Be sure to check out the St Philip art on your way downstairs. Different artists will be featured on a rotating basis.

Renee Reese

I grew up travelling and living around the world. A visit to the Kröller Müller Museum in Holland at nine years of age ignited a creative spark in me. A comprehensive and wide-ranging collection of Dutch and International Art – from Van Gogh to Cubism – and a magnificent sculpture garden touched something deep inside of me: a realization that personal expression through art comes in a myriad of forms. I’ve only recently come to see what a pivotal moment in my life that visit was. Alongside an appreciation for other people’s artistic expressions, there was a seed of possibility sown.

My biggest influences are my father, who began his painting career in Florence, Italy, at the age of 70, and my brother, also a passionate visual artist. I also never fail to get inspired by God’s creative expression in the natural beauty that is around us every minute of every day, if we take the time to look.

The mixed media pieces express my love of paper, old books, and ephemera, a lament for a time when people put pen to paper.

I love the challenge that oil paint provides. There is a timeless quality to the paint that inspires me, making me feel connected with painters through art history.

I am now settled in Victoria with my husband, three children, and a dog called Rusty.