Tracey Bennett

TRACEY BENNETT
I was born in 1982, and spent much of my childhood living in rural Queensland; even spending a few years in Kilcoy and attending Mount Kilcoy State School.
I didn’t discover my passion for painting until I was in my twenties. My interest was sparked in 2005, when my sister Lisa wrote a manuscript for a children’s book called Hullabazoo. I fell in love with the story and felt inspired to create some illustrations, although with little experience and no training, my illustrative work was…not great.
In 2006, I began attending art classes with award winning artist Philip Farley, and quickly developed a love for high detail wildlife art. Under Philip’s guidance, I learned to paint in a realistic style and used this technique to complete the illustrations for Hullabazoo. To the great delight of Lisa and myself, Hullabazoo was published by Penguin Books in 2010.
In the years that followed, I focussed primarily on wildlife art, however commission work occasionally steered me in directions I did not expect. This gave me the opportunity to expand the scope of my work to a wide variety of subjects including people, pets, landscapes, florals, still life and even vehicles and machinery. One of my most memorable commissions was a large painting of a crane truck.
I work in acrylic and oil, but have a strong preference for acrylic on illustration board or gesso panel.
I now live in Kilcoy with my husband Jon, and feel very blessed to work in a studio with a beautiful view, and to spend my time pursuing the craft that I love.

 

AWARDS
1st Place Open Division – Mary Valley Art Festival 2022 – “Rockstar”
People’s Choice Award – Mary Valley Art Festival 2022 – “Rockstar”

 

“Cuddly Correllas”  Acrylic on canvas

 

 

“Apple Attack”    Acrylic on Board

 

 

“Wine Connoisseurs”   Acrylic on Canvas