Julie Jobson and Deb Marshall both find the inspiration for their work in the landscape. Wood for the Trees came about as a collaboration between the artists as they explored and produced work in response to a chosen area. They both enjoy finding the hidden or overlooked in a landscape, so Blackburn Lake, an area tucked away amongst the Melbourne suburbs, became the site to inspire their investigations.

Wood for the Trees is the culmination of their explorations as they set out to record their response to this area and to bring their individual responses together in a visual dialogue.

Catalogue

DEB MARSHALL

Deb Marshall is a visual artist living and working on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung country in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. She graduated with a Masters in Fine Art from RMIT University in 2018.

Deb’s art practice is grounded within the exploration of landscape using the drawn line. As an ex-dancer, for her the line reflects movement through an environment. Working within the landscape, sketches assist her to progressively discover the form and shape of her surroundings, and how she is situated within them. She usually works in site-responsive ways, so her methodology is a mixture of on-site sketching and reference photography taken back to the studio for further investigation. Back in the studio, and working predominantly on paper and timber panel, Deb further explores these themes using ink, graphite, watercolour, acrylic paint and coloured pencils.

JULIE JOBSON

Julie Jobson has been involved in the visual arts for many decades. Sculpture and the environment have always been part of her practice, but it is only recently that her focus has turned to the exploration of landscape through the sculpture of miniature environments.

In Julie’s practice her focus is in finding the hidden. She is drawn to what might be overlooked by the casual observer, whether it be a particular mossy log, a rusty fence, pebbles in a creek or a peculiarly shaped tree. Julie builds her worlds from the tiniest fragments of found and recycled materials. Wire, foam, plaster, sponges, tea leaves, coffee stirrers – anything and everything can be transformed into the shapes and textures of her little landscapes. A lifelike tree branch in her landscape is in fact the result of the careful assemblage of these disparate materials.