Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is thrilled to announce Geraldine Simmons as one of the four winners in their 28th "Solo Art Series" Art Competition. Geraldine will now have a month-long solo art exhibition and she will be featured on the gallery’s front page, on the Gallery’s YouTube Channel, as well as in the “Solo Art Series” Archive.
Geraldine is an internationally award-winning wildlife artist based in Sydney, Australia. She will now be promoted by the gallery with an extensive public relations campaign.
Press releases for this solo exhibition will be distributed, promoted, and circulated by the Gallery to hundreds of major news outlets. The Gallery will also provide social media distribution through Light Space & Time’s broad social media network.
Geraldine’s art will also be featured on the gallery’s YouTube Channel and with an event postcard.
The “Solo Art Series” is a series of monthly solo art exhibitions for established artists who have a body of work to present to the public. Artist participants were asked to submit the following 3 components for the “Solo Art Series” competition: 1. Their art. 2. Their artist biography. 3. Their artist statement. These elements were evaluated and judged, which resulted in the selection of the artists who will be featured in individual month-long solo art exhibitions.
Below are Geraldine’s Artist Biography, her Artist Statement, along with 8 of her wildlife artworks. We hope that you will take the time to read Geraldine’s information and to take a look at her art.
Geraldine lives and creates from her home studio at Collaroy on Sydney's northern beaches, Australia.
Her artistic journey began amidst the tranquility of her early surroundings and the loneliness that shaped her childhood. Born in London and later settling in Australia in 1968, Geraldine found herself immersed in the performing arts through her parents but distanced from the companionship of peers. This isolation, though challenging, became the crucible for her creativity. The lack of distraction and solitude fostered a deep connection with the natural world.
Riding her bike to serene locales, Geraldine developed an acute attention to detail—observing the subtle nuances of the environment. These observations laid the groundwork for her signature style, focusing on the delicate details and expressions that animate her animal portraits, transforming them from mere representations to windows into the soul of the wild.
Her encounter with the majestic wildlife of Borneo in 2005 truly defined the trajectory of her career. A profound connection she felt with the orangutans and the stark beauty of the Indonesian wildlife awakened a fervent desire to use her art to advocate for endangered species. The deep, soulful eyes of an orangutan she met were the catalyst for dedicating her art to wildlife conservation.
Geraldine creates her wildlife portraits in either pastel and coloured pencil or scratchboard. These mediums enable her to achieve meticulous detail and emotional depth to evoke empathy and awareness about the fragility and beauty of wildlife.
I create soulful wildlife portraits to inspire deep respect and connection to our natural world. I aspire to show not just an “animal” but a living, breathing being who shows intelligence and has feelings - who belongs to a family and plays an essential role within our ecology that balances our intricate web of life. No matter which species I draw, it feels natural to portray vulnerability and innocence as a common denominator, even in the fiercest of animals - something animals do not hide and inspires us to reconnect. I express this the most when drawing the eyes, taking great care to inspire an emotional connection. With their soulful expressions, I can feel each animal asking something from me, to connect, to listen. I create my art to heed their call.
Before I start, I take time to connect with the animals and imagine being in their world - to listen to them so I can tell their story. I take all the time and care I need to perfect each mark I make. It is my way of honouring and respecting them at the core of my being. It’s a slow and deliberate process that unfolds one stroke at a time in either mixed media or scratchboard.
To see more of Geraldine’s work, please visit her website.
Click the Thumbnail to See the Artwork in a Lightbox
