Art at BGS

Anne is the Head of Art at Brisbane Grammar School.

Water as a source of transformation, renewal and contemplation has preoccupied Anne’s art practice for several decades. Her formative years in the Torres Strait, her journeys to the mountain lakes of Croatia and Slovenia, along with the reefs of Thailand and the Red Sea, have all drawn her to images of water. Her recent works include explorations of wood block printing and hand-built ceramics.

Anne exhibited and taught in Queensland, interstate and overseas for over 20 years before joining Brisbane Grammar School. She has exhibited at Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts, CUSP Gallery, Roar Studios Melbourne and COFA gallery in Sydney. Her teaching experience has encompassed primary, secondary and tertiary sectors including posts at RMIT University, Star of the Sea College in Melbourne and over 10 years at The Harrodian School in London. During her time in London, she also continued her study of Art and delivered workshops in conjunction with The Pump House Gallery and Wandsworth Museum.

Anne currently finds inspiration closer to home, exploring Australian coastal reefs and rockpools with her family.

Liam Herne is an artist originally from Watford, UK who predominantly works with photographic media and video. 

Liam studied Fine Art at the University of Hertfordshire and after graduating in 2008 exhibited his work around the UK before moving to Australia in 2013. Since then, he has been continuing to show his work nationally and internationally. 

As well as his role as Teacher of Visual Arts at BGS, Liam has worked as a workshop facilitator for Flying Arts Alliance and Hands On Art. 

Liam also has experience curating and coordinating exhibitions such as The Incubator, an art exhibition showcasing the talents of young emerging artists based in Brisbane. During 2020-21, he was coordinator of the Creative Generations Visual Art exhibition for the Brisbane Metro Region.

Liam is currently working on artworks for an upcoming exhibition at Platform Arts in Geelong. The exhibition will include new artworks exploring form and space using digital media and Augmented reality apps.

"I love exploring the notion of 'journey' through my work."

Renee Coombe is a searcher and a traveller; for the last 20 years, Renee has spent most of her adult life working and travelling abroad and has lived in two different countries.

Not surprisingly, Renee's passion for travel has been seminal in her artwork, and her latest works explore the notion of the journey and returning home.

Returning to the cattle farm in Canungra, where she grew up, Renee has always appreciated the land and its resources. Renee has often sourced clay from creek beds, and her approach to making art is direct – straight to the objects in her immediate and natural environment. Found objects, paspalum and grasses became the media of choice as she effortlessly mixes and weaves them into the clay.

Renee enjoys pushing the boundaries of the materials to create mixed media pieces. She has an instinctive vision and creates personal, abstract and unique assemblages. Her artwork is enduring with an earthy beauty reminiscent of her childhood on the cattle farm. Influenced by the natural environment and the materials in her immediate surroundings, Renee's work is an extraordinary journey of discovery, renewal and return, underpinned by unwavering confidence in her intuitive judgement and skill with clay.

A love of photography took Renee to the UK after completing a dual degree at QUT (Bachelor of Creative Industries and Bachelor of Education). Renee taught Art, Media Studies and Photography (traditional darkroom techniques and Digital Photography) at an all-boys school in St Albans, Hertfordshire. It was here that curiosity leads her back to ceramics that she had dabbled with at University. This newfound knowledge and a move to New Zealand saw Renee start her own ceramics business, and for eight years, she wholesaled to gift shops and galleries around New Zealand before making her way home to Australia.

A passion for ceramics and a love of teaching brought Renee Coombe to Brisbane Grammar School.

"Curiosity and creativity have taken me all over the world.  As a facilitator and guide, I nurture curiosity and creativity in each of my students. I provide a safe environment where my students are challenged to try new things and take risks through hands-on activities."

"Creating art has been a passion for most of my life."

Lindy's artwork has explored many mediums, but she currently favours painting in oils. "I have always had a fascination for figure drawing and, in particular, the interplay between light and dark," she says.

Lindy's work captures and articulates mood succinctly, depicting people in everyday situations in an uncomplicated style as she delicately describes the effects of light on a subject. Light is a recurring theme in Lindy's paintings, and her work displays mastery of capturing the way light falls upon a subject and carefully depicts the interplay between light and dark and the mood created. 

