Girraween, Western Australia

Oils, charcoal

Lorraine Pichugin is a Western Australian visual artist who divides her studio time between Abbey Beach where her son, accomplished landscape photographer Paul Pichugin, and his family live, and her studio in Perth’s northern suburbs.

Creating art is not an extension tacked on to Lorraine’s life, it is an expression of who she is at her very core… an Artist. As a child, any form of drawing or painting was irresistible resulting in homework books being covered in colourful illustrations.

Having worked mostly in dry media (pastels, coloured pencil and charcoal) most of her life, Lorraine’s passion for painting was ignited while exploring the interaction of light on objects at different times of day, during her studies of Fine Art and Visual Culture at Curtin University.

Form brought out through the interplay of light and shadows features consistently in her paintings, regardless of the subject. Drawn to morning and evening shadows dancing across a wall or a kitchen bench, the object caught in this interlude becomes the vehicle Lorraine employs to describe this wonderful interaction. Oil paints have a fascination for Lorraine and she finds their buttery properties perfectly suited for the seamless blending necessary for achieving the almost elusive transitions between light and shadow.

Whether working in oil on canvas, pastel or pencil on paper, she uses layers of colour to convey aesthetically honest, realistic and lifelike artwork that has a captivating beauty and presence. Lorraine’s artwork is about finding and sharing the beauty, grace and elegance that is all around us.