Bass Coast's Judith Garde and Ramon Horsfield form one of Australia's most successful artistic partnerships By Colin Billington
TWO of Bass Coast’s best known and most durable artists, wife and husband Judith Garde and Ramon Horsfield, will show recent works at a new exhibition in Wonthaggi’s community gallery.
In A Passion for Painting, their first exhibition since they exhibited at Archies on the Creek in 2011, Garde’s detailed still lifes and Horsfield’s expansive landscapes complement each other.
Garde said they were looking forward to presenting their work in the beautiful surroundings of the Artspace Gallery.
TWO of Bass Coast’s best known and most durable artists, wife and husband Judith Garde and Ramon Horsfield, will show recent works at a new exhibition in Wonthaggi’s community gallery.
In A Passion for Painting, their first exhibition since they exhibited at Archies on the Creek in 2011, Garde’s detailed still lifes and Horsfield’s expansive landscapes complement each other.
Garde said they were looking forward to presenting their work in the beautiful surroundings of the Artspace Gallery.
Her interest in art came from a family tradition of creativeness and ingenuity. Visiting overseas galleries in the US and Europe gave her a passion for traditional art and in 1977, feeling a need to extend herself more in her work, she started studying oil painting at Deakin University under Colin Johnson.
Later she studied at Syndal Technical School with Ramon Horsfield and it was he who encouraged her to take up painting as a full-time profession, although it wasn’t until 1991 that she was able to do so and become a member of the Victorian Artists Society. During the following years Judith continued to study and in 1993 she had a solo exhibition in the Cato Gallery.
Throughout her career Garde has won many awards and commendations, including a highly commended from Sir William Dargie at the Camberwell Rotary Art Show. Her work is represented in private collections in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and England.
Later she studied at Syndal Technical School with Ramon Horsfield and it was he who encouraged her to take up painting as a full-time profession, although it wasn’t until 1991 that she was able to do so and become a member of the Victorian Artists Society. During the following years Judith continued to study and in 1993 she had a solo exhibition in the Cato Gallery.
Throughout her career Garde has won many awards and commendations, including a highly commended from Sir William Dargie at the Camberwell Rotary Art Show. Her work is represented in private collections in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and England.
| Horsfield’s father was a commercial artist who encouraged him to pursue his natural interest in art. From 1945-47, he studied, first watercolour under Alexander Kerr, and then oils with H. Septimus Power. From 1947-1952 he was a member of the National Gallery Art School under Sir William Dargie, who influenced his feeling for landscape painting. In 1952 he held his first one-man exhibition at Kozminsky Gallery in Melbourne. In 1971 he was invited to become a member of the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society. In 1976 he had two paintings purchased for the State College of Victoria collection and also won first prize for an oil painting at the Camberwell Rotary Art Show. His works are represented in local and overseas corporate and private collections. Horsfield and Garde were married in 1983 and began one of the most successful artistic partnerships in Australia. A Passion for Painting, Wonthaggi Artspace Gallery, September 1-23 |  Eildon, by Ramon Horsfield  Mandolin by Judith Garde |