How long have you lived on the Beaches?
I moved to Australia just before the Sydney Olympic Games, but it wasn’t until 2005 that I discovered the Northern Beaches. I started in Fairlight, moved all over Manly and am now living in Cromer.
What inspired the cover?
I illustrated this for BAD POSTER – an interactive art exhibition currently showing in various spots across Brookvale Arts District. I wanted to feature a Bennett’s surfboard in the composition, to honour the rich and important surf heritage here in Brookvale, but I basically just drew my dream house.
How would you describe your art?
I have three very different things going on really. My illustrations (for the most part produced using Adobe CS Illustrator) are what I’d call ‘vector clean’. When being commissioned commercially to deliver to a brief, I can adapt to any style required. I recently did some digital watercolour illustrations for a collaboration between HBO’s launch of The White Lotus season 3, and dusk Australia’s new collection. My oil paintings and portraits are a lot more expressive and usually carry hidden meanings and iconography.
When did you discover you had a gift for art?
I won my first Art Prize in Dubai, where I was living at the time, aged 8, with a depiction of an Emirate crossing the dessert with his camel.
Is your art inspired by certain themes or ideas?
This changes all the time. I went through a phase of illustrating gorgeous women going about daily domestic tasks, like cooking or hanging up the washing, a tribute to just how amazing women are, and how we somehow manage to ‘do it all’. More recently, I did a series of William Morris like symmetrical paintings made up of beautiful Australian native flowers, wildflowers, and leaves (some of which were weeds, because even the weeds are beautiful in Australia). It was an exercise of mental disciple trying to paint something symmetrical, I really enjoyed that. Last year I entered the Archibald with a portrait of Michael Rodrigues, the inaugural NSW 24-hour Economy Commissioner. For over a decade Mike has championed initiatives to unlock the potential of night-time industries of hospitality, creative arts, entertainment and beyond.
You’re also a champion of the arts…
During the last two decades, I have dedicated my life to creating opportunities for Artists and Illustrators through my companies: The National Grid and The Drawing Arm. The Michael Rodrigues portrait was a catalyst for my return to the portraiture work I undertook during my time at Art College in London. This year I hope to paint Oliver and Louis Liembach from Lime Cordiale! Let’s hope they say yes.
Being a BAD girl (a Brookvale Arts District co-founder), what’s in store for BAD for the rest of 2025?
OMG so many exciting things. Not all of which I can talk about yet, but what I can tell you is that plans for BAD POSTER 3.0 (which will feature a first nations story-telling angle) and BAD WALLs are underway. We hope to deliver many large-scale murals across our district in 2025, starting with a huge wall (the side of my studio at 24 Chard Road). We just need to wait for the neighbours to sell, so we can start. They thought the mural might compromise the sale, so it’s on hold right now.
How can people buy and support your artwork?
To commission an illustration, please get in touch via thedrawingarm.com.au and for original oils and prints, visit Northern Beaches Gallery (5/161 S Creek Rd, Cromer) or online at larahorsley.com.au
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Are you an artist local to the Northern Beaches and want to be featured in the Tawny Frogmouth? Email mail@thetawnyfrogmouth.com.au