Winning many awards in fashion and now starting to win prizes in art and sculpture nationally around Australia. The two have a vital link in my work.
Prizes totalling 20k; see more on my website. www.Luisamanea.com
It all started when I drew sketches of wedding gowns for brides at my high-end label Allure Couture in Perth.
Brides would also ask to buy the sketches I created of their gowns.
Then we moved to Cairns, and I found Art, or Art found me. Cairns has a rich art culture and many galleries to attend.
Word quickly got out, and Fashions on the field organisations started seeking my fashion illustrations at major racing events.
Cairn Cup carnival 12 events,
Cairns Amateurs 12 events,
Laura races one event
Charters Towers Amateurs 1 event.
Brisbane 2020 Spring Racing Carnival 3 events
Painting commissions of event attendees in their fabulous outfits was a dream come true.
These commissions have started clients collecting some of my more extensive large acrylic artworks of fashion figures for their private collections.
The Benson Hotel Cairns hired for two events, fashion illustrations on New Year's Eve 2022 and Melbourne cup 2022.
Creativity always transfers well from one medium to another for me. It's still the same principle.
Proportion, colour, techniques, and uniqueness.
Three exhibitions in 3 years for my fine art. One major exhibition at the Tanks Art Centre Feb 2020 presented 47 works, followed by strong sales.
Selected among the top 10 for Flemington, Melbourne Cup, Myer Fashion designer awards 2020 and 2021.
I just pinned down the notion I'm just as good at Art, Sculpture, and Digital art as I am at Fashion Design.
Having a diverse range of skills in many creative fields helps me understand that there are few limitations in my work, and I like to push myself to think more uniquely and use a combination of skills in one piece.
Today my pottery is starting to sell faster than I can make it. Becoming a finalist at The Per Tucker Art Gallery in Townsville in 2022 in a nationwide competition and being published for my sculpture "Love me Knot' was a true highlight.
Creating a sculpture is an organic process—it requires no more than moving my hands around the clay until a figure evolves naturally.
I never use a reference.
The only reason I can do this and do it so well is that I have worked in 2D into 3D for many years in my pattern drafting and sewing in my fashion design career.
Along with many years of studying faces for portraiture work on canvas. Combining the two feels like I have finally almost achieved my end goal. Sculpture.
Though there might be one more step, I'm exploring where all three are combined.
My recently painted ceramic ballerina with a handmade tulle tutu, the bodice made from Glo-mesh and silk flowers, all suspended from a frame, so she stands on her point shoes in a ballet pose.
I love painting, pottery, sewing, photography, creating, and drawing.