About Jacqueline Coates – Barossa Valley, SA
I started painting at 25. Roses and other florals have always been a part of my visual language cropping up in various bodies of work until they became my work.
35 years ago I worked in the corporate world as an advertising art director and dreamed of painting. I longed to paint and become a full-time artist. I’m pleased to say I busted out!
I left my successful career becoming an art student at UNSW College of Fine Arts, Sydney, achieving a BACHELOR of FINE ART. My art from my Paris work involved layers of papers from parchment to glassine with translucent layers and cut out areas, maps and references to the body.
It was collected by Art bank and other collectors.
One night I dreamed I saw myself painting a giant red rose, as an opera diva in a red dress sang in the middle of a huge black velvety auditorium.
Consequently, I felt compelled to paint the canvas I had foreseen in my dream, which in real life measured seven feet square. This lead to a stream of full colour paintings exploring oversized canvases of roses, peonies, magnolias, poppies and more, paintings that co-existed along with my other body of work: a fascination with the layers of culture, history, art & the gardens of Paris.
During a self-funded art research trip to Paris in 1998, I found myself drawn to the elegant parks and gardens and continued my Paris work. The rose was a constant signature in these environs, particularly Parc de Bagatelle which has a formal rose garden with thousands of varieties of roses and at Parc Monceau.
Upon my return from Paris, memories of huge bouquets of peony roses glimpsed in alleyway flower boutiques in Saint Germain de Pres inspired me to revisit roses as a serious subject matter, in all their fleshy forms and voluptuous colours, resulting in a solo exhibition in Sydney, December 2000. By this time I was also a single mum to my son Hannibal with a second baby on the way.
Soon after this exhibition, I gave birth daughter Lily and moved to rural South Australia, embracing single motherhood- and painting full time from a stone barn I renovated.
A national magazine visited and created a 10 page full colour editorial of my home, studio and paintings- a stone barn I converted. My paintings sold out and people were asking me to teach them how to paint my blooms, leading to my first Blooms painting workshops in Sydney, New Zealand and the Barossa Valley. I was able to support my family from my art.
Alongside painting beautiful blooms to large scale, I continued the exploration of my Paris work resulting in an exhibition in Adelaide exploring the shape of the city of Paris with a body where the parks are the lungs, the river the arteries of the heart- the Ile de la Cite and Notre Dame. These were layered works in parchment and glassine paper involving painting and drawing as well as paintings on canvas.
In 2008, I created Salon Rouge Gallery and workshop space in Kapunda, South Australia.
In 2016, I created French Art School in the Creuse region in central France where Monet painted his series of paintings of the Confluence of the Creuse, taking students from many countries a few times a year to immerse in French culture and to paint in a dedicated painting studio in the heart of France with particular reference to the incredible flowers on hand. Also on our doorstep are the influences of George Sand, and the heritage of the Aubusson tapestries and floral cartons.
These inspirations are shared through the art school and workshop students during the few months I have visa access in France annually.
During Covid, when I couldn’t travel for over two years, I upgraded my Blooms Online painting tuition to a comprehensive range of painting programs for beginners to those wanting to create a creative lifestyle including Blooms Masterclass & Make money From Art Program helping students to become selling artists. I introduced zoom teaching sessions and video led training online.
During Covid, I also developed the Blooms Travel Paint Box having explored the tradition of the French pochade from Impressionist times and the way the Creuse Impressionist painters painted in the Valley Noir landscape. This resulted in the production of a re-imagined pochade- a practical portable paint box that can carry 3 wet paintings as a solution for travelling and painting for the modern en plein air painter.
Over the last five years I have been nominated by a global online voting system in many categories of excellence in awards for my Blooms teaching and as a floral artist including the latest award for BEST FLORAL ARTIST, AUSTRALIA 2024 at the AI GLOBAL AWARDS that recognise talent and excellence internationally.
After visiting and researching the Monet trail in Liguria, Italy, in 2018, I returned in 2023 and created a painting studio by renovating a derelict stone villa in Ceriana, Italy, inspired by Monet’s painting time in Liguria along the Italian Riviera.
The purpose of the Ceriana studio base is to share a dedicated an fully equipped place to paint and produce work and to meet with my painting students near the Monet Trail in Liguria which includes Dolceacqua and Bordighera.
The Italy France tour starts in Nice with the Matisse Museum, the flower markets, Cimiez rose gardens, the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, then into Liguria to visit and paint the Hanbury Botanical Gardens and Villa, Dolceacqua where Monet painted, San Remo and back into France for the hill top towns of Eze, Saint Paul de Vence, and Renoir’s villa and olive grove.
Paris and France remain a major cultural inspiration for my work on all levels, and northern Italy also calls me to explore and share Monet’s trail.
WORKSHOPS AND ART TOURS
I have taught in the USA, NEW ZEALAND, all over AUSTRALIA and in ITALY. My workshops and art immersions calendar can be found at https://artscreativehub.com/workshops/
BLOOMS ONLINE TUITION, PAINTING PROJECTS & PROGRAMS
My Blooms online programs which are enjoyed by students from Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand and the UK can be found at
Thanks so much for your interest in my art, workshops, projects and tours. Hope to see you in a workshop soon.
Jacqueline Coates