Bronwyn Rees finished her illustration degree at the Qld College of Art in 1991 and then discovered it was printmaking that she really cared about.

Since then, she’s made literally hundreds of prints, including large commissions for Quay West Brisbane, Holiday Inn Sanctuary Cove and many group and solo exhibitions over the years.

In 2000 she went to Glasgow to work at the Glasgow Print Studio, making work and participating in exhibitions.

Since returning to Australia in 2004, she has settled in Melbourne and had a studio at the Firestation Print Studio, where she now exhibits her work on a regular basis. Her next exhibition is in July 2010.

“Bronwyn Rees’ work has always delighted with its rich chiaroscuro, its continuing love affair with spontaneous gesture and its highly professional and painterly printing skills. What is different about this show [“Flying Pigs” Doggett St, QLD] is her exploration of space-time continuum through the medium of the artist’s books. Particularly in the Cars suites, it is brought within the grasp of the viewer as he or she turns the pages of an unfolding journey, crossing and recrossing the boundaries of inner and outer space.”     Julie Kearney, writer and artist, Brisbane IMPRINT MAGAZINE , Autumn 2009, Vol 44.

In 2010 she was involved in the Members Portfolio as the Firestation Print Studio, and had a very successful exhibition, ‘Selected Works’  in July. Her work was  featured in the new art journal, “The Australian Book Arts Journal” published in August 2010.

Margaret Manchee received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Printmaking from the Victorian College of the Arts –the University of Melbourne. She has been an active member at the Firestation Print Studio since receiving its Studio Access Award in 2008.

Her etchings are inspired by the darkness of Goya’s prints. She employs a variety of etching methods including, aquatint, sugar lift, spitbite, drypoint, soap ground and any experimental method that achieves the desired outcome. She is also a strong advocate for solvent-free and environmentally friendly printmaking.      

Marisa Corral first completed an Undergraduate Degree at Ballarat University majoring in printmaking during the early nineties. Her passion for printmaking inspired her to continue further studies in printmaking by completing an Honours Degree in Fine Arts majoring in printmaking at RMIT. As part of the course Ms. Corral had the opportunity to work with Peter Lancaster in stone lithography. Colour and mark-making have dominated her art work.

Between studying and printing, travelling throughout Europe and USA has been “an enormous influence in terms of my own art work as well as contemplating the art world”. The interactional relationships between the natural and synthetic world has been the main focus of her print practice. Her collections are included at The Australian Print Workshop and La Trobe University of Victoria. She has been exhibiting in both regional and metropolitan areas around Victoria including The Ballarat Regional Gallery. Ms. Corral is a trained secondary art teacher, and also teaches adult classes in printmaking. She is currently studying a Masters in Visual Arts at Monash University.  For further information log on to www.marisacorral.blogspot.com

Myra Kaufman has been Artist-in-Residence at the Firestation Print Studio since 2007. Myra completed a Diploma of Visual Arts at the Council of Adult Education in 2007 studying printmaking with Tim Jones and Jo Wilson. Since then she has concentrated on creating colourful, multi-layered monoprints with collographs and stencils. Her work explores “memory” using printed motifs inspired by the minutae and memorabilia hoarded over many years by her family in old shoe boxes and suitcases. Fragments of lace, discarded keys, excerpts of Hebrew and German text, maps, tailors’ patterns, imperial measure rulers and scraps of old music are some of the recurring motifs in her images. Her work evokes memories of the past, where objects which were once simply utilitarian, are now endowed with new meaning.

Myra has recently begun a project etching with copper to render intricate designs inspired by medieval Hebrew illuminated manuscripts. These designs are printed in combination with collograph plates and lace stencils to produce very delicate, subtle images. The first in this series, “Il vestito nuovo della Regina”, was accepted for the Firestation Print Studio’s Exchange Portfolio 2010, and is now part of the collections of Stonnington Council, the Print Council of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria.