Our Tutors
Artists
Tanya Baily
Tanya Baily has been painting exclusively in watercolour for over 20 years and works across a range of subject matter including portraits, architecture, and landscape. Her passion is with the medium itself and she continually experiments with techniques, different pigments, and a range of papers and surfaces.
Tanya regularly displays her work in exhibitions internationally and nationally, including the Australian Watercolour Society’s Annual Exhibitions. She has been a finalist in numerous national art prizes, including the Mosman Prize, The John Leslie Prize, The Elaine Birmingham Prize, the Blacktown City Prize and the Lethbridge Small Works Prize. Tanya has won the Rex Irwin Award for painting in 2011, and the National Watercolour Prize in 2019.
Tanya Baily was educated at Oxford University and Chelsea School of Art in England, and completed a Masters of painting at COFA, UNSW, in 2011.
For more information on Tanya, visit:
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InstagramTanya Bechara
Tanya has been a clay artist for over 20 years and creates beautiful, unique, and functional art. With an emphasis in sculptural work, Tanya uses a variety of techniques sguch as wheel forming, hand building, slip casting, and hand-painting. She is inspired by the Australian landscape and wildlife, which influences her more recent works and teachings.
Her artworks have exhibited in collections across Australia and overseas. She has also won several awards from the annual Sydney Teapot Show, the Sydney Royal Easter Show and has been featured in leading industry magazines such as The Journal of Australian Ceramics.
Tanya prides herself on creating an enjoyable learning environment because she says practising art is “very much like therapy and should be a soothing activity”.
Tanya studied Pottery and Ceramics at Hornsby TAFE in NSW.
For more information on Tanya, visit:
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InstagramKassandra Bossell
Kassandra Bossell is a Sydney-based multidisciplinary artist, working across various modes of sculpture and installation. Her activities span visual, professional and performing arts, including work for exhibition, dance, film, theatre, museums, festivals, public and private commissions.
Bossell holds a BVA from University of Sydney and is currently an MFA (Research) candidate at UNSW Art & Design. She has had solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Berlin and Malaysia and has completed several residencies.
She has received public commissions from Sydney Opera House, City of Sydney, Opera Australia, Powerhouse Museum, Hurstville Council, Wollondilly Shire Council and Stalker Theatre Company. Her artworks are held in private collections in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Germany and US.
Kassandra has lectured in Sculpture at the National Art School and held courses and workshops at numerous universities, colleges and festivals around Australia. She has been selected for numerous prizes and won the Darwin Film Festival ‘Out There’ category and Liverpool Hospital Public Art Competition.
Kassandra has been a recipient of the Arts & Design Grant from ARC @ UNSW, Art on the GreenWay Grant from Leichhardt Council, Artist to Artist Grant from NT Arts, Regional Art Grant from Arts NSW and Pat Corrigan Grant from NAVA.
image supplied St George & Sutherland Leader
↑ back to topLaura Carey
Laura is an Irish artist and printmaker, now living in Sydney. She has been teaching art for over 10 years, both in Ireland and Sydney. Her work focuses on her response to the environments that we live in, using rich layering of culture and the built environment, and depicting the familiar in unfamiliar ways.
Laura has participated in various exhibitions in Australia, Japan, Ireland and Iceland and a finalist in the GreenWay Art Prize. In recent years, she had solo shows in Sydney at Laneway Projects and the Gallery Lane Cove, along with a Public Art Commission in Lane Cove titled Traffic Signal Box.
Laura received a BFA with honours from the National College of Art and Design, Ireland, in 2007 and completed her postgraduate studies majoring in printmaking at College of Fine Arts, UNSW, in 2009.
For more information on Laura, visit:
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InstagramJackson Davies
Jackson Davies is an oil painter based in Sydney, Australia. Jackson is inspired by the face and the figure, and predominantly works from life to create paintings that are contemplative and emotive, with a depth of mystery.
He holds a BFA as well as a Master of Cultural Materials Conservation and with a background in conservation, Jackson has great admiration for Old Master techniques and materials.
Jackson has been a finalist and semi-finalist in esteemed art prizes including the Doug Moran and Mosman Art Prizes, and in 2018 he was awarded Winner of the Northern Beaches Art Prize. Jackson has held residencies in Sweden and Portugal and his work appears in private collections around Australia.
