
Suttontown Chapel
Studio


Suttontown Chapel Studio
Suttontown Chapel Studio
Profile and Background
Trudy has been a resident of the Limestone Coast for the last seven years. She is committed to the region having made her home here for herself and her children. Trudy relocated from inner city Melbourne to the outskirts of Mount Gambier. She felt a rural environment was healthier for her family. Since relocating, she has endeavoured to learning firsthand about the Region's ecology, the farming industry, and art as a therapy for individuals.
Trudy is an active member of the Limestone Coast Artist Community. She recently acquired the Suttontown Chapel Studio (constructed in 1867), and is committed to turning it into a working hub to support local artists. She has also made the Chapel her working studio space. Thumb Print Workshop Inc. has made a home at the Chapel Workshop Shed. Memberships are available to artists wishing to develop their skills as printmakers. Workshops are available as well as access to the space and group exhibitions.
Trudy has commenced a major restoration of the Suttontown Chapel including new roof and flooring. Her aim is to preserve the Chapel as it offers a significant resource to the local community. The Chapel was originally constructed to provide for the wellbeing of the community, celebrate the art of living and beauty of music, and under Trudy's stewardship will continue to do so.
Trudy has also established shed space for artist working studios. Artist are welcome to contract Trudy to enquire about studio space or utilising the Chapel Performance Space for acoustic rehearsal and small-scale performances. A concert-pitch piano is also available.
Art Prize
Karatta Winery
Southern Oceans Art Prize 2024
Robe, South Australia
Trudy Tandberg is thrilled to have won the Karatta Winery Southern Oceans Art Prize. The Winery is a significant support of the arts in the Limestone Coast Region. Trudy considers the wellbeing of the community is dependent on cultural engaging events such as this and the support of commercial entities in the Region. A wonderful collection of works is presented by amazing artist from Robe and further afield. The dedication of these artist to their practice and the medium they work is on display.


Artist Profile
Education
Trudy completed a B.Arts Degree in Fine Art at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 1992, a Graduate Diploma from the University of Melbourne in Genre and Cinema Studies in 1994, and a B.Arts Degree in Textile Design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2008.
Employment
Trudy worked in programming and project delivery for a conservation organisation and in cultural development for local government and an array of odd jobs that supported her family and sometimes allowed time for her art practice. Her focus has always been on social inclusion, individual wellbeing, and culturally supportive environments. She is passionate about the environment and the natural world.


Gallery Gariwerd Series 1
Linocut Prints
Work created after an intensive arts retreat and the Grampians Brushes workshop with Gary Shinfield in September 2023. Gariwerd Grampians National Park.
Gallery Gariwerd Series 2
Woodcut Prints
Works created during and after six day art intensive and workshop with Gary Shinfield Grampian's Brushes at Gariwerd Grampians National Park, Victoria, September 2024



Cleave the Woakwine
Seeing the Woakwine Cutting while on the Limestone Coast Artist Retreat tour profoundly affected how Trudy considered the landscape. It was a great feat to make the cutting by a man and his tractor. The effect on the local environment was profound. The drainage of the waters from the swamp lands and accessibility to farming was transformational.Since arriving in the Limestone Coast, Trudy has wanted to discuss in her work how delicate this environment is and how fascinating the interconnection between natural processes of hydrology are and how dependent our communities are on it.As an artist Trudy is trained in the intellectual discourse of art world, but she values more the accessibility of art to the whole community. This artwork is intended to contain visual elements that people can recognise. The thin silhouette of spindly trees on the horizon is a quintessentially Australian vision. People drive through the Region often see a tree plantation or remnant bush land along the side of the road.After taking all this into consideration, Trudy went out into the paddocks and drew the tree lines she observed. She then copied the original drawings and transferred them to plastic plate with permanent Texta. The tree line illustrations were etched by hand with an etching needle/tool into the soft plastic plate, which was then inked and passed through the press to print as the fourth layer of image onto the paper. This work is intended to be seen in the context of the Cannon of Australian Minimalist Landscape Art, but it is also intended to contain enough visual information that anyone is reminded of landscapes they have seen. The work is also meant to provoke thoughts about the landscape and how we use it for farming, mining, and building materials. This work is part of a larger series of works that can be seen at the Suttontown Chapel Studio by appointment.











Scientific Fable
A Scientific Fable is what we think we know of life. The life in the sea is mostly known to us via films and images created for us by others working in the Media. We have so much to learn as the oceans are and should be teeming with life. I am interested in ocean spaces that are dominated by simple cell organism and algae. What is simple is essential to life. As humans we are dependence on algae but disregard that fact. The Limestone Coast, the Great Southern Reef is the most diverse seaweed ecosystem in the world. These ecosystems deserves our attention and through artwork the wonder of the ocean world becomes more accessible to land locked humans . What follows are seaweed and beach studies. Works are created using cyanotype, ink and gouache on paper.