In terms of subject matter, Lindy focuses on painting people, reflections and objects that hold meaning for her. Dabbling in abstract art, many of her paintings have been figurative with some narrative suggestion depicting a moment in time. Lindy's paintings invite the viewer to participate or to enquire. Still-life painting is also of interest to Lindy, who often draws and paints objects that hold significance; while her landscape works have often been more abstract in nature, she shows great attention to detail in her still-life painting.

Lindy is passionate about education and has a great love of teaching drawing and painting. Lindy inspires students to see things differently, providing students with opportunities to experience and fall in love with creating and making art.

Originally from Johannesburg, Lindy completed a Bachelor in Primary Education majoring in Art and English and completed a Bachelor of Education focusing on Mathematical Thinking and Reflections on Teaching.

Additionally, Lindy has conducted art classes and workshops from her home and ran a design and manufacturing company, designing her own clothing range. As a passionate artist and educator, Lindy has belonged to different art studios over time and has exhibited her work in numerous group exhibitions.

Currently, Lindy is a practising artist and teaches Visual Arts at Brisbane Grammar School and describes herself as a ‘figurative oil painter, fascinated with reflections’.

Maxim is a freelance documentary photographer who is currently experimenting with and exploring the process of cyanotype prints. Cyanotype is a 19th-century photographic printing process. The cyanotype process is related to the natural world, science, and blueprints. A deep shade of Prussian blue characterises the prints.

Maxim's imagery is empathetic, and his prints are strongly reminiscent of the ephemerality of the natural world and the process of capturing memories. 

Maxim's latest prints are atmospheric, layered and quietly celebrates the beauty in nature. As with all non-digital photography, there is mystery and chance with each new print, and the process of creating these works is highly experimental. There is a joy in this kind of experimentation that can be felt when you view Maxim's work as he continues to push this media's boundaries.

Maxim studied a Bachelor of Photography at the Queensland College of Art and currently tutors photography at Brisbane Grammar School. Additionally, he has prepared entries for the Camera Obscura GPS Photography Competition.

Maxim works at Brisbane Grammar School in the Art Department as a Teachers' Aide. He assists Visual Arts teachers with lesson preparations, organising classroom materials, practical classwork, and photographic support. He also takes photography for class activities, artwork documenting and promotion.

Maxim has exhibited at the Queensland College of Art galleries, and the Brisbane Grammar School and Toowoomba Grammar School Art Shows.

Rebecca Masciantonio is a Visual Art and Design Technology Teacher at Brisbane Grammar School.

After completing a Bachelor of Fine Art (Visual Art), a Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) and obtaining minors in Animation, Film, Television and New Media, Rebecca travelled to London where she lived and worked across many schools and travelled immensely throughout Europe. While in Europe, Rebecca used this time as an opportunity to explore her Italian and Sicilian heritage.

Upon returning home to Brisbane, Rebecca worked in the Catholic Education system for five years before commencing at Brisbane Grammar School. During this time, Rebecca completed a Master of Educational Leadership at Australian Catholic University.

Rebecca has always been fascinated by materiality, and how conventional and non-conventional art materials can be manipulated and experimented with in an attempt to test and push their limits. Interested and intrigued by the ephemeral qualities found in nature, Rebecca has been recently experimenting with flower preservation techniques and exploring how various flora can be preserved through the use of resin in her works.

Sarah Kelly is a Visual Art and Design Technology Teacher at Brisbane Grammar School.

Sarah has been fascinated with artmaking her entire life. Following the completion of a Bachelor of Digital Media (Visual Art) and a Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) majoring in Visual Art, Sarah left Australia for England, where she taught Media, Photography and Visual Art for two years.

After returning to Queensland, Sarah continued her work within a variety of schools spread through the State, Catholic and Independent systems for six years, during which she completed a Master of Education, majoring in Inclusive Education at the Queensland University of Technology. 

Sarah's practice is developing and changing every day. She enjoys experimenting with painting, animation, etching, photography, ceramics, ink and charcoal and testing the limits of these materials with a thirst for unknown processes usually inspired by natural forms and travel experiences.

Recently, Sarah has been experimenting with charcoal portraits and unusual mark-making techniques.