Roberta the Painter: Roberta is still painting at 92  years of age.

Roberta and Col Jordan

[below right] Mangroves 1989                                                                                                                                               

Roberta began painting in the late 1940s, but it was only after marrying Jack Howland in 1960 and moving to Wellington that Roberta began painting in earnest. Later, artist Col Jordon named her as one of a small group of artists living in Wollongong who, although not able to practice as full-time artists, were nevertheless serious about their art.

Roberta has continued painting since that time, developing her medium of oil on board with shellac, sometimes adding collage elements, and entering works in important regional and national art prizes to maintain her level of professionalism. Many of her works are held in private collections in Australia and overseas.

Throughout her career, Roberta has focused on a number of themes within her artwork. She is able to achieve a high level of excellence and sentience in the fields of landscape, genre, religious and spiritual themes. Shown here is a watercolour painting Mangroves, 1989, selected as a finalist in the Wynne water colour prize called the Pring Prize for women artists. Roberta’s profound perception of the landscape is rendered with much sensibility and subtlety in Mangroves, executed with the most minimal of palettes, meandering line, delicate wash and translucency.

Phoenix Series    Horizon Series

The below works demonstrate Roberta’s style, and are displayed in Chronological order. Click on each artwork to see more detail.