Jackson enjoys sharing this knowledge and experience with others. His motivation as a teacher is to encourage students to find purpose and enjoyment from creating art.
For more information on Jackson, visit:
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InstagramMonika Diak
Monika Diak is an artist based in the Blue Mountains who works predominantly in watercolours and illustrations. Her work has appeared in children’s books, on the covers of Sci-Fi Young Adult novels, and in exhibitions across Australia, Japan, Europe and the UK.
Monika is also the creative behind Moss Dolls, a designer toy brand creating artist editions, illustrations, and zines. It is frequently represented at Comic Con, Supanova, and many underground art events.
In her drawing classes, Monika “encourages observing from life to gain confidence in ways of seeing” and uses a range of materials so students can get a broad experience with different mediums.
She has a BFA from the National Art School (majoring in Printmaking) and completed her Honours at the Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, in 2020 where she received the Artereal Gallery Mentorship Award.
For more information on Monika, visit:
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InstagramRachel Fairfax
Rachel Fairfax is a figurative painter who also creates drawings and ceramic works. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) at the National Art School, Sydney where she is now a lecturer in painting and drawing.
She received Reg Richardson Fellowships in both 2003 and 2004 and her work is regularly selected for national prizes. In 2012 she was selected in the Waverley Art Prize for the fifth time and received a Highly Commended award. In 2009 the Sydney Morning Herald named her one of Australia’s 10 leading artists.
Since 2000, Rachel has participated in over sixty-five group exhibitions and holds solo exhibitions regularly. Her work is held in numerous private and public collections including Artbank; Bathurst Regional Art Gallery; and St Vincents Hospital.
Rachel holds a BA (Fine Art) and Honours (Drawing) from the National Art School, Sydney.
For more information on Rachel, visit:
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WebsiteAshley Frost
Ashley Frost is very much a location-driven artist with many of his landscape works developed by painting and drawing outdoors. His teaching style is energetic which focuses on the formalities of drawing, colour theory, tonal values, and brushwork.
He has worked as an exhibiting artist for over 20 years with four solo shows in New York (2000, 2002, 2004 & 2016), a solo show in Austin, Texas (2016) and group exhibitions in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Guangzhou.
Recently, in 2018, Ashley won the Hills Art Prize and was a finalist in the Gallipoli Art Prize and the Calleen Art Award. In 2017, he was a finalist in the EMSLA Still Life Prize, the NSW Parliament Plein Art Prize, the Archibald Prize and was the winner of the people’s choice award for the Mosman Art Prize.
Ashley is a graduate of the National Art School, Australia, receiving his BFA with a Distinction in painting and has travelled widely conducting research for his PhD candidacy on public art.
For more information on Ashley, visit:
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InstagramJody Graham
Jody Graham is a multidisciplinary artist who works across drawing, mixed media, sculpture, performance, and installation. She often uses unconventional tools and approaches when drawing, such as rocks, bones, wire bound to the back of her hand or a bent umbrella. This speaks to her long-nurtured ‘re-use and re-cycle’ ethos widely seen across her practice.
Graham has been a finalist in major sculpture, painting and drawing awards. In 2022, she won the Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing. In 2020, Graham was a finalist in the Gosford Art Prize, Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award, Swan Hill Print & Drawing Award and the Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing. She was also the winner of the GreenWay Art Prize in 2017 and the GreenWay Local Artist Prize in 2020.
Jody graduated with a Master of Art from UNSW Art & Design Paddington in 2018 and has an Advanced Diploma in Visual Art, WSI, from Nepean Campus (2012). She was educated at the City Art Institute in Paddington.
For more information on Jody, visit:
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InstagramPhotography by Daniel Kukec Photography
↑ back to topSarah Harvie
Sarah graduated in 1996 with a BA in fine art and sculpture with honours, from the Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Fine Art, England.Sarah works with a variety of mediums, specialising in fabric inflatable sculptures. Her work incorporates the visual, interactive and functional elements of the sculptural medium. She is passionate about the development of new and exciting sculptural experiences that brings people incontact with shifting perspectives. She has a wide experience of working collaboratively with others, to realise a shared vision through the development of visual and interactive displays.
Sarah has received both private and government grants to develop and teach 3D design programs for youth and adults, and is passionate about programs that utilise creativity through play. Sarah has the ability to inspire and develop confidence in her students and facilitate the progression from play to the process of design and realisation.
Sarah’s works have been exhibited in a range of contexts such as exhibitions, theatres, music venues, festivals on television and circus performance. She has been invited to show her works in exhibitions such as ‘Art of Sydney’ in 2008, The ‘Biennale’ in Florence, Italy 2007 and ‘Sculpture by the Sea’, Sydney and Perth, Australia in 2005, 2011 and 2014.
For more information on Sarah, visit:
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InstagramKate de Kantzow
Kate de Kantzow has always had a passion for art and studied art and design throughout her education. She currently designs bespoke stationery for boutique homeware stores in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, NZ and London.
Kate specialises in wedding stationery and personal stationery and has a wide variety of clients such as Australian Harpers Bazaar, Inside Out magazines, YSL Beaute, Witchery and Croser sparkling wine.
Kate completed a Certificate in Fashion and Fashion Design at the University of Darwin and a Certificate in Graphic Design at Enmore College of Design. Kate has been teaching at Art Est since we opened in 2008 and loves teaching art to kids during the school holidays.
For more information on Kate, visit:
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InstagramDenise Lithgow
Denise Lithgow is a textile artist who uses felt as her sculpture medium. She exhibits her work widely in Australia and internationally. Denise’s works have been selected for the biannual exhibition World of Threads, Canada, the Biennial Contemporary Mini Textile Art, Ukraine, and recently as a finalist in the Australian Fibre Art Awards, winning the Excellence in Felting award.
In 2022, Denise exhibited in the Netherlands and France. She was the guest artist at Royal Art Society of NSW, Camden Art Prize and Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair. She is also published widely, including in “Worldwide Colours of Felt” (Netherlands), “Dimensional Cloth, Sculpture by Contemporary Textile Artists” (USA), “Australian Textile Art Award 2020” and also in her book, “Living in a Felt World”.
Denise’s works are produced using an intuitive layering of fibre and fabric for both her sculptures and 2-dimensional works. Her inspiration comes from an emotional response to her surrounding landscapes. She uses felt as it’s an ecological, sustainable textile. Teaching others to make their own felt creations in places such as Portugal, London, at the AGNSW and Art Est.
↑ back to topMarie Mansfield
Marie’s work is instinctive and investigative, whether her subject is a landscape, a person or a still life. Her intention is to catch a moment that tells a story or to capture the soul of the subject.
Under her guidance, students gain practical knowledge by observing tone, proportion, and temperature (colour) to bring atmosphere to their work. She says; “I aim to give students the skills to observe and to give a sense of realism to their paintings”. Her style of teaching is professional and approachable, as well as flexible and respectful of each students' abilities to ensure that learning is fun.
Marie has been a finalist in numerous major prizes including the Archibald Prize, the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, the Black Swan Portraiture Prize and the Portia Geach Memorial Award.
Marie has a Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication, a Post Graduate Diploma in Painting at the National Art School, Sydney, and studied painting at the Julian Ashton Art School.
For more information on Marie, visit:
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InstagramTania Mason
Tania Mason is a Sydney based artist who graduated from The National Art School in 2001 and is interested in a cross platform of creating art. Tania’s art practice involves a cross-over of many different mediums, charcoal, painting, ink, gouache, paper sculpture and animation.
She has had been a finalist in many art prizes, which recently includes the Kings School landscape Prize (2020), Calleen Award for Painting, Banyule Award for Works on paper (2019), Waterhouse Natural Science Art Award (2017) and Fisher Ghost Art Award (2017, 2016, 2015). In 2016, Tania was the winner of the Calleen Art Award for Painting and completed an eighteen metre Public Art Commission in Bondi Junction.
The past 20 years Tania has exhibited widely throughout Paris, Saint Tropez, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Sydney.
Tania Mason has a Diploma and Degree in Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Conversion at the National Art school in Sydney.
For more information, visit:
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Paul McCarthy
Paul has been painting and selling his work for the last 25 years. At the end of 2000 he left the corporate world where he worked in logistics management to paint full time. In those endeavours he has had numerous solo and joint exhibitions both here and overseas, including a joint exhibition in Soho New York in 2001.
Paul has worked extensively as a community artist in varied capacities including working with a remote aboriginal community, high schools, and acting curator for the Sydney Children’s Hospital. He has also coordinated several groups of volunteers working with groups covering the Sydney Children’s Hospital, the Sydney Cancer Centre at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital as well as adults with disabilities at Studio Artes Hornsby.
He is a sought after prize winning tutor who brings a sense of fun and excitement to the classroom, encourages individuality as well as developing design composition and colour skills.
↑ back to topDenise McDonald
Denise is a potter based in Sydney, who is known for her contemporary ceramic designs which contain a hint of nostalgia.
Over the years, she has produced several ranges of ceramic tableware that celebrate our unique Australian flora, heritage decorative patterns and motifs, found textures and rich glazes. Her most popular work features a 100-year-old flannel flower pattern sourced from a Federation house in Sydney.
Denise has been included in various exhibitions and awards over the last decade such as Innercity Clayworkers Gallery, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Royal Easter Show Arts and Crafts, Holmesglen TAFE, Craft NSW.
Denise likes to take students step-by-step through the challenge of working on the potters' wheel, breaking the complexities down into simple bits. Once established with these basics, she then encourages students to experiment and loosen up on the pottery wheel.
Denise completed a Diploma of Art (Ceramics) at Holmesglen TAFE (Vic) in 1997 and continues to make ceramic tableware (art for everyday living) as DM Pottery since 2009.
For more information on Denise, visit:
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InstagramSam McNair
Samuel McNair is an Australian illustrator, caricaturist and satirist who is published weekly in the CityHub and intermittently with the South Sydney Herald. His work is renowned for its labyrinth-esque detail and layered wordplay and meaning.Sam also conducts specialised cartoon workshops for young artists. Customising his lesson to suit each age group, Sam aims to develop their skills and trigger the imagination of students.
Younger classes focus on shapes, symbols and expressions, while the older students are given a more in-depth view into design, technique and character.
Sam is currently completing his Bachelor of Education through UTS.
For more information on Sam, visit:
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InstagramSally Mowbray
Sally has over 20 years' experience in teaching adult art education, with an emphasis on drawing and painting. When teaching, she likes to combine practical skills with ideas and proposals for where these skills can be taken. Her aim is to allow her students to find their own artistic stride.
Sally studied Fine Art in London at Camberwell School of Art (Foundation), Chelsea College of Art (Painting BA 1st Class Honours) and at the Royal College of Art (MA Painting). After graduating, Sally was part of the ‘Notcut’ artist-run studio and gallery space in London and was a recipient of the Erasmus visual artists Scholarship in Berlin (1995) and also the prestigious Royal College of Art Cite Des Arts Residency at Paris in 1994.
She has work in collections in the UK, USA, Switzerland and Australia. Sally has been teaching, painting and developing new work and has had solo exhibitions at Chrissie Cotter Gallery (2020, 2018), group exhibitions at Aro Gallery (2019) and a residency at Whites Creek Studio (2017). She has also been a finalist in the GreenWay Art Prize, Waverley Art Prize and the Glebe Art Prize.
For more information on Sally, visit:
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InstagramSusie Murphie
Susie has been a watercolour artist for 30 years and shares her passion through teaching; skilfully capturing a moment in time with landscape, still life and animal subjects. She is well-known for her energetic and bubbly teaching style.
Susie says “I teach a loose approach to painting. Very much 'less is more'. I like to have fun in my lessons and do not hold back when someone is not doing the right thing - in the nicest possible way of course! I certainly give lots of praise too. I try to give students confidence in their ability and believe that you only need basic drawing skills with watercolour. If the paint is properly applied, you will end up with a lovely painting”.
For more information on Susie, visit:
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InstagramMellissa Read-Devine
Mellissa is an English artist, who lives in rural Sydney overlooking the Hawkesbury River. Since the 90s, she has continuously studied and practised painting and printmaking, honing her art often inspired by the natural landscape.
Mellissa’s style is distinctive with her electric palette and layered application of brush strokes. Her paintings have evolved into her own “macropointilist” style celebrating the shape, colour and brushstroke of contemporary impressionism.
She has been the finalist in many prestigious art prizes including Paddington Art Prize, Stanthorpe Art Prize, Fishers Ghost, Blacktown Art Prize and Hawkesbury Art Prize, and is included in public collections around Australia and USA.
A Fellow of the Royal Art Society of NSW and a founding member of the Hawkesbury Artisans Trail, Mellissa continues to work promoting creativity in the local community and works as artist, tutor, and illustrator.
For more information on Mellissa, visit:
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TwitterKara Pryor
Kara has been a ceramicist for over 25 years and is well-known for her quirky animated dogs, mythical creatures, and the extreme detail on her out-of-this-world teapots. More recently, Kara is concentrating on functional hand-built pieces with a combination of glazes and painting designs – along with a few dogs on the side!
Kara’s work has been in many galleries for sale and exhibition such as Kerrie Lowe, Breathing Colours, Art Est. Art School, NSW Craft, Manly Art Gallery, Saint Cloche and Winkel Gallery. She also regularly exhibits at The Sydney Teapot Show and the Sydney Royal Easter Show, where her teapots have won prizes and have been bought by collectors.
She obtained her Certificate for Advanced Diploma for Ceramics at Northern Beaches TAFE in 2015 majoring in hand building and creative teapots.
For more information on Kara, visit:
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InstagramMichael Simms
Michael Simms is a multi-award winning artist based in Sydney whose work is characterised by dream-like depictions of the human figure. Ranging from traditional portraiture to explorations of identity in the digital age, his diverse paintings and drawings combine elements of classicism, romanticism, surrealism and psychology.
Michael completed a degree in psychology in his hometown of Adelaide before winning a scholarship for Sydney’s historic Julian Ashton Art School. In 2018, he was awarded the Royal Art Society of NSW Young Artist Prize and the inaugural SBS Portrait Prize. Michael has been a finalist in several major art awards, including the Doug Moran, Black Swan and Kilgour prizes and has put several notable Australians onto canvas such as Thomas Keneally, Liz Ellis, Paul Capsis and Genevieve Lemon.
He has completed residencies at the New York Academy of Art and The Broken Hill Art Exchange.
For more information on Michael, visit:
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InstagramJennifer McNamara – Director
Jennifer McNamara is the Founder and Director of Art Est Art School, a vibrant creative hub she established in 2008 to inspire a love of art and creativity in the community. Over the years, Art Est has become one of Sydney’s leading independent art schools, renowned for its inclusive environment, innovative programs, and exceptional facilities for fine art and ceramics.
Jennifer’s career in the arts began with an opportunity to work on “Close Up of Japan 1988,” a Japanese arts festival in Sydney. This pivotal experience launched a career spanning over two decades in arts administration, public programs, and event management. She has managed programs for prestigious events and organisations, including the 1988 Biennale of Sydney, the Australian Bicentennial Authority, Toga Theatre Festival in Japan, the First International Covent Garden Festival in London, the Australian National Maritime Museum, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority.
Her extensive background in public programs, festivals, business events, and marketing, combined with her passion for art, culminated in the fulfilment of her dream to open an art school. Jennifer also has a deep connection to the GreenWay Art Prize, which celebrates artistic excellence and environmental awareness in Sydney’s Inner West. Her dedication to fostering local arts initiatives and supporting community engagement earned her a nomination for the Inner West Council Citizen of the Year.
Through her leadership, Art Est has hosted countless creative workshops, professional exhibitions, and community events, cementing its place as a dynamic cultural destination. Jennifer’s passion for empowering creativity and connecting people through art continues to inspire students, artists, and the broader community, leaving a lasting legacy in Sydney’s cultural landscape.
↑ back to topRuben The Art Dog
Ruben is a bordoodle (Border Collie x Mini Poodle) born in August 2020, near Yass. He occasionally pops into the studios to make sure everything is running smoothly and greets everyone with a friendly (and energetic) HELLO. Ruben is also the muse for our annual WOOF! Art prize, which encourages artist to paint, draw or sculpt their favourite dog. He still has his training wheels on but is an eager learner. You can follow Ruben on his Instagram page.
↑ back to topPablo The Art Dog
Pablo, named after Pablo Picasso, is a Cavoodle (Cavalier x Poodle) and art dog at Art Est who sadly passed away in 2020 at 13 years of age.
We will always have fond memories of him sitting at the top of the ramp greeting everyone, posing for a drawing or taking centre stage at exhibition openings and chasing champagne corks. Pablo also helped Jennifer find our old warehouse in Leichhardt all those years ago – he was only a puppy when they were exploring the local dog parks and stumbled a ‘For Lease’ sign on the gate of Lords road. Pablo was a special dog and will be greatly missed.
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