Samantha Gardiner
Samantha Gardiner’s practice centers on textural mixed media, evolving in the space between feeling and reality.
She constructs her surfaces from a range of both traditional and unconventional materials, chosen for their ability to carry history.
Rather than concealing marks of use, Sam brings them forward—allowing dents, blemishes and imperfections to remain visible as part of the work. These traces are preserved as evidence of endurance, not erased in pursuit of refinement. The resulting works become layered records of time, each piece holding its own material biography.
Stone has long been a touchstone in Sam’s practice, shaping both her visual language and her process. She is drawn to its weight, resilience, and the way it is formed slowly under pressure. This influence is evident in her methods: surfaces are built up, abraded back, fractured, and rebuilt, retaining the marks of their making.
Sam’s artwork invites a slower encounter. Viewers are encouraged to follow edges, notice texture, and engage with the quiet strength embedded in the surface. They are objects of resilience—beautiful, not despite their imperfections, but because of them.
Macedon Ranges, Australia
Itta Somaia
Itta Somaia is an Australian-born contemporary landscape artist whose vibrant work celebrates colour, nature, hiking, and travel. Of Czech and Indian heritage, her paintings weave together these cultural roots with the adventures and experiences that have shaped her life.
Her distinctive style bursts onto the canvas through bold, textured movement—created with oil and acrylic paints—often painted en plein air amid the landscapes she explores on foot, or in her home studio nestled in the Macedon Ranges of country Victoria.
As a third-generation artist and trained geologist, Itta uniquely blends art and science: she paints not just the visible beauty above ground, but also contemplates the ancient rocks and geological stories beneath, adding profound depth and dimension to every piece.
Her collectors span Australia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, India, Greece, and the Czech Republic. Through her art, Itta’s mission is clear: to send light and colour around the world, and to bring the serenity and joy of the countryside into homes everywhere.
Macedon Ranges, Victoria
Shay Pappas
Shay began painting in oils in 2022, following many years spent exploring a range of creative disciplines. This varied background has shaped a practice grounded in curiosity, intuition, and a deep respect for process. Her current work centres on creating highly textured, layered paintings that invite the viewer to slow down, look closer, and form a quiet connection with the natural world.
Working with modelling paste and unconventional tools such as plasterers’ scrapers, drywall tape, and palette knives, Shay builds rich surface depth and expressive mark-making. This tactile approach allows materiality to play a central role, creating movement, energy, and physical presence within each work. Her style is rooted in modern impressionism, influenced by artists including André Kohn and Izumi Kogahara, alongside contemporary Australian painters David Hinchliffe and John Rice.
Rather than depicting landscapes exactly as they appear, Shay seeks to capture how they feel to inhabit. Her work evokes the textures underfoot, the movement of air through trees, and the subtle shifts of colour across sky and earth. As her practice continues to evolve, she explores the balance between control and freedom, representation and abstraction always chasing the feeling of open skies and deep breaths, and inviting viewers to feel grounded, free, and connected to the quiet magic of nature.
Macedon Ranges, Victoria
