Acrylic Painting

Maureen Walsh Venville

Maureen Walsh Venville is an Intuitive abstract artist residing in Frankston Victoria Australia.

Artist Profile

Maureen was born in Liverpool, England, and moved to Australia with her family in 1967. From an early age, she loved making art, often spending her time drawing and creating collages. Her passion for working with her hands led her to a career in the printing industry, art school, focusing on painting, sculpture, and art history, and later to a role in allied health as a Remedial Massage and Bowen therapist.

For the past decade, Maureen has studied Raja Yoga Meditation and positive thinking with the Brahma Kumaris. This spiritual practice, combined with her artistic pursuits, allows her to paint intuitively, drawing inspiration from her soul. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions across Victoria, including two successful solo shows at Frankston Art Centre and Sol Gallery in Melbourne.

Maureen’s style is characterised by her obsession with colour and composition, creating vibrant, imaginative works that invite viewers to engage with her unique perspective. The act of creation itself is deeply fulfilling for her, as she embraces the journey of transforming a blank canvas into a visual expression of her inner world, reflecting her colourful, quirky, and lyrical universe.

Artist Interview

What medium do you work with, and why have you chosen them?

I have chosen to work with acrylic paint purely because of the rapid drying time. I like to work in oils as well but the drying time is longer and at the moment I feel that acrylic paint is more suited to my type of art. In the future it may be different.

How does your artwork get from initial concept to exhibition stage?

I don’t plan any of my paintings beforehand, the only conscious decision I make before starting work is choosing the colours I would like to work with. This can also change as I work. I would normally wet my canvas all over and put on a colour using anything I can find, it could be paper, cloth, twigs, a brush. Just making marks. I then let it dry. An image will be there on the canvas or several images. I start by picking marks out and making other marks at random. One mark will suggest the next and at the same time I am working with the colour. I might do many layers and my work is changing constantly, it goes through many "lives" before I am happy with the final one. My painting seems to let me know that it is finished and there is nothing more to be done. I love painting intuitively, it gives me freedom to paint from my soul. When the painting is complete I will wait a few days before the final varnish. Then it is ready for showing.

Can you tell us a little more about your creative working environment/studio?

I have a small studio filled with everything an artist needs, in my home garden in the bayside city of Frankston, Victoria. It is in the middle of a beautiful garden and just behind it I have a lovely big pond with fish, plants, and trees around it. It is a wonderful environment to work in. My studio is well equipped with racks to keep my work in good condition, a sink of course. I like to keep my studio tidy and everything has it's place so it takes no time to find what i'm looking for. I have a wooden floor that is now very colourful and I love it. I spend most of my time in this environment, I work alone, but I am never lonely. I also love going to exhibitions to see other peoples work. There are lots of galleries and art exhibitions along the Mornington Peninsula, a very interesting place to live.