Petra Meikle de Vlas | Mixed Media Art

Inspired by the waters that surround her, Petra Meikle de Vlas creates mixed media works in her coastal studio about 25 km from the magnificent Great Barrier Reef.

Rarely following conventional art methods, Petra has developed techniques that create various effects strongly resembling reef and ocean-like formations. The texture is the exposed reef and rocks, liquid paint is the water, the spray bottle is the force of nature like rain, the hairdryer is the wind, the torch is the sun, gravity (tilting the board back and forth) is the tide. Petra constantly experiments with different methods and tools, always learning.

In addition to brushes, she uses her hands, airbrushes, spray bottles, a blowtorch, and gravity. Petra typically works on large formats and 'sculpts' her paintings, starting with a board on which she layers various materials.

The results of applying mixed media, where the chemistry between pigments creates dynamic compositions as they attract and repel, resulting in beautiful formations. Each work can have multiple layers, starting with the original layer of poured paint.

View Petra's work here.