Maeve Woods facts for kids

Maeve Woods is an Australian artist who lives and works in Tasmania. She is known for her paintings, collages, and film work.

Early Life and Art School

Maeve Woods was born in Melbourne, Australia.

In the late 1940s, after traveling to London and Paris, Woods started taking art classes. She studied at the National Gallery School in Melbourne. There, she learned from a teacher named George Bell. Bell taught his students to paint en plein air, which means painting outdoors. He also encouraged artists to work together. These ideas stayed with Woods throughout her career.

Some of her early artworks became well-known in the 1950s. A famous Australian writer, Patrick White, even supported her work.

Artistic Career

From the early 1950s, Woods worked with many different art forms. She was very interested in Melbourne's growing experimental jazz music scene. She often used ideas from jazz, like improvisation (making things up as you go) and rhythm, in her art.

In the late 1950s, Woods moved to Mittagong, New South Wales. There, she connected with artists and musicians in Sydney. She even had art shows at Barry Stern's gallery in Paddington in 1963.

From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, Woods traveled a lot. She went around Australia and the world, teaching art classes in cities like Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne.

Her first big solo art show was in 1970 at the Watters Gallery in Sydney. In her work, she created abstract and architectural collages. She used postcards and other found items to make unique artworks. These collages sometimes reminded people of older artists like Pontormo and Tintoretto.

During the 1980s, Woods explored film and slides, but she always kept painting and collage close by. She often showed her art in Melbourne and Sydney.

From 1988 to 1998, Woods lived in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges. She continued to paint, using images and surfaces she found to explore the nature around her. Since 1998, Maeve Woods has lived and worked in Hobart, Tasmania. She has had many art shows throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

In 2013, Woods talked about her art at the time. She said that color was very important to all her works and their names. She also mentioned how the frame behind her paintings made them stand out from the wall, creating a shadow that added to the artwork.

Artworks and Style

Maeve Woods has created art using many different materials and techniques. She has been especially successful with painting, collage, and film.

Since her early lessons with George Bell, Woods has always been interested in the surface of her artworks. Much of her art focuses on shapes like squares and frames. Her work is often abstract, meaning it doesn't show real-life objects exactly. She has always looked for new ways to use different surfaces in her paintings, collages, and films. She even gets ideas from famous movies and directors like Hitchcock and Bunuel.

Her art is kept in many important art collections, including the Muswellbrook Regional Art Centre.

Art Shows

• Surface, organized by Sean Kelly. Carnegie Gallery, Hobart. 2012
• Maeve Woods: Recent paintings. Venues. Watters Gallery. (May 20, 2009 – June 13, 2009)