Anita West
Born in Brisbane and raised in Townsville, Anita West Queensland-based artist draws profound inspiration from Australia’s beach and bush landscapes. Childhood holidays along the Gold Coast left lasting impressions—vivid beach umbrellas, bold shadows, and the deep blues of summer skies—which continue to inform her lyrical depictions of Australian coastal life. Her paintings explore memory and place, offering fragmented yet evocative narratives that many viewers find both familiar and nostalgic.
West studied under influential mentors Anneke Silver and Bob Preston during her time at TAFE Townsville in the mid-1980s, where her artistic foundation was shaped. Alongside her formal training, time spent working as a Jillaroo on remote sheep and cattle stations further connected her to the outback and its quiet, expansive presence—an influence that still echoes in her work.
Following a career as a secondary school art teacher, she transitioned to full-time artmaking while living in the United States. There, she exhibited in artist-run spaces and small commercial galleries, steadily refining a practice that spans naïve art, abstraction, manuscript-style miniatures, and mixed media. Her experiences travelling through Australia and abroad—including a challenging trek along the Kokoda Trail—have enriched her visual vocabulary and narrative depth.
From 1997 to 2005, she was represented exclusively by Robertsons Design, an international interior design and architectural firm, and held three major exhibitions with them. She currently exhibits with Harvey Galleries in Sydney, where her work continues to celebrate and reimagine the Australian experience through a deeply personal lens.
“My desire is to create paintings that are not just visually engaging but also to reach into the heart. I want to take the viewer on an evocative journey through the Australian bush, to sense the atmosphere, to smell the eucalypt, to look beyond the horizon and to feel the power of the earth. I want my paintings to invite a walk of the soul and to give quiet reverence to the unparalleled romance of nature.
I’m hoping that my work is an invitation for deep contemplation, to Transend oneself in the landscape that envelops us and fills us with light, energy, and hope. Each painting for me is an attempt to capture the unbridled beauty of this vast beautiful land to reconnect, to remember and to revel in its mystery and charm. “ - Anita
Bush Garden and the Banksia Acrylic on linen 150 x 150cm $16,000
Pink Sky Banksia Acrylic on Linen 110 x 180cm $16,000
Emerald Eucalypt and the Floating Bush Acrylic on Linen 153 x 153cm $16,000
Shiloh Bay Mixed Media on Linen 102 x 152cm $7700
Doggo Beach with Maggie Acrylic on linen 152 x 76cm $5700
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017 Abundance, Harvey Galleries, Sydney
2016 Back to the High Country, Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney
2015 Bush Poetic, Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney
2014 Bush, Land, Beach, Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney
2013 Wild Places of Home, Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney
2012 In the Summertime, Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney
2011 Sand, Salt and Spinifex, Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney; 18 landscapes
2010 Life, Love, Landscape, Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney; 27 paintings (Sold out)
2009 Places of My Heart,Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney: 28 paintings (Sold out)
2008 New Works: Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney
2006 Down to Earth; Doggett St Studio Brisbane
2006 The Stone Garden: Logan Regional Art Gallery
2006 Testing the Waters : Redlands Regional Art Gallery
2003 Illumina: Robertsons Interior Design Gallery, Gold Coast (Sold out)
2002 Recent Paintings: Robertsons Design, Gold Coast (Sold out)
2001 New Paintings ; Robertsons Interior Design, Gold Coast (Sold out)
1994 A Landscape Response ; Art and Design Gallery, Woollongabba
1994 Figures: Eagle St.Pier Exhibition Space, Brisbane
1993 Echoes of a Landscape McWhirters Art Space Fortitude Valley
1990 Impressions : The Palms Gallery Townsville
1989 New Guinea Beginnings: Umbrella Studio Townsville
1988 Neo-Primitive ; Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Townsville
COMPETITIONS AND AWARDS
2016 Finalist Pro Hart Outback Art Prize – FIRST PRIZE WINNER (acquisitive)
2016 Finalist Border Art Prize
2016 Finalist Rotary Art Spectacular WINNER OF BEST ACRYLIC IN SHOW
2016 Finalist Stanthorpe Art Prize RUNNER UP PEOPLE’S CHOICE
2016 Finalist Finalist Waterhouse Art Prize HIGHLY COMMENDED
2016 Finalist John Leslie Art Prize
2016 Finalist Redland Art Prize WINNER OF MEREDITH FOX PEOPLE’S CHOICE
2015 Calleen Art Award – PEOPLE CHOICE WINNER and HIGHLY COMMENDED
2014 Mosman Art Prize – PEOPLES CHOICE WINNER
2014 Finalist Redland Art Award – PEOPLES CHOICE WINNER
2014 Finalist Calleen Art Award – PEOPLES CHOICE WINNER
2014 Finalist Stanthorpe Art Prize
2014 Finalist Moreton Bay Art Prize
2014 Finalist Norvill Art Prize
2014 Finalist Clayton Utz Art Award
2010 Finalist Art for Art’s Sake Brisbane
CORPORATE COLLECTIONS
‘Soul’ Apartment Towers, Gold coast
ABN Amro Morgans
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Westpac Bank HongKong
Juniper Group
Sheraton Hotel Group Gold Coast
Johnson & Johnson Sydney
Storm Financial Melbourne
Storm Financial Sydney
Storm Financial Brisbane
Jumeirah Suite Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi
Brian Tucker Accounting