Narelle Manser-Smith

Narelle is a multi award-winning artist with a background in education. Encouraging children through a hands-on approach to express themselves through colour, line, texture and form lead her to using various techniques within each piece of work. Narelle loves nature's design in everyday objects, exploring the complexities of texture, light, shade and reflection whilst blending and layering colours with glaze in an abstract style. The ambiguous nature of her subjects manipulate the perspectives of detail and obscurity. Narelle holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education majoring in Art, and a Bachelor of Education. She completed The Extraordinary Mind Project portrait drawing classes and has been a master class student in the Freedom School with David Giiles. Narelle's work is included in both commercial and private collections nationally, including Robert Juniper's private collection.

As I embark on my third year of exhibiting at Art Melbourne, I am thrilled to be sharing my experiences of this wonderful city through my recent works. My Favourite time of the day is just as the sun sets and there is nothing quite like being in a city such as Melbourne. With all its vibrancy and action, I am constantly taken back by the depth of colour as each building and vehicle comes to life. As people scurry to escape the city both on foot and via the many modes of transport, the roads and sidewalks come to life. My pieces this year depict one hurried exit from a tram as a family, in peak hour with a toddler in a pram. We had spent the afternoon surrounded by the serenity of the zoo and suddenly found ourselves thrust into the fast-paced action of La Trobe St . The stark contrast hit me between the eyes as we quickly joined the hurried crowd and made our way to Lygon street for dinner. As the setting sun turned lamp posts into beacons of light, buildings came to life with neon colour and headlights from the cars threw everything into an intense sea of artificial stains, I couldn't help but absorb the incredible energy. I invite you to walk into these paintings, join the crowds and enjoy the crazy, colourful action that is Melbourne.