious place in our increasingly fraught natural world. Since 2007 I have been very fortunate to have had support for this decision from some in the community and my gallery representatives.
In 2015 my partner and I ran a crowd funding campaign to benefit Kakapo Recovery public face of the extraordinary effort the New Zealand government are putting in to ensure survival of this unique, charismatic and critically endangered parrot. Our efforts were helpful but the road to a sustainable population is long and expensive. Fortunately Kakapo have an extraordinarily dedicated team on their side.
Any efforts to turn the tide flowing against species survival is worth supporting and we continue to assist many other conservation groups.

  • 1972 Diploma of Graphic Design, Auckland Technical Institute, Auckland, New Zealand
  • 1972-81 Senior architectural draftsperson and graphic designer, KRTA, Auckland, New Zealand
  • 1981-84 Redesign and construction of 17.5m yacht as joint principal. Sailed to San Francisco, U.S.A
  • 1985 Studied painting techniques with photorealist Richard McLean, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, U.S.A
  • 1988 Studied etching and printmaking with Director Arik Kilemnik, Jerusalem Print Workshop, Jerusalem, Israel
  • 1989-99 Designed, built and operated Undercliff Winery, etching studio and gallery. Principal artist, label design and joint winemaker, Wollombi, NSW 2000-06 Principal artist, JL Etching Gallery, Sydney
  • 2006-11 Designed, built and operated, JL Winery & Gallery. Principal artist, label design and joint winemaker, Adelaide Hills, SA 2011-12 Lived and painted in Paris, France

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 

  • 2018 ‘The Questioning Eye’, Australian Galleries, Sydney
  • 2016 ‘Every One Unique’, Australian Galleries, Sydney
  • 2014 ‘Studio Exhibition’, JL Studio Gallery, Sydney
  • 2005 Impressions on Paper Gallery, Canberra
  • 1990-2013 Ongoing exhibition of works, JL Studio Gallery, Sydney; JL Winery & Gallery, Adelaide Hills, SA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • 2019 ‘papermade’, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
  • 2015 ‘An exhibition of paintings, sculpture & works on paper’, Australian Galleries, Roylston Street, Sydney
  • 2008 ‘Pacific Rim International Print Exhibition’, Chambers Gallery, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
  • 2007 ‘Outback Art Prize’, Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW 2005 ‘Dobell Prize for Drawing’, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

AWARDS & COMMISSIONS

  • 2007 Outback Art Prize (finalist), Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW
  • 2005 Dobell Prize for Drawing (finalist), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 1997 Gold Award (winner), National Packaging Council of Australia, Melbourne 1990 Six Ross Dependency stamp designs, New Zealand Post