Sandra Nicolaides has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (Sculpture and Cinematography) from the SA School of Art and qualifications in Classical Ballet (RAD) and Acting. Her extensive background in the Arts includes dancing in several blockbuster Musicals across Australian and NZ and acting with various Theatre companies in England, Wales, NZ and Australia. She has written and directed plays that have been performed in Sydney and Tasmania and has received various awards for her work.
She has also lectured in the Arts at tertiary institutions in Hobart and Adelaide, was the Director of the Community Arts Network in Tasmania and, as the Cultural Planner for the ACT Government, initiated and created the first Cultural Map on line for Canberra ('CIAO' -Canberra's Identity and Atmosphere Online ) - which was launched at the Australian National Museum. She then invited the 18 ACT-Regional councils to develop their own cultural maps on line, using her template and guidance. The resultant composite Regional Cultural Map was also launched at the Australian National Museum. She was then promoted to the ACT Chief Ministers Policy Group, where she specialised in Cultural Policy and later set up her own consultancy in Cultural Planning and Policy.
The above summary perhaps helps explain Sandra's intuitive painting style today, being somewhat reflective of the extent of her experience in so many different artforms. Her painting method is to slap various colours of oil paint onto a blank canvas with a pallet knife and then inspect the result, until she can see different characters hidden within the colours. Then she begins to ease out the figures with charcoal and paint and thus strengthen the relationships between them - or sometimes, between single figures and the viewers. Remaining true to the markings on the canvas, she then paints out the negative spaces and the final stage is to give the painting a title, based on what the characters are telling her.
Once she started painting in this way, she couldn't stop. "It is as though these characters are itching to reveal themselves in each canvas, as they have been bottled up in my sub-conscious for so long".
Her studio will be open to the general public in April/May 2025. More information on www.nillumbikartistsopenstudios.com.au.
Her Instagram address is www.instagram.com/sandi_greentree_artist/
Since joining Gallery247, Sandra has had over 389,000 hits on her work.
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