Teaching Faculty

Teaching Faculty

All our teachers are practising artists who have extensive training combined with many years of experience. You can be assured that you will receive expert tuition and personal guidance when you attend any of our workshops and classes.

Our Mission: to inspire creativity by connecting individuals with experienced teachers who provide expert tuition and personal guidance.

Our Vision: to create a safe, fun and welcoming environment where our students are able to explore their individual creativity and develop their skills without judgment and apprehension.

Our Values: we value honesty, integrity and fairness in all our interactions. We will treat our community with respect, courtesy and open communication in a spirit of generosity. We will be inclusive and listen to each individual’s needs.

  • Teacher Details

    Kerrie Bowles.

    Owner. Cowper Art Gallery and Studio

    Kerrie purchased the former Presbyterian Church in Cowper in 2015 and with her son James Bowles-Leeson opened the Gallery in November of that year. In January 2016 Kerrie taught the first workshops in the Studio and has been teaching across various media since that time. Kerrie has a degree in Visual Arts Education and has taught extensively over many years in Art and Design in Clarence Valley high schools, TAFE and community organisations. She has a wide range of experience as a business owner and has previously owned businesses in retail and manufacturing. Kerrie also holds both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in psychology.

    Kerrie’s Art practice began with specialisation in Printmaking and Photography when she attended Newcastle Art School. Textiles have always been an integral part of Kerrie’s practice and her Art Quilts have been shown in major Australian shows as well as in Japan and the US. Analogue collage has become a bit of an addiction and you will see many of these works at times in the Gallery. And although she has always said “I’m not a painter” 2019 saw many paintings coming out of the studio with several of these featured in the exhibition Japan: Around Corners in July 2019. Exploring new ways of working and creating is something that Kerrie continually seeks out and teaching these skills to others is an important part of who she is and what she does.  

  • Teacher Details

    Harry Westera

    Harry has been teaching in the Studio since the end of 2017. His watercolour workshops and classes have provided many Clarence valley artists, both experienced and beginners, with a whole new set of skills in this beautiful media. Harry trained in classical oil painting at Julian Ashton’s Art School in Sydney, and also has an Honours degree in Art History from the University of Sydney. He took up watercolour painting around ten years ago to try something different. An often difficult and challenging process Harry loves the feeling of light and freshness that can be expressed with this medium. Harry teaches classes in watercolour and drawing in the Northern Rivers, Norfolk Island, Central Australia and Italy, and has won first prizes in watercolour in the Bentley and Maclean shows in recent years.

    Recently, Harry has been collaborating with Kerrie in the Gallery’s Come Away with Us Art Tours providing expert tuition to tour travellers in beautiful settings both in the Clarence Valley and Norfolk Island. See our Tours page for further information.

    Harry’s work can been seen via his Facebook page.