A studio hidden in the bush
Ginny Reid has spent 40 years living beside the Bullatale Creek, in the Southern Riverina near Deniliquin. She says she feels incredibly privileged to engage with the land and her garden every day — they're where every painting starts.
From total silence to a cacophony of birds and frogs, from drought to mesmerising flood, her surroundings never stay still. "I'm not a great sketcher, but I take a multitude of photos, and I paint plein air too, then decide where to go with it in the art room."
She's self-taught. "Not being formally trained gives me the license to break rules I don't know exist."
From Food Production to Fine Art
Before painting, Ginny's working life ranged from commercial food production to adult education with TAFE, and in 2007 she received an International Specialised Skills (ISS) Fellowship. These days she splits her time between farming and painting — the two are never really separate.
Working Remotely
Painting in rural Australia comes with its own logistics. Shipping large canvases, sourcing materials, and getting face-to-face tuition are all complicated by distance — so Ginny stretches her own canvases, out of necessity and now out of preference.
Her long-term goal is a proper studio on the creek, a space she can one day share with other artists working in the region.
