© Doris Allan

Doris is a member of Macsart (Mansfield Arts and Crafts) and she has always enjoyed drawing and painting but had not had any formal training.  Workshops, painting holidays, art groups and books have been her teachers along with, sometimes, bitter experience! There were many good years of china decorating but she had to give that up due to a bad reaction to turpentine.  Water colour came next and is probably her favourite medium, then pen, pencil, charcoal, pastel and coloured pencils.  Subjects:  Animals, chooks, flowers and landscapes.  Sometimes she will 'paint' pictures with stranded cotton, to her own design.  "happenings of things I see or that people tell me about, are a challenge" she says.  "I do not copy from books, postcards or calendars etc. but make small tonal sketches and, for further reference I may use my own photos. She has also been working with soapstone, carving small items.  Sometimes she cuts thin slabs and indents and smooths an area in the centre, on this she will paint a picture, in acrylic and carve around the edge to form a frame.