Jane Alexander majored in Sculpture for her Bachelor of Fine Art at National Art School. She works across a range of media including painting and won the prestigious Anne Pata Memorial Drawing Award (2020) and a National Art School prize for Sculpture. Jane was a finalist in the 2021 Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize.
Jane is an inventive and enthusiastic tutor for WWAS, teaching adults mixed media.
Jacqueline Curry is a professional designer with extensive industry experience, specializing in using Procreate as a core tool for creating illustrations, textile patterns, and graphic designs. With a formal teaching qualification and over two years of experience teaching Procreate, Curry combines her design expertise with a passion for education, guiding students through practical techniques and creative workflows. Her classes offer a hands-on approach, helping students unlock the full potential of Procreate for their own artistic and design projects.
Richard has held 22 solo and over 100 group exhibitions. He is a previous winner of the Hunters Hill, Gosford, Blacktown, Thursday Plantation Sculpture Prizes and winner of the Manning Art Prize. He has also won the NSW Travelling Scholarship and Paris Residency along with being an exhibitor in Sculpture by the Sea and finalist in the Wynne and Blake prizes.
His works are included in the National Gallery, University of NSW, Artbank, Macquarie University, Bathurst Regional Gallery and Orange and Manning Regional Gallery Collections. Richards’ public sculpture commissions can be seen in North Sydney, Marrickville and Macquarie University. He is represented by the Robin Gibson Gallery in Sydney.
I teach drawing, painting and mix-media to adults and children in much the same way…. teaching fundamental skills of observation & structure as a starting point, so one can find their individual creative strengths and sensibility with confidence and direction. Students are guided in the medium of their choice but are encouraged to broaden their practice.
Contemporary and formal traditional qualities are taught with the aim to push discipline boundaries and to question what makes a drawing or painting today. Artists both historical & contemporary are looked at & their influences discussed. Concepts are explored through a variety of materials, genres & art movements. Students are encouraged to do many studies, each informing the next with surprising results of discovery.
I enjoy being involved in the exploration and development of all students from the beginner to the more experienced artist.
I recently completed the Masters of Fine Art degree at the National Art School and have been teaching at WWAS since 2010.
Gillian was introduced to clay as a young child growing in a small country town, in what is now Zimbabwe. She remembers collecting clay from anthills in the bush, hand building small cattle and baking them over an open fire. In 2013, after a detour into the corporate world, she studied fine art at the National Art School, graduating with a BFA Sculpture, followed by a Diploma in Ceramics from Brookvale TAFE.
In her own practice, Gillian specialises in hand building and wheel throwing porcelain, although she regularly works with all manner of clay. She teaches hand building to both adults and children and hopes to inspire them to fall in love with clay, believing that with a strong foundation you can make almost anything!
Gillian’s work can be found at various galleries including Sturt in Mittagong, Rochfort, Kerrie Lowe and China Clay in Sydney. She regularly participates in group exhibitions, community, and open studio events and has won or been a finalist in various competitions.
Lewis developed his drawing skills in childhood by copying cartoons from comic books. As a teen, he experimented with different mediums, including digital painting, watercolour, and biro. Turning his passion to fine art in his late teens, he has been painting since his early 20s. Lewis now teaches school holiday programs and kids’ classes in both ceramics and painting.
Robert teaches printmaking courses suitable for beginners through to practicing artists. He is an enthusiastic educator who loves to extend each student’s learning in every class.
As Roberts says, “Art is my love. Teaching is my joy.”
Kevin McKay is an urban landscape painter who enjoys finding beauty in the everyday. He holds a Masters Degree in Fine Art from the National Art School and exhibits at May Space Gallery, Sydney.
Accolades include; The Basil & Muriel Hooper Scholarship from the AGNSW, 2006; the Sydney City of Villages Art Prize, 2009; the inaugural William Fletcher Foundation Scholarship to The British School at Rome, 2011; the Kogarah Emerging Artist Prize, 2012; the Waverley Oil Painting Prize, 2013; the Allan Gamble Memorial Prize, 2015; the People’s Choice Award, Waverley Art Prize, 2016, the People’s Choice Award, Greenway Art Prize, 2017; and Bayside Art Award, 2018.
Kevin has been a tutor at WWAS for more than 12 years, and has taught at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Grammar School, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, and the National Art School. He is a Board Director with the William Fletcher Foundation.
