ROBERTA SANDEMAN-ALLEN, ARTIST AND CRAFTSWOMAN

ROBERTA SANDEMAN-ALLEN, ARTIST AND CRAFTSWOMAN

✦ Roberta Sandeman-Allen, A Wauchope Community Hub Artist that is very talented and has a passion for all she does.

Born in England, Roberta has travelled extensively throughout Europe and resided in Germany for some time. She made the move to Sydney, Australia, in 2003 and then moved to beautiful Port Macquarie in 2005 with her husband. They opened Care and Mobility and traded for many years until retirement.

Now, Roberta enjoys a somewhat idealistic lifestyle, taking the time to create her eye-catching artworks and interesting needle felt crafts.

A lover of all art mediums, Roberta at the moment prefers abstract, watercolour and pen and ink styles. Her artistic side was nurtured from a young age, her parents purchased her an easel and paints at the age of 8 and she has painted ever since.

Asked what her favourite style is, Roberta told us abstracts as she enjoys creating patterns and using bright, bold colours.

On exhibition at the Wauchope Creative Hub at the moment are two of her works. Almost three dimensional, the abstract paintings are bright and definitely make a statement. Roberta uses a palette knife and acrylic paint to create the textured artworks.

She brought with her an example of another style she has taken up: pen and ink. Inspired by a thought or idea that just comes to her, Roberta uses a permanent ink pen to then create her fantasy drawings.

Roberta has exhibited at the Easter Show at the Glasshouse in Port Macquarie as well as now at the Wauchope Creative Hub. She is an intuitive artist - it just comes to her and she puts either pen or ink to paper.

Needle Felting, Another Passion

We notice a few very interesting little critters have been patiently awaiting their turn to shine. Another passion of Roberta’s is needle felting and she has brought along three of her works.

Self taught after watching a show on television, she says. Her creations are truly unique and absolutely adorable.

She talked us through the surprisingly

long process of making a bear. Being solid, you start with a core of wool, which forms the base and shape of the bear. The head, arms and legs are made separately and sewn together. All is then covered with merino or alpaca wool. The intricacies such as eyes, nose and so on are all handcrafted from wool as well and stitched meticulously in place.

Involvement At Wauchope Creative Hub

After seeing a callout for artists to get involved with the hub, Roberta put her name down and it went from there. Stu, the organiser of the hub, loved her artworks and welcomed her with open arms. She feels fortunate to be involved in the creative space, especially being a part of the first art exhibition. Roberta’s paintings are on display and for sale at the hub and are a must see.

Find Roberta at the Wauchope Creative Hub, contact them:

www.facebook.com/Wauchopecreativehub/ www.instagram.com/wauchopecreativehub/ 87 Cameron Street, Wauchope, NSW 2446