Joshua McPherson began formal training at Australia’s oldest Art School, The Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney’s historic Rocks area. Inspired by his desire to undertake further specialized studies in the principles of realist classical drawing and painting, he travelled to Florence Italy in 2005 joining the prestigious Florence Academy of Art completing a Diploma of Fine Arts in 2008.
He was the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships including the painting of the year award in 2008 at the Florence Academy. In 2010 he was the winner of the A.M.E. Bale Travelling Scholarship. In 2012 was a finalist in the EMSIA Still Life Award, in 2013 a finalist in the Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize and the Archibald Prize. He has exhibited in Florence, Italy and in group exhibitions in London and the United States.
Joshua is a practising artist offering specialised painting tuition in figure and portrait painting at WWAS.
Yaeli Ohana, a visual artist for over 20 years, has exhibited in commercial galleries in Australia and Internationally. She is currently represented by Twenty Twenty Six Gallery, and has previously been represented by Michael Nagy Fine Art in Sydney and Axia Modern Art in Melbourne. She holds a Master of Fine Art with a Distinction in Painting (and a Minor in Art History) from the Pratt Institute, New York City.
A passionate visual arts educator, Yaeli has taught Painting and Drawing for over 20 years. She worked as an academic at the College of Fine Arts (University of NSW), University of Technology Sydney and Nepean TAFE. For over 12 years she was an Artist Educator at the Brett Whiteley Studio and Art Gallery of NSW. She currently teaches at Waverley Woollahra Art School, Willoughby Arts Centre and privatel
David Pavich graduated from the National Art School in Sydney in 1985 with honours. He is based in Sydney and lived and worked in Paris from 1988-93. with individual exhibitions at the Adzak Museum and the Entrepot, as well as International group shows at Siminoff Gallery, Saint Exupery Gallery in France, Camden Gallery in London, the Siena Art Institute in Italy and the Korean Cultural Foundation in Seoul.
Exhibitions in Sydney and Melbourne have included 20 solo shows. He has participated in various group shows which have included Bathurst Regional Gallery, New England Regional Gallery and Gosford Regional Gallery. David has been a finalist for numerous art prizes, such as the Gold Coast City Art Prize, the Gallipoli Art Prize, the Paddington Art Prize, the Fishers Ghost Art Prize, the Gosford Art Prize, the Blake Prize, Art on the Rocks, the Mosman Art Prize, the KAAF Art Prize and was awarded a residency at the Arthur Boyd studio at Bundanon, Murrays Cottage Hill End, the Nancy Fairfax Studio at the Tweed Regional Gallery Murwillumbah and Gallery Lane Cove.
David is a passionate tutor and has taught at WAAS for over 20 years.
Natalie Popovski is a Gold Coast artist whose practice has evolved from watercolors to oil painting and ceramics. Since debuting at Sofa Gallery in 2018, she has gained recognition with a solo show at Tweed Regional Gallery in 2022 and finalist placements in the National Emerging Art Prize and Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize. Her work explores female intuition through ethereal floral compositions. Nat teaches painting and drawing classes here at WWAS.
Chris Rochester has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from National Art School majoring in painting. He has taught at WWAC since 2004 and also teaches at Currambena School.
Chris has exhibited extensively and is in public and private collections. He is continually inspired by the teaching process and expounds the principles of life-long education and a student’s ability to learn independently.
Lucy Russell is a graduate of the National Art School. Lucy’s art practice spans drawing, printmaking, artist books and mixed media painting and a strong interest in creative collaboration and inclusive cultural spaces. She particularly enjoys intaglio techniques (etching and aquatint) and drawing, exploring often overlooked liminal spaces while experimenting with a wide range of printmaking processes and their diverse effects and possibilities. She has a Batchelor of Fine Art majoring in Printmaking from the National Art School in Sydney, and at the 2025 Graduate Show, one of her aquatint etchings was acquired by NAS for their permanent collection.
Jen studied at R.M.I.T, Melbourne University, James Cook and Sydney University in painting, sculpture, Education Support, Curatorial Studies and book illustration. She has exhibited extensively and has a broad work experience in public and private galleries.
Her practice also extends to artwork for private and corporate commissions, retail spaces and for film and TV sets. Jen has recently been involved in various projects as a tutor and illustrator in schools and is currently teaching cartoon drawing at Reddam House. Jen is committed to assisting students to build skills towards independent learning, and having fun in the creative process.
Natalia is a third-year Bachelor of Fine Art student at the National Art School. Her practice explores the expanded field of painting through mixed media experiments with colour, light and space. Natalia curated her first group exhibition Salt at Goodspace Gallery in 2024 and has since shown her art in exhibitions at Mothership Studios and Central Space Gallery.
As a SHP tutor at WWAS, Natalia is passionate about providing hands-on learning opportunities that simplify and adapt art theory and practices into fun, accessible art education for kids. Her painting, drawing and mixed media workshops foster a dynamic creative space for young artists
Aliki’s art practice includes painting, drawing, printmaking and making artists books. Aliki’s works are primarily figurative and alternate between loose, highly intuitive mark-making, to more controlled and representational works. She tends towards a minimal and subdued palette, with an emphasis on materiality and textures. Drawing, though, is at the foundation of her practice; she uses it as a way of intimately connecting with the world, where she can be more expressive and intuitive in her approach, allowing the process and materials to guide her.
Aliki holds A BA in Fine Art at The National Art School, majoring in Printmaking with High Distinctions, and a Diploma of Visual Art, at St George College of Fine Arts. Aliki has been a finalist in numerous art awards for her prints, artist books and paintings, and she has won the Inverell Art Prize and the Waverley Woollahra Printmaking Prize.
Izette Felthun is a ceramic artist who grew up and was educated in South Africa. The female form has always been a focus of her work which incorporates both ancient and modern clay techniques. She creates abstract sculptures, which have a sense of movement and uses the vessel to challenge the perception and representation of the female form in society.
Izette, has a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Diploma in Ceramics. She is the recipient of many awards including the Pittwater Ceramics Prize, Hornsby Sculpture Prize and Kerrie Lowe Gallery Award and has exhibited her work in galleries in Sydney and New York. Izette is also an enthusiastic and generous teacher of ceramics and sculpture.
I have lived in Bondi/Waverley for over 30 years and have a lifelong interest in the arts. Trained as a lawyer, I recently retired after nearly 30 years with an international accounting firm. I have served on a diverse range of not-for-profit boards, including the German Australian Chamber of Commerce and, locally, as Treasurer of the Bronte Public School P&C. I am currently a board member of an arts foundation managing a small private museum. With more time now available, I am happy to contribute my finance and governance experience and passion for the arts to my local community.
I am the co-founder of Yonder Creative, with over two decades of experience spanning Australia, the US, and Asia. I’ve helped transform brands across industries, crafting bold, insight-driven
creative that cuts through and connects with audiences. My work has earned global recognition including an Emmy for Best PSA, and a Diamond Transform Award for Tone of Voice. I’m a firm believer in the power of design to drive impact, spark action and create lasting change. At Yonder, we look for new ways to push brands beyond the expected, combining creative integrity
Justine joined WWAS as a ceramics student in 2017 and later served as Office Manager (2021–2023), gaining insight into its role in the local arts community. She now works in external engagement at UNSW, with expertise in communications, marketing, and events. With a creative arts degree, teaching experience, and a background in business and arts advisory, she is eager to help strengthen WWAS’s impact as a board member.
Graham received numerous industry accolades during a successful career in Design and Advertising, both in the UK and Australia. He was a founder partner and Creative Director at Bartle, Bogle and Hegarty, and named in the top 20 most awarded Art Directors in the world by the Design and Art Direction Association in 2012. Graham attends painting and printmaking courses at WWAS and joined the Board in 2017. He designed the inaugural WWAS Printmaking Prize poster in 2021 and continues to be a member of the printmaking prize organising team.
I am a highly driven executive with considerable experience in commercial business partnering, budgeting & forecasting, financial governance, risk management and strategic thinking within a multinational organisation, working with the business to execute on its strategy and create shareholder value. I have specialised skills in leadership, stakeholder management, negotiating, influencing and consulting to achieve financial outcomes. I am currently the CFO of amaysim and have worked at Optus for 25 years through various commercial finance roles. Also I’m currently the Chair for the CAANZ NSW Corporate Advisory Panel, a volunteer role which I have been involved in for 3 years.
Steven has worked as a Finance and IT consultant in multinational corporations in the US, UK and Australia for over 25 years. He is currently the Sustainability Officer at Australia’s first fossil fuel-free superannuation fund. Steven first came to WWAS teaching ceramics in the school holiday program and subsequently worked in the administration team.
Steven joined the Board in 2018 as Treasurer and was elected as Chair in 2022. He is keen to combine his passion for quality community arts education and running a purposeful, ethical small business.
Sharon is an art enthusiast and student at WWAS, currently participating in a variety of painting courses. For the last 25 years she has worked in the corporate sector in talent acquisition and community engagement and currently runs her own business